I apologise for the heading, David: I almost slipped this topic into the Ideological programming thread, since I could hardly think of a show spinning further from costume dramas...
Anyhow, our TV gave us a Christmas day treat of two Royle Family special episodes, "The Queen of Sheba" and "The New Sofa". And they were followed by a couple of Fast Show episodes where you could spot Caroline Ahern (series writer and actress of the role of "Denise Royle", the family daughter) in some of her pre-Denise skits.
The whole Royle Family series has been shown here, but I did not pay it much attention then. Now I have become an overnight convert thanks to especially the "Sheba" episode: some very strong writing and - you can call me a softee - a genuinely heartwrenching storyline about the final days of Denise's granny Norma.
"The New Sofa" was a much more lighthearted episode altogether about the Christmas day dinner not going at all like planned. But great fun to watch.