There have been some unforgettable TV episodes during Christmases past. Claire Saul looks back at some favourites
WORDS: CLAIRE SAUL
Sensational Soap Shocks
Supreme among many sensational Christmas soap storylines is EastEnders’ notorious 1986 Christmas Day episode, when over 30 million of us sat enthralled as “Dirty” Den Watts handed his alcoholic wife Angie a solicitor’s letter detailing his divorce petition, snarling “Happy Christmas, Ange.”
He had discovered that she’d lied about only having six months to live, to keep them together.
It was a happier occasion – temporarily, at least – when Kat Slater and Alfie Moon tied the knot in 2003. Before the decorations were packed away that same year, Coronation Street’s Richard Hillman crept up on Emily Bishop as she babysat for Maxine and Ashley Peacock, with murder in mind. Emily survived but Maxine, walking in on the scene, wasn’t so lucky.
In 2003 in Emmerdale, Tricia Dingle was fatally injured during a storm as she went to the Woolpack to try to repair her marriage. A decade later, a plane crashed into the pub on New Year’s Eve, killing four regular characters and a dog.
Festive Fiascos
Back in 1974, we found hapless Frank Spencer trying to make baby Jessica’s first Christmas one to remember in Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em. We particularly remember from this episode that “the donkey done a whoopsie in the corridor” and Frank ended up suspended over the Nativity play in his angel costume! Still in his beret, of course.
The Vicar Of Dibley in 1999 brought us another Nativity and the arrival of a special baby – Alice and Hugo Horton’s daughter, Geraldine Laa-Laa Granny Ainsley Harriott Horton. But its most famed seasonal episode was three years earlier, when the obliging Rev Geraldine Grainger attempted to manage four Christmas dinner invitations. The episode ended with a marriage proposal that wasn’t what it seemed and – unsurprisingly – a bout of indigestion.
Turkey also provided a memorable talking point in the Christmas 2008 edition of The Royle Family. Denise and Dave decided to host both sets of parents for a traditional Christmas dinner. Where better, in the minds of this nit-witted twosome, to try and defrost the frozen bird than in the bath, under a sun lamp or in the airing cupboard? Do not try this at home!
Doctors, Dancing A
