The Royle Family Christmas 2008 Page 5

I enjoyed it and laughed a lot...but it was Christmas Day. On hindsight and probably on a re-watch it wouldn't stand up as well because it totally veered in a new direction, it didn't have that understated, realistic feeling that the original series had. It went very much in the direction of slapstick gags and Denise and Dave are becoming far far too stupid! The turkey storyline was unoriginal and corny.

But it did have lots of funny lines and the chemistry worked well between Dave's parents and the Royles.

Quote: Martin Holmes @ December 26 2008, 3:55 PM GMT

The turkey storyline was unoriginal and corny.

View original

But hilarious.

(Or very funny at least.)

I thought that Jim's gurning every time Dave snr. opened his mouth got a bit tedious and also got the impression that Dave sr. wanted a bit of a go on Barbara (is that the source of Jim's ill feeling?).

It finally showed up on Usenet. Maybe I'll save it and Gavin & Stacy for the flight home.

Mr Blenkinsop, you are not alone.

Long time fan of the original 3 series run but this was awful.

There wasn't the realism that underpinned the show in the past. Some of the turkey stuff just made me cringe. There is no way the gag of Dave shaving in a bubble bath with a turkey would have made the cut way back when. Neither would the sawing of the turkey gag.

Of course there was still the odd line that made me chuckle but that was not the Royle Family.

Your old boxer analogy was spot on.

The Queen of Sheeba was poor but this...

Quote: Aaron @ December 26 2008, 4:36 PM GMT

But hilarious.

(Or very funny at least.)

View original

Not really. The bit where he was using tools to cut it was cringeworthy.

Not really. The bit where he was using tools to cut it was highly amusing.

We could go on.

I thought it was pretty good.

Agree with Lee this one.

It was okay. Suffers a lot from not having Nana who gave some of the best lines in the series.

Quote: Aaron @ December 26 2008, 8:41 PM GMT

Not really. The bit where he was using tools to cut it was highly amusing.

We could go on.

View original

Suppose but as this was the first episode you've seen you'll be coming at it from a different angle. The thing that made the original series great was its true to life style, the subtle, understated characterisation and dialogue. It was a show you could watch and go "I know people like that" or "That has happened to me" etc. This Christmas special was a million miles apart from that and I think that is why many people feel let down.

Couldn't agree more Martin.

This episode was unrecognisable from virtually everything that had preceded it in one of the very best sitcoms ever. I was speechless at some of the routines and set-pieces.

Hang on, just had a thought, maybe somebody at the Beeb got a few different scripts mixed up and the Royle Family cast ended up doing the Chuckle Vision one instead of their own.

I hadn't planned on watching this. I didn't like the previous 'Queen of Sheba' episode. It was cheesy and unfunny, and I get annoyed when people constantly refer to Liz Smith as a "National Treasure".

I liked this Christmas special though. Dave's dad in particular was quite funny.

Finally got around to watching this. It was ok, some good gags, some weird ones. Not anything special here. Also the recorder missed the end off Keeps doing that alot lately, damn thing.

Quote: Griff @ December 28 2008, 9:33 AM GMT

That was a long bloody day.

View original

I hope nobody ran amok with the carving knife whilst waiting for the turkey to thaw out...