The team behind Gavin & Stacey had a surprise in store for fans who made it to the end of a new documentary about the award-winning sitcom’s final episode.
On Christmas Day, the finale of Gavin & Stacey aired on BBC One, pulling in a staggering amount of viewers and putting the finishing touches on a love story that’s been almost 20 years in the making.
To mark the finale, the BBC also recently debuted Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell, in which creators James Corden and Ruth Jones spoke about the show’s success and how they put together the much-hyped last instalment.
And if you watched it all the way to the end, this is what you’ll have been treated to:
Yes, it’s grainy, VHS-inspired footage of Uncle Bryn and his nephew Jason’s infamous fishing trip.
The fishing trip has been a running storyline throughout Gavin & Stacey’s time on the air, with neither character ever wanting to share exactly what went on between them while they were away together.
Viewers have also been kept in the dark as well, other than the ominous fact that something occurred involving soup that was not illegal in the UK.
The newly-released 10-second footage shows Jason enthusiastically brandishing a fish he’d caught, before tucking into some soup, at which point the video is abruptly cut off.
But while the clip has not seen the light of day until now, it was actually filmed back in 2009, though never used as intended.
“We filmed the actual fishing scenes at a lake right at the end of the shoot,” cast member Robert Wilfort told BBC News. “I shaved the beard off and Rob had an awful wig.
“Unfortunately, the scene was cut as the final episode was running about 10 minutes too long, so I never saw the finished scenes.”
Lisa Edwards – whose house was used as Gwen’s house in the sitcom – previously told Wales Online that she had a script for an “episode which was never aired” involving the footage of Bryn and Jason.
“It was supposed to be Uncle Bryn and his nephew watching this VHS.
“They both watch it together to see what happened on the fishing trip. But they decided to not show the episode,” she said.
James vowed before the 2019 reunion special that he’d “never” disclose what transpired between Bryn and Jason, which actor Rob Brydon said last year that he hoped would remain the case in the finale.
“That would be a mistake,” Rob said, which his co-star Robert agreed with during his BBC News interview.
“It’s so much better that way,” he said. “Any reveal would only have been disappointing. The joke has always been that you never know.”
