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Gavin And Stacey: The Finale is nothing I’d been rushing to look forward to, but based upon the advertising, you’d think it was the second coming.
For me, the first season was funny, but after that, it fell apart and has been treading water ever since.
I’m fairly ambivalent to Ruth Jones, but James Corden sets the lowest benchmark for being funny, not least because of when he took over Craig Ferguson’s American chat show, and somehow made a living out of having a big beard, while shouting a lot.
Whether or not it really is the last one, I doubt it, but this 95-minute episode is so pedestrian, it could cross the street by itself. It’s just endless fan service, which doesn’t care for newcomers or enticing people who have rather tired of it.
2019’s episode ended with the cliffhanger that Nessa proposed to Smithy, yet we had no answer. However, this one sees him about to get married to Sonia (Laura Aikman). Yes, it’s basically the plot of Arthur.
“Neil the Baby” is about 20, and it’s also unsurprising that when you’ve been up all night drinking, missing the 10am suit-fitting is going to be an obvious outcome. Plus, when it comes to the stag, I can’t be doing with loud people, so I’d skip that.
And how come Nessa’s arcade includes a game that features the audio from PAC-MAN on the Atari 2600? It’s at 58:24 if you need a reminder.
For Gavin And Stacey: The Finale, I guess they’ve got to get a ‘last episode’ out before some members of the cast are no longer around, as certain members are soon knocking on the door of 80. But then at Christmas time, if you promise the people the same buffet of shit they wolfed down a few years ago, they’ll get stuck in any time.
It’s already bad enough when Joanna Page pops up on any old advert, really ramping her Welsh accent to 11, as if she normally speaks like that.
Still, it had some good music, such as The Maccabees’ Pelican, just as they all set off in Dave Coaches’… coach.
You can watch Gavin And Stacey: The Finale on the BBC iPlayer.
You can pre-order the episode on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release on February 3rd 2025.
You can also buy The Complete Collection on Blu-ray and DVD.
Director: Christine Gernon
Writers/Creators: James Corden, Ruth Jones
Producer: Sarah Fraser
Cast:
Gavin Shipman: Mathew Horne
Stacey Shipman: Joanna Page
Neil ‘Smithy’ Smith: James Corden
Nessa Jenkins: Ruth Jones
Pam Shipman: Alison Steadman
Bryn West: Rob Brydon
Mick Shipman: Larry Lamb
Gwen West: Melanie Walters
Sonia: Laura Aikman
Dave Coaches: Steffan Rhodri
Dawn Sutcliffe: Julia Davis
Pete Sutcliffe: Adrian Scarborough
The Celebrant: Anna Maxwell Martin
Ruth ‘Rudi’ Smith: Sheridan Smith
Jason West: Robert Wilfort
Neil the Baby: Oscar Hartland
Dirtbox: Andrew Knott
Budgie: Russell Tovey
Chinese Alan: Dominic Gaskell
Fingers: Samuel Anderson
Gary: Jason Gregg
Cath Smith: Pam Ferris
Harri Shipman: Gabriel Mitell
Megan Shipman: Maddison Belle Platt
Caitlin Shipman: Martha Tregonning
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.