Til Death Us Do Part
Encyclopedia
Till Death Us Do Part is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1
from 1965 to 1968, 1970, and from 1972 to 1975. First airing as a Comedy Playhouse
pilot
, the show aired in seven series until 1975. Six years later, ITV
continued the sitcom, calling it Till Death...
. From 1985 to 1992, the BBC produced a sequel In Sickness and in Health
.
Created by Johnny Speight
, Till Death Us Do Part centred on the East End
Garnett family, led by patriarch
Alf Garnett
(Warren Mitchell
), a reactionary
white Working-class man who holds racist and anti-socialist views. His gentle and long-suffering wife Else was played by Dandy Nichols
, and his daughter Rita by Una Stubbs
. Rita's bright but layabout husband Mike Rawlins (Antony Booth) is a socialist. The character Alf Garnett became a well known character in British culture
, and Mitchell played him on stage and television up until 1998, when Speight died.
In addition to the spin-off In Sickness and in Health, Till Death Us Do Part was re-made in many countries, from Brazil to Germany (Ein Herz und eine Seele
), with the most notable remake being the long-running 1970s American series, All in the Family
.
Many episodes from the first three series are thought to no longer exist, having been wiped
in the late 1960s and early '70s as was the policy at the time.
life comparatively realistically. It addressed racial and political issues at a difficult time in British society. The attitude of those who made the programme was that Alf's views were so clearly unacceptable that they were risible, but some considered the series uncomfortable and disturbing. Some were oblivious to the fact that Johnny Speight was satirising racialist attitudes. Ironically, many who held similar opinions to the character enjoyed the show, perhaps missing the point that Alf's opinions were considered offensive and that they were being ridiculed. Mitchell imbued the character of Alf Garnett with an earthy charm that served to humanise Alf and make him likable. According to interviews he gave, the fact that some viewers overlooked Alf's views and regarded him as a rough diamond disappointed Speight.
The show captured a key feature of Britain in the 1960s - the widening generation gap. Alf (and to a lesser degree his wife) represented the old guard, the traditional and conservative attitudes of the older generation. Alf's battles with his left-wing son-in-law were not just ideological but generational and cultural. His son-in-law and daughter represented the younger generation. They saw the positive aspects of the new era such as relaxed sexual mores, fashions, music, etc. The same things were anathema to Alf - and indicative of everything that was wrong with the younger generation and the liberal attitudes they embraced.
Alf was portrayed as the archetypal working-class Conservative
. The subjects that excited him most were football and politics, though his actual knowledge of either was limited. He used language not considered acceptable for television in the 1960s. He often referred to racial minorities as "coons" and similar terms. He referred to his Liverpudlian son-in-law as "Shirley Temple" or a "randy Scouse
git" (Randy Scouse Git as a phrase caught the ear of Micky Dolenz of The Monkees
who heard it while on tour in the UK - and who co-opted it as the title of the group's next single - though their record label re-named it "Alternate Title" in the UK market to avoid controversy) and to his wife as a "silly moo" (a substitute for "cow" which was vetoed by the BBC's head of comedy Frank Muir
). However, Michael Palin writes in his diary 16 July 1976 that Warren Mitchell told him that 'silly moo" wasn't scripted, "It came out during a rehearsal when he forgot the line "Silly old mare".' Controversially, the show was one of the earliest mainstream programmes to feature the swear word
"bloody
". The show was one of several held up by Mary Whitehouse
as an example of the BBC's moral laxity.
In a demonstration of Speight's satirical skills - after a successful libel action brought against Speight by Mary Whitehouse - he created an episode where Alf Garnett was seen as a fan of Whitehouse first broadcast on 27 February 1967. He was seen proudly reading her current book. "What are you reading?" his son-in-law asks. When he relates that it is Mary Whitehouse - his son-in-law sniggers. Alf's rejoinder is "She's concerned for the bleedin' moral fibre of the nation!"
Ultimately "silly moo" became a comic catchphrase. Another Garnett phrase was "it stands to reason", usually before making some patently unreasonable comment. Alf was an admirer of Enoch Powell
, a right-wing Conservative politician known particularly for strong opposition to the immigration of non-white races into the United Kingdom. Alf was also a supporter of West Ham United
(a football club based in the East End) and known to make derogatory remarks about "the Jews up at Spurs" (referring to Tottenham Hotspur
, a North London club with a sizeable Jewish following). This was a playful touch by Speight, knowing that in real life Mitchell was both Jewish and a Spurs supporter. In interviews, Speight explained he had originally based Alf on his father, an East End docker who was staunchly reactionary and held "unenlightened" attitudes toward black people. Speight made clear that he regretted his father held such attitudes - beliefs Speight regarded as reprehensible. Speight saw the show as a way of ridiculing such views and dealing with his complex feelings about his father.
The series switched to colour in 1972 and Rita had a baby son, Michael.
, who had been seen from time to time previously as next door neighbour Mrs. Reed, was given a first name Min and became a starring character along with her husband Bert, previously played by Bill Maynard and now by Alfie Bass
. The show's rating began to suffer and in 1975, the series was dropped. The final episode, saw Alf lose his job and receive a telegram from Else asking for a divorce.
. From 1966 to 1968 the show was both taped and transmitted in black and white on the 405-line
system.. When the show returned in 1970 it was recorded the same way only in colour in PAL
576i
(using 625 lines). The opening titles/end credits of the first colour episodes originally used the b/w sequence from the '60s tinted in red, as seen on UKTV Gold repeats in 2006.
The house seen in the opening and closing titles to the 1960s episodes was located on Garnet Street in Wapping (from where writer Johnny Speight took the Garnett family name) and were demolished in the 1980s. A terrace of newer multicoloured homes & an estate agents take their place. They are located on Garnet street in close proximity to the local Wallace James shop, St Peter's Primary School, Gastronomica bar, Docklands General Store and Crane Wharf.
The public appeal campaign the BBC Archive Treasure Hunt continues to search for lost episodes.
In August 2009, two more black and white episodes, "In Sickness and in Health" and "State Visit", were returned by a film collector.
company ATV
picked up the series and produced a solo show starring Alf - titled The Thoughts of Chairman Alf at Christmas - transmitted on 26 December.
It was recently discovered that the original copy had been wiped, which is unusual as the wiping of archive material at ITV is usually thought to have stopped around 1977. However, this date depends on the ITV region. Some companies continued wiping material into the 1980s, such as ATV. After a search to find the special, two copies were found by viewers who recorded the show - one a low quality VHS copy, the other a mid quality Betamax
recording.
The special is currently available to view at the National Media Museum (Bradford) - at their television booths.
In 1981, ATV made six episodes under the title Till Death...
. The series had Alf and Else living in a retirement home in Eastbourne with their widowed friend Min. Although Rita remained in the cast, Anthony Booth declined to return. Rita's son Michael was now a teenager and a punk rocker (even though he was born in 1972 and therefore should only be about 9 or 10). The series was not a success and when Central Television
were awarded the contract for the Midlands region from 1982, it was decided that Till Death... was not to return.
In 1985 Alf Garnett returned to the BBC for In Sickness and in Health
. This took Alf and Else (who was now in a wheelchair) onward into old age, and some of Alf's more extreme opinions were found to have mellowed. Una Stubbs made some guest appearances but Anthony Booth apparently wasn't interested in reprising his role. Eventually Mike and Rita divorced and Rita began dating a doctor. After the first series Dandy Nichols died, and so subsequent episodes showed Alf having to deal with the greatest loss of his life, Else, whom he truly loved.
The loss of Else and Rita as regulars in the cast meant that new characters had to be brought in as antagonists for Alf. These notably included his home help, Winston (played by Eamonn Walker
), who was both black and gay, and Alf's prim upstairs neighbour, Mrs Hollingberry (played by Carmel McSharry
), who eventually agreed to marry Alf.
In 1988, Speight was warned about the use of racialist language - and after discussion it was decided that Garnett's offensive language was to be discontinued and the character of Winston was to be written out. With such characters helping update the basic concept, the "Sickness and Health" series ran until 1992.
Warren Mitchell also appeared solo on stage and TV as Alf Garnett, dispensing variations on Alf's homespun reactionary philosophy and singing old music hall
songs. Most notable was the LWT
show An Audience With Alf Garnett - which allowed Garnett to return to his racialist attitude.
Another show was called It Stands To Reason - The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf; one reviewer concluded that "Speight and Mitchell are to be congratulated for understanding so well the mind of a man who they hate".
(1969), whose first half dealt with the younger Alf and Else during World War II, and whose second half dealt with all the Garnetts in the present day being moved from their East End slum to the New town
of Hemel Hempstead
, and the adjustments and changes that brought on the family. It gave a nuanced glimpse of British life at the time. The second film, The Alf Garnett Saga (1972) had Adrienne Posta
playing the part of Rita and Paul Angelis
playing Mike. It is notable for featuring Alf Garnett on an LSD trip.
, who release their titles through 2entertain
. Some fans have urged BBC DVD to release the series; however, In Sickness & In Health recently saw all Six-Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the Christmas specials being released on DVD by 2|entertain.
The fourth series was available in the United States and Canada, having been released before the Network edition and featuring some title sequence variations. The 1969 movie is available in both the UK and the US, with the 1972 movie only available on DVD via bootlegs.
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
from 1965 to 1968, 1970, and from 1972 to 1975. First airing as a Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse
Comedy Playhouse was a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?...
pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, the show aired in seven series until 1975. Six years later, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
continued the sitcom, calling it Till Death...
Till Death...
Till Death... was an ITV sitcom that aired from 22 May to 3 July 1981.-Series:In 1981, the popular TV sitcom Till Death Us Do Part was picked up by ITV company ATV and brought back for a further six episodes, this time under the title Till Death... as the title Till Death Us Do Part was controlled...
. From 1985 to 1992, the BBC produced a sequel In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health was a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was also a sequel to both the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part which ran between 1966 and 1975 and Till Death... which ran for one series in 1981.-Series 1:This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took...
.
Created by Johnny Speight
Johnny Speight
Johnny Speight , was a British television scriptwriter of many classic British sitcoms.He emerged in the mid 1950s. He wrote for the radio comics; Frankie Howerd, Vic Oliver, Arthur Askey, and Cyril Fletcher. For television he wrote for the Arthur Haynes Show, Morecambe & Wise, and Peter Sellers...
, Till Death Us Do Part centred on the East End
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
Garnett family, led by patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
Alf Garnett
Alf Garnett
Alf Garnett is a fictional character in the British sitcoms Till Death Us Do Part, Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health, and chat show The Thoughts of Chairman Alf. He was created by Johnny Speight and played by Warren Mitchell....
(Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell
Warren Mitchell is an English actor who rose to initial prominence in the role of bigoted cockney Alf Garnett in the BBC television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part , and its sequels Till Death... and In Sickness and in Health , all of which were written by Johnny Speight...
), a reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
white Working-class man who holds racist and anti-socialist views. His gentle and long-suffering wife Else was played by Dandy Nichols
Dandy Nichols
-References:* Dandy Nichols at screenonline.* Dandy Nichols at The Museum of Broadcast Communications.-External links:...
, and his daughter Rita by Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs
Una Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...
. Rita's bright but layabout husband Mike Rawlins (Antony Booth) is a socialist. The character Alf Garnett became a well known character in British culture
Culture of the United Kingdom
The culture of the United Kingdom refers to the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the United Kingdom and its people. It is informed by the UK's history as a developed island country, major power, and its composition of four countries—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and...
, and Mitchell played him on stage and television up until 1998, when Speight died.
In addition to the spin-off In Sickness and in Health, Till Death Us Do Part was re-made in many countries, from Brazil to Germany (Ein Herz und eine Seele
Ein Herz und eine Seele
Ein Herz und eine Seele is a German sitcom aired in 1973/74 and 1976. It was essentially a remake of the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part by Johnny Speight, and was written by Wolfgang Menge....
), with the most notable remake being the long-running 1970s American series, All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
.
Many episodes from the first three series are thought to no longer exist, having been wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
in the late 1960s and early '70s as was the policy at the time.
Success years
The series became an instant hit because, although a comedy, in the context of its time it did deal with aspects of working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
life comparatively realistically. It addressed racial and political issues at a difficult time in British society. The attitude of those who made the programme was that Alf's views were so clearly unacceptable that they were risible, but some considered the series uncomfortable and disturbing. Some were oblivious to the fact that Johnny Speight was satirising racialist attitudes. Ironically, many who held similar opinions to the character enjoyed the show, perhaps missing the point that Alf's opinions were considered offensive and that they were being ridiculed. Mitchell imbued the character of Alf Garnett with an earthy charm that served to humanise Alf and make him likable. According to interviews he gave, the fact that some viewers overlooked Alf's views and regarded him as a rough diamond disappointed Speight.
The show captured a key feature of Britain in the 1960s - the widening generation gap. Alf (and to a lesser degree his wife) represented the old guard, the traditional and conservative attitudes of the older generation. Alf's battles with his left-wing son-in-law were not just ideological but generational and cultural. His son-in-law and daughter represented the younger generation. They saw the positive aspects of the new era such as relaxed sexual mores, fashions, music, etc. The same things were anathema to Alf - and indicative of everything that was wrong with the younger generation and the liberal attitudes they embraced.
Alf was portrayed as the archetypal working-class Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. The subjects that excited him most were football and politics, though his actual knowledge of either was limited. He used language not considered acceptable for television in the 1960s. He often referred to racial minorities as "coons" and similar terms. He referred to his Liverpudlian son-in-law as "Shirley Temple" or a "randy Scouse
Scouse
Scouse is an accent and dialect of English found primarily in the Metropolitan county of Merseyside, and closely associated with the city of Liverpool and the adjoining urban areas such as the boroughs of south Sefton, Knowsley and the Wirral...
git" (Randy Scouse Git as a phrase caught the ear of Micky Dolenz of The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
who heard it while on tour in the UK - and who co-opted it as the title of the group's next single - though their record label re-named it "Alternate Title" in the UK market to avoid controversy) and to his wife as a "silly moo" (a substitute for "cow" which was vetoed by the BBC's head of comedy Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
). However, Michael Palin writes in his diary 16 July 1976 that Warren Mitchell told him that 'silly moo" wasn't scripted, "It came out during a rehearsal when he forgot the line "Silly old mare".' Controversially, the show was one of the earliest mainstream programmes to feature the swear word
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
"bloody
Bloody
Bloody is the adjectival form of blood but may also be used as an expletive attributive in Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, South Africa , New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Anglophone Caribbean and Sri Lanka...
". The show was one of several held up by Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
as an example of the BBC's moral laxity.
In a demonstration of Speight's satirical skills - after a successful libel action brought against Speight by Mary Whitehouse - he created an episode where Alf Garnett was seen as a fan of Whitehouse first broadcast on 27 February 1967. He was seen proudly reading her current book. "What are you reading?" his son-in-law asks. When he relates that it is Mary Whitehouse - his son-in-law sniggers. Alf's rejoinder is "She's concerned for the bleedin' moral fibre of the nation!"
Ultimately "silly moo" became a comic catchphrase. Another Garnett phrase was "it stands to reason", usually before making some patently unreasonable comment. Alf was an admirer of Enoch Powell
Enoch Powell
John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...
, a right-wing Conservative politician known particularly for strong opposition to the immigration of non-white races into the United Kingdom. Alf was also a supporter of West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
(a football club based in the East End) and known to make derogatory remarks about "the Jews up at Spurs" (referring to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, a North London club with a sizeable Jewish following). This was a playful touch by Speight, knowing that in real life Mitchell was both Jewish and a Spurs supporter. In interviews, Speight explained he had originally based Alf on his father, an East End docker who was staunchly reactionary and held "unenlightened" attitudes toward black people. Speight made clear that he regretted his father held such attitudes - beliefs Speight regarded as reprehensible. Speight saw the show as a way of ridiculing such views and dealing with his complex feelings about his father.
The series switched to colour in 1972 and Rita had a baby son, Michael.
Decline
Toward the end of the series Dandy Nichols fell ill and was unable to attend the live-audience recordings. The problem was solved by having her pre-record her lines which were then edited into the show. Eventually even this was too much and so in a later episode Else was seen leaving for Australia, to Alf's dismay. Patricia HayesPatricia Hayes
Patricia Lawlor Hayes, OBE was an English comedy actress.Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child Hayes attended Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth....
, who had been seen from time to time previously as next door neighbour Mrs. Reed, was given a first name Min and became a starring character along with her husband Bert, previously played by Bill Maynard and now by Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass
Alfred Bass was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; their parents had fled persecution in Russia...
. The show's rating began to suffer and in 1975, the series was dropped. The final episode, saw Alf lose his job and receive a telegram from Else asking for a divorce.
Production
As with most BBC sitcoms Till Death Us Do Part was recorded before a live studio audience. The programs were recorded onto 2 inch Quadruplex videotape2 inch Quadruplex videotape
2-inch quadruplex videotape was the first practical and commercially successful analog recording videotape format. It was developed and released for the broadcast television industry in 1956 by Ampex, an American company based in Redwood City, California...
. From 1966 to 1968 the show was both taped and transmitted in black and white on the 405-line
405-line
The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting....
system.. When the show returned in 1970 it was recorded the same way only in colour in PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
576i
576i
576i is a standard-definition video mode used in PAL and SECAM countries. In digital applications it is usually referred to as "576i", in analogue contexts it is often quoted as "625 lines"...
(using 625 lines). The opening titles/end credits of the first colour episodes originally used the b/w sequence from the '60s tinted in red, as seen on UKTV Gold repeats in 2006.
The house seen in the opening and closing titles to the 1960s episodes was located on Garnet Street in Wapping (from where writer Johnny Speight took the Garnett family name) and were demolished in the 1980s. A terrace of newer multicoloured homes & an estate agents take their place. They are located on Garnet street in close proximity to the local Wallace James shop, St Peter's Primary School, Gastronomica bar, Docklands General Store and Crane Wharf.
Missing black and white episodes
Most of the show's 26 episodes from series 1-3 that were videotaped in black and white and broadcast 1965-68 no longer exist; they were wiped by the BBC during the late 1960s and early '70s. Currently, most material from twelve episodes still survive, with one episode on the original tape and the rest on film or domestic formats. In 1997 the long-lost episode, "Alf's Dilemma", was found in a private collection on a 21-minute 16mm telerecording (some sources state that the episode is an edited version, others that it was just a short episode). The episode was rebroadcast in 1998 on UK Gold. The other surviving 1960s B&W episodes that still exist are: "Arguments, Arguments"; "A House With No Love In It"; "Peace & Goodwill"; "In Sickness and In Health"; "State Visit"; "Alf's Dilemma"; "Till Closing Time Do Us Part"; "The Phone"; "The Blood Donor". Sequences exist from: the pilot episode; "Intolerance"; "Sex Before Marriage"; "The Bulldog Breed"; "A Wapping Mythology (The Workers' King)"; "The Puppy"; "Aunt Maud".The public appeal campaign the BBC Archive Treasure Hunt continues to search for lost episodes.
In August 2009, two more black and white episodes, "In Sickness and in Health" and "State Visit", were returned by a film collector.
Sequels
In 1980, the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
company ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
picked up the series and produced a solo show starring Alf - titled The Thoughts of Chairman Alf at Christmas - transmitted on 26 December.
It was recently discovered that the original copy had been wiped, which is unusual as the wiping of archive material at ITV is usually thought to have stopped around 1977. However, this date depends on the ITV region. Some companies continued wiping material into the 1980s, such as ATV. After a search to find the special, two copies were found by viewers who recorded the show - one a low quality VHS copy, the other a mid quality Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
recording.
The special is currently available to view at the National Media Museum (Bradford) - at their television booths.
In 1981, ATV made six episodes under the title Till Death...
Till Death...
Till Death... was an ITV sitcom that aired from 22 May to 3 July 1981.-Series:In 1981, the popular TV sitcom Till Death Us Do Part was picked up by ITV company ATV and brought back for a further six episodes, this time under the title Till Death... as the title Till Death Us Do Part was controlled...
. The series had Alf and Else living in a retirement home in Eastbourne with their widowed friend Min. Although Rita remained in the cast, Anthony Booth declined to return. Rita's son Michael was now a teenager and a punk rocker (even though he was born in 1972 and therefore should only be about 9 or 10). The series was not a success and when Central Television
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
were awarded the contract for the Midlands region from 1982, it was decided that Till Death... was not to return.
In 1985 Alf Garnett returned to the BBC for In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health was a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was also a sequel to both the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part which ran between 1966 and 1975 and Till Death... which ran for one series in 1981.-Series 1:This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took...
. This took Alf and Else (who was now in a wheelchair) onward into old age, and some of Alf's more extreme opinions were found to have mellowed. Una Stubbs made some guest appearances but Anthony Booth apparently wasn't interested in reprising his role. Eventually Mike and Rita divorced and Rita began dating a doctor. After the first series Dandy Nichols died, and so subsequent episodes showed Alf having to deal with the greatest loss of his life, Else, whom he truly loved.
The loss of Else and Rita as regulars in the cast meant that new characters had to be brought in as antagonists for Alf. These notably included his home help, Winston (played by Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker
Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...
), who was both black and gay, and Alf's prim upstairs neighbour, Mrs Hollingberry (played by Carmel McSharry
Carmel McSharry
Carmel McSharry is an Irish character actress, best-known for her roles portrayals of Beryl Humphries in Beryl's Lot, and as Mrs. Hollingbery in In Sickness and in Health....
), who eventually agreed to marry Alf.
In 1988, Speight was warned about the use of racialist language - and after discussion it was decided that Garnett's offensive language was to be discontinued and the character of Winston was to be written out. With such characters helping update the basic concept, the "Sickness and Health" series ran until 1992.
Warren Mitchell also appeared solo on stage and TV as Alf Garnett, dispensing variations on Alf's homespun reactionary philosophy and singing old music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
songs. Most notable was the LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
show An Audience With Alf Garnett - which allowed Garnett to return to his racialist attitude.
Another show was called It Stands To Reason - The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf; one reviewer concluded that "Speight and Mitchell are to be congratulated for understanding so well the mind of a man who they hate".
Film adaptations
Two feature films were made based on the series - the first was Till Death Us Do PartTill Death Us Do Part (film)
Till Death Us Do Part is a 1969 film based on the BBC television series Till Death Us Do Part which aired from 1965 until 1975. The film was directed by Norman Cohen and written by Johnny Speight, the creator of the television version.-Plot:...
(1969), whose first half dealt with the younger Alf and Else during World War II, and whose second half dealt with all the Garnetts in the present day being moved from their East End slum to the New town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
of Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
, and the adjustments and changes that brought on the family. It gave a nuanced glimpse of British life at the time. The second film, The Alf Garnett Saga (1972) had Adrienne Posta
Adrienne Posta
Adrienne Posta is an English film and television actress and singer, prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. She adopted the surname Posta in 1966. She recorded a number of singles. She is now semi-retired and works as a teacher in the Midlands and at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts...
playing the part of Rita and Paul Angelis
Paul Angelis
Paul Angelis is an English actor and writer best known for his role as PC Bannerman in the British television series Z-Cars.He provided the voice of Ringo Starr and the Chief Blue Meanie in the movie Yellow Submarine....
playing Mike. It is notable for featuring Alf Garnett on an LSD trip.
DVD
In the UK, Network released the first two colour series on DVD (Series 4 and 5) but these releases are no longer being printed - the license has expired and rights have reverted to BBC WorldwideBBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
, who release their titles through 2entertain
2 Entertain
2 Entertain is a British video and music publisher, formed by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004....
. Some fans have urged BBC DVD to release the series; however, In Sickness & In Health recently saw all Six-Series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and the Christmas specials being released on DVD by 2|entertain.
The fourth series was available in the United States and Canada, having been released before the Network edition and featuring some title sequence variations. The 1969 movie is available in both the UK and the US, with the 1972 movie only available on DVD via bootlegs.
Differences from All In The Family
The series is known to the US as the show that inspired All in the Family. But there some differences:- Where All In the Family, Else′s counterpart Edith was a "dingbat", and loyal and loving wife, Else Garnett was a smart, but long suffering woman who was bitter about her unhappy marriage and smoked heavily. She often lashed out at her husband (who called her a "silly old moo") and often her family due to her poor living situation
- On All in the Family, Mike and Archie Bunker were always at odds and rarely got along. In Till Death Us Do Part, Alf and Mike, while never agreeing with each other, were civil to each other for the most part and often went to the pub together. Alf and Mike also attended the World Cup together and Mike was protective of his father-in-law.
- Where the Bunkers were living in comfortable (if slightly shabby) surroundings despite their working class status, the Garnetts lived in a poor housing area in lower class WappingWappingWapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
.
See also
- List of films based on British sitcoms
- All in the FamilyAll in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
- For Richer...For PoorerFor Richer...For PoorerFor Richer...For Poorer was a 1975 BBC television pilot starring Harry H Corbett as Bert, a union shop-steward who worships Stalin and has dreams of becoming a major politician....
External links
- Laughterlog - Detailed article and episode guide on Till Death Us Do Part and all other Alf Garnett spin-offs
- G. Schaffer ‘Till Death Us Do Part and the BBC: Racial Politics and the British Working Classes 1965–75’, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol 45(2), 454–477. ISSN 0022–0094. DOI: 10.1177/0022009409356914
- Lost Shows on Till Death Us Do Part
- Encyclopedia of Television
- BBC Treasure Hunt
- Till Death Us Do Part at British TV Comedy