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James Corden has revealed that he and Ruth Jones nearly 'gave up' on bringing Gavin & Stacey back for the 2019 Christmas special as their first draft was 'terrible'.
The creators, who play Smithy and Nessa on the hit BBC series, opened up about reuniting ahead of the first comeback in 2019 during A Fond Farewell documentary on Wednesday.
James explained how initially their writing was 'awful' and they were thankful they hadn't called the BBC as they suddenly believed they could 'never do it again'.
TV presenter James said: 'For the 2019 one, I don't know if people know this but we gave up on it at one point.
'We had written maybe half way through and we read it and we were like this is rubbish, awful, terrible.
'It is extraordinary how close we were to just, I actually remember us saying to each other thank god we didn't call the BBC.
James Corden has revealed that he and Ruth Jones nearly 'gave up' on bringing Gavin & Stacey back for the 2019 Christmas special as it was originally 'terrible'
James explained how initially their writing was 'awful' and they were thankful they hadn't called the BBC as they suddenly believed they could 'never do it again'
'So we ate dinner in my kitchen and I said look I think we owe it to the show to go back in and talk about why it is bad and to say goodbye to it.
'We were like two hours from saying bye to it and going we can never do it again, it isn't good enough.'
Ruth added: 'But then we realised, which is true for the whole of every episode of Gavin and Stacey, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey.
'So we realised it wasn't working because there was nothing substantial for them'.
James continued: 'Then that night at like 11pm was when we came up with the scene of Stacey keeping the matches and it changed everything.
'We rang the BBC the next day and so we went from it being dead to like, oh no it's alright.'
Just minutes into the hour-long documentary, fans were quick to confess that they were already in 'floods of tears,' as they struggled to come to terms with the fact that the legendary sitcom would no longer be on screen.
The programme, offered a glimpse at the making of the long-awaited finale, as well as taking a lookback at the show's origins, and its 17-year run.
James said: 'I don't know if people know this but we gave up on it at one point. We had written maybe half way through and we read it and we were like this is rubbish, awful, terrible'
He added: 'It is extraordinary how close we were to just, I actually remember us saying to each other thank god we didn't call the BBC. We were like two hours from saying bye to it and going we can never do it again, it isn't good enough'; pictured 2010
Ruth added: 'But then we realised, which is true for the whole of every episode of Gavin and Stacey, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey'
James continued: 'Then that night at like 11pm was when we came up with the scene of Stacey keeping the matches and it changed everything. We rang the BBC the next day and so we went from it being dead to like, oh no it's alright'
Gavin and Stacey: The Finale drew in a whopping 12.5 million viewers to become the most watched show on Christmas Day.
Viewers had been waiting for five years to learn the fate of the BBC sitcom's beloved characters and see if Smithy had accepted Nessa's proposal.
The final episode was hailed 'perfect' by viewers, who were left in tears as the long-running show finally aired its last episode after 17 years.
The BBC won the battle of the channels when it came to ratings as 10 million also tuned in to watch the return of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
The series, which debuted back in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth Jones, concluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.
Smithy was originally set to wed his girlfriend Sonia, with it revealed he'd never given an answer to Nessa's proposal, which provided the cliffhanger to the show's 2019 Christmas Special.
But after the entire Shipman/West clan finally declared that he was making a mistake, Smithy finally declared his love for Nessa, proposing to her in an emotional scene at Southampton Docks.
The episode then cut to Smithy and Nessa exchanging their vows at long last in an intimate ceremony in Barry, with the series ending with an emotional montage of the family marking the occasion at The Dolphin pub, before posing for a family snap together.
James and Ruth also have a book about the show due out next Autumn called When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story Of Love And Friendship.
Despite ruling out a return to the series, James has said he wants to work with Rith again.
He said: 'We don't know if we have another idea in us 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.'
English (US) ·