James Corden and Ruth Jones have admitted the first draft of the ‘Gavin & Stacey’ Christmas special wasn’t "good enough".
The talented pair – who created, wrote and starred in the popular BBC sitcom – feared they were being "naive" about plans for a one-off revival when they were struggling with the script almost a decade after the show came to an end.
James – who plays Smithy – told Radio Times magazine: "We’d confused ourselves in thinking there needed to be an absolute narrative arc – there was so much in the story, there was no room for the characters to breathe.
"We’d written about 40 pages, and we sat and we read it … and we both went, ‘This just isn’t good enough. It doesn’t feel like the show. It doesn’t feel like it’s right.’
"There was a real silence in this room … a sense of, ‘Maybe we were too naive to think we could pick it up.’ "
Ruth – who plays Nessa – says the duo stepped away from writing for a day and later chatted about the issues as they dined with their partners David Peet and Julia Carey.
She said: "We did then identify what it was. There needed to be a heart to it, a big moment that resonated."
The sitcom – which aired on the BBC for three series, plus a Christmas special, from 2007 to 2010 – stars Mathew Horne and Joanna Page as the titular Gavin and Stacey.
The cast will be back together on screen on Christmas Day (25.12.19) alongside Rob Brydon (Uncle Bryn), Larry Lamb (Mick), Melanie Walters (Gwen) and Alison Steadman (Pam) all reprising their roles for the upcoming special.
James Corden: Gavin and Stacey Christmas special was lacking in first draft
