The North East producer of the last Gavin And Stacey has challenged TV channels to find similar programmes in the coming year.
Leo Pearlman, who is managing partner of TV production company Fulwell 73 and executive producer of the Gavin & Stacey Christmas specials, said the programme “brings people together, at a time when so many in society seek to drive us apart” and is “the show that broadcasters should be challenging writers to bring them and that talent should be striving to create”.
He was speaking after figures were released showing that the final episode of Gavin & Stacey has become the UK’s most-watched TV programme shown on Christmas Day in 23 years. Official ratings for the sitcom’s 90-minute farewell, which was the centrepiece of BBC One’s 2024 festive schedules, stand at 19.1m, the biggest audience for a Christmas Day broadcast on UK television since the episode of Only Fools & Horses on December 25, 2001.
Mr Pearlman – who has led the project to bring the Crown Works studio project to Sunderland – hailed the popularity of the programme, and also challenged its writers, Ruth Jones and James Corden, to produce more TV joy.
In a post on the LinkedIn website, he said: “Just when we thought that James and Ruth’s brilliant show had broken all the records there were to break, the consolidated viewing figures are released and the numbers are truly astounding. Gavin & Stacey: The Finale is now the UK’s most watched scripted show across all broadcasters and streamers since records began.
Leo Pearlman, Managing partner of production company Fulwell 73
(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
“With ratings already at 19.3m and counting after only seven days, it’s on track to surpass 23m by the time it reaches the 28-day mark. The previous all time record was set in 2019 by the last Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, which reached 18.5m viewers in the same time period.
“Of the 19.3m, 4.5m are 16 to 34 year old viewers, making this the highest young audience for a scripted show of all time. When this figure is combined with the nearly 5m who watched the accompanying doc, Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell, and the millions more who will watch on catch up, it equates to close to half of the entire UK population having enjoyed James and Ruth’s iconic show over this festive season!
“This is a show that is enjoyed by young and old alike, it’s cross generational, truly four quadrant and successful across culture, society and the length and breadth of the country. It has captured the zeitgeist because at its heart it is all about community and family, it makes us feel warm, gives us joy, makes us laugh and cry, its a show we want to share with others.
“This is the show we needed in 2024 and its the kind of show we need more of in 2025. It’s the show that broadcasters should be challenging writers to bring them and that talent should be striving to create. It’s a show that brings people together, at a time when so many in society seek to drive us apart.”
He added: “Family, love and joy, three things that we all need more of in 2025. Over to you James and Ruth…”
The viewing figures have been published by the ratings organisation Barb and includes all people who recorded and watched the programme up to seven days later – the industry standard for measuring TV audiences. It also includes those who watched on tablets, PCs and smartphones.
The figures mean Gavin & Stacey has become the most-watched scripted programme of the decade so far, pushing Line of Duty – which attracted 15.8m for its finale in 2021 – into third place. The biggest TV audience of the 2020s remains the broadcast by former prime minister Boris Johnson in March 2020 announcing the first Covid-19 lockdown, which was shown simultaneously on six TV channels and drew an average audience of 28.3m.