The Royle Family 02 2008 The New Sofa

I thought there were still some worthwhile moments in the later specials, although you're right about them being not as good as the earlier series and the characters being 2 dimensional. I think the episode with Joe after Mary's death was probably the best of the later specials.

John Morris

For me, this was the worst episode of the show. It gets off to a wobbly start in the normal family house, but descends to the absolute pits at Denise's house. Some people take against the episode simply because they broke with their convention and actually left the house (excluding the nana hosptial scenes, of course), but it's much worse than that. The characters become shadows of their former selves replacing affectionate and unique foibles with just naked stupidity. Images of Dave bathing with the turkey or kicking it around the floor signify, for me, the death of the series. They became 2 dimensional stock sitcom characters getting up to apparently comical antics. So much was sacrificed in this episode to try and squeeze out a few more specials: the realism, the quality of the dialogue, character consistency and motivation. Dave and Denise have gone from comically docile to moronically stupid. The rest of the cast struggle to breathe life into the material. It should have ended on the unrivalled high at the end of The Queen of Sheba.

Dean

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but when Jocelyn says she’s a fan of prison films, such a clever comment. For Josh and others who might not remember, she played ‘Bodybag’ (nickname) in the ITV prison drama Bad Girls, for years!

CatsandCrafts

I used to think it was the stalk of a carrot too, until recently, then I realised she meant Stork margerine/butter.

CatsandCrafts

I think because this was a one off special that ppl had been waiting for the expectation was probably higher than if it had been an episode in a 6 part series

lee cooper

This was a bit different. Perhaps they pushed the envelope a tad too far at various times. But it was theirs to do with what they wanted. You have to respect that when you write, act and direct your own work, it's your call what you do with your creation. Having fun was clearly the key motivation here and that was well achieved. I had enough fun with it. Even if some characters seemed to be a sort of amalgamation of archetypal comedy types. A sort of Basil Fawlty, Joey Tribbiani, Mr Bean blend of chaotic, dumb and weirdly childish but without the invention. I didn't hate it, but I can see why some would.

Daryl

I agree... Its definitely different but still entertaining. In fact, I think there was a lot more gags than usual in this one, although some were too obvious and they tried a bit too hard but overall I won't mind the change if the rest of the shows are a similar quality to this one. I certainly don't think this special is anywhere near as bad as some people claimed and Josh laughed plenty of times which is good enough for me.

BigChanChan

Josh, just FYI on your other site you've got the Royle Family page as https://www.afterworkreactions.com/copy-of-the-inbetweeners - just in case you wanted to do a bit of tidying up! Happy New Year bro!

DS292

I can see why people would have preferred this to end with The Queen Of Sheba. It certainly becomes more like a sitcom from hereon in. As you picked up on, the sets are so much more brightly lit. However, I wouldn't call it a decline, it's just a change in style, and that was deliberate as the writers wanted to try the characters outside the usual conventions we expect from The Royle Family. Basically they said "we've had a good run, let's play about a bit and have some fun" which I think is a refreshing way to go about it rather than being so precious about a set format.

Matgo Styles

Stork is more like margarine. Butter would be a bit up market for our Denise

David Harman

I was in two minds what she meant by that tbh I was thinking butter but also thought it could mean the stalks from the carrots

I liked the episode but I can see why others don't with it being set elsewhere and their antics seemed way over the top and less grounded in reality like the ones before. They may have been better calling it something else and being like a spin off the way Ricky Gervais did it with the Brent movie.

During the whole recliner scene, Jim's glass kept changing from full to half full, empty, then a little bit, then half full, then empty XD

Austin Stratton

When Denise was talking about what she was making, she kept saying 'then I'll chuck on a knob of Stork' basically she was just gonna chuck a blob of butter onto everything XD

Austin Stratton

Yeah, this looks like a desperate cash-grab and unwatchable. But then all shows lose it eventually, (and music artists) especially after so much time. Talent is ephemeral.

Alexander Bond

i annoy people by wearing mixed day socks, left foot tuesday right foot saturday

girlsdrinkfeck

i agree jamie oliver is a massive pounce !!! he even employed a child rapist and justified it with " well he did wrong and deserves a second chance !!!

girlsdrinkfeck

this was the first episode shot in hd

JokerDanny

don't forget the outtakes josh

JokerDanny

I thought this was a good episode, I know it changes after this one but I still enjoyed it.

After Work Reactions

Interesting, I've never heard that before.

After Work Reactions

Lol 😂 thank you!

After Work Reactions

Thanks bud I will add it to my list!

After Work Reactions

It was a good episode!

After Work Reactions

Awesome thank bud, glad you enjoyed it 👍🏽

After Work Reactions

I know some people are down on these specials but I always loved this episode, although the turkey defrosting bits were a bit daft.

Chris H

Is it just me or are Dave's parents just plain wrong for the character? They appear to be middle-upper class, with Dave's Dad as an eccentric. They're not what I envisioned at all. I'm pretty sure Jim talked about Dave's Dad being a benefit cheat back in series 1 ("hop along cassidy"). Just another reason as to why these post Queen of Sheeba specials seem so off to me.

Right Said Brett

I find this and the following specials to be the antithesis of what the show was always about. Gone is the single bottle location setting, replaced by trips to other places. Gone is the dark lighting, replaced with standard over lit studio sitcom lighting. Gone are the grounded, relatable characters, dialogue and comedy, replaced with broad, cartoonish gags and forced writing. It's a betrayal of everything that made the show a classic. Dave was always a slightly dim character, but I don't for one second believe that he would take a bath with a defrosting turkey. It's taking the existing character and turning him into a fully blown mentally challenged cartoon character. No-one could be that thick and exist without full time care. It's like a parody skit of The Royle Family, made by French and Saunders or something.

Right Said Brett

Lasted about 10 minutes with this episode, the comedy and acting is very forced and cringy, not sure what happened between Queen of sheba and this one but it lost alot of what I loved about the earlier episodes.

will doyle

Extra fact for you: Caroline Aherne, who plays Denise also started directing every episode from the start of series 3.

Andrew Cardinal

The actors that play Dave and Denise are the writers and creators of the show. They said in a interview , after the third series and the third special they wanted to experiment and have fun with the characters more, especially after nanna dying, and making everyone cry. So we do see see slight twist in the shows format and portrayal. Some people hate this, and others embrace it. I think the rest of the specials are very good and funny. You should watch the very funny and interesting documentary after all this called The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa. You can get in on NowTv (streaming service) in Britain, but not sure where else. I do have a digital copy though.

Andrew Cardinal

Elvis's twin brother was stillborn.

Keith Pratt

'Got to see a fat man weep' 😂 some of your comments crack me up Josh x

BelladonnicHazeyJaneII

Hope Early Doors makes it back onto the next poll! If you like Royle Family, Josh, you'll love Early Doors!! Another classic from Craig Cash etc. 👍

Ben Dunning

Can't wait to watch this

james b

Can only wish you the best of luck, but I was similarly sat waiting for this upload and I'm even more excited for the next ones, so you're on my friend!! 😆

A

Well done on getting first comment. I was sitting up so I could get it but you just beat me to it. Well done again. See you next week, when hopefully you will be congratulating me.

I've waited so long for this, one of the best Royle Family specials!

A