In Sickness and in Health


In Sickness and in Health is a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1 September 1985 and 3 April 1992. It is a sequel to the highly successful Till Death Us Do Part, which ran between 1966 and 1975, and Till Death..., which ran for one series of six episodes in 1981. The series includes 47 episodes and, unlike its predecessor, all the episodes have survived and are available on DVD.

History

After the cancellation

Warren Mitchell would continue to perform as Alf Garnett on special occasions; this meant on stage in front of a live audience, and similarly to an invited audience consisting largely of celebrities and public figures.
In 1997, a number of special shows were arranged for Granada Television, in which Alf would be in his front room in the company of Mrs Hollingbery or in the pub with a drinking partner. The material was written by Johnny Speight and Alf now grumbles about the Labour Party being returned to power under Tony Blair.
After Johnny Speight's death in 1998, Warren Mitchell decided that he no longer wanted to play Alf.

International versions

In 1991 a Dutch version of the series, In voor en tegenspoed, debuted on Dutch TV. According to the end credits only the first 12 episodes are based on Speight's original scripts. Two more series of episodes were written by Paul-Jan Nelissen and Marc Nelissen. The Dutch Alf Garnett is called Fred Schuit. He lives in Amsterdam, supports AFC Ajax, drinks jenever for medicinal reasons, and doesn't trust a TV-set unless it's made in Eindhoven. The series was awarded two Awards of the Dutch Academy.
The American counterpart to this series is Archie Bunker's Place, which preceded In Sickness and in Health by six years.

Cast

Series 1

This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took the former Till Death Us Do Part characters Alf Garnett and his wife Else from their Wapping house to a lower-class one-level flat in West Ham. Else now uses a wheelchair due to Nichols' real-life ill health.
The council sends a black, gay man named Winston, to do the housework and help care for Else. Despite Alf's dual prejudices against Winston, eventually the two become used to one another, and Winston takes Alf to watch his beloved West Ham United. Nevertheless, Alf gives Winston the nickname "Marigold".
Alf and Else's daughter Rita now lives with her husband Mike in his hometown of Liverpool and often visits her parents, although Mike does not appear. Usually, Alf is seen drinking with his friend Arthur in the local pub.
Although his beloved Conservative Party has returned to power, Alf is not happy with Margaret Thatcher being Prime Minister because, according to him, "a woman's place is in the home". He's also unhappy about Else needing to use a wheelchair and the fact he has to push her around everywhere and that, after a lifetime of hard work and paying contributions to the Welfare State, he has to fight the social security system for a decent living allowance.
Across the road lives Fred Johnson, a man stubborn like Alf, with whom he rarely gets along. When angry, Johnson bumps his head on the wall. His wife is an odd woman who suffers from nerves. Much of the comedy surrounding the Johnsons is based on Mrs. Johnson's sympathy towards Alf, often letting him walk all over them and much to the anger of Mr. Johnson.

1985 Christmas special

TitleAirdateDescription
Untitled26 December 1985Alfs' daughter Rita has come to stay but announces her intention to go back home on Christmas Eve. Alf wants Rita to stay so in order to persuade her to stay and help him look after Else, Alf falls off a ladder and pretends to injure his leg. However, whilst Rita does stay, the knees up at the Christmas Day party goes so well that Alf's enthusiastic participation soon exposes his supposedly bad leg as nothing more than a ruse.

Series 2

The first series ended on 13 October 1985 and was very popular in the ratings. On Boxing Day a Christmas special was aired, which was also successful. On 6 February 1986 Dandy Nichols died, aged 78.
When Dandy Nichols died, the decision was taken to continue the series, as the ratings and audience appreciation had been excellent. By the first episode of series two, her character has died of natural causes. Left alone after all the other mourners have gone home, Alf, the belligerent old curmudgeon who always treated his wife appallingly, gently touches the handle of her wheelchair and sobs "Silly old moo!".
In series two, Carmel McSharry became a permanent member of the cast playing Mrs Hollingbery, a gossipy, Catholic pensioner who lives in the flat upstairs. She did make an appearance in the first series but this was very low-key, and she had not been named as Mrs Hollingbery either yet. Alf and Mrs Hollingbery don't get on at first but later become close. The roles of the Johnsons increased, and several recurring characters were added including Mr Rabinsky, Mr Kittel a Muslim shopkeeper, Winston's cousin, and the milkman.

1986 Christmas special

Series 3

During the third series, Rita divorces Mike and moves back to London to marry a doctor. Eamonn Walker also left at the end of series three.
Three characters from the 1970s Till Death Us Do Part also made a comeback - Mrs. Carey and her henpecked husband Wally and Alf's crazy former neighbour Min Reed.

1987 Christmas special

Series 4

Alf got a new lodger, Pele, and Mrs Hollingbery starts to get closer to Alf. Eventually, Alf begins courting her, and in the fourth series, they travel to the Outback to meet her long-lost brother and to get married; however, Alf gets jilted and moves back to London.

1989 Christmas special

Series 5

TitleAirdateDescription
Episode 1 - Power Cut1 September 1990
Episode 2 - Suicide8 September 1990
Episode 3 - X-rays15 September 1990
Episode 4 - Window Cleaning22 September 1990
Episode 5 - Dogs29 September 1990
Episode 6 - Jury6 October 1990
Episode 7 - Courtroom13 October 1990
Episode 8 - Bus20 October 1990
Episode 9 - Storm27 October 1990
Episode 10 - Wedding3 November 1990

Series five was broadcast in 1990. These episodes focused on the build-up to Alf and Mrs. Hollingbery's big day which would end in disaster when the pair fall out at the altar over the revised terms and conditions of the ceremony. Alf objecting to the removal of the "I obey" clause by the wife. Just as she rejects and abandons him in the church, Alf is reminded by Fred that he has had a "lucky escape", to which Alf angrily replies, "What do you mean? I could have watched the bloody football!!".

1990 Christmas special

Series 6

In 1992, after 18 months off the air, the sitcom returned for the sixth and final series of seven episodes in which Alf discovers a ton of banknotes and becomes very rich. During the final series, Arthur did not appear due to Arthur English suffering from ill health, and so Alf gained a new friend, the Irishman Michael. Tricia Kelly departed, so Mrs. Johnson runs off with another woman. The character did briefly appear in this series, but was portrayed by Yvonne D'Alpra. The last episode aired on 3 April 1992.

Theme tune

The theme tune to the programme was written and performed by Chas & Dave, although they changed the lyrics when the character of Else died and Alf was left alone. The lyrics were changed again for the episodes set in Australia during the Fourth series.

DVD releases