Christmas Bonus

There's no great crisis waiting in this one, and that's rather the point of it. Arthur, Terry and Dave gather in the Winchester Club to decorate the Christmas tree, and while they hang the baubles they start remembering old scrapes. That's the excuse for a clip show built from extracts of Series 3, filmed around new material set inside the club. Maurice Michaelson, the gambler, Big Bobby Altman and Scotch Harry all get a chance to wander back into the story, and the trick works better than it has any right to. Old friends are the only reliable property Arthur has ever owned.

Running alongside the nostalgia is a domestic crisis of Arthur's own making. 'Er Indoors and the children are supposed to be on their way to Florida, but the tickets Arthur bought from a mate turn out to be standby only. She remains stranded at the airport, unimpressed, while Arthur works the phones with the furious energy of a man trying to charm his way out of a domestic tribunal. Eventually, after a few urgent calls, she gets away, though the conversation that follows can only be imagined.

It's a gentle, undemanding special, which is exactly what a Christmas outing should be. The flashbacks do the heavy lifting, reminding you of the kind of trouble this trio has been in, while the new material lets them sit around and enjoy being out of it for once. Dennis Waterman, George Cole and Glynn Edwards carry the whole thing on the strength of their established rapport, which is considerable by this point.

Leon Griffiths wrote it, Ian Toynton directed. The whole thing was made for the holiday slot and knows its job.

And if you've watched them long enough, the pleasure here is simply in the company. No scams going wrong, no villains on the horizon. Just the Winchester Club at Christmas, and Arthur getting the best of every retelling.