GAVIN AN AFFAIR?
Love-rat plotline mulled for hit BBC comedy’s festive special
BY NICOLA METHVEN THERE was almost a different kind of funny business going on in the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special.
Creators Ruth Jones, 53, and James Corden, 41, have revealed they toyed with the idea of having Mat Horne’s character Gavin Shipman cheat on wife Stacey West.
But Ruth said: “It didn’t feel right with the show.”
And Mat, 41, added: “They decided it was too much and it would have been really hard to play that. I don’t think you’d believe Gav would stray.”
We last saw Gavin and Stacey – played by Joanna Page, 42 – when series three ended in 2010 and bookies reckon the BBC1 special will top the festive TV ratings.
Ruth said: “We obviously wanted to take it 10 years on but didn’t want to sensationalise it and have something major happen. We didn’t want to make it like a big explosion, we wanted to keep it as real as possible, true to the characters as possible.
“But also you have to have a narrative drive in there as well.
“We did take a while to decide. We were saying one day, ‘Is Gavin going to have an affair?’ and those ideas didn’t feel right with the show.”
And the show could follow up on topping the TV ratings by claiming No1 in the pop charts next Christmas.
In the special, Nessa and Bryn, played by Ruth and Rob Brydon, sing Fairytale of New York – a 1987 hit for The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – at a pub in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. Asked if it could be a single, Rob said: “It would have to be next year.”
Ruth added: “It’s been a tradition for Bryn and Nessa to sing together, so that was one of the ingredients we wanted to include.”
I don’t think you’d believe Gav would stray
MAT HORNE ON IDEA OF GAV HAVING AN AFFAIR