Five years after the disappointing A.T.V. series 'Till Death', Alf and Else Garnett returned to the B.B.C. for 'In Sickness & In Health'. It was Johnny Speight's best work in years, pitting Alf against the uncaring Thatcherite '80's. The Garnetts are now living in a cheap ground floor flat in London ( no mention is made of their time in Eastbourne ); Else is ill with rheumatoid arthritis and has to be pushed everywhere in a wheelchair, a situation Alf is understandably unhappy with. Dandy Nichols was ill during the making of the first series, and it shows. She died not long afterwards.
The second season saw Alf, now a widower, learning to get by with a smaller pension, although this does not stop him from enjoying his beer and tobacco. A new character, Mrs.Hollingbery ( Carmel McSharry ) , was introduced to provide someone for him to argue with, along with Winston ( Eamonn Walker ), Alf's home-help, who happens to be both black and gay. Arthur English was also brought in as Alf's drinking partner Arthur.
As was the case with 'Till Death', Una Stubbs managed a few guest appearances as Rita, now divorced from 'that scouse git' Mike. Patricia Hayes cropped up once or twice, as Alf's batty ex-neighbour Min, in tow with her senile, incontinent sister Gwenneth ( the sublime Irene Handl ). My favourite new character was 'Mr.Johnson', excellently played by Ken Campbell, who is as bigoted as Alf in his own way.
The combination of Speight's scripts and the new characters made 'In Sickness' one of the best B.B.C. sitcoms of the mid '80's/early '90's. The final series had Alf discovering a cache of used banknotes ( loot from a '50's bank robbery ) in an old wardrobe, and becoming a millionaire. It wasn't as funny as the earlier shows, but it was nice to see Alf living the high life for a change - and finding fault with that too.
Revivals of old sitcoms only work when the new show is as good or better than the original. 'In Sickness' was for the most part in the former category, sometimes in the latter.
The second season saw Alf, now a widower, learning to get by with a smaller pension, although this does not stop him from enjoying his beer and tobacco. A new character, Mrs.Hollingbery ( Carmel McSharry ) , was introduced to provide someone for him to argue with, along with Winston ( Eamonn Walker ), Alf's home-help, who happens to be both black and gay. Arthur English was also brought in as Alf's drinking partner Arthur.
As was the case with 'Till Death', Una Stubbs managed a few guest appearances as Rita, now divorced from 'that scouse git' Mike. Patricia Hayes cropped up once or twice, as Alf's batty ex-neighbour Min, in tow with her senile, incontinent sister Gwenneth ( the sublime Irene Handl ). My favourite new character was 'Mr.Johnson', excellently played by Ken Campbell, who is as bigoted as Alf in his own way.
The combination of Speight's scripts and the new characters made 'In Sickness' one of the best B.B.C. sitcoms of the mid '80's/early '90's. The final series had Alf discovering a cache of used banknotes ( loot from a '50's bank robbery ) in an old wardrobe, and becoming a millionaire. It wasn't as funny as the earlier shows, but it was nice to see Alf living the high life for a change - and finding fault with that too.
Revivals of old sitcoms only work when the new show is as good or better than the original. 'In Sickness' was for the most part in the former category, sometimes in the latter.