Christmas

Thur Dec 17, 10-11pm, BBC4

Never mind ‘My Family’: this one-off captures the ups and downs of family Christmases with humour, intelligence and charm. Loosely inspired by Dylan Thomas’s poetic recollections of the festivities of his youth, it’s theatrical in feel but none the worse for it. Ruth Jones and Mark Lewis Jones play an ordinary Welsh couple, parents of young Owen. Each year they’re joined by Owen’s competitive Uncle Huw (the excellent Steve Speirs) and slacker Uncle Gorwel (everyone’s favourite comedy drunk, Paul Kaye). Cousins Maurice and Owen look on as their uncles’ disparate natures cause chaos over the course of several Christmases during the 1980s. Beautifully written by comedian Mark Watson, this nostalgic comedy also benefits from sharp direction and strong performances. The script plays on the repetitious nature of its characters, who unwittingly make the same comments every year. This kind of material could be sitcom drivel in the wrong hands (cf ‘My Family’), but this is well judged and well worth watching. Feature continues