When James Corden arrived back in London after eight years in Los Angeles last summer, he was looking for an “enjoyable” project.
He had, after all, hosted a nightly chat show in the US since 2015 and he was, say friends, “bloody knackered”.
In the back of his mind was the delightful idea of penning a script that would tie up all the loose ends which were left following the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special in 2019, when more than 18 million people tuned in only to be left with the cliffhanger over whether his character Smithy and Ruth Jones’s Nessa would end up together. Or not.
While the Bucking Hamshire star was “very much aware” that Britain wanted answers, Corden was against putting out an episode unless he felt it was perfect.
And yesterday, he confirmed that he was thrilled with his and Ms Jones’s work because, out of the blue, he posted a picture of himself and the actress holding a script for Gavin and Stacey: The Finale on his Instagram.
Corden captioned the picture:
“Some news… It’s official!‘ We have finished writing the last episode of Gavin and Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.”
His post, which was liked by more than 600,000 people, means he and Ms Jones will be reunited with Mathew Horne, who portrays Gavin Shipman, Joanna Page, who plays his wife Stacey, Alison Steadman, who is Gavin’s mum Pam, and Larry Lamb as Gavin’s dad Mick.
It will also see the return of young actor Oscar Hartland, who plays Smithy and Nessa’s son Neil.
The news of the return was met with huge excitement, with celebrities including Amanda Holden, Rio Ferdinand and Gordon Ramsay all taking to social media to share their delight.
A source close to Corden, 45, said: “Gavin and Stacey is so special to James, he is so proud of it but more than anything he knows how much people just love it.
“His mantra is simple, he will only make an episode if he thinks it’s perfect. If it isn’t, then forget it. That’s very important to him, and of course Ruth.”
So with more time on his hands now than he’s had for the previous eight years, Corden teamed up with Ms Jones and thrashed out some ideas.
Sources say that the BBC was “chomping at the bit” for the new episode as it’s regarded as a “ratings champion”.
With a plan in place, it was only a matter of time before rumours began to circulate and, in February, Corden was said to be “furious” when news that they were working on the project leaked to an American website.
While he didn’t make a public statement, he was, say, sources close to him, looking at how he could shut the stories down as he was nervous that if he wasn’t happy with his work, then he would not go forward with the project, disappointing his fans.
Jones did though.
She went on Irish radio station RTE Radio 1 to deny there was any such project in the pipeline, saying: “Apparently there’s a bidding war going on between the BBC and Netflix and I love it because it says ‘a source says’– who is this source?
“It’s sadly a rumour. All I can say is, if there was something to say on that front, James and I would happily announce it, we would.”
Meanwhile, comedian Rob Brydon, who plays Stacey’s Uncle Bryn, also quashed the talk, telling Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’d love it if it were true. I sound like a politician. As far as I’m aware, it’s another rumour. I don’t know.”
The critically acclaimed series, which was first broadcast in 2007, follows the lives of the two titular characters, Gavin from Essex and Stacey from Barry Island, South Wales, documenting key points in their long-distance relationship and events that bring the two families together.
Originally screened on BBC Three, it has spanned three seasons and two Christmas specials.
At the climax of the 2019 episode Nessa got down on one knee to propose to Smithy – but viewers did not get to hear his response.
The pair had an on-off relationship during the series and in the special, it was revealed they were co-parenting Neil.
Five years on, fans will be fascinated to know, as the show’s Welsh characters would say, “what’s occurring”.
It will also be interesting to witness the reunion of the main players – Corden, Ms Jones, Ms Page and Horne – whose lives have taken very different turns since they last shared a screen together.
While Corden is widely known to have made a huge name and estimated £55 million fortune for himself in the States, the others have lived quieter, less monied existences.
Horne, 45, who reportedly fell out with Corden some years ago, relocated to the Highlands town of Helmsdale after the show ended saying, “I’m there the whole time I’m not working. I just want to be in the Highlands.”
His acting career, which for a time he supplemented by working as a DJ, resumed, however, and he went on to star in the film Bad Education with Jack Whitehall and Catherine Tate’s The Nan Movie in 2022, based on the character from her BBC Two sketch show.
Most recently, he teamed up with Tamzin Outhwaite for a West End run of Michael Frayn’s farce, Noises Off, which played at Theatre Royal Haymarket from September to December last year.
Meanwhile, Ms Page, 47, is a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women after starring in a number of TV series from Doctor Who to Midsomer Murders.
She is married to former Emmerdale actor James Thornton and they have four children.
Ms Jones, 57, is playing Mother Superior in Sister Act at London’s Dominion Theatre this year, with her run set to last until August.
In 2018, she published her first novel Never Greener, a romance about second chances, and went on to write two more.
Melanie Walters, who plays Stacey’s mum Gwen West, will this Christmas be starring in The Playhouse Weston’s Beauty and the Beast pantomime.
And Welsh-born Hartland, 15, who played Neil as a baby in four episodes and again as a ten-year old in the Christmas special in 2019, is studying for his GCSEs this summer.