Our take
A welcome return that proves the format did not need the original line-up to work. The hour length lets it breathe, the Christmas dinner gives it a shape the earlier specials lacked, and the comedy of forced festivity with the in-laws is very good. Tom Courtenay and Helen Fraser are a delight as Dave's parents, and Denise's bid to channel Nigella is a gift for Caroline Aherne.
What happens
The first Christmas special since Nana's death in The Queen of Sheba. Inspired by Nigella Lawson, Denise decides that this year she will cook the Christmas dinner for the family. The story opens on Christmas Eve, with Jim and Barbara still sniping at each other in their cosy, heavily decorated front room and Twiggy barging in with his own take on the season, before moving to Christmas morning as Denise and Dave get ready. Jim provides the Yule log, but to his dismay Dave's mum and dad, Jocelyn and David senior, have been invited to join them, and he has to cope with in-laws he finds hard going. Antony is missing this year: the family are told he is at his own home babysitting Denise and Dave's children. With the Christmas dinner in Denise's hands and two sets of grandparents round one table, the question is how much can go wrong.
Can the kids watch it?
No BBFC record found for this special; it carries the same adult humour as the 12-rated episodes, so teenagers and up.