‘Gavin and Stacey’ Finale Shatters UK Records With Nearly 20M Viewers

The Christmas special (and final ever episode) of beloved U.K. sitcom Gavin & Stacey is the U.K.’s most-watched scripted show across all broadcasters and streamers since current records began in 2002, with ratings already at 19.3 million, according to BBC data.

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale smashed the show’s own record from the 2019 Christmas special which reached 18.5 million viewers in 28 days.

The last-ever episode of the hit British sitcom took the top spot on Christmas Day and was watched by a 12.3 million viewers in the U.K. It has since added over 6 million to its total, a number that will only continue to grow when the 28-day figures are published, putting the series well on track to reach over 20 million total viewers.

Of the 19.3 million, 4.2 million of are aged 16-34, making it the highest young audience for a scripted show since 2002. Co-creators and series stars James Corden and Ruth Jones unpacked just why Brits love the sitcom so much at a recent press launch for the finale.

Corden and Jones said: “We are completely overwhelmed by the audience response to our show and to these astonishing viewing figures. Gavin & Stacey really does belong to the audience and we are beyond thrilled that so many people enjoyed watching it this Christmas. A huge thank you to Charlotte Moore and the BBC for backing us these past 17 years.”

Charlotte Moore, BBC’s chief content officer, added: “The numbers are truly outstanding, unprecedented even… It’s the show the entire nation has been talking about over the last week so it’s no surprise that it’s not only smashed its own record but has become the U.K.’s biggest scripted show.”

In every U.K. household, Gavin & Stacey is a staple of British television. It began with a man from Billericay in Essex, Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne), and a young woman, Stacey West (Joanna Page), from Barry in Wales. They fall in love talking over the phone while working for the same company at miles-apart branches and when they first meet in episode one, they hit it off.

As the show follows their blossoming relationship (and eventual marriage), what really conjures the magic is their wider families whose lives all become intertwined as Gavin and Stacey try to make their Billericay-to-Barry relationship work.

Corden plays Smithy, Gavin’s charismatic and food-lover of a best friend, while his Barry counterpart is Jones, playing Nessa: an enigmatic, unyielding black-bobbed woman with a deadpan tone and thick Welsh accent to boot. (The two characters, despite the show’s name, become the will-they-won’t-they couple of the entire series). Gavin’s parents, the snobbish Pamela (Alison Steadman) and sweet father Mick (Larry Lamb) attempt to welcome Stacey’s soft-spoken mother, Gwen (Melanie Walters), and excitable uncle, Bryn (Rob Brydon), across the border and into their home.

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale is created, written and executive produced by both Jones and Corden. It is a Tidy and Fulwell73 production for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.