'Tidy' knitted tribute to Gavin and Stacey appears

A mystery knitter has crafted a "tidy" tribute to the top TV moment of Christmas 2024.

The BBC's Gavin and Stacey aired on Christmas Day, and attracted 12.3m viewers - the largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade, according to overnight data.

This year's episode followed on from the 2019 cliffhanger, which saw Nessa, played by Ruth Jones, get down on one knee in front of Smithy, played by James Corden, and ask him to marry her.

To mark the show's finale, Syston Knitting Banxy (SKB) created woollen Smithy and Nessa figurines to display on a bollard in the town's shopping centre.

SKB - who keeps her identity secret - said she has been a fan of the show for years, congratulating the writing team of Corden and Jones for "making Christmas Day".

She said: "The final episode was wonderful and such a satisfying conclusion to the love story of Nessa and Smithy.

"It took two full days to create the piece, which is a little longer for a piece of that size, but I wanted to get the detail and capture the essence of the characters.

"It was well worth the effort, as I have read many wonderful comments - it seems to have given a lot of happiness."

It has been a busy year for the Leicestershire crafter, whose creations have built a firm following.

The armed forces were honoured with a life-sized knitted soldier, accompanied by a dog, at Glenfield Hospital for Remembrance, and a war memorial display for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Robbie Williams, Santa Claus and Syston's Queen Victoria pub were among other creations in 2024 - while another pub, the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, saw her work starring on the long-running soap opera.

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