Our take
The longest of the Christmas Day specials runs on a string of holiday disasters: a haunted caravan, a booking mix-up and an elderly traveller kidnapped by accident. Tim Brooke-Taylor is a welcome addition next door, and the clifftop attempt to get rid of the caravan is a great sight gag, before a closing turn that puts every farce before it in perspective.
What happens
Victor goes shopping for an answering machine and ends up collared to help with a police identity parade for a flasher. When he finally gets home, the machine does not work, which only adds to Margaret's frustration over the rickety old caravan he has just bought, and her temper rises further when Mr Swainey tells them it is supposed to be haunted. Victor reluctantly lends a hand to Mr Swainey's old people's charity by collecting an elderly Indian lady from the airport, but her poor English leads to an unwitting hostage situation, as he accidentally kidnaps a businessman's mother. The Meldrews visit their new next-door neighbours, Derek and Betty, for dinner, and discover that Patrick has left them a collection of horror stories about Victor's antics. The newcomers are off to a holiday cottage for a few days, and when Betty recommends the rental company to Margaret, a booking confusion sows the seeds of quite a shock. At the end of her tether, Margaret refuses to join Victor for a break by the coast in the caravan. After a strange night and a disturbing dream about her, he tries to ditch the caravan over a cliff but succeeds only in destroying their car. Returning home, he is met with news that puts all their holiday woes into stark perspective: Margaret has had a heart attack.
Can the kids watch it?
Not rated by the BBFC on its own; with a flasher identity parade and a heart attack in the story, it is best for 12 and over.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew
- Annette Crosbie as Margaret Meldrew
- Owen Brenman as Nick Swainey
Guest stars
- Tim Brooke-Taylor as Derek
- Marian McLoughlin as Betty
- Usha Patel as Mrs. Khan
- Ian Redford as Archie
- Robin Davies as Rambler
- Christopher Robbie as Dr. Clarke
Writer
- David Renwick