Gavin and Stacey - Narrative

Gavin and Stacy like many traditional sitcoms have self-contained episodes in which the story is told within the half an hour. However there is also an overall story within the series, series one is all about will they won't they, the audience are rooting for Gavin and Stacey to get married throughout the whole of the first series. However the first episode is all about the two meeting and if they will really fall for each other in real life and have that spark. Throughout Gavin and Stacey we are wising for the two main characters to be together but this does not distract from the humour or every character within the narrative, each and every character has their moment to make the audience laugh in every episode, even characters such as Mick who are more realistic still manage to make the audience laugh with his snide remarks about his wife.  

Gavin and Stacey also uses omniscient narration which gives the audience more information than some of the characters may know. This on one hand makes the audience laugh as they see the impact of what could happen if told but also builds tension. This is shown perfectly when the audience find out about Stacey's five previous engagements, this is funny as we hear Bryn reel off a list of names of who he likes and who he didn't as well as when Gavin finds out  and Stacey mentions all of her pervious ex-lovers before arriving at the correct name. However this builds tension as we see as an audience that Stacey had lied to Gavin and this could lead to their wedding being called off as Gavin doesn't even think he knows who she really is. This shows how the narrative of the show switches and changes constantly and make the audience want the two to work even more.  

The difference with Gavin and Stacey and most sitcoms is the authenticity of the show. It does not just focus on laughs but tells a story with laughs thrown in, this is doesn't in the way that aside from the caricature characters you could imagien it being real life. For example the simple faces Mick pulls being his wife's back towards Gavin is realistic and doesn’t attempt to be anything more than that but still generates laughs as it is representative of real life. Gavin and Stacey not only makes the audience laugh but can also make them cry through the charming nature and superb acting. The key scene that highlights this is when Bryn and Stacey are heading to her wedding and Bryn reads her father's note to her, this is a completely compelling scene where you can't look away but your eyes fill up ready to burst out into tears, this is extremely authentic as this scene is not broken by any jokes but rather continued to allow the audience as well as the characters absorb the emotion.   

Overall the narrative of Gavin and Stacey is more of a romantic comedy rather than a sitcom. We as an audience relate to each characters in their own way and are striving for Gavin and Stacey to finally get married and be happy minus all the obstacles and bumps in the road that like every liner narrative we know they will overcome and make it work.