It’s that time of year again – Christmas is right around the corner, and with it comes one of the most beloved TV specials of all time – the 2008 Gavin and Stacey Christmas episode. This festive treat, which brings together the West and Shipman families for their first Christmas as one, has become a true telly masterpiece and is consistently hailed as one of the best Christmas specials ever made.
Originally airing on Christmas Eve in 2008, the episode drew in over seven million viewers and has remained a holiday favorite over the years. As we eagerly await the much-anticipated return of Gavin and Stacey with another special, let’s take a look back at some behind-the-scenes secrets from that very first Christmas episode.
1. The special was filmed over the course of just 12 days in Barry, Wales in October 2008. This left the team with only two months to edit the episode before it aired on TV.
2. Creators Ruth Jones and James Corden came up with the idea for a standalone special because they didn’t have enough time to put together a whole new series of Gavin and Stacey.
3. The idea of bringing the Wests and the Shipmans together for Christmas had always fascinated the pair, and the special gave them the chance to explore different holiday foibles.
4. According to a 2017 interview with Ruth Jones, many of the cast members fell ill with the flu during filming, and an on-set doctor was needed.
5. The first scene filmed was the one where Smithy visits Stacey at work to ask for her help with his Christmas shopping.
6. This scene was shot at the Culverhouse Cross Marks & Spencer, which is located outside of Cardiff, despite the store being set in Essex.
7. James Corden admitted to not having learned his lines properly before filming and had fun wheeling Joanna Page around in shopping crates in between takes.
8. Another location featured in the special was the Welcome Break at Cardiff Gate, where the Barry lot stopped off on their way to Essex.
9. The baby who played Neil was sick all over Melanie Walters while filming at the services.
10. In the scene where Smithy sings “Do They Know It’s Christmas” down the phone with Gavin, James Corden wasn’t actually driving the car – a low loader was used to tow it.
11. Mathew Horne, who plays Gavin, was sitting in the back of the low loader, singing along down a microphone, while James filmed his parts of the scene. They then swapped positions to film Mathew’s turn as Gavin separately.
12. The child who visited Nessa’s grotto was actually Ruth’s real-life nephew, Zakk.
13. Mathew ripped his trousers while filming the scene where Gavin and Stacey return home on Christmas Eve.
14. The Christmas Eve fight scene, which featured all 12 characters, struck fear into the director because of its complexity. Ruth Jones even had to give him a warning after writing it.
15. The Christmas dinner that the families enjoy together was actually cooked on the real-life kitchen set of Pam and Mick’s house, as revealed by Ruth Jones in a 2017 interview with Radio Times.
16. The mammoth scene was filmed on the second-to-last day of the 12-day shoot, with press and promotional pictures also being taken in between takes.
17. James Corden was caught taking naps on the Shipmans’ living room sofa during his downtime, and his co-star Julia Davis passed the time by drawing on his face.
18. The final scene to be filmed on the last day of the shoot was the unwrapping of the presents, with Dave’s proposal to Nessa being the final shot in the can.
19. There was a feeling from James that they would “never make another Christmas special again,” but thankfully, that proved to be untrue. In 2019, a highly anticipated follow-up finally arrived.
The first two Gavin and Stacey Christmas specials are available to watch on BBC iPlayer, and the third and final installment will air on Christmas Day at 9pm on BBC One. With this behind-the-scenes knowledge, we are even more excited for the return of our favorite families and can’t wait to see what the new special has in store. So, get ready to laugh, cry, and feel all the festive emotions as we join the West and Shipman families once again for another unforgettable Christmas
