This month’s Radio Times Book Club, sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante, pick tells the story of one of Britain’s best-loved comedies, in a series of conversations between its co-creators James Corden (Smithy) and Ruth Jones (Nessa).
In this excerpt, they discuss how last Christmas’s finale – watched by more than 20 million people — came to be…
James: I’d always thought we should do another one. By the end of series three we had ten million viewers. And it just felt like the show wasn’t going away. People would keep saying, “Go on, do another one”.
Ruth: It was Mexico that clinched it.
James: It was my 40th [in 2018] and my wife, Jules, organised a birthday weekend in Mexico. She flew in my oldest school friend, Sheddy, and she had friends from all over the world fly in. But it was all a massive surprise.
Ruth: Julia messaged me and asked, “Would you consider coming to Mexico for it?” And it was strange, because you and I hadn’t really been massively in touch. In fact, I think the last time we’d seen each other was the previous Christmas, when you came over from LA and were staying in a hotel in London, and I remember going there to see you, and being very polite in front of you. Because at that stage you’d so gone into the stratosphere, fame-wise.
And I think that disparity is difficult for people sometimes. So Mexico was really key, because then we spent time talking about what a new Gavin & Stacey episode would be. [Before that] I just didn’t want to go back there at all. And I think you did. Then in Mexico we all had to hide away. We knew that you were going to be inside this villa thing, and we all had to gather outside and put sombreros on. One by one, people had to go in.
James: Yes, suddenly this mariachi band strikes up, and all these people come in. John Bishop’s there, and all these people I know are marching in wearing sombreros. Then someone opens my laptop, and Tom Cruise is on it, telling me that my mate Sheddy is here, and then he walks in, and then Jules goes, “There’s one more person here…” And you walked in, and I was unbelievably happy to see you.
Ruth: It was so emotional. And it’s really weird, because I don’t think I always appreciate how much you love me. And partly I was thinking, “Surely he’ll be more excited about seeing John Bishop, or someone?” But I walked in and you literally burst into tears. I was kind of shocked that it meant so much to you.
James: It was amazing. We had the best weekend. And because we’d always laughed about the fact that you had sung Wild Thing at your own wedding, we went to this restaurant and there was a band, and you got up and sang Wild Thing.
Ruth: It was just something I decided to do on the spot. I knew the only way I would get away with it was to absolutely, completely give it my all. And not think about the fact that there were professional singers there. I mean, Harry Styles was there, for God’s sake – he looked a bit in shock. I don’t know if it was in a good way or bad.
James: Yeah, it was an amazing time. And at some point during that birthday weekend, I said to you, “Do you want to think about doing more Gavin & Stacey? You know, I think it might be time.”
Ruth: Yeah, we had that conversation sitting by the pool during the day. It wasn’t like a drunken sudden decision or anything. It had been mentioned over the years so many times and while I said I wasn’t keen to do it, there were times when I did think about it, because I remember I used to make notes and write down my thoughts about what could happen if we did do a new episode.
And we used to text each other ideas and things like that as well. So it just felt, because now we’d finally come together after this period of not really being in touch, maybe that made it feel more concrete. I came away from the Mexico trip thinking, “Right let’s do this…”
HUNGRY FOR MORE? For this month’s midweek treat, Joanna read When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between while enjoying her favourite pizza: Hawaii from Dr. Oetker Ristorante – a hotly debated topping that works perfectly together, just like Nessa and Smithy!
For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club sponsored by Dr. Oetker Ristorante.
You can purchase When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between, our book of the month, at the Radio Times Shop.
