Dan Brockett

I've watched this series multiple times and I think Ruth Jones and David Peet are geniuses. What many people crave are stories of close, loving and strong families and communities with great, richly conceived characters and Ruth and the writers brought all those in spades to the scripts. Just like she and James Corden did for Gavin & Stacey. Those type of shows barely exist in the media landscape anymore and it's so sad. Not everyone wants their entertainment to be only about comic books, space fantasy or police procedurals. Stella is funny and sometimes even a bit saucy but at its heart, its about a Mother who pulls and uplifts her family and extended family in the most heartfelt and entertaining way possible. The only thing I've seen from America lately that was similar, although different in its culture was ABCs "The Middle", also now sadly long done, but it shared the strong, but dysfunctional family ties as being the stuff of comedy and drama. One cannot even watch the series here in the States anymore, it's not on any US streaming services (I am almost positive due to music licensing since the show uses snippets of huge and expensive music cues like Fleetwood Mac that are probably reasonable to license just for the UK market but a fortune for the US market!) and of course, we can't subscribe to Sky here in the States. I had to buy a Region 2 box set of DVDs and an expensive multi-standard DVD/Bluray player to even watch it again a few years after it aired. I hope Ruth can write and conceive another great character and series from her distinctly Welsh viewpoint, she is an amazingly talented woman. I'm so glad that we have Stella and Gavin & Stacey to revisit and share with others. I will be visiting Rhondda/Ferndale on my next UK trip.