Exclusive:
Since the return of Gavin & Stacey was officially announced last month, actor and writer Ruth Jones has been besieged by fans asking for spoilers
Ruth Jones has told how she and James Corden began writing the finale in September last year, spending a long time to make sure it was good enough and now the BBC are "very happy" with the finished script.
Since the return of the show was officially announced last month, actor and writer Ruth has been besieged by fans asking for spoilers, but instead of dishing gossip about the sitcom she has made up things, joking most of the cast will die and there could be a "helicopter crash".
Speaking on Wondery podcast ' Brydon & ' with close friend and cast member Rob Brydon, Ruth discussed the leaked news that the episode was happening and how it was frustrating for them as they were not in a position to confirm it was definitely going ahead when it happened in February.
But when viewers tune in on Christmas day they will see a "finished story". Ruth, 57, said: "I was very sad that it got leaked. James and I had been writing since September, which is always the case with us. We write it and then we go to the BBC and say do you want it because if we didn’t feel it was going to be good enough, no one else would know and nobody would be any the wiser.
"So, when we felt it was in good enough shape, that’s when we contacted the BBC. There was all this stuff about Netflix and a bidding war… absolute rubbish, you just go, where did this come from? And so, once we agreed with the BBC we were going to do it, and obviously they were very happy about it because it’s finishing a story and this will be the finale.
"But then there’s a whole process and you can’t announce it because you’ve got to make sure the cast are all available, that the deals are done and the budget is in place… all of these things. Then this journalist went and leaked it." When they did finally confirm the finale in May, Ruth was on stage in Sister Act and Corden was preparing for a new play, so the photo had to be taken in the theatre dressing room.
She explained: "James is rehearsing a play at the moment, The Constituent at the Old Vic, I was doing a show in the night, so the only time we had was a 20-minute crossover before I had to do my warmup and he finished his rehearsals. So, he came to my dressing room in the Dominion Theatre, we got the script with the title on the front, Gavin & Stacey and the finale, and we took a picture in my dressing room of us both holding the script. And that’s where it is. And now when people come to see me after the show, they go 'can I get a photo', and yes do you want to get it done where we did the photo of the announcement.
"And it still had an impact, enough time had passed, and people were still really excited." Gavin & Stacey is one of the most loved British sitcoms of all time and the 2019 Christmas special was the most-watched show in a decade at more than 18 million viewers. But it ended with a cliffhanger, with Nessa (Ruth) proposing to the ever-cheeky but loveable Smithy (Corden).
Speaking on the new podcast, Ruth went on to tell pal Rob that whilst performing in Sister Act she is being bugged for info about the sitcom and how it might finish.
She said: "At the end of Sister Act, I go out of the stage door and people and there’s often people there wanting programmes signed, which is lovely. But to a man, they’ll say 'I’m the biggest Gavin & Stacey fan' or 'thank you so much for this Christmas special' or 'You must be so excited, I can’t wait til Christmas'. A couple of people at the stage door, say 'What’s going to happen, is Smithy going to say yes?'.
"And I go to them, 'Do you seriously want me to tell you what’s going to happen in the Christmas Special?' And they go 'yes!'. And I go 'but you don’t, because what happens on Christmas Day when you come to watch it, you’ll know what’s going to happen.' And they go, 'please tell me'.
"So, I go (jokingly) 'there’s going to be helicopter crash, most of the cast are going to get killed', and I just make stuff up!"
During her chat with Rob, Ruth also reveals how Gwyneth Paltrow talked down to her on set in 1996 film Emma when she had a small part.
She said: "I had two lines, I had to announce Gwyneth Paltrow and say, “Miss Woodhouse is here” and then I had to say “Goodbye Miss Woodhouse” at the exit and let her out, and GP cut one of my lines. She said, “Does she really need to say that, can I just come in?” Imagine this for people who are starting out. You’ve got two lines, and someone cut 50% of your script, it’s heartbreaking."
She added: "I had to do the scene letting her out of the house, you can imagine the camera is on the other side of the door, in this beautiful little Dorset village, lovely little thatched cottage. We were waiting for them to shout action, so it was just me and Gwyneth behind the door. She didn’t want to talk to me, I was a nothing was I, I had one line then I was down to one. So, I tried to make conversation with her and at the time she was going out with Brad Pitt. And I said, “do you have any Welsh connections?” Because {the name} Gwyneth, I always think of as a Welsh name. “How come you’re called Gwyneth?”
She said: “My mother had a friend called Gwyneth and she really liked the name, so she called my Gwyneth.” She was quite dismissive of me, so I was thinking it’s an old woman’s name where I come from so when you get married, you’re going to be called Gwyn Pitt!”
- Brydon & from Wondery is available tomorrow on Wondery+ and everywhere you get your podcasts.
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