The star, who played bhuna-loving Smithy on the much-loved show, worried he’d created something terrible and rang a top director for advice
21:10, 20 Jun 2026
JAMES Corden feared Gavin & Stacey was a turkey when he first watched it and worried he’d created something terrible. (Image: BBC/BABY COW)
James Corden feared Gavin & Stacey was a turkey when he first watched it. The star, who played Smithy on the comedy, worried he’d created something terrible. In a bid to get some reassurance, he made a panicked call to top director Nicholas Hytner.
James said: “I remember the day I saw the first episode for the first time. It’s a really jarring moment when you watch something you’ve worked on because sometimes things are s***. “I called Nicholas because he was the only person I knew who had directed anything.
“I said, ‘I’m in a bit of a bad way, I need some advice… I’ve just watched the first cut of our show and I think it might be s*** and I don’t know what to do. The ending is OK and there’s another thing that’s OK’.
“Nicholas said, ‘If it’s the first time you’ve watched it and there are three things you like, there are probably 10 good things in it and that means there is one thing you like every three minutes, so I’m not saying it’s brilliant but I’m telling you it’s not shit.’
“I’ll never forget it. I’ve held onto that all this time.”
Despite his struggle, James reckons it’s much tougher for writers to create new comedy these days because so many execs get involved.
He said: “It feels like when we made Gavin & Stacey it was such a freeing time compared to making television today.
“I do look back on that time and the sheer freedom, there was such a freedom in making stuff then. It didn’t feel as competitive as it feels now.”
Gavin & Stacey went on to become one of the most popular comedies in TV history with a string of awards and record-breaking ratings.
But to this day James still hates one of the episodes — the second instalment of the first series.
He said: “It is an awful episode of television. It’s shit. The only good thing is you meet Dawn and Pete. Everything else is terrible.
“We watch that now through our fingers. It’s a very bad half hour.”
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