Quote: Aaron @ December 27 2009, 1:28 AM GMTOh no they didn't.
Did!
The Royle Family Christmas 2009 Page 5
Couldn't watch it. Ricky Tomlinson needs to get his vile nose warts removed. I can't look at him.
Well, it had its flaws, but still better than most sitcoms on the box these days!
True, that it's far removed from the early days, sitting on the sofa, where some of the silent pauses created the best humour. Simple one word answers and bland expressions capturing the moment etc.
As said above, it's like they are forcing an "up-tempo" version and forcing the laughs in an attempt to move with the times. I think for the Royles ... stay where you were best, bring the 1990s into 2010, I'm sure it will work with good writing and effort from all the cast!
Cal
'Outnumbered' has just shown 'The Royle Family' and 'Victoria Wood's Mid-Life Christmas' how to do a Christmas special properly - 40 mins long and not one minute wasted!
Please don't post the same thing on numerous threads, johnny. You only need to say it once, we'll all see it!
No - just you
I mean we'll all see it even if you only post it once.
Posting it three times is spamming and against site rules, so please stop.
Dang, I almost forgot about this!
I got the boxset containing all episodes for Christmas and I think they should have stopped after the third series. 
I guess there will be another *complete* series box set soon. I bet people who have already got one of these were effing and jeffing when they saw the listings. That was the first episode I've watched all the way through and if the 'new' box set is at a good price and if I think they'll not do another I'll probably get one.
Well I enjoyed it. It was one of their better specials in my view. Craig Cash seemed to come into his own too.
I don't know if it made anyone else laugh but my favourite scene was the Cluedo game in the caravan with Dave repeatedly uttering 'There's been a murderrr', Taggart style. Didn't blame Jim going for him. 
Didn't enjoy this year's special, nor did I enjoy 'The Queen of Sheba' or 'The New Sofa'.
The first three series though were excellent. Paticularly in the three new specials, the characters just weren't believable enough anymore and were a big disappointment.
Remember that episode where Anthony, Darren and Emma are in the kitchen for most of the episode and Anthony and Darren are doing impressions of Big Brother housemates in the diary room - that's how realistic this show used to be.
And who can forget that scene where the camera pans around the family eating chocolate for about a minute or more.
Agree with Johnny. It was the fearless subtlety of the show in its glory days that made it what it was.
Quite sad that what was once a marvelous parody of dumbed-down society, is now dumbing itself down by hamming itself up in a totally unnecessary fashion.