Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series.

A romantic comedy, the show

follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin (Mathew Horne) from Billericay in
Essex, England, and Stacey (Joanna Page) from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also co-star as Gavin and
Stacey's friends Smithy and Nessa. Other prominent cast members include Rob Brydon,
Alison Steadman, Larry Lamb and Melanie Walters.

The show was produced by Baby Cow Productions for BBC Wales. It ran for a total of
twenty episodes, broadcast between 13 May 2007 to 1 January 2010, comprising of three
series and a Christmas special. Initially, the series was shown on digital-only channel
BBC Three, but a growing following meant that it was subsequently moved to BBC Two,
and finally BBC One. The last episodes of the final series formed a significant part of the
prime time BBC seasonal programming, and were broadcast on Christmas Day 2009 and
New Year's Day 2010.

Gavin & Stacey was acclaimed as a hit breakthrough show for BBC Three, becoming the
most nominated show in the 2007 British Comedy Awards. To date it has won several
awards, including the British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs) Audience Award,
and the British Comedy Awards Best TV Comedy Award, both in 2008.

The show follows the romance between Gavin, from Billericay in Essex, and Stacey,
from Barry. Initially, Gavin lives with his parents, Pam and Mick, and spends his time
with his best friend Smithy. Stacey lives with her widowed mother, Gwen, but is
frequently visited by her Uncle Bryn and her best friend Nessa. The series follows the
key moments in their relationship, as they have their first meeting, meet each other's
families, become engaged, get married, look for a house, briefly split up, look for new
jobs, and try to become pregnant.

The characters of Gavin and Stacey provide the emotional core of the story, and the show
focusses on the situations that arise when their relationship brings their two differing
families together. As a result, episodes often focus on the key events in life that bring
wider families and close friends together, such as weddings, christenings, birthday parties
and Christmas. However, the show mainly presents the families interacting in
deliberately non-dramatic situations; scenarios include visits to the beach and nights out.

A significant second storyline also follows the contrasting relationship between Smithy
and Nessa, who despite disliking each other have a succession of one-night stands, which
ultimately result in Nessa becoming pregnant and having a baby. Whilst Gavin and
Stacey are the clear main characters throughout, towards the end of the show's run the
dramatic emphasis switches slightly from them, as they resolve their distance issues, to
Smithy and Nessa, as Nessa becomes engaged to another man.

Characters & Cast

Further information: List of Gavin & Stacey characters
[edit] Main Characters

• Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) - Level-headed protagonist from Billericay,

Essex.

• Stacey West [later Shipman] (Joanna Page) - Bubbly protagonist from Barry,
near Cardiff

• Neil 'Smithy' Smith (James Corden) - Gavin's oldest and closest friend who also
lives in Billericay, Essex.

• Vanessa Shanessa 'Nessa' Jenkins (Ruth Jones) - Stacey's oldest and closest
friend, who is also from Barry.

• Michael 'Mick' Shipman (Larry Lamb) - Gavin's down-to-earth father.

• Pamela Andrea 'Pam' Shipman [neé Griggell-Eschefska] (Alison Steadman) -

Gavin's house-proud and doting mother.

• Bryn West (Rob Brydon) - Stacey's protective uncle, and Gwen's brother-in-law.

• Gwen West (Melanie Walters) - Stacey's caring, widowed mother. She also has
an older son, Jason.

[edit] Supporting Roles

• Jason West (Robert Wilfort) - Stacey's gay older brother, who lives in Spain.

• Dawn Sutcliffe (Julia Davis) - A close friend of Pam and Mick, who frequently
has public arguments with husband Pete.

• Pete Sutcliffe (Adrian Scarborough) - A close friend of Pam and Mick, husband
to Dawn.

• Dave Coaches (Steffan Rhodri) - Local coach driver, later fiancé to Nessa.

• Doris (Margaret John) - Elderly neighbour to Gwen, and close friend of the West
family.

• Ruth 'Rudi' Smith (Sheridan Smith) - Smithy's immature, but loving, younger
sister.

• Catherina 'Cath' Smith (Pam Ferris) - Smithy's single mother, suffers from a
mild form of narcolepsy.

[edit] Guest Appearences

Although the production team received requests, the show declined to use celebrity
guests for cameo roles in the 2008 Christmas special.[1] However, both Noel Sullivan,
Chris Bennett and John Prescott made brief cameo appearances at the end of the final
series.[2] All three figures had formed the basis of long running jokes throughout the
series. Nessa occasionally refers to Sullivan as her housemate; a member of the band she
initially lives with. Nessa had also claimed to have had an affair with Prescott.

[edit] Plot Synopsis

[edit] Series One

The initial series begins with the lives of the titular characters, Gavin Shipman and
Stacey West. Gavin is twenty-eight, and lives at home in Billericay, Essex, with his
parents Mick and Pam Shipman. Stacey is twenty-six, and lives in Barry, South Wales,
with her widowed mother Gwen West. Her uncle (and Gwen's brother-in-law), Bryn
West, lives across the street from Stacey and Gwen and is very protective and caring of
the two women.

In the pilot episode, Gavin and Stacey finally arrange to meet, after months of flirting and
chatting over the phone through work. They decide to meet on neutral ground in London,
bringing best friends Nessa and Smithy for supposed double dates. The night ends with
Gavin and Stacey returning to the hotel room and sleeping together, as do Smithy and
Nessa. The couple become infatuated with each other, but Smithy and Nessa are happy to
forget their drunken one night stand and make little contact with one another afterwards.

Gavin continues to drive across to Wales to see Stacey, and after arranging for her to stay
with him in Essex and meet his parents, proposes to her. Elated, Stacey accepts his
marriage proposal and soon the two families meet and set about arranging the wedding
day. Whilst Nessa and Smithy claim they can't stand each other, it is known that they
have sexual intercourse again at the engagement party at Pam and Mick's. The series
continues with the planning of Gavin and Stacey's big day, as well as their hen and stag
nights. The series ends with the episode of the wedding, held in Wales, where Stacey
learns from Nessa that she is pregnant with Smithy's child.

[edit] Series Two

The second series begins with the newlyweds arriving from a honeymoon in Greece. The
in-laws meet again at the Shipman's house in Essex, where Nessa brings some shocking
revelations - especially to Smithy. He learns that she is pregnant with his baby, and
although he makes it clear he thoroughly dislikes the woman, he is generally civil and
supportive towards her about their child. Meanwhile, Gavin and Stacey, living at Pam
and Mick's house, run into trouble when Stacey struggles to find a job and becomes
home-sick for Barry and her family. The couple try to overcome their problem by looking
for an apartment or house in Essex, but Stacey is still dissatisfied and is considering
moving back to South Wales to be with her family. In the final episode of the series,
Stacey takes off her wedding ring, much to the upset of Gavin, but this is interrupted by
the news of Nessa unexpectedly going into labour a month early. Pam, Mick and Stacey
hurry across to Wales, whilst Gavin rushes to find Smithy with Smithy's sister, Rudi,
eventually finding him in the local pub. They arrive to find that Nessa has given birth to a
boy, Neil. Gavin and Stacey decide to put their differences aside and are together once
again.

[edit] Christmas Special

An extended Christmas special involves Stacey's family, along with Nessa and her
partner, Dave, spending Christmas with Gavin's parents. Gavin reveals that he has found
a job in Cardiff, which at first causes upset for Pam and Smithy, but they both learn to
accept it. Gavin later admits to Smithy that he is moving to Barry with Stacey in order to
save his marriage. Smithy also gets upset when he feels that Dave, who lives with the
baby, Neil, is replacing him as a father. Smithy is furthermore unhappy after Dave
proposes to Nessa (with the ring enclosed in a cigarette packet), and she accepts.

[edit] Series Three

Gavin begins on his new job in Wales and his parents and Smithy travel to Wales for
Neil's christening. In the next episode Gavin and Stacey, and Nessa and her child Neil,
spend the weekend at Pam and Mick's, and after a drunken night, it is believed that Nessa
and Smithy may have once again had sex after waking up in bed together the next
morning. Gavin and Stacey begin trying for a baby and Stacey is upset and disappointed
when she learns that they may not be able to have children. Gavin becomes depressed and
preoccupied with this issue, and in an attempt to cheer him up, Pam, Mick and Smithy
arrange a surprise trip to Barry beach on a sunny bank holiday. Nessa and Dave also run
into trouble after Dave learns about her alleged sexual intercourse with Smithy, but the
two decide to go ahead with the wedding. In the final episode, Stacey discovers she is
pregnant after all, and the couple are overjoyed and excited. Smithy shows up at Nessa
and Dave's wedding ceremony with Neil, pleading for her not to marry him, and accusing
her of not loving Dave. Dave, much to everyone's surprise, agrees with Smithy that Nessa
does not love him, and the ceremony is called off. The series ends showing the four
(Gavin, Stacey, Nessa and Smithy) on Barry beachfront, with a heavily pregnant Stacey.
Smithy and Nessa's relationship status is left ambiguous; Smithy places a hand on Nessa's
shoulder and the four laugh together but there is no clear indication that the two are a
couple, and there is no sign of Neil the baby. The camera zooms out as they laugh; the
main theme plays and the scene fades to black.