The next Gavin & Stacey! Ruth Jones and James Corden play estranged siblings in “watercooler” sitcom The Choir

If, like us, you were devastated when the credits rolled on Gavin & Stacey’s Christmas finale (sob!), here’s some news that should delight you. The creative and acting dream team that is Ruth Jones and James Corden are teaming up for a new family sitcom called The Choir, which they’re starring in and executive producing for Apple TV+. But rather than friends turned lovers, they’ll be playing estranged siblings who reunite. And it’s a show that’s guaranteed to have some watercooler moments, just like the Wales-meets-Essex hit comedy!

The eight-part series follows Ben and Lisa, two siblings (played by Corden and Jones) who have spent several years apart after Ben moved abroad. When he returns home to their sleepy small town, things prove challenging as he’s forced to regress back into a life that he hoped to escape – plus some difficult family dynamics. Intrigued? Us too!

As we wait for The Choir to arrive on our screens, here’s everything you need to know about the series, including the cast, plot and how to watch it.

What is The Choir about?

We’ll be witnessing some intriguing and messy family drama, it seems! As we mentioned, The Choir is said to follow two estranged siblings, Ben and Lisa, played by James Corden and Ruth Jones. Deadline reports that the series will be in eight parts, and is set in a small English town “where nothing ever happens”. The synopsis continues: “But when events take a sorry turn, Ben is forced to return to a life he never wanted, a town he never liked and a family from which he’s estranged.”

According to The Sun, a source said the show was “as you might expect, uplifting, gentle and very funny. They wanted to bring something full of heart and warmth back to screens.” James Corden’s character Ben, who has moved away from England for several years and is now returning, has echoes of Corden’s own life – as the star recently returned to the UK after a stint living in LA to record his US talk show The Late Late Show With James Corden.

Who’s in the cast of The Choir?

So far, the announced cast of The Choir includes James Corden, who plays Ben, and Ruth Jones, who plays his sister Lisa, although The Sun reported that it’s an all-British cast. We’ll update you when we know who else is joining them on screen – will we be seeing any beloved Gavin & Stacey faces on the list?

How can I watch The Choir?

Apple TV+ hasn’t shared a release date for The Choir just yet, but we’ll update you here as soon as they do. While you wait, you can watch all 3 series of Gavin & Stacey on BBC iPlayer now.

What other family sitcoms can I watch now?

Love a family drama with lots of laughs? We’d recommend Amandaland, the Motherland spin-off that follows the playground top dog as she relocates to South Harlesden (or “SoHa”, as she calls it) – and it’s just as funny as the original show. You can watch all six episodes now on BBC iPlayer. Alternatively, try Am I Being Unreasonable? – a darkly comic series about a mum (played by the ever-hilarious Daisy May Cooper) stuck in a depressing marriage. Series 1 and 2 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer, too.