King Gary has his first Christmas special episode! It has been a tough year for Gary and his business this year. Everyone has been hit hard this year to the lockdown and pandemic so no one can afford to put up their Christmas lights on their houses as they can’t afford the electric bill. Along with that Gary's family is planning for a more of a budget Christmas with secret Santa and a spending limit of £20. Gary just wants to give everyone the perfect Christmas after the difficult year we have all had.
Written by Tom Davies and James De Frond. Gary the builder played also by Tom Davies is always just trying to impress his neighbours on Butterchurn Crescent in Essex. Gary not only tried to impress his neighbours by helping them with the light display but also his dad/Big Gary (Simon Day) by securing a huge deal for his family business.
This family feels very current and working class. We watch Gary's wife Terri (Laura Checkley) try and rope her husband and son into doing a tiktok dance instead of a Christmas card this year. The dance is very over the top and looks extremely complicated but silly. Gary's mum, Denise (Camille Coduri) and Big Gary finally snap at the in-laws who hog the celebrations, claim possession of the tv remote and treat their home like their own. Everything in this episode is something we can all sympathise with, in-laws who treat our home like their own/take over, trying to make the most of the festive period, finding new years to spread Christmas cheer even if it is with a tiktok dance.
Our favourite neighbour is back, Stuart played by Romesh Ranganathan. Stuart has no desire to get involved with any of Gary's plans for Christmas as he is dealing with his own issues. With that being said, Gary and Stuart always have a turbulent neighbour relationship/friendship, although what was nice was seeing Stuart at the other end of the table at the end of the episode.
The festive episode was good, it shows us all the main points of Christmas and how this year it may be a more of a budget Christmas, well there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as Christmas can still be enjoyed. It isn’t overly memorable but it has a lot of heart and some good performances. In any Christmas episode there is a carol which adds emotion and it works extremely well in this episode. Watching Gary's son, Teddy singing in the choir is very sweet and a bit emotional. In this moment we finally see the family coming together, getting a bit emotional and enjoying one another’s company. This episode is good but it could have done with some more humour, considering this is supposed to be a comedy. With that being said this episode is good but it isn’t the strongest as nothing completely stands out to make it amazing. It is just overall a good Christmas episode.
