Well they are 12 years older remember, no ones going to be the exact same as they were over a decade ago
Thats not what I meant, they have all just become stupid, they used to feel like "real" characters in the first series but now Jim just SHOUTS all the time, Dave just gets thicker and thicker (he actually seemed just a little dim in 1998) and Denise has just become this unlikeable lazy wretch, at the start she at least seemed normal.
Also Joe now TALKS his lack of social skills used to be what made him FUNNY
Ab Fab suffered the same fate when it came back in 2001 after a 5 year gap
Well I thought it was great, a real return to form, and when Saskia had that contraction at the end and the credits started to roll, I instantly thought "Oh no I don't want to wait a year for the next one", so maybe a Royle wedding special is in the offing late April
Thats not what I meant, they have all just become stupid, they used to feel like "real" characters in the first series but now Jim just SHOUTS all the time, Dave just gets thicker and thicker (he actually seemed just a little dim in 1998) and Denise has just become this unlikeable lazy wretch, at the start she at least seemed normal.
Also Joe now TALKS his lack of social skills used to be what made him FUNNY
Ab Fab suffered the same fate when it came back in 2001 after a 5 year gap
I sort of agree about Denise and Dave, the characters haven't been allowed to progress whereas Anthony is very successful although I did think he overindulge in the presents a little bit,
Not as good as the first 3 series but it was a lot, lot better that last years effort. The christmas tree really made me laugh and Cheryl and spamhead.
Not sure why they killed Mary off though, i wasn't very happy with that.
Brilliant hour...too many things to quote, but when Denise couldn't go to the Nativity play as she was waiting for Jeremy Kyle DNA results:D Will watch it again very soon.
After the last two "turkeys" they've struck gold again. I was expecting another cringeworthy Christmas special but was pleasantly surprised. Some very funny moments and it was great to see them all back in the house.:) Still miss Nana, Mary and Twiggy tho:(
I actually didn't mind 2008, though 2009 was a bit awful. But this year's special was by far the best of the trio, it felt like a lot more like the original 3 series. Shows that it works best when they keep it in the Royle house.
The last ten minutes were very good especially when Joe took the Dyson although I would have thought it would have been easier for Barbara just to empty the Dyson into the urn.
Barbara had already tried the Dyson earlier in the episode so the ashes were mixed in with a lot of dust and dirt.
It's never going to be as good as the first few series but credit to them for the vast improvement on the last couple of specials. It was peppered with little golden moments tonight. I really enjoyed it for what it was. Easily the best episode they've done since Nana's last episode. Great comedy but also some lovely, heartwarming moments too - it's that aspect which I think they've lacked in recent years and finally regained tonight.
Cheryl's overactive thyroid cleaning out the biscuit tin! Some genuinely touching moments in tonight's ep, a prevalent sense of finality throughout, cna't help but feel Caroline Aherne has written this one to be the last.:(
Welcome back Royle Family, laughed all the way through tonight's and 100 times better than the last two specials worth of rubbish - a brilliant return to form, more please BBC!
It was OK, to say it was better than the last 2 is hardly praise in my opinion. I really love the original series and 'Queen of Sheba.' Highlights for me were:
- Cheryl, who is such a wonderfully drawn character.
- Anthony's scene with Barbara, which was nicely done.
- Saskia, who could have been a grotesque was a sweet, likeable character.
Yet there were negatives:
-Jim is now a grotesque: rude, obnoxious and generally foul. I know he was always grouchy and bad tempered, but his fuming over the ashes was OTT.
- Joe is a character I never liked, and this special did little to endear him to me.
- The whole fiasco over the toe was stupid.
I still think that this maintained the uneasy element that we now laugh at the Royles- they are set up as thieves and scroungers, as well as being far too stupid to be realistic. They were not like this originally. It is lazy writing that belongs to 80s sitcoms, not the gloriously realistic series it once was.
Overall, it was quite good for Christmas Day night. But I feel it's been done now, and should be left alone.
although i agree this was better than the last two efforts. some very clever script writing and one liners.. now maybe with the original cast members no longer wanting to do any more episodes.
like gran and Mary.. maybe time to call it a day...
I can't agree with these people who say the characters of Dave, Denise and Jim have changed.
Dave has always been dim, Denise has always been lazy (with Anthony forced to be her unofficial gopher and then she moaned to Barbara if Anthony objected or answered her back) and Jim has always been a mass of unsupressed rage.
In the series Jim could be unbelievable rude and verbally vicious towards Norma, his mum-in-law, and there was one episode where he was in such a mood Barbara couldn't cope and stormed out of the house in a rage.
Once again, people are affected by selective-memory-syndrome.
I can't agree with these people who say the characters of Dave, Denise and Jim have changed.
Dave has always been dim, Denise has always been lazy (with Anthony forced to be her unofficial gopher and then she moaned to Barbara if Anthony objected or answered her back) and Jim has always been a mass of unsupressed rage.
In the series Jim could be unbelievable rude and verbally vicious towards Norma, his mum-in-law, and there was one episode where he was in such a mood Barbara couldn't cope and stormed out of the house in a rage.
Once again, people are affected by selective-memory-syndrome.
Barbara and Anthony are the most grounded characters and it's funny that Anthony was the family member who was picked on by the rest but ended up the most successful. Jim can be funny but I think in the last few specials his rants have been downright nasty than funny.
Comments
Thats not what I meant, they have all just become stupid, they used to feel like "real" characters in the first series but now Jim just SHOUTS all the time, Dave just gets thicker and thicker (he actually seemed just a little dim in 1998) and Denise has just become this unlikeable lazy wretch, at the start she at least seemed normal.
Also Joe now TALKS his lack of social skills used to be what made him FUNNY
Ab Fab suffered the same fate when it came back in 2001 after a 5 year gap
Agree.
Our Antony has matured into a nice young man.
I sort of agree about Denise and Dave, the characters haven't been allowed to progress whereas Anthony is very successful although I did think he overindulge in the presents a little bit,
Not sure why they killed Mary off though, i wasn't very happy with that.
Its never going to be
Hope there will be more specials to come.
Barbara had already tried the Dyson earlier in the episode so the ashes were mixed in with a lot of dust and dirt.
Made me feel nostalgic for the old days.
Please don't let that be their swan song.
craig cash wrote it as well :rolleyes:
I did not care too much for special two years ago and switched off the one last year, but I thought that tonight was one of the best episodes ever.
- Cheryl, who is such a wonderfully drawn character.
- Anthony's scene with Barbara, which was nicely done.
- Saskia, who could have been a grotesque was a sweet, likeable character.
Yet there were negatives:
-Jim is now a grotesque: rude, obnoxious and generally foul. I know he was always grouchy and bad tempered, but his fuming over the ashes was OTT.
- Joe is a character I never liked, and this special did little to endear him to me.
- The whole fiasco over the toe was stupid.
I still think that this maintained the uneasy element that we now laugh at the Royles- they are set up as thieves and scroungers, as well as being far too stupid to be realistic. They were not like this originally. It is lazy writing that belongs to 80s sitcoms, not the gloriously realistic series it once was.
Overall, it was quite good for Christmas Day night. But I feel it's been done now, and should be left alone.
6/10.
like gran and Mary.. maybe time to call it a day...
Dave has always been dim, Denise has always been lazy (with Anthony forced to be her unofficial gopher and then she moaned to Barbara if Anthony objected or answered her back) and Jim has always been a mass of unsupressed rage.
In the series Jim could be unbelievable rude and verbally vicious towards Norma, his mum-in-law, and there was one episode where he was in such a mood Barbara couldn't cope and stormed out of the house in a rage.
Once again, people are affected by selective-memory-syndrome.
Barbara and Anthony are the most grounded characters and it's funny that Anthony was the family member who was picked on by the rest but ended up the most successful. Jim can be funny but I think in the last few specials his rants have been downright nasty than funny.