Gavin and Stacey? Pah! It's all about Uncle Bryn and Nessa! (Gavin and Stacey)

Member Name: BumpyBump

Product:	Gavin and Stacey
Date:	16/10/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of really funny characters and great comedy acting

Disadvantages: Gavin and Stacey themselves are the least entertaining characters in the entire show

Gavin and Stacey is a sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones (who also both star in the show). The premise of the show is that Essex boy Gavin and Welsh gal Stacey work for the same company (but in their respective towns) and have built up a relationship over the phone. They decide to meet and from there they fall in love and decide to get married. The two series' of G&S follow their relationship and how they struggle with the distance between their home towns, as well as the interference from their friends and family.

Although Gavin and Stacey are the title characters, to my mind it is Nessa (Ruth Jones) and Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) who steal the show. Nessa is Stacey's best friend, is a bit of a 'loose woman' and always seems to have some celebrity encounter to reveal, albeit in the most deadpan way possible. How Ruth Jones manages to keep a straight face throughout filming is a mystery to me. Uncle Bryn is Stacey's Uncle and he likes to think of himself as a man of the times, but he is actually really backwards, and a wee bit simple. Throughout the shows there are endless references to something that happened between him and his nephew, which resulted in them never speaking to each other again. The viewers don't find out what it is, but it is strongly implied that Bryn is homosexual. This does make for amusing viewing when Uncle Bryn has scenes with his nephew.

James Corden plays Smithy, Gavin's best friend, and while Corden doesn't do a bad job he's certainly not the best character in the show. Smithy and Nessa strike up an odd relationship from the off by having a one-night stand (the filthy details of which trickle out through the episodes). They then seems to have a weird attracted-yet-repelled situation going on, with Nessa eventually falling pregnant by Smithy and deciding to keep the baby.

The supporting cast is great. Alison Steadman does a convincing comedy turn as Gavin's mum who pretends she's vegetarian when she first meets Stacey and then has to keep up the act whenever she's around. Larry Lamb plays Gavin's Dad, and does a nice turn as a laid-back-and-full-of-common-sense father. In fact, Gavin and Stacey seem almost incidental to the storyline actually, because there are so many more interesting characters around them that they seem rather boring in comparison.

Summary: A good series and well worth it just to see Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon acting their comedy socks off.