Heartbreaking

I've only ever cried at two programmes/films, the Eastenders episode where Ethel died and more embarrassingly, Macauley Culkin's rather traumatic bee-sting death in My Girl (I was only ten at the time.) But last night's excellent Royle Family one-off special almost made it three.

It may have been obvious from the first five minutes that Nana would end up carking it but the superb performances and poignant script meant it didn't make it any less upsetting when it finally happened. The scenes where Nana told Barbara she was glad she wasn't in a home, where Barbara thought she had died in her bed, and where all her family kissed Nana goodbye in hospital were both beautifully written and heartbreaking at the same time. Both Liz Smith and Sue Johnston deserve BAFTA nominations next year.

It felt like more of a drama than a comedy but there were still flashes of the usual brilliant Royle Family humour, Jim ranting about "gays on television", Cheryl's hilarious lonely hearts dates, Denise wanting to palm off her son to watch Jeremy Kyle episodes she'd Sky +d.

It wasn't without its faults. The first ten minutes turned Jim into an overblown caricature, bellowing out Alf-Garnett style about the lack of remote control batteries and calling Anthony selfish even though he'd just lent £50. There were also several scenes which were blatant re-enactments of scenes in previous episodes, e.g. the dancing while laminating the floor was a contrived attempt at another Mambo #5 moment and Joe singing at the funeral was just a little too corny second time around.

But they were just little niggles. Overall, it showed Only Fools & Horses how to do a comeback special and was a fitting finale to what is one of the most innovative, funny and well-written sitcoms of the last ten years.