Miranda Hart and Tom Ellis
TV

Miranda fans in bits as Tom Ellis makes surprise return in New Year special

We can't believe he made it

By Nancy Brown

Fans of popular BBC sitcom Miranda were over the moon to see Tom Ellis return for the New Year special.

The Welsh actor, 41, made a surprise appearance on comedian Miranda Hart’s My Such Fun Celebration show last night (01.01.20) as the stars celebrated 10 years since its launch.

Held on stage at the London Palladium, the special featured a number of treats for fans as Miranda was joined by her co-stars Sarah Hadland, Sally Phillips and Patricia Hodge to look back on everything that made the award-winning programme such a hit.

Miranda: My Such Fun Celebration
They looked back on everything that made Miranda so popular (Credit: BBC)

Read more: Miranda Hart reveals moment the Queen ‘yawned like a dog’ in her face

And to fans’ delight, Tom – who played Miranda’s beloved Gary Preston – flew in to surprise her at the Palladium.

Reacting on Twitter, one viewer said as Tom came onto the stage: “Oh this just makes me cry. Now that’s an entrance. Can I swap places with Miranda? #myhellloop #Miranda #TomEllis #LoveooCCS.”

Miranda Hart and Tom Ellis
Tom played Miranda’s beloved Gary (Credit: BBC)

Another wrote: “Just a shout out to Tom Ellis for turning up, thank you sir. Loved #Miranda special.”

A third excitedly tweeted all in caps: “GARY CAME BACK, TOM ELLIS WINS TV ROMANCE, EVERYONE ELSE CAN GO HOME.”

https://twitter.com/debbbrindley/status/1212508665145524224

https://twitter.com/Rosie_HarryS/status/1212525630165848064

https://twitter.com/AmyRLS/status/1212443316257726464

Someone else put: “Tom, in my heart I hoped for it – I thought you could be crazy enough to fly to the UK for a weekend – but I rather expected a video message, it was a GREAT SURPRISE! Thank you @tomellis17 and @mermhart, hats off!”

I actually cried at the Miranda anniversary show when Tom Ellis came out.

A fifth said, with a crying-face emoji: “Yesssss, Tom Ellis made it to the Miranda reunion! I can’t… He’ll be Lucifer first to many, but to my inner child, he’ll always be Gary. I’m so glad he found time to fly back from LA!”

“I actually cried at the #Miranda anniversary show when Tom Ellis came out of the crowd to meet Miranda,” confessed a sixth, adding: “I think I forgot just how much I shipped Miranda and Gary when watching the show. Didn’t expect more than a video message from him, so that was lovely to see the gang together.”

During the show, Miranda and Tom shared a special moment when the latter explained the meaning of the abbreviation ‘CCS’.

He said: “We call each other CCS, which stands for ‘clammy co star’. True story, we used to stand back stage being very nervous, waiting to come on set. We both, when we get nervous, we get terribly sweaty hands and we’d go…”

Tom then clasped hands and made a sweaty squelching noise, adding: “Love you CCS, it’s like a little reservoir in there.”

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Miranda replied: “And I gave you some cufflinks!”

“You did,” Tom said. “When we finished our very last ever episode. It said CCS and CCS, and I wore them at my wedding this year. Because I always like to have a part of you close to me.”

What did you think of Miranda’s New Year’s Day special? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.

Nancy Brown
Associate Editor