Gavin And Stacey - Series 1 (2007)
Moderate sexual references and sex scenes, Moderate coarse language
| Actors: | Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, James Corden, Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon, Alison Steadman, Larry Lamb, Melanie Walters |
Gavin is an ordinary boy from England, Stacey is an ordinary girl from Wales. They speak every day on the phone at work, and yet they've never met, until now. But when Gavin and Stacey finally meet and their ordinary worlds come together, we see, through their families, their friends and their differences, that there's no such thing as ordinary after all.
| Status: | Normal |
|---|---|
| Run time: | 377mins |
| Origin: | UNITED KINGDOM |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
| Run Time: | 377mins |
|---|---|
| File Size (Approx): | 3.4 GB |
Television Revision
by Andrew Williams, 11/09/2012 3:33:00 PM
Now this is a story all about how… English lad Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and Welsh girl Stacey West (Joanna Page) finally agree to meet after six months of phone-based courtship. Both nervous, they bring along their respective best friends - beer-loving Smithy and chain-smoking Nessa (co-writers James Corden and Ruth Jones) - for support, and sparks fly in unintended ways. Happy days? At six episodes (three hours in total), the first season of Gavin & Stacey is essentially a longer-than-usual Richard Curtis romantic comedy in television form. All the elements are there – big romantic gestures, colourful ancillary characters, plenty of awkward moments, dirty jokes – and often successfully executed. The supporting cast, for example, is just wonderful. Rob Brydon’s instant classic Unc...
Now this is a story all about how… English lad Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and Welsh girl Stacey West (Joanna Page) finally agree to meet after six months of phone-based courtship. Both nervous, they bring along their respective best friends - beer-loving Smithy and chain-smoking Nessa (co-writers James Corden and Ruth Jones) - for support, and sparks fly in unintended ways.
Happy days? At six episodes (three hours in total), the first season of Gavin & Stacey is essentially a longer-than-usual Richard Curtis romantic comedy in television form. All the elements are there – big romantic gestures, colourful ancillary characters, plenty of awkward moments, dirty jokes – and often successfully executed. The supporting cast, for example, is just wonderful. Rob Brydon’s instant classic Uncle Bryn and Gavin’s lovingly over-protective mother Pam (Alison Steadman) are fantastic presences that are as familiar and human as they are hilarious.
Sadly, while the early romantic moments of the show are undeniably affecting, the first season of Gavin & Stacey burns through the romance of its central couple so quickly that they are soon left without much to do except occasionally bicker and react to those around them. Joanna Page is lovely but her Stacey becomes brutally bland, and Mathew Horne would suffer a crushing defeat to either Martin Freeman or John Krasinski in a reaction shot-off. Television is littered with primary protagonists the audience doesn’t care about and Gavin & Stacey threatens to add two to their ranks. Their ‘normalcy’ would be fine if they were charismatic straight characters but Horne especially just doesn’t have the chops.
The final frontier: Gentle, funny, and easy to love, Gavin & Stacey is worth your time, for the glorious Welsh accents if nothing else.
Top 3 Episodes: 1) The Meeting: A romantic comedy in 30 minutes, the first episode is a great introduction to the four leads and the series at its most romantic. 4) The Wedding Fair: Wherein the supporting cast come right into their own; some great lines and a Matt Lucas guest appearance highlighting the season at its funniest. 6) The Wedding: Entertaining, great character work, and a well-directed depiction of the way a glamorous wedding inevitably descends into a drunken shambles.
Worst Episode: 5) The Surprise. The writers choose to put a nonsensical roadblock in the way of Gavin and Stacey’s courtship that only serves to devalue both the characters and their relationship.
Season MVP: Rob Brydon. You may know him best as Steve Coogan’s offsider in The Trip, but he’s a wonderfully offbeat and hilarious presence here. I have to give an honourable mention to Larry Lamb as Michael Shipman, the kind of father most people want and the kind of straight man our leads should be.
3.5/5
Read More
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1. Episode 1 (28m) |  |
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2. Episode 2 (27m) | |
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3. Episode 3 (28m) | |
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4. Episode 4 (28m) | |
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5. Episode 5 (27m) | |
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6. Episode 6 (28m) | |
Member Reviews (4)
4 Member
Reviews
CL-D
says
You need watch the whole Series, and it is worth it just to see the stand out performances by Rob Brydon. He's a class above the rest and that's no mean feat. Just when you start to think this is a bit East Enders/Coronation Street it takes a turn to the dark side. Tracey is a precocious little airhead and it seems that her and Gavin are mismatched in the IQ stakes but he's smitten, and wound around Tracey's finger. Nessa, well she's up there with Brydon in the class act category but it's the whole story really that pulls it all together, very subtle and understated. The only mismatch is Gavin's mother, she's a bit too vaudville and her character seems out of place as if she's trying too hard, almost waiting for the laughter after the punch line. A winner all the same.
Meredith
says
Love it.
Steven
says
if you have stumbled across this look no further, this is comedy gold, has won many awards, has been shown in Australia some late night time slot on CH7, great entertainment for the family, look out for little britain's Matt Lucas, also hilarious extra's and out takes, hey quickflix, where is season 2 ?
Ashley B.
says
Gavin