In March I posted about the new series of Gavin & Stacey and questioned whether it could be even better than the first series, and it most certainly was!

I managed to catch all 7 episodes in the second series, apart from the 6th episode (boring, but necessary for storylines to flow) I thought they were all very funny. The series started well when both Gavin and Stacey’s family were out together for a meal, this is when everyone found out about Nessa’s baby - Smithy being the last to know! I won’t run through the whole series because I’m sure you’ve either; watched it or; are going to buy the DVD. It also ended well, I won’t spoil it in case you haven’t seen it yet.

I still think the best storyline is the relationship between Nessa, or should I say Vanessa Shanessa Jenkins, and Smithy. Much more interesting, original and funny than Gavin & Staceys relationship. I also thought Bryn (Rob Brydon) was an even funnier character than the first series, ”I’ve just been updating the MySpace, I’ve got 17 friends, I’m snowed under!” and his greeting of Gwen at her suprise birthday party was classic!

It was a shame the series wasn’t a little bit longer, in my last blog post I said Shameless was to long at 17 1hour episodes, whereas Gavin & Stacey was 7 30minute episodes. Shameless should be shortened and Gavin & Stacey extended!

Overall I thought the second series was great and am definitely looking forward to the third series (whenever that is). I would give the second series of Gavin & Stacey 8/10.

Gavin & Stacey Resources
Buy Gavin & Stacey DVDs
Gavin & Stacey Wikipedia
G&S Fansite

Tuesday’s episode was the last in the current series of Shameless. The Channel4 show is very popular, and rightly so. It is very well written and great to watch a program which still retains some relative uniqueness (even with Skins) unlike many other shows on British television. I managed to watch all 17 episodes in the latest series and overall thought it was very good, although it has slightly lost its way.

I started watching Shameless from the 3rd series, so I’ve seen the last 3 series. At the beginning of the 5th series I thought it was the best Shameless has been, however as the episodes continued into double figures it started to drag and the story lines began to feel like they had been written because they needed to be. For me 17 episodes for a show like this was too many, about 5 too many.

Shameless is supposed to be a dramedy (drama comedy), for me it is turning purely into a comedy, with very little drama, unlike Skins which is clearly a dramedy. A lot of the story lines end in the most obvious ‘happy ending’ ways (what a suprise PC Tom got off from rape charges and nothing is happening about his relationship with Debbie). A few of the characters also seem to have lost their way a bit. Paddy Maguire is a good example, the whole story of his gay brother didn’t really work for me, it wasn’t funny or a particularly good story (with the obvious happy ending), and seeing him also play his gay brother was not a good move.

One big positive was the way they ended the 5th series, setting it up nicely for the 6th series. Lillian in the toilets after the credits was a real suprise! Was this Frank just seeing things? Or is Lillian really a man? It also looks Debbie and Tom will be a major story as well as Monica’s new baby Stella.

Even with the disappointment of the way story lines are finishing I still really enjoyed Series 5 and am definitely looking forward to the show returning, hopefully with a bit more drama but the same great characters. Overall I would give the series 7/10. 

Shameless Resources
Buy Shameless DVDs
Channel 4 Microsite
Shameless Wikipedia

The first series of Gavin & Stacey was good, not amazing but with so much rubbish on the TV certainly one of my favourite programs to watch at the time. The second series is back on  BBC3 now (Sunday was first episode), and it has been getting plenty of good reviews including praise from The Times & The Guardian!

For me the best storyline wasn’t even Gavin and Stacey, it was the storyline involving Nessa and Smithy. Two great characters with a simple storyline and plenty of great gags, the engagement party was one of the best episodes of the series, ”Nessa, why have you got mud on your knees“, you will need to have seen it to understand.

Its a shame the second series will also be aired on BBC3, it’s definitely good enough to be moved to BBC2 at least and it won’t get the viewing figures it really deserves. Although it has been recognised with several awards so the program isn’t going unappreciated.

If you can’t catch the show on BBC3 at 9pm on Sunday evenings check out BBCs new iPlayer or have a look on YouTube for some clips. I’ll post final thoughts when the new series is complete, but I think its going to be good!

If you have an upcoming birthday or christmas fancy dress party and are stuck for ideas then how about dressing as your favourite Little Britain character! We have put together a new Little Britain Costumes page with details of each costume, the cost and where you can buy it.

You can now watch classic Little Britain clips free on our website from the Videos Page! There are lots of clips from many of the characters seen over all 3 of the UK series.