Gavin And Stacey’s best moments: From Smithy’s Indian takeaway to Pam eating ham

By Charlotte McLaughlin and Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment

Across three series, Gavin And Stacey brought fans many brilliant moments and turned creators James Corden and Ruth Jones into huge stars.

The comedy followed the two titular characters Gavin and Stacey, played by Mathew Horne and Joanna Page, as they pursued a relationship across Essex and Wales.

It also brought laughs from Smithy, played by Corden, and Nessa, played by Jones, whose characters had an on-off relationship.

Here is round-up of some of the best moments from the series:

– Smithy’s Indian takeaway order

Perhaps one of the most well-known scenes from the sitcom is when Gavin’s father Mick, played by Larry Lamb, is writing down the order for an Indian takeaway and asks Smithy if he would like to add anything.

Smithy very quickly responds; chicken bhuna, lamb bhuna, prawn bhuna, mushroom rice, bag of chips, keema naan and nine poppadoms.

Bickering ensues, however, as Smithy becomes upset following Dawn’s suggestion to stick all of the food on the table for everyone to share.

“What is it about a group of people ordering an Indian or Chinese or something that is somehow unexpectable to eat your own food that you order yourself?” he says

He adds: “I can guarantee someone, probably Stacey, will have ordered the korma… and in my book a korma is pointless. It’s futile. I won’t touch it.

“But I can guarantee that Pete’s already eyeing up my bhunas.”

Smithy’s monologue about the politics of sharing an Indian ends with him saying he will order his own Indian takeaway and eat it in the car.

– Stacey has a spot

Alison Steadman, as Gavin’s gossip and drama prone mother Pam, and Lamb – as father Mick – had a series of misunderstandings when Stacey came down for breakfast in the morning.

Stacey arrives to the table wearing sunglasses for breakfast and at first Pam flies around accusations about her being hurt.

She tells Mick: “Can’t you see what’s going on? It is evidently, plainly obvious that our son has been beating that poor girl.”

Pam later understands that she just has a spot on her face.

– Bryn and Jason’s fishing trip

What happened during Stacey’s Uncle Bryn and Jason’s fishing trip is a mystery to viewers still to this day.

The trip is mentioned in passing throughout the series, with Jason telling Bryn at one point: “I never told anybody. Beside it wasn’t a big deal. Lots of people do it and it’s not against the law.”

It was brought up again in the 2019 Christmas special in a tense scene where Bryn tries to tell everyone what happened before Gavin and Stacey’s children interrupt.

– ‘You’re eating ham Pam’ 

Upon meeting Stacey’s family for the first time and welcoming them to her house, Pam becomes flustered as Mick has not yet returned to their house with her shopping.

She tells them that he has been called into the office as all of the computers have been shut down, but when Mick arrives he is seen carrying multiple bags of shopping and when Pam asks him how the office was he says there was a burst pipe.

Pam then explains why he has bags of shopping by saying she has just become a vegetarian.

“This food isn’t food – food,” she says.

“Oh God no, everyone’s catered for, catered for everyone well in advance, no it’s just that this morning before you arrived, I became a vegetarian.”

Later, Stacey finds Pam eating ham from a packet in the kitchen.

“You’re eating ham, Pam,” she exclaims.