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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 387733" data-attributes="member: 23">Series Two of In Sickness &amp; In Health has breezed merrily on by.While not earth-shattering, it&#039;s certainly been enjoyable. Killing off Else in light of Dandy Nichols&#039; death feels like a bold move for a sitcom, even if it wasn&#039;t the first time it had been done (Grandad&#039;s death on Only Fools And Horses was the previous year, and I dare say there were others before this). It&#039;s all felt perfectly-pitched. There hasn&#039;t been any shying away from it, but neither has it become mawkish. And so it feels truthful. There&#039;s been a constant reminder this year in the form of Alf&#039;s black armband, as well as frequent mentions of Else. Alf&#039;s spoken to her picture and, as late as the final Series Two episode, he and Rita had to break the news to the visiting Min.The household has changed greatly since the Till Death Us Do Part days, of course. Else is dead. Mike hasn&#039;t been on-screen in over a decade. Rita swings by from Liverpool every once in a while - always a welcome sight - but she feels more peripheral these days.Wisely, Johnny Speight has broadened the scope with an ensemble of quirky characters who make up the neighbours and locals. It feels as though many have crept in, but they&#039;re becoming increasingly familiar and work well.There&#039;s Winston, of course. And his almost-silent boyfriend (who at first I thought was Martin Clunes then William Boyde from EastEnders but is actually neither). There&#039;s also Arthur English as his like-minded (i.e. equally bigoted) friend Arthur. Then there&#039;s Mrs Hollingbery from upstairs who has a love/hate relationship with Alf (I&#039;ve read spoilers on where this ultimately goes, which might have tinted the way I view these scenes). Mr and Mrs Johnson are favourites of mine. Every couple of episodes, Alf will invade their home and take over their phone, running up their bill while arguing with someone or dialling the wrong number and getting into conversation with strangers. The first instance of this was terrific, with him telling them to turn the TV down, then changing the channel and sitting down to eat Mrs Johnson&#039;s chocolates. There&#039;s also Mr Kittel, the shopkeeper (and local Tory representative, as it turns out). And there&#039;s been the Milkman who plays the same role as the previous Milkman from Till Death Us Do Part.The broader ensemble, and Alf&#039;s interactions pushing outwards from the home have given In Sickness... a more conventional sitcom tone. The feuds with neighbours has elements of the most traditional of sitcoms such as Happy Ever After, Terry &amp; June,&nbsp; Bless This House or Ever Decreasing Circles, as well as those still to come, such as Keeping Up Appearances and One Foot In The Grave. In fact there&#039;s much about this iteration of Alf that could be seen as paving the way for Victor Meldrew.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 387733, member: 23"] Series Two of [I][B]In Sickness & In Health[/B][/I] has breezed merrily on by. While not earth-shattering, it's certainly been enjoyable. Killing off Else in light of Dandy Nichols' death feels like a bold move for a sitcom, even if it wasn't the first time it had been done (Grandad's death on [I]Only Fools And Horses [/I]was the previous year, and I dare say there were others before this). It's all felt perfectly-pitched. There hasn't been any shying away from it, but neither has it become mawkish. And so it feels truthful. There's been a constant reminder this year in the form of Alf's black armband, as well as frequent mentions of Else. Alf's spoken to her picture and, as late as the final Series Two episode, he and Rita had to break the news to the visiting Min. The household has changed greatly since the [I]Till Death Us Do Part [/I]days, of course. Else is dead. Mike hasn't been on-screen in over a decade. Rita swings by from Liverpool every once in a while - always a welcome sight - but she feels more peripheral these days. Wisely, Johnny Speight has broadened the scope with an ensemble of quirky characters who make up the neighbours and locals. It feels as though many have crept in, but they're becoming increasingly familiar and work well. There's Winston, of course. And his almost-silent boyfriend (who at first I thought was Martin Clunes then William Boyde from [I]EastEnders[/I] but is actually neither). There's also Arthur English as his like-minded (i.e. equally bigoted) friend Arthur. Then there's Mrs Hollingbery from upstairs who has a love/hate relationship with Alf (I've read spoilers on where this ultimately goes, which might have tinted the way I view these scenes). Mr and Mrs Johnson are favourites of mine. Every couple of episodes, Alf will invade their home and take over their phone, running up their bill while arguing with someone or dialling the wrong number and getting into conversation with strangers. The first instance of this was terrific, with him telling them to turn the TV down, then changing the channel and sitting down to eat Mrs Johnson's chocolates. There's also Mr Kittel, the shopkeeper (and local Tory representative, as it turns out). And there's been the Milkman who plays the same role as the previous Milkman from [I]Till Death Us Do Part[/I]. The broader ensemble, and Alf's interactions pushing outwards from the home have given[I] In Sickness...[/I] a more conventional sitcom tone. The feuds with neighbours has elements of the most traditional of sitcoms such as [I]Happy Ever After, Terry & June, Bless This House [/I]or[I] Ever Decreasing Circles[/I], as well as those still to come, such as [I]Keeping Up Appearances [/I]and[I] One Foot In The Grave.[/I] In fact there's much about this iteration of Alf that could be seen as paving the way for Victor Meldrew. [/QUOTE]

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Who played JR Ewing?