Tille Death ran for seven series in the sixties and seventies and 20 million viewers tuned in each week to see Alf Garnett, a racist and opinionated cockney, set the world to rights. Basically Garnett was a self styled working class Tory, monarchist and nationalist who hated immigration and the permissive society and frequently was at loggerheads with his far Left Liverpudlian son in law and daughter, while his wife, nicknamed the silly moo, sat knitting and ignoring the political turmoil in Garnett's living room.
Whilw Till Death, with its frequent racist ranting from Garnett, is unlikely to ever be repeated in this country, it basically sent up Garnett for what he was, a bigoted misanthrope who always came off worse in any argument. Also his arguments were often so ludicrous, like sinking Ireland to stop the IRA, they were hilarious. Warren Mitchell ironically in real life was the complete opposite of Garnett, a left-wing Jew, and the whole sitcom was a send up of racist attitudes that were still common 40 years ago.
Watching a few episodes recently, Till Death is a brilliant reflection of Britain in the early seventies with frequent references to striking miners, the permissive society and pop music, all things Garnett has a strong opinion on and is usually countered by equally strong and amusing retorts from his son in law. That such an old and dated looking show is still hilarious today is a tribute to Warren Mitchell, Tony Booth and scriptwriter Johnny Speight.
Whilw Till Death, with its frequent racist ranting from Garnett, is unlikely to ever be repeated in this country, it basically sent up Garnett for what he was, a bigoted misanthrope who always came off worse in any argument. Also his arguments were often so ludicrous, like sinking Ireland to stop the IRA, they were hilarious. Warren Mitchell ironically in real life was the complete opposite of Garnett, a left-wing Jew, and the whole sitcom was a send up of racist attitudes that were still common 40 years ago.
Watching a few episodes recently, Till Death is a brilliant reflection of Britain in the early seventies with frequent references to striking miners, the permissive society and pop music, all things Garnett has a strong opinion on and is usually countered by equally strong and amusing retorts from his son in law. That such an old and dated looking show is still hilarious today is a tribute to Warren Mitchell, Tony Booth and scriptwriter Johnny Speight.