In Sickness & In Health Christmas Specials

‘Tis the season to be jolly? Not for Alf Garnett. His daughter prefers the company of her Scouse husband, his mates all abandon the pub for their families and he’s left with Marigold and a cheese sandwich. Happy Christmas!

There’s not much that gets Alf’s goat more than Christmas – that is if you ignore immigrants, the unions, the Labour Party, Scousers or the price of beer – and every festive season finds him delivering some of his greatest rants. For a lonely OAP whose pension won’t stretch much further than a pint of mild and some pipe tobacco, it’s time to put on the waterworks, wring what he can out of friends, relations and do-gooders – and spend it down the pub.

These Christmas specials, broadcast between 1985 and 1990, find Alf in great miserable form and include his last Christmas with Else; his short lived career as a store Santa; his Christmas in hospital for a hip replacement and a disastrous wedding day that leaves Mrs. Hollingbery in a less than festive mood…