Airdate: The Royle Family: specials

ABC2 will air two Royle Family specials for Christmas.

“The New Sofa” aired in the UK in 2008 and “The Golden Egg Cup” aired in the UK last Christmas.

There is also another new special set to air in the UK this month.

8:30pm Thursday December 23rd
The New Sofa
It’s Christmas in the Royle family household and this year, for the first time, Denise is cooking the dinner, which means patriarch Jim has to leave his beloved armchair, something he’s all the more reluctant to do when he knows Dave’s parents are also invited.

The day starts well. Denise and Dave are up nice and early, (if you can call a quarter to twelve early), which leaves plenty of time, since their guests aren’t due until 2pm, if only the turkey wasn’t still frozen.

As Denise takes to the kitchen to prepare the starter –‘Cup-a-Soup, with a twist’ (she’s serving it in a bowl) – Dave desperately tries to thaw the frozen bird, in between serving a rather ominous-looking, home-made tropical punch from a trolley as their guests ‘mingle’.

Denise and Dave show off their new ‘flame retarded’ sofa complete with additional feature – it reclines! Much merriment ensues as Barbara, Jocelyn and David Senior each take it in turns to ‘have a recline’. Jim, unimpressed, looks on in disgust and continues to get drunk by slurping punch directly from the bowl.

But unfortunately for poor Denise, she’s managed to burn the only six potatoes she has, and what with the still-frozen turkey, has to tearfully admit her Christmas dinner is a failure.

But in true Royle family fashion, they rally round and make the best of what they have, with David Senior’s allotment carrots and Barbara’s gravy-from-a-stock cube saving the day. Because who needs Christmas when you’ve got each other… and a new sofa?

8:30pm Friday December 24th
The Royle Family: The Golden Egg Cup
The television-loving Royles are back and celebrating a very special anniversary – if they can ever manage to get off their sofa.

It’s Jim and Barbara’s 50th wedding anniversary, and family and friends hide in the flat to throw them a surprise party – Denise has opened some crisp packets so there’s a special buffet too!

Jim’s not impressed with the single golden eggcup they’re given by their neighbours, but perks up when the Royle children Antony and Denise give them money as a gift.

He’s all for splashing out on an HD television system, while long-suffering wife Barbara dreams of an exotic holiday as she hasn’t been away since their honeymoon.

They eventually decide to go and stay at an out-of season holiday park in Wales, along with lazy daughter Denise and her laid-back husband Dave, but the arguments start before they even get there.

Crammed into a caravan where the small TV set doesn’t work, the door to the tiny bathroom won’t shut, and there’s not even a chip pan, it doesn’t take long for the Royles to decide there’s no place like home.

The Royles stars Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash.