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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 387120" data-attributes="member: 23">The Garnett Saga continues...<img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themoviedb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw600_and_h900_bestv2%2F9akKTcT5K1O7FGQbZVvB0Ni1Pal.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2bc0b0bf096f147d00034cd4ddbf065e63d1fb57fc551a7c5bd9bd96d62e413e&ipo=images" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 478px" />In Sickness & In Health is the Alf Garnett vehicle with which I'm most familiar. As mentioned in (several) earlier posts, how much I've seen is a blur. It may all come back to me, or it may be that I've only ever watched two or three scenes here and there. Whatever the case, I'm familiar with the premise as it was post-Else.As for how this links up with the broader Alfie-verse, two episodes in and there's no real sense of that continuity. The characters and their portrayals are comfortingly familiar, but there's been no mention of Eastbourne or Min. We seem to be back in London, but in a different home from the one in Till Death Us Do Part, which would make sense if they'd moved away. Even if they hadn't, we know that house was demolished before even the original series went to colour.At the moment, while there's nothing to say the three distinct series aren't connected, each does feel as though it operates in its own little universe. There are many similarities between the three worlds, but also things that could make them distinct entities. Essentially, one can choose a preferred timeline. It's possible to watch each series in isolation and enjoy them. Or one could skip Till Death... and watch only the BBC series. Or vice versa. Watching all three is satisfying in many ways, but also raises questions when continuity is ignored or changed. That said, we're only two episodes into In Sickness..., so perhaps something will happen to tie everything together.One thing is clear... there's something special about this series. A certain spark that wasn't present in the ATV series, and hadn't been seen for many years in Till Death Us Do Part is present here. There's a sparkling energy that picks the viewer up and carries them along. I've laughed out loud at these first two episodes more than I have the last three series (and a good deal of the earlier years) combined. Despite the main cast being fairly thin, the writing, production and performances keep it working extremely well.Alf's lengthy rants are engaging and perhaps funnier than ever.  This is helped by several factors: firstly, I'm more familiar with the social, political and pop culture landscapes of the mid-Eighties than I am the Sixties and Seventies, so names and references dropped click with me.Secondly, it's worth noting that the racist language has been toned down. Alf still very much "others" non-white people, but his language is a little more palatable ("blacks" is now used where he would have said "coons" before). While I understood Alf's frequent use of epithets in early series wasn't meant to be comfortable, it's far more enjoyable to have less of that.. particularly at this stage. We've established how Alf thinks, so at this point it's enough to know that he's bigoted without it being in-your-face explicit. Even Alf probably understands he's living in different times where even some of his opinions need to be articulated differently. There's some familiar territory in some of his spiels (during his rant at the hospital, he again spoke about the white man having a black man's heart transplanted in South Africa and not knowing which toilet to use), but people with this mindset tend to be repetitive in their diatribes in real life, so I can accept it.Dandy Nichols has aged so much in the four years since Till Death...  she is almost unrecognisable here. She looks terribly frail it's easy to see why this is her last year on the series. It's wonderful that Johnny Speight has written her arthritis and wheelchair use into the series (Alf scoffing that here comes "Zola Budd" as Else tottered sluggishly across the room made me laugh out loud).The comedy features arguably more traditional situational scenarios, but it's well done. The wheelchair has opened up many new avenues for comedy, and perhaps the funniest sequence so far saw Alf pushing Else along the road and refusing to move aside for a motorist. The whole thing looked bloody dangerous: Warren Mitchell genuinely pushed Dandy Nichols in front of a speeding car which screeched to a halt with feet to spare and, during the pursuit, Warren was sandwiched between Else's wheelchair and a Mk III Escort right behind him as the driver leant out of the window to hurl abuse. A slip of the clutch and it could have been nasty. But the risk makes the comedy work. Dandy Nichols has gamely allowed Warren to bash her into doorframes and brick walls as Alf struggles with pushing the chair.I believe Winston will arrive in the next episode, so I'm looking forward to seeing Alf's reaction.Finally, Chas and Dave's iconic theme song makes it all feel even more perfect. Despite being less political than its parent series, I feel this might the the one I end up enjoying the most.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?