23-05-2025
James Corden: ‘TV is wall-to-wall murder'
Television is 'wall-to-wall murder' and audiences deserve more shows about love and kindness, according to James Corden.
The star suggested that Gavin and Stacey was beloved by viewers because it was a rare antidote to gritty crime dramas.
Speaking to a sell-out crowd at the Hay Festival on Friday, with Gavin and Stacey co-writer Ruth Jones, Corden said: 'I watch so much TV now and there's a strong argument to say the most revolutionary thing you could do today is make a TV show without a murder. It's just wall-to-wall. Murder is everywhere.
'If there was an alien species that came to Earth, they would assume that all of us know multiple murderers, and that we're involved or implicated in murder somewhere.'
Corden said that he and Jones gravitated towards gentler subjects. 'Neither of us have really ever watched a Marvel film or a Star Wars film and we find the intricacies and delicacies of love are a far more astonishing thing than any sci-fi film could ever be,' he said.
The pair were inspired by The Royle Family when writing Gavin and Stacey, which bowed out at Christmas with a special episode watched by more than 19 million people.
Corden said that when they first thought up the idea of two families being brought together by a wedding, the show was provisionally named It's My Day and Jones planned to play Stacey. Corden's character was named Kyle, not Smithy.
The idea developed and the first episode was broadcast in 2007.
The first fan letter they received was from a couple who were about to get married. Corden recalled: 'They'd had their first date watching Gavin and Stacey, and it was such a beautiful letter.' Jones went on: 'We have never done anything like this since, but we bought them a toilet brush as a wedding present and sent it off.'
Although some fans would like to see another episode, the pair insisted that the Christmas special was the last.
'We've called time,' Jones said. 'It's absolutely the right decision. It has been the most glorious journey.'
Corden and Jones plan to work together on another project. 'The greatest thing about the show is the most unique, special friendship we could ever wish for,' Corden said. 'However great Gavin and Stacey has been, however much people enjoy and love it, what it's done for my life is irrelevant compared to the friendship with Ruth.'
