Ruth Jones hailed for ‘one of the best pieces of acting’ ahead of Gavin and Stacey Christmas special

As if we weren’t excited enough for the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, James Corden has got us all in our feels while reflecting on past performances.

Hinting at what’s to come on Christmas Day, when millions will sit in front of their TVs to watch the iconic characters in one last outing, the co-creater said the series finale will explore Nessa’s ‘chequered life’.

The BBC sitcom is returning for a one-off festive special set five years after the 2019 Christmas Day episode that ended on a cliffhanger when Vanessa Shanessa ‘Nessa’ Jenkins (Ruth Jones) proposed to James’s character Neil ‘Smithy’ Smith.

Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, James couldn’t speak highly enough of his co-writer.

‘It’s one of the best pieces of acting, what Ruth did with that character,’ he praised when talking about the moment Nessa got down on one knee before the credits rolled.

‘The show picks up five years after we left off… Nessa has had this unbelievable chequered life, and you find out more about that in this special – some really fun bits that we wrote.’

At the end of the 2019 Christmas episode, which won the impact award at the 2020 National Television Awards, Nessa tells Smithy: ‘I loves you with all my heart.’

Speaking about this, Ruth said: ‘The reason I feel it’s so emotional is because me and James have been on this journey for a long time.

‘We’ve known each other since 2000 doing Fat Friends, and because Gavin and Stacey has been such a massive part of our lives, and that was going to be the last episode – we filmed that scene in the middle of the night as we were filming during summertime, but it was set at Christmas, so it had to be dark.

‘We were there, just the two of us, on that road that had meant so much to us, and I just, as Ruth, was looking at my dear friend James, and when I said, “I loves you with all my heart” I was saying it to you (James).’

The pair also revealed they revisited a hotel where they had written part of the series while writing the new special.

James, 46, said: ‘It’s tired now (the hotel)… those 16 years have not been kind.

‘I think it’s under new ownership… We got there and lasted about an hour and then went to a different hotel.’

Ruth, 58, joked she’s ‘quite amazed [they] get any writing done at all.’

‘We talk a lot and start off the session by talking about gossip or life stuff and how we’re feeling,’ she said, giving an insight into their creative process.

‘Sometimes that can go on for quite a long time, and then we get a little bit of work done.

‘The day needs a lot of ingredients – it needs naps, ingredients, and chocolate.’

In the upcoming special, Gavin and Stacey ‘are looking for new ways to spice up their 17-year marriage’, according to the BBC, while Nessa starts ‘a new business venture’.

On what makes the comedy so special, James said sweetly: ‘On TV or films, you very rarely see people that look like Ruth and I fall in love.

‘You just don’t. I’d be dropping off a TV to Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones, and Ruth’s, like, working on a newsstand when someone buys a newspaper.

‘What I like about the show is that it’s so messy and complicated and they just clearly have fantastic sex. I really enjoy that confidence.’

Discussing the final episode, he hinted at why Gavin and Stacey has to end now, despite the nation’s eternal eagerness for more.

‘It can’t carry on. When you’ll see it, you’ll know.’

Speaking on a potential spin-off, he admitted that the pair ‘don’t know if [they] have another idea in [them’.

‘But I can honestly say that if we didn’t attempt to try and even explore the idea of writing together, then I’d be so disappointed,’ he added, suggesting he and Ruth will maintain a working partnership long after Gavin and Stacey ends.

In the sitcom, Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play lovers Gavin and Stacey, Alison Steadman is Gavin’s mother, Pam, Larry Lamb is his father, Mick, Melanie Walters portrays Stacey’s widowed mother Gwen, and Rob Brydon plays her Uncle Bryn.

Former chat show host James revealed in July that he and Ruth had finished writing the script for the final episode. The BBC announced filming had wrapped in October.

The first official trailer then dropped last weekend, during the Strictly Come Dancing final, offering a glimpse at the action to come, including references to that fishing trip.

There was also a suggestion that Smithy and Nessa were still close romantically, as they were seen bumping and grinding during Pam and Mick’s Christmas bash…

Fans now have just mere days to wait until all is revealed.

Gavin and Stacey: The Finale will air at 9pm on Christmas Day on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

The documentary, Gavin and Stacey: A Fond Farewell, will then be shown at 7pm on New Year’s Day on BBC One.

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