A tidy ending
What was the most poignant moment of this year's festive TV schedule? Wallace giving Gromit that well-deserved pat on the head (but without using the Pat-o-matic)? Reece Sheersmith and Steve Pemberton taking us inside Inside No. 9, for the final time - on TV at least? The fit-again Andrew Flintoff returning to TV by channelling Jim Bowen on the Bullseye reboot? Or that significant moment for Ruth Jones' Nessa in the Gavin & Stacey finale?
We're not talking about the conclusion of her on-off thing with James Corden's Smithy though - no spoilers here - but the bit where she shut the shutters on the amusement arcade for the last time, having announced to Stacey earlier in the episode that it was struggling.
It's probably not something most of us have thought much about, how physical amusement arcades are doing, but it wouldn't be a huge surprise, given the wealth of alternatives these days. And particularly in these few months: why brave the wind and rain of a Welsh seafront when you can whip up a list of NonGamStopBets casino sites on your phone in a few seconds?
Ironically, the real-life amusements that were used as the setting for that sitcom's arcade scenes enjoyed a mighty boost as the show became more successful, and even changed its name: to Nessa's Slots. But then Barry as a whole has benefited hugely from the Gavin & Stacey effect, which is remarkable considering what a low-key beginning it had; as a cool little BBC3 show, via Steve Coogan and Henry Normal's then up-and-coming production company, Baby Cow.
When relatively untried writers send off a script, they just want to get it seen, made, and hopefully recommissioned. They're probably not trying to repopularise a whole town. In fact, it's hard to think of anyone who has actively tried to do that with a sitcom.
Fawlty Towers certainly wasn't produced to promote Torquay's hotels - John Cleese based Basil Fawlty on a staggeringly rude proprietor he stayed with while filming for Monty Python, down on the English Riviera. Then again, the idea of a massively dysfunctional hotel has proven anything but off-putting for punters, given the long-running success of the similarly named dining experience; likewise the one inspired by Father Ted.
That finale garnered over 19 million viewers over Christmas, and with the previous series and specials now front and centre on the BBC's iPlayer, a whole new generation are falling for those characters, and that town. The spin-off effects for Barry are likely to flourish for a good while yet: the Gavin & Stacey-themed seafront attractions, the guided tours, people visiting the location of Gwen's house. Lush.
Mind you, while those tourist attractions boom, we're just assuming that the fictional arcade closed. Anyone who watched the finale will know that the denouement didn't pan out exactly as Nessa expected, when she was pulling down those shutters, and her future career plans were left very much up in the air. Who knows what occurred.
This article contains a promotional link.