We'd better start the petition now. If tonight is truly to be the last-ever Gavin & Stacey, there will be much wailing and rending of garments on the sofas of Britain. Sitcoms this complete don't come along every day. For my money, G&S assembled the finest group of believably, lovably mad characters in one cast since Walmington-on-Sea's Home Guard last lined up. Amid the scene-stealing eccentrics, it's easy to overlook how good James Corden is as Smithy. Throughout the series he has been great in those awkward moments with Nessa. He's mostly hovered on the sidelines, but tonight his moment may have come. We start on the eve of Nessa and Dave's wedding. "How many times do you get married in this life?" she wonders aloud. "Twice? Three times? I want to do it in style." And as we know, Nessa's idea of style is an ocean away from anyone else's - not so much meringue as Viking princess. What unfolds is as poignant and sharp as you'd expect, albeit with an ending that feels awfully final. Come on chaps: what price a Christmas special next year?

It's Nessa and Dave's wedding, an event every fan will be wishing doesn't happen. We all know she's supposed to end up with Smithy. So does he. The moment he meets Nessa to collect baby Neil and just can't bring himself to reveal his feelings is heart breaking. As she heads up back the motorway for her big day you want to shout at the telly: "Go after her, you big buffoon!"

But leave it a bit, alright? We've got to see TV's most unlikely bride do the walking down the aisle bit first. Nessa wants her big day to be done in style - but this is Nessa's style, so she looks more like Boudicca than a meringue.

The episode, in case you've been living under a rock, is the last-ever one (unless I get my wish and the careers of Ruth Jones and James Corden go belly up and they're so desperate they're forced to write more).

And it's faultless, with the superb choice of music including the same tearjerker that Scott and Charlene walked down the aisle to in Neighbours and You've Got The Love, used in the Sex & The City finale. So will Nessa get Gavin & Stacey's answer to Mr Big? Or, heaven forbid, will she clap eyes on ex-lover John Prescott (who cameos) and run off with him instead?

Gavin and Stacey: Series three, episode six

It might be the last episode ever - and the will-they-won't-they tension is building to a peak.

Cosy comedy Gavin & Stacey returned for its third - and if rumours are to be believed, final - series in 2009. There was more screen-time for supporting characters like Pete, Dawn and Doris, while the final scene of the series was a universal crowd-pleaser. We won't lie, though, at times the show became a bit too 'knowing', but at its heart it remained more appealing than Smithy's bhunas.

Gavin and Stacey: Series three, episode five

The Smithy-Nessa-Dave love triangle is hotting up - and someone in Barry Island tourist office is very happy indeed.

It's a madly unseasonal episode, but a superb one. Picture a bank holiday with all the regulars in Barry for a day on the beach. Soon Uncle Bryn is rubbing sun cream onto Mick, while Nessa and Smithy make sand castles with the baby. The only fly in the candyfloss is poor Gavin, who is still down in the mouth, at least until a chat from his dad puts things in perspective - the kind of scene this series conjures out of nowhere that can have you blinking away tears before you know it.

In the final ever episode (well, until they're talked into another Christmas special), preparations are being made for the wedding of Nessa and Dave. Nessa wants to make a splash on her big day. After all, she says, how many times does someone get married in their lifetime? Two? Three? So her fingernails are painted black, her dress is inspired by Boadicea - and everybody is suitably stunned. And that's even before they arrive at the church, where - in the briefest and unlikeliest guest appearance on record - someone entirely unexpected is ushered into the church. Elsewhere, Stacey has some news for Gavin that will change their lives. You'll never guess what. It culminates in a homage to Four Weddings and a Funeral, which is as good a way as any to round off this warm-hearted series.

Rob Brydon on life as Gavin & Stacey's Uncle Bryn

Rob Brydon on the ups and downs of life as Gavin & Stacey's Uncle Bryn.

Gavin and Stacey: Series three, episode four

The plot's gone a bit crazy, but an edge-of-your-seat ending bodes well for the Christmas Day episode.

TV ratings: Gavin & Stacey pulls in nearly 6m

BBC1 comedy Gavin & Stacey wins slot at 9pm with 25% share, gaining 100,000 viewers on previous episode.