ABOUT

Gavin & Stacey is a BBC television sitcom written by and starring Ruth Jones and James Corden and produced by Baby Cow Productions. Gavin is played by Mathew Horne and Joanna Page plays Stacey.

The first series (six episodes) chronicled the developing romance of the two leads and ended with their marriage. The second series (seven episodes) began with two back-to-back episodes, on 16 March 2008 on BBC Three. Both series originally aired on BBC Three and were later shown on BBC Two and BBC One; the Christmas special was aired on the latter channel.

Although the series is set in Billericay, Essex and Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, the two series were shot largely in Cardiff, Barry and the surrounding area, including Dinas Powys, Sully and Penarth.

Characters

Main characters:-

Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) - Gavin is 26 (Smithy refers to them meeting in infants school, at the age of 6, in 1983), and is an only child, who lives with his mother and father, in Billericay, Essex. His best friend Smithy, with whom Gavin plans to drink every variety of beer in the world, lives just down the street. He is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (as is Mathew Horne) and is often seen wearing his Spurs shirt.

Stacey Shipman (née West) (Joanna Page) - Stacey is 26 and is from Barry, near Cardiff. Her father, Trevor, died three years ago and she lived at home with her mother in Barry until her marriage. She has been engaged six times but married only once, to Gavin.

Neil "Smithy" Smith (James Corden) - Smithy is Gavin's friend and they've known each other since primary school. He loves Gavin's parents more than his own, who are never seen in the show. He has an unseen girlfriend called Lucy, who according to Smithy is seventeen years and three quarters old. He loves unusual beer, paintball and West Ham United. When Nessa gives birth to their son, they name him Neil after himself and Nessa's father.

Vanessa "Nessa" Shanessa Jenkins (Ruth Jones) - Nessa is Stacey's best friend also from Barry. She discovers she is pregnant in the final episode of series 1 and it is later revealed that Smithy is the father. She speaks fluent Italian and some Welsh, has several tattoos, is a chain smoker (until her pregnancy) and was one of the original members of All Saints (but didn't get along with Shaznay). She works at the Barry Island Amusement Arcades or "The Slots". Nessa regularly recalls strange and often lewd experiences with celebrities (John Prescott is mentioned several times, as is Dodi Al-Fayed), and to a lesser extent she talks about various life experiences she has had such as travelling the world on a cruise ship and dealing with the death of her second husband, Clive, (who was executed by firing squad for drug running after she gave evidence against him). She gives birth to Baby Neil in the Series Finale of Series 2. Nessa became engaged to Dave Coaches, her boyfriend, in the 2008 Christmas Special.

Michael "Mick" Shipman (Larry Lamb) - Mick is Gavin's father. He is in his mid fifties and a down-to-earth guy, like his son. He's happy with his life - running his own company, playing golf and going to the pub quiz every Tuesday.

Pamela "Pam" Andrea Shipman (née Griggell-Eschefska) (Alison Steadman) — Pam is Gavin's proud and doting mother. She is in her early fifties, typical of the Essex wife stereotype and is very house-proud. She is also very caring of Smithy, Gavin's best friend, and treats him as if he were her own son. Pam wrongly feared that Stacey's family may be vegetarian so pretended to be vegetarian also, despite frequent cravings for meat. It is later revealed in the 2008 Christmas Special that all of Stacey's family (Including Nessa and possibly Dave) knew Pam was not vegetarian - with the exception of Gwen, who had bought Pam a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas. Pamela adores Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and acts out sexual fantasies of Charles and Camilla with Mick. Conversely, she hates Princess Diana.

Bryn West (Rob Brydon) - Bryn is Stacey and Jason's uncle. He is the brother of Stacey's deceased father, Trevor, and is single in his late forties. He lives across the road from Gwen and Stacey and is very protective of them. Bryn has a strained relationship with his nephew Jason due to an unspecified incident on a fishing trip. In Series 2, Bryn often inadvertently makes comments suggesting he may have homosexual leanings. He is a simple man who leads a very simple life and often gets excited about trivial things.

Gwen West (Melanie Walters) - Gwen is Stacey's mother. She is a widow in her late forties, a housewife, and regularly offers to cook omelettes.

Other characters:-

Jason West (Robert Wilfort) - Stacey's elder brother, son of Gwen and her late husband Trevor. Lives in Spain with his boyfriend José.

Dawn (Julia Davis) and Pete 'willy face' Sutcliffe (Adrian Scarborough) - Friends of Pam and Mick Shipman. They have a very strained marriage and regularly insult each other in public. Also part of the ongoing joke that characters share their surnames with serial killers - in this case Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.

Doris (Margaret John) - Gwen's next door neighbour, she has a daughter named Moira, who she never got on with. Doris spotted the unfortunate coincidence of sharing the West and Shipman surnames with serial murderers Fred / Rose West and Harold Shipman. She has also offered herself up to Gavin for 'discreet' extramarital relations.

Griff (Alan David) - Bryn's friend.

Fingers (Samuel Anderson); Dirtbox (Andrew Knott); Budgie (Russell Tovey); Chinese Alan (Dominic Gaskell) - Gavin's friends. Anderson, Knott and Tovey all appeared in the original production of The History Boys together with James Corden.

Louise (Ffion Williams) Lowri (Catherine Evans); Ros (Trudi Jackson) - Stacey's friends

Achmed (Paul Sharma) - Fourth of Stacey's five former fiancés. Now lives in Swindon

Chris "Jammy" (Matt Lucas) - Cameo appearance as stag party planner

Dick Powell - The only exclusively Welsh-speaking inhabitant of Barry. Sells satellite navigation systems and enjoys Glamorgan sausage sandwiches.

Ruth "Rudi" Smith (Sheridan Smith) - Smithy's sister, likes to be also called Smithy trying to imitate her brother.

David "Dave" 'Coaches' (Steffan Rhodri) - Bus driver in Barry and Nessa's fiancé (engaged in Christmas Special).

Duncan - (Marc Wootton) - Cameo appearance as estate agent who shows Gavin and Stacey around a flat.

Seth - Man met by Dawn and Pete on the internet in an attempt to "spice up" their relationship.

Susan "Big Fat Sue" - friend of Pam

"Baby Neil" Smith - Nessa & Smithy's baby, named after Nessa's father and Smithy.

Edna - Pete's elderly mother whom he is constantly chasing after.

Fat-no-more Pat - friend of Pam

Father Chris - The Vicar at Barry church, the Shipmans are forced to attend Father Chris' Mass in preparation for the wedding.

Bryan - Barman at Gavin and Smithy's local pub, the Coach & Horses. Calls Smithy a T****r

Dai (Johhny Tudor) - Bingo Caller. His wife, Maria, knows Dave Coaches because she works at the clinic

Shareese - Has an argument with Smithy's sister Rudi. She claims Rudi got off with her boyfriend Darren Miller.

Music

The credits theme to Gavin & Stacey is "Run", by Stephen Fretwell.

The Libertines single "Don't Look Back into the Sun" was used repeatedly throughout the two series.

The music used in the trailers was "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" by CSS.

When Gavin and Bryn Find Smithy at the driving range after going missing, the instumental of '505' by Arctic Monkeys is played. Brianstorm by Arctic Monkeys is also played while nessa is bowling.

The music used during wedding ceremony in the climax of the first series in episode 6 as Stacey comes up the aisle is "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol.

The vows are off-camera, and the music used when the church doors burst open as the bridal party exits is "Love or Trial" by The Hot Puppies.

In the beginning of the first episode of the second series, Razorlight's "Before I Fall to Pieces" was used.

The last episode of the second series also featured a clip of Patrick Wolf's "Magic Position".

Bryn is a big fan of James Blunt, (series 2, episode 2) and particularly likes 'the one about the three wise men' and 'You're Beautiful'. He is also partial to Chris Rea.

Their first dance in the last episode of series one was "A Million Love Songs" by Take That. Gavin & Stacey's song is "Last Request" by Paolo Nutini. Snow Patrol's "You Could Be Happy" was used in episode 6 of the second series. The final song of series 2 (the music whilst Smithy and Gavin are getting to the Hospital and Nessa is giving birth) is "Gravity" by Embrace.

For Gwen's birthday barn dance, Bryn and Nessa do a duet of "Islands In The Stream".

Overseas

NBC planned to make an adapted American version of Gavin and Stacey. In a television interview, Ruth Jones commented that the American version could have Gavin coming from New Jersey and Stacey from South Carolina. Now, ABC is developing the potential series.

In Ireland, the show began airing on RTÉ Two on 3 July 2008.

In New Zealand, season one began playing on TV ONE on 27 June 2008.

In Canada, the series is airing on BBC Canada.

Season One of Gavin and Stacey began playing on BBC America on 26 August 2008

Season Two of Gavin and Stacey is currently playing on RTP2 in Portugal.