Mind The Gap

You would never buy a knock-off Gucci wallet on the cheap. So why wait for American knock-offs of British TV shows when you can get the real thing? Clean up your act and check out the first season of the BBC’s hit comedy Gavin & Stacey (on DVD May 5) before it undergoes the inevitable American remake.

Gavin and Stacey are a normal, loving couple in their mid-twenties. Except that they live in different countries (she’s Welsh, he’s English) and they fell in love before ever meeting in person. Plus they’re surrounded by a group of loony loved ones that just might make your own inner circle look sane. Stacey’s buxom friend Nessa, who comes off like a butch drag queen even though she’s actually a woman, starts not-so-secretly sleeping with Gavin’s mate Smithy (who has a girlfriend). Gavin’s mother Pam pretends to be a vegetarian after wrongly assuming that Stacey’s family might be – and then has to fend off her meat cravings after learning they’re not.  

While you begin wondering if love is enough to survive this circus, you’ll laugh your arse off at the racy humor those Brits do so well. And someday we’ll see if the American version stacks up.


Gavin & Stacey: Season One will be available May 5 from BBC Video.