James Corden has confirmed that the highly-anticipated Gavin and Stacey Christmas special has started filming with a first look shot from set.
The former talk show host, 45, announced in early May along with the show’s co-creator Jones, 57, that the beloved comedy series would make a comeback.
The programme, which aired between 2007 and 2010, returned in 2019 for a festive episode that ended on a cliff-hanger with Nessa, played by Jones, getting down on one knee to propose to Smithy, played by Corden.
And on Monday, the British star took to Instagram to announce that the show has finally gone into production.
Sharing a photo of his character Smithy’s car, he penned alongside it: “Day 1. Here we go x”.
After uploading the photo, Corden’s post was met with a flood of comments from fans who shared their excitement.
One penned: “I am SO EXCITED! If he doesn’t marry nessa im going to kick off!”
“Screw the fishing trip, screw the wedding, let's just have the best Christmas special for the ages!! Forget Oasis, THIS IS HISTORY,” a fan commented. “Good luck, James and the rest of the team have a good shoot,” another penned. A fourth added: “So excited”.
A fifth posted: “I'm so happy I could cry”.
In May, the TV star said that the script was done, revealing that they wrote it last year after he moved back to the UK following eight years hosting the Late, Late Show in Los Angeles.
However in July, Corden explained that they were still tweaking it during an appearance on Chris Evans Virgin Radio breakfast show.
Corden said: “We finished a script a while back and it was too long… rewrites are harder than any writing.
“Rewriting is really difficult. Writing is really fun, because you can just go ‘anything can happen’.
“But when you rewrite stuff, you’re dealing with a lot of logistics and ‘well look we might not be able to shoot that, or this needs to be in this location, is there any way this can change?’ And frankly, it’s too long.”
“So really what we have been doing the last few weeks really is just trying to make it as economical as possible. And we finished it (the script) yesterday.”
Corden told Evans he felt “very emotional by all of it” as he reflected on the show and his friendship with Jones.
He said: “We’ve finished writing, we will never write anything that Pam (Alison Steadman’s character) says again…
“We will never come up with an interesting thing that Bryn (Rob Brydon’s character) has done.
“And we just looked at each other and we were just like, ‘Ah, isn’t that amazing?’ To even have the luxury of deciding to end it and to be in a position where people still care.
“It’s inconceivable to us – all of it. I just feel very emotional by all of it. Everything.”
Previously, Rob Brydon confirmed that the show's Christmas finale will bring closure to all the main storylines.
Speaking on Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Davina McCall, Brydon, who is expected to reprise his role as Stacey's Uncle Bryn, spilled the beans.
But he admitted hasn't seen the full script.
He joked: "Having read it, they handled Bryn's funeral really sensitively! I was worried I wasn't going to be in it, but they've got loads of flashbacks!"
Adding: "Do you know what, I know some of the stuff that happens, but I don’t think any of the cast have seen the script yet. They told me one or two little bits and bobs, and I believe it does wrap it all up."
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