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.
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.
EastEnders did well with 8.7 million watching Cindy Beale left for dead after being hit with a shovel in the two-part episode. In comparison, just 2.8millioned tuned in to see Gail Platt’s final episode on ITV’s Coronation Street.
Gavin and Stacey finally came to an end with a feature-length festive finale on Wednesday, with fans quick to laud the ‘perfect’ conclusion, 17 years after the iconic BBC comedy first hit screens.
Gavin and Stacey: The Finale drew in a whopping 12.5 million viewers to be the most watched show on Christmas Day
With tears in his eyes Smithy got down on one knee to propose, after Nessa told him she would never ask him again following her proposal in 2019
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.
While fans tuned into the episode to see whether Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal from the 2019 Christmas Special, a five-year time jump revealed that he was indeed set to tie the knot, but all was not as it seemed.
It was revealed that Smithy had instead got engaged to his girlfriend Sonia, who failed to impress the Shipman/West clan when she met them in the last festive episode, with actress Laura Aikman’s return to the show kept a closely-guarded secret.
Fans were also treated to the surprise return of Sheridan Smith as Smithy’s sister Rudi, and Pam Ferris as his mum Cath.
Yet when it came to Smithy’s big day he realised that Nessa was his one true love and called off the wedding.
The entire family jumped into Dave’s coach and rushed to Southampton, where Nessa was preparing to set sail, and in a scene 17 years in the making, he declared his love for her, and asked her to reconsider leaving.
While an ever-stoic Nessa insisted she wouldn’t propose to Smithy again, instead he returned her offer from five years earlier, finally getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him.
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.
While it seemed throughout the episode that Smithy would marry Sonia, everything changed in the last five minutes as the cast hurtled through a bush in a last minute dash to find Nessa before it was too late
It was a finale that brought a long-awaited end to the story that began back in 2007, and fans rushed to social media to praise the ‘perfect’ ending.
Taking to Twitter they wrote: ‘What an ending, my heart feels full’;
‘NESSA AND SMITHY FINALLY!!!! The nation rejoices’; ‘last 15 mins were pure CINEMA. perfect end’;
‘Up there with one of the best TV finales of all time. Credit where it’s due to James and Ruth for making us care so much about these characters for 17 YEARS! Take a bow.’;
‘Might be the best ending to a comedy show ever. What a brilliant send off for all the characters. Ruth and James never lost their touch. Funny, emotional and brimming with whit. Amazing’;
‘Gavin and Stacey finale was what I’ve needed, the closure I feel is IMENSE’;
‘@JKCorden that was perfect. To you and Ruth, you’ve created a story I’ve grown up with. The perfect end. Thank you Merry Christmas’;
‘So beautiful. So perfect. So special. The end’; ‘That was actually perfection. From top to bottom, proper tidy.’
Another joked: ‘This is making me wanna text my ex and tell them I still love them’.
Nessa and Smithy were then wed, choosing to shake hands to seal the deal as they explained: ‘We don’t kiss, never have never will’
It was a finale that brought a long-awaited end to the story that began back in 2007, and fans rushed to social media to praise the ‘perfect’ ending
Fans first fell in love with the series back in 2007 (pictured)
Ahead of the episode’s broadcast, creators Ruth and James revealed that their final day of filming was also the last scene that viewers watched, making it an emotional day for the entire cast.
Speaking at a Q&A following the premiere last week, James said: ‘The first schedule of the show had us finishing, I think it was going to be me on my own in a car on a low loader and and Ruth and I were like ”that can’t be the last day!”
‘And I think that’s the only time we’ve gone ”we’d like to have a say in the schedule here,” and it was all to do with people’s dates…
‘This is a massive cast who are all very busy and have different things to do and have juggled a lot of things around to do it, but we really, really felt that the last day should be the last scene and that the last line should be the last thing that we ever shoot.
Ruth added: ‘If you look at the script, it’s just the montage isn’t it? And so we had a whole day, it was quite a luxury because normally, you’re watching the clock and you’re up against it and you’ve got to get in wrap, and we were so blessed that everyone in production made this happen so that we could have the luxury of having a final day where everybody was there and that all we had to do, we didn’t really have any lines!
‘It was lovely because it did feel like a real wedding, didn’t it? Like a real wedding to sort of pub reception and we were very grateful to being indulged, for being able to do that because it made such a world of difference that we did that last shot.
‘And then Chris, when she called cut on the very last take, arranged for the sound department to play [Run by Stephen Fretwell, the show’s theme] and that got us all going.’
James added: ‘It was probably the most emotional film set I’ve been on, and it was kind of wonderful, so many of our crew have been with us from the start and so it’s a wonderful way to close it all out on a Monday in Barry.’
Discussing the show’s long-awaited dockside proposal, James and Ruth added that it was huge feat to keep the scene a closely guarded secret, with the entire moment originally set to take place at Cardiff Airport, before a member of the crew came up with an alternative after they failed to get permission.
The cast admitted that filming the show’s last ever episode was emotional for all, with James breaking down in tears as they reflected on their time on the show.
Ruth added: ‘I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit drained. It was so lovely to watch it with an audience, mainly made up of people who worked on the show.’I hope we did you proud and it’s just lovely to hear all the reactions, because of course, you know when you’re watching it and we’ve seen it several times, so for people to watch it for the first time to hear that very initial response was just gorgeous.’
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