To me, this represents the finest Christmas episode of any regular TV series I've ever seen. It wasn't magical, it didn't feature someone behaving like/believing he's another Scrooge, and it didn't have anything truly memorable happen to any of the characters. It was just so funny from the beginning when Hester and William plug in their Christmas lights on the outdoor tree and cause a 6-hour power failure in the neighborhood, right through to the end when Hester models the skimpy negligee William bought for her.
The strength of this series is the believable relationship between the two stars. Neither one displays any of the negative things so often found in TV married couples. They don't scream at each other, neither always gets things done their way, and they don't have a serious argument in almost every episode like some TV couples do.
A few days before Christmas a phone call from their daughter Emma informs them that they won't get to spend Christmas with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson as they had planned. The kids are going to be with the son-in-law's parents instead. So the Fields decide to invite William's single secretary, Miss Denham over so she won't be alone. They later decide to invite neighbors Sonia and John. When you add in Hester's long-divorced parents, you have a nice group of 7 for Christmas.
It seems everyone brings a dozen or more little mince pies, something these Brits insist are a must at Christmas. OK for them. It was clearly a joke that they kept getting more and more pies.
One of my two favorite scenes is after John comes home with the turkey, they discover he got the wrong bird-the label says it was for someone named "Fielder." Panicking because this bird isn't nearly big enough for all her guests, Hester and William are about to try to go to the address on that label, only to have their doorbell ring with Mrs. Fielder wanting to make a turkey swap. What was so funny was Mrs. Fielder and Mrs. Fields joking about the uselessness of husbands.
The really funny scene was a game of charades the people played, with John sort of being the emcee, selecting the titles of the books/movies/TV shows, etc. the others were to act out to get someone to guess the title. Each character took a turn and the funny results of each were just a riot.
This has become a show I watch at least almost every Christmas season. There's nothing dramatic going on, just a load of laughs, even if you don't quite get all the English phrases or names if you're an American like me. It's a jolly good show for all to enjoy.
The strength of this series is the believable relationship between the two stars. Neither one displays any of the negative things so often found in TV married couples. They don't scream at each other, neither always gets things done their way, and they don't have a serious argument in almost every episode like some TV couples do.
A few days before Christmas a phone call from their daughter Emma informs them that they won't get to spend Christmas with their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson as they had planned. The kids are going to be with the son-in-law's parents instead. So the Fields decide to invite William's single secretary, Miss Denham over so she won't be alone. They later decide to invite neighbors Sonia and John. When you add in Hester's long-divorced parents, you have a nice group of 7 for Christmas.
It seems everyone brings a dozen or more little mince pies, something these Brits insist are a must at Christmas. OK for them. It was clearly a joke that they kept getting more and more pies.
One of my two favorite scenes is after John comes home with the turkey, they discover he got the wrong bird-the label says it was for someone named "Fielder." Panicking because this bird isn't nearly big enough for all her guests, Hester and William are about to try to go to the address on that label, only to have their doorbell ring with Mrs. Fielder wanting to make a turkey swap. What was so funny was Mrs. Fielder and Mrs. Fields joking about the uselessness of husbands.
The really funny scene was a game of charades the people played, with John sort of being the emcee, selecting the titles of the books/movies/TV shows, etc. the others were to act out to get someone to guess the title. Each character took a turn and the funny results of each were just a riot.
This has become a show I watch at least almost every Christmas season. There's nothing dramatic going on, just a load of laughs, even if you don't quite get all the English phrases or names if you're an American like me. It's a jolly good show for all to enjoy.
