The BBC’s revival of Till Death Us Do Part will feature a full-throttle version of Alf Garnett, the BBC’s boss of comedy commissioning has said.
Till Death us Do Part ran for seven series between 1966 and 1975, and starred Warren Mitchell as Garnett, Una Stubbs as his daughter Rita and Dandy Nichols as his wife Else.
The new episode, which will star The Fast Show’s Simon Day as Garnett, is based on a 1967 script by the show’s creator Johnny Speight that was filmed but has since been lost.
The show poked fun at Garnett’s bigoted attitudes to women, minorities and modernity in general, and used language that was considered unacceptable even then.
Asked on Radio 4’s The Media Show whether Garnett’s character had been toned down to suit modern sensibilities, Shane Allen said it had to be true to the original writing.
“These are classic bits of writing they are very crisp and timeless,” he said. “Alf Garnett ... there has been a debate that’s raised that he is a horrible bigot, sexist, racist, whatever, but Johnny Speight was using them to lampoon.”
“You can make jokes that are comments on racism and sexism without the piece itself being racist or sexist.”
Asked whether the reincarnation of Garnett would be “full-throttle” Allen said: “You will get full Alf through the prism of Simon Day.”
The new episode is part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season that will also see the return of Steptoe and Son, Hancock’s Half Hour, Porridge, Are You Being Served? and Good Night Sweetheart, as well as a prequel to Keeping Up Appearances.
Most of the shows feature newly-written scripts, but the revivals of Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour are, like Till Death us Do Part, based on original material.
