Gavin and Stacey - Comedy Gold!

Gavin and Stacey is a comedy on BBC and more recently Gold TV. It was wrote by James Corden and Ruth Jones who also play the roles of Smithy and Nessa on the show.

The Comedy is based on two families. There is Stacey West and her family who live on Barry Island in Wales. Stacey lives with her widowed Mum Gwen and her funny Uncle Bryn lives just across the street. Stacey also has a older brother called Jason who lives in Spain but makes regular visits back home. One of the main characters is her best friend Nessa Jenkins, and a regular on the show is Stacey's next door neighbour Doris.

Then there is Essex boy Gavin Shipman, who lives in Billericay along with his parents Pam and Mick. Gavin is regularly seen with best mate and main character, Smithy.

Smithy has a younger sister called Rudi and a girlfriend who we never see but is talked about on a regular basis. There is also a whole gang of Gavin and Smithy's mates with weird names such as Chinese, budgie and fingers. Other regulars on the show include Dawn and Pete who are best friends with Pam and Mick and are often seen having marital problems.

Series one starts with Gavin and Stacey arranging to meet up in London after months of chatting and flirting on the phone through work. They agree to bring their best mates Smithy and Nessa as a sort of double date.

After downing shots all night in a London nightclub, they all end up back in the hotel room. Gavin and Stacey are by this time smitten with each other, while Smithy and Nessa find each other repulsive but still end up having an eventful one night stand. Gavin drives to Wales regularly to see Stacey, and after taking her back to Essex to meet his parents Pam and Mick, he proposes to her and Stacey excitedly accepts.

Meanwhile Smithy and Nessa who claim they cant stand each other, have sex again at Gavin and Stacey's engagement party in Essex. The series continues with the planning of the wedding and Gavin also finding out that his beloved Stacey has already been engaged no less than five times.

We also see tension between Stacey's Uncle Bryn, and her brother Jason because of something that happened between them on a fishing trip? (ooh-err!)

The series ends with Gavin and Stacey getting married, where Stacey finds out Nessa is pregnant........ and Smithy's the Father.

Series two begins with Gavin and Stacey returning from their honeymoon in Greece. After arriving back home and catching up with their families, they all go to a restaurant where Nessa reveals she is pregnant with Smithy's baby.

After Smithy calms down and the initial shock wears off, he agrees to support Nessa and be a big part in his babies life. Things soon get complicated when Nessa starts dating Dave Coaches, which Smithy seems suspiciously jealous about.

Meanwhile new bride Stacey is finding it difficult settling in at Pam and Mick's and is missing home. This is not helped by the fact she cant seem to get a job, so spends her days sat round the house waiting for Gav to get home from work.

Tension starts building between the newlyweds which results in Stacey taking her wedding ring off and planning to return back home to Barry Island. However, before she gets the chance Nessa goes into labour, and the race is on to get Smithy there in time for the birth. Gavin and Smithy arrive at the hospital just as baby Neil is born and the series ends with Gavin and Stacey making up.

Following Series two there was a Christmas special where we saw Gavin going for a job interview in Wales, which he gets. The West family travel down to Essex to spend Christmas with the Shipman's along with Nessa, Dave and baby Neil.

A big row kicks off on Christmas eve when Gavin tells his Mum and Smithy that he has been offered a new job in Wales and himself and Stacey are going to live there. Smithy also becomes upset when he feels Dave Coaches is replacing him as a father to Baby Neil, and it only gets worse when Dave proposes to Nessa on Christmas day to which she accepts.

The special ends with Smithy telling Nessa not to marry Dave.

In the final series, we see Gavin and Stacey living in Wales, and Gavin starting his new job.

The Shipman's along with Smithy, travel up for baby Neil's christening. Later, Smithy is annoyed when he realises that the Christening he is paying for is also a joint engagement party for Nessa and Dave. Meanwhile Gavin and Stacey decide they are going to start trying for a baby of their own.

In the next episode we see Gavin and Stacey along with Nessa and Baby Neil go down to Essex for the weekend, where after a drunken night Smithy and Nessa once again end up in bed together. Gavin and Stacey start trying for a baby but are soon left disappointed when they face fertility problems. Gavin becomes depressed about the situation and so his parents Pam and Mick and best friend Smithy all go up to Barry Island for a day on the beach to cheer him up.

Meanwhile Nessa and Dave are not getting on after Dave finds out about her and Smithy sleeping together. Despite this, they still go ahead with the wedding plans.

In the final episode we see Nessa preparing to marry Dave. However when Nessa drops baby Neil off with Smithy who has decided not to go to the wedding, we see some touching moments between the two. Meanwhile back in Barry, Stacey discovers she is finally pregnant.

While everyone is busy getting organised for the wedding, Smithy is sat at a crossroads trying to decide what he really wants, Later, he turns up at the church pleading with Nessa not to marry Dave and even accuses her of not loving Dave anyway. Realising this is true, Dave calls off the ceremony.

The series ends with Gavin, Stacey, Nessa and Smithy all sat on Barry Island beach with a heavily pregnant Stacey. The four of them are all laughing and joking and seem to be enjoying their lives together.

Although Gavin and Stacey became really popular, and fans have been campaigning for a new series, both James Corden and Ruth Jones say their are no plans to write another series. It is a shame because it would have been nice to see how Gavin and Stacey coped with a baby, and what happened between Smithy and Nessa.

Even though the show was based on Gavin and Stacey my favourite characters were Nessa and Smithy. I also found Uncle Bryn, played by comedian Rob Brydon hilarious.

Writers James Corden and Ruth Jone's said they haven't ruled out a one off special episode of Gavin and Stacey. In an interview they said that they would consider doing a bonfire or Halloween special rather than a Christmas one. Either way, they definitely want to work together on a future project.

I would love to see a spin off show starring the two of them. Perhaps they could call it 'Nessa & Smithy' I for one would enjoy watching that.