Lost episodes of sitcom Till Death Us Do Part to air for first time in 50 years
UK television network That’s TV has announced it will show over 80 episodes of the long-running sitcom, starting in September.
That’s TV has announced it will air long-running sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, including four episodes which have not been seen in half a century.
The popular comedy show centres around big-mouthed buffoon Alf Garnett and his reactionary opinions on everything.
It follows Garnett, played by the late Warren Mitchell, and his incessant squabbling with his wife, Elsie, played by Dandy Nichols, son-in-law Mike, played by Tony Booth, and daughter Rita, played by Una Stubbs.
The Alf Garnett season will begin on That’s TV on Sunday September 4 at 9pm.
The network will show over 80 episodes of Till Death Us Do Part and its successor, In Sickness and in Health, including four “lost” episodes which have not been broadcast since going missing from the archives in the late 1960s.
The two programmes ran for four decades on BBC One, with 13 series made between 1966 and 1992.
Mitchell was awarded the Bafta for Best Actor for the role of Garnett in 1967.
The show also made its creator, Johnny Speight, a household name and won him three Best Comedy Writer awards from the Screenwriter’s Guild.
But the sitcom was deemed controversial from the outset, being one of the first BBC shows in the 1960s to feature the swear word “bloody,” which was broadcast 1,436 times during the first seven seasons.
Despite this, it was reportedly described by the Duke of Edinburgh as the Queen’s “favourite show.”
That’s TV Head of Programming, Kris Vaiksalu, said: “At a time of great social change, Till Death Us Do Part set out to challenge ignorance and prejudice and in doing so became one of the most popular sitcoms in British history.
“Alf Garnett’s antics provided compulsive viewing for four decades and That’s TV is excited to have secured the rights to show every season of the show this Autumn.
“Whilst only a small number of the episodes from the 1960s still exist, they represent an extraordinary social commentary of the time.
“These episodes have a special place in television history and are of wider historic significance, with Alf Garnett rallying against the changing attitudes of the 1960s.”
