James Corden and Ruth Jones are TV royalty – but they must snub any offer from the BBC to make another Gavin and Stacey

It was the TV event of the year, and the 12.9 million people who waited five years for the latest episode of Gavin and Stacey were all likely to have been thinking the same thing.

Would it be worth the wait? Well, less than 24 hours on, the overwhelming response is that writers James Corden and Ruth Jones absolutely smashed it.

The pressure on them to deliver was huge.

As a fanatical Only and Fools Horses fan my childhood Christmases were dominated by the annual festive specials from Peckham, and this return to Barry Island had that feel about it.

But if there was one criticism you can fairly level at the greatest British TV show of all time it is that it’s writer, John Sullivan, took it one step too far.

In my view Del Boy and Rodney Trotter should have been left walking into that sunset as millionaires.

For writers Corden and Jones the challenge was how far to push the storyline.

They got the balance spot on. The 2019 episode ended with a cliffhanger as Nessa asked Smithy to marry her.

So by kicking off this episode with Smithy preparing to tie the knot, left you feeling as if the show had never really been away.

But the revelation that Sonia (played by Laura Aikman) would be Smithy’s bride, not Nessa, was the show’s episode’s first big moment.

The ‘will-they-won’t-they’ marry question was the one Gavin and Stacey fans really wanted an answer to. And across 95 minutes on Christmas Day we finally got to find out.

Along the way there was highlight-after-highlight. Although Jones and Corden will rightly win the plaudits, the performance of Larry Lamb stood out.

His stag-do speech to Smithy will go down as one of Gavin and Stacey’s most iconic moments.

So too was the performance of Neil, no longer a baby, played by Oscar Hartland.

You can guarantee Blackbird will be downloaded a gazillion times by New Year’s Day on Spotify.

But what also made this episode so special was its relatability.

Many viewers will have a parent who has embarked on a new relationship in secret – like Gwen West.

Many viewers will have gone through a messy divorce like Dawn and Peter – faultlessly played by Julia and Adrian Scarborough.

And many, many viewers will have spent Christmas with an embarrassing relative – like Uncle Bryn who hilariously passed out on the stag-do.

There were also several clever references to previous episodes including the unforgettable corn on the cob scene between Nessa and Smithy.

Gavin and Stacey were also back to their very best too. Superbly played by Matthew Horne and Joanna Page, the pair’s characters returned to their mischievous nature from series one.

But although this series is based on the lovebirds from Billericay and Barry Island, no-one can be left in any doubt as who the two real stars are.

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And, as the final episode ended with Nessa and Smithy at the altar, it seemed unthinkable we wouldn’t see them in any new episodes.

The superb viewing figures the BBC secured will definitely lead to speculation Gavin and Stacey will return.

Only Fools and Horses led to spin-off shows, like the Green Green Grass Of Home and Rock and Chips.

And BBC producers will no doubt be tempted to explore any options at all which could become a ratings hit.

However, for Corden and Jones, I think that will be it. The stakes for them were high.

But they delivered a brilliant Christmas Day episode and have firmly cemented themselves as the King and Queen of British Comedy.

The best way to remain atop of that throne is to move on to the next project and not make another Gavin and Stacey.