One of the time-honoured traditions of Christmas in the UK, and to a lesser extent Australia, is the screening of specially filmed one-off festive episodes of TV series, that may or may not be part of that show’s official canon.
Tucked in between a blizzard of repeats – which is odd really since if you’re going to go to all the trouble of making and showing these specials, wouldn’t it also be a good idea to surround them with other first fun offerings to keep Yule eyes glued to the small screen? – and the Queen’s speech (which my family and I watch every year come what may), they’re usually light on story, but heavy on sentiment, a fun-sized prize inside the great big bon-bon that is Christmas Day.
That is, of course, if you like them which this critic at The Guardian most certainly doesn’t.
Drenched in Christmas spirit ( and a good deal of wine and brandy custard topped pudding as I am), I am more inclined to indulge these specials as presents to me from the TV gods and enjoy them in kind.
They may not be in some cases the best examples of x or y show’s storytelling prowess – although some of them such as the Vicar of Dibley Christmas episode “The Christmas Lunch Incident” are both heartwarming and hilarious and has become a near constant in my festive TV viewing since it first aired in 1996 – but often they are great additions to the show’s run, give us a small extra peek at the lives of characters we love, and help us pass the time from overeating to being able to move even a little bit once again.
If only to go and get some more food.
So I’ve picked out three specials I am most excited about and which I shall be doing my best to watch in between handfuls of cashew nuts, chocolate sultanas (raisins) and glasses of a nice Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc …
SNAPSHOT
Call the Midwife is a British period drama television series based on the best-selling memoirs of former nurse Jennifer Worth. It is set in the late 1950s and centres on Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine), who, in the first episode, begins a new job as a midwife in the deprived Poplar district of London. (source: wikipedia)
I will be honest and admit that when I first heard about Call the Midwife, I resisted watching it for fear I would become one of those middle aged people who spend their Friday nights tucked up on the couch watching people in small British villages succumb to murders most foul, which are in turn solved by detectives with an ability to ferret out the most deeply guarded of secrets.
But lured in by the promise of Miranda Hart, who I adore as both a stand up comic and an actor, as one of said midwives Chummy, I watched an episode and fell instantly in love with the show.
It may not be a drama of HBO intensity but who says everything has to be?
In its own quiet, heartwarming way, it tells stories that touch you deeply if you let them such as “Episode 5” of season 1 which told the story of Peggy, the cleaner at the convent Nonnatus House where the midwives are based, and her brother Frank who is stricken with cancer.
With Frank close to dying, and the siblings incestuously dependent on each other after an horrific upbringing in a Dickensian workhouse, it is up to head midwife Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) and the nuns to provide some comfort to both Frank and Jenny as they watch the relationship upon which their lives are built come to a desperately sad close.
But there is also humour in the show, in this case one that involves pigs being secretly bred for bacon (soft British farce at its best) and it manages to marvellously balance the two in a way that has kept me watching as many episodes as the BBC can produce.
And now they’re back with this year’s Christmas episode, which will screen on Christmas Day on BBC One, and is set in 1958 “wartime trials are relived – and a new enemy confronted – before peace and love are restored to centre stage. Fairy lights festoon the streets as Jenny’s relationship with Alec continues to blossom and Shelagh prepares for her quiet wedding to Dr Turner.” (source: cultbox.co.uk)
It will be followed in 2014 by a new series of eight 1 hour episodes, which means of course no one else can use the couch on Friday nights for oh, about two months next year.
Just so we’re clear.
SNAPSHOT
The series, set in the Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. (source: wikipedia)
Yes another show worthy of Friday night couch-occupying but hardly a sedate romp through the Edwardian countryside.
In three short seasons, during which the show by Julian Fellowes has becomes one of the most watched shows in the world and won a slew of awards including Golden Globes and Primetime Emmys, its featured the sinking of the Titanic and loss of the family’s critically important male heir, the first World War, scandals aplenty including the death of a Turkish diplomat in an unmarried woman’s bed, and the deaths and departures of a number of key characters.
In other words, a gloriously over the top though undoubtedly refined soap opera, anchored by one of the great acting veterans of the British film and TV industry, Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham and latterly the sublimely catty performance of Shirley Maclaine as Martha Levinson, mother of the Earl of Grantham’s wife, Cora (Elizabeth McGovern).
The dialogues is delicious, the upstairs/downstairs intrigue compelling, and the performances compelling.
Foamy, sudsy drama it may be but it is foamy, sudsy drama of the highest order and thus it is almost impossible not to watch it.
Shirley Maclaine, I am thrilled to say, is back in the Christmas special, along with Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti as Cora’s brother Harold in the special in a storyline that involves the requisite amount of drama, social goings-on both uppercrust and otherwise:
“[We will see] Lady Rose’s “coming out”, where she is presented at Buckingham Palace in front of King George V [while] elsewhere, Isobel finds herself being chased by an admirer, Daisy has “an unexpected invitation” and Carson treats his staff to a “special day out”.
(source: digitalspy.com.au)
And all the witty oneliners that an overstuffed festive couch potato could wish for, no doubt.
The Downton Abbey Christmas special airs on Christmas Day at 8.30pm on ITV.
STILL OPEN ALL HOURS
I have long been a fan of classic 70s British sitcoms such as The Good Life, To The Manor Born, Empty Nest, The Liver Birds, and of course Open All Hours, which starred one half of the famous Two Ronnies, Ronnie Barker.
Running from 1976 to 1985, during which 26 episodes were produced – the British TV industry has always valued quality over quantity – Open All Hours centred on a curmudgeonly middle aged entrepreneurial shopkeeper with a stammer Albert E. Arkwright, his over worked errand boy and nephew Granville (David Jason) and the woman with whom Albert was quite openly in love but who rebuffed all his offers, nurse Gladys Emmanuel (Lynda Baron) .
Charming in its own way, it is not the first sitcom I would imagined being awarded a sequel, but a sequel it has, and one written by original creator Roy Clarke.
It all sprang apparently from an innocent conversation that David Jason had one day with the BBC’s Head of Comedy:
“It all came about from a very innocent meeting with the BBC’s Head of Comedy,” says David. “I just happened to say, ‘Whatever happened to Granville?’ and it snowballed from there.
“It genuinely was a question that’s always been on my mind. I always thought that if Granville came back, he should have Arkwright’s stutter because I do a very good impersonation of Ronnie.”
(source: mirror.co.uk)
And apparently it’s return has been greeted, quite understandably, very favourably according to David who said in the same interview that “Everybody has been so positive. They smile and laugh as soon as you mention it. Nobody says, ‘Why are you doing that? It’s been and gone.’ There are generations nostalgic for some of the old shows.”
Despite my usual preference for living very much in the here-and-now in all respects including the entertainment I consume, there is definitely a place for returning to old TV shows if the sequel is done well such as the To The Manor Born 25th anniversary special which aired in 2007.
Particularly helpful in this regard is having the original creator on hand which Still Open All Hours fortunately has which bodes well for this revival re-capturing all the warmth, charm and humour of the original series.
This is one occasion when I will be more than happy to indulge in some comic nostalgia.
Still Open All Hours screens on BBC One on Boxing Day (26 December) at 7.45pm UK time.
And here’s the full BBC One trailer for all their Christmas programming … enjoy!
I love Call the Midwife no one else I know watches it
Not sure it’s that watched a program outside of UK and Australia but I love it. Glad to hear I’m not alone! 🙂