Barry Island Prepares for Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special

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**Barry Island Prepares for Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special!**   Get ready for a festive treat as Barry Island transforms into the ultimate holiday hotspot for the highly anticipated Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special! Join us as we take you behind the scenes of the town’s transformation, catch exclusive interviews with the cast, and see how the local community is getting into the Christmas spirit. Don’t miss out on the magic and merriment—watch now to see how Barry Island is decking the halls for a very special reunion!  #GavinAndStacey #ChristmasSpecial #BarryIsland

Transcript

00:00Airing on Christmas Day, the special was confirmed earlier this year after much speculation.

00:05More than 18 million viewers tuned in to the last special in 2019 and were left wanting

00:10answers after a Christmas cliffhanger.

00:13With stars including co-creators James Corden and Ruth Jones en route to Berry Island, Sky

00:18News spoke to some of Berry's businesses about the show's impact on the area.

00:23Jackie Rogers, owner of Hyper Value Gift Shop, said the sitcom had put Berry Island on the

00:28map and her business had seen a huge increase in trade.

00:31People come here to Berry Island just to see Gavin and Stacey.

00:34They're not coming for the beach and the lovely area and everything," Ms. Rogers said.

00:39And some people even say they want to come here and move here and live here because they're

00:44so attached to the show.

00:46Louis Ross, owner of Berry Betos, said the timing of the last Christmas special just

00:50before the COVID lockdown meant businesses could not immediately reap the rewards.

00:55We locked down three months after the last Christmas special aired so people didn't really

00:59get to experience the whole Gavin and Stacey buzz after it aired last time," he added.

01:05So as soon as we open back up in 2021 or whenever it was, there was this huge boom and there

01:10was this whole new fan base for Gavin and Stacey.

01:13Joe Linney from Sophia's Souvenirs said the imminent filming for the final episode was

01:18very exciting for the town and the show's dedicated fans.

01:22We get lots of tourists coming in, saying they've been researching online when they're

01:25going to be filming," she said.

01:28We get visitors from Australia, they're doing a tour of the UK and Europe and they'll make

01:32a special effort to come to Berry.

01:34America, Scotland until I worked here, I didn't realize how much hype there is.

01:39But last time the show was being filmed in 2019, not all residents were pleased.

01:44Some locals complained about road closures and being kept awake until the early hours.

01:49City Councillor Mark Hooper, who represents the area, told Sky News all filming companies

01:54do their best to be good neighbours but acknowledged some had concerns.

01:58You want to be able to park your car outside your house and if there's a filming unit there

02:02it becomes difficult," he said.

02:04You don't want to be kept up late at night.

02:06But there are professionals who are doing this, I hope they manage that appropriately

02:10and we're used to seeing these things.

02:12The Vale of Glamorgan more generally is becoming a film set for lots of things.

02:17Where I live, one of the Doctor Who episodes was filmed a few years back.

02:21With the series finally coming to an end this year, 17 years since it started, there are

02:26mixed feelings in Berry.

02:28Everybody loves Gavin and Stacey in Berry, especially the businesses, because it helps

02:33bring tourism to Berry.

02:34Mr Ross added, Long may it continue, I'd love them to do more.

02:39But this is the last one.

02:40It's going to be one last hurrah and we're all excited for it.

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