Gavin and Stacey is a BAFTA winning romantic comedy about two families that are brought together by their children - the titular Gavin and Stacey - who in the first series met in person for the first time after an initial Internet romance and decided to get married. The second series carries on from this and deals with the time after the honeymoon period. It's written by and starring James Corden and Ruth Jones who play Gavin and Stacey's two best friends (Smithy and Nessa) and it stars Mathew Horne and Joanna Page as Gavin and Stacey themselves. Also amongst the cast is the most excellent Welsh legend slash god Rob Brydon as Stacey's Uncle Bryn.

It took me a while to put my finger on why I enjoy this show so much, I was initially drawn to it by the sheer number of local places used for shoots. Many of the external shots are taken from the surrounding area where I grew up and I've walked down many of the streets present on the show. But what kept me watching was the characters, the stories and the comedy. The show has that mix of sweet and funny that is rare in any show, it hits similar notes to the early seasons of Scrubs and it also has a passion for "fun with the ordinary" that matches Seinfeld's obsession with the small details. And it manages all of this while remaining quintessentially British and having it's own voice. It's a show filled with things that the viewer can relate to quite easily and in all honesty it's probably the best current British comedy out there.


Packaging:
It's a simple no frills case for this set, as the show fits onto two discs there's little need to have more than the standard two clip plastic case. The box art matches the first one in style while also remaining distinct and attractive. Really I have no complaints here.

Extras:
There are a few extras on the second disc. Not masses, but enough to keep the ardent fan happy for an hour or so.

We have:
In-vision Commentaries
Out-takes
Story of Series 2
James and Ruth on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
'Uned 5' set Visit.

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Soundtrack: English/Stereo
Runtime: 195 mins
Region 2 + 4 Colour PAL UK
Subtitles: English for the Hard of Hearing and WELSH!

Price:
As it just came out this week the set is available for £12.99 from play. This is 6.7 ppm, nothing special to write home about but as I've said in the past British shows (sadly) have far shorter lengths per season than American ones and this impacts greatly on the old ppm.


If you're looking for a sweet and funny little comedy filled with those great moments that make ordinary life special and characters that are immediately endearing then this is well worth watching. Of course, you could wait for the inevitable US remake of the show, but it's hard to see how a show like this could translate. I would thoroughly recommend Gavin and Stacey to anyone without hesitation.