Christmas television in the UK is somewhat of a tradition. Yes, the turkey and pudding with custard is nice, but it’s the TV on offer that Brits really look forward to when Yuletide comes around.
Many shows decide to air Christmas specials, which are not only longer than ordinary episodes, but are also a pleasant “welcome back” to some that finished their seasons much earlier in the year.
And sometimes, they even include a revisit to shows not seen in almost a decade!
This year, that honor went to Gavin & Stacey.
The comedy originally ran between 2007 and 2010 and featured Mathew Horne and Joanna Page as the titular English-Welsh couple who fall in love and must learn to meld their families and different cultural backgrounds. Show writers James Corden and Ruth Jones also starred as the pair’s friends.
Nine years after the final episode, Gavin, Stacey, Smithy, and Nessa returned to British screens on Christmas Day for a special that checks in on the characters nearly a decade later.
A mammoth audience joined in, with 11.6 million viewers reportedly having tuned in to BBC One for the broadcast, according to official figures.
The numbers are the largest score for the BBC since 14.5 million watched the Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death Christmas special in 2008. In fact, Gavin & Stacey proved even more popular than the Queen, pulling in almost 4 million more views than her annual Christmas speech.
Cheers to that!
