‘We appeared in the Gavin and Stacey finale – but didn’t know until it aired’

On Christmas Day, the last-ever episode of Gavin and Stacey welcomed the return of the beloved cast, from James Corden and Ruth Jones to Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman.

However, the reunion had been shrouded in secrecy, with zero plot details released ahead of the premiere and actors all forced to keep schtum in interviews.

Consequently, one band had no clue how their music was going to feature in the finale until the last moment.

In May, co-writers James and Ruth sent the internet into meltdown by confirming what we had long been waiting to hear: Gavin and Stacey was returning for one last hurrah.

A few months later, musical trio Stratus received a life-changing email.

Speaking to Metro, violinist Nathaniel, cello player Sam, and pianist Zacc explain how their song came to be used in one pivotal scene.

Smithy and Sonia’s wedding featured a very special piece of music (Picture: BBC)

The cast played Stratus’s version of Somewhere Only We Know during filming (Picture: BBC)

As Sonia (Laura Aikman) walks down the aisle to marry James’s Smithy, their version of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know tinkles away in the background, creating the perfect romantic atmosphere… despite the wedding not actually going ahead.

‘Our band manager received an email in September from someone at the BBC, simply asking if we were willing to allow one of our songs to be featured on a BBC comedy,’ they recall.

‘We had no idea what that was. We were just like, “Oh, cool. BBC, that’ll be fun!”

‘We were excited about it, but when we found out that it was on Gavin and Stacey, we were like, “Oh, that’s really cool”.’

But the group was given very little detail about how their music would play a part in the beloved sitcom, which first hit screens 17 years ago and has amassed a loyal following of millions.

‘We had no idea that it was going to be the Christmas special; we had no idea at what point within it it was going to be.

‘Even while we were watching the show, we didn’t know at what point we would be featured, how much we would be featured, or anything like that.’

The wedding was a pivotal moment in the finale (Picture: BBC)

…as it led to Smithy realising his feelings for his one true love (Picture: BBC)

A viewership of 12million rejoiced as he went on to marry Nessa (Picture: BBC)

It wasn’t until one hour and 15 minutes into the 90-minute special that the three friends and former teaching colleagues got the moment they had been waiting for.

‘Towards the end of the show, we were like, “Maybe we’re not in it; it didn’t make the cut.” From what I can gather, they were very secretive about the whole show anyway, so it was hard to get any information from anyone.’

Having since shared the news on social media, Scott McGlynn, who appeared as one of Smithy’s pals in the special, revealed the cast actually played their tune during filming, rather than it being edited in post-production.

Once Gavin and Stacey: The Finale aired to over 12million people, it emerged that Sonia actress Laura stayed in a separate hotel from the other cast members and avoided crew to prevent her shock reprisal of the role from being spoiled.

So, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Stratus didn’t struggle to keep their musical feature a secret because, well, they didn’t have any secrets to tell.

‘We had told a few friends and family that we’d signed a fairly small contract with the BBC, and that’s not something we’d done before.

Stratus comprises three musicians who play piano, cello, and violin

James Corden and Ruth Jones have confirmed there will be ‘no more’ Gavin and Stacey (Picture: BBC)

‘[Producers] could easily just have put [the song] in for five, 10 seconds, so it was an amazing feeling when the piano dropped and to know they’re scouting people.’

Believing the execs discovered their music on Spotify, where Stratus has 35,000+ monthly listeners, they’re now hoping to use Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas special as somewhat of a launch pad.

‘It’s pretty good advertising for a wedding band, as a lot of the other music was only featured for five or six seconds.

‘We’re going to be recording again in February, so it’s a good chance to use this as publicity to give it a boost. We started out as a wedding band of sorts; those were the first few gigs that we had. We’ve done a few concerts here and there, but we’re hopeful that there’ll be lots of people who would like to have the band that featured on Gavin and Stacey playing them down the aisle.’

On what the future holds and potentially working with the BBC again, the trio adds: ‘It would be great to feature live and just see where that takes us, not just be in the background.’

Meanwhile, creators James and Ruth have expressed their gratitude for audiences after the finale’s success, having provided the ultimate satisfying conclusion as Smithy and Nessa finally said ‘I do.’

James shared a slew of behind-the-scenes snaps on Instagram as one last treat, adding in the caption: ‘Thank you so much to everyone who watched last night. It means more than you’ll know.’

Watch Gavin and Stacey: The Finale on BBC iPlayer.

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