'Get me out of here before I start saying Ey up and breeding whippets'

Sue Wilkinson on Christmas Only Fools episodes

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From the Vicar of Dibley to Porridge - festive episodes of British sitcoms are being dished out on TV channels quicker than smutty one-liners from pantomime dames.

Mrs Brown’s Boys, The Good Life, My Family and Keeping Up Appearances - the list of seasonal sitcom makeovers goes on.

My favourite Christmas comedy episodes come from Only Fools and Horses. For the uninitiated, it is about the Trotter brothers - market traders Derek and Rodney endeavouring to go from selling hooky gear to being overnight millionaires. They are played by David Jason, Del, and Nicholas Lyndhurst, Rodders.

The early series featured Leonard Pearce as their grandad. When he died in real life, Buster Merryfield joined the cast as the boys’ Uncle Albert, an old sea dog.

Early Yuletide offerings include Christmas Crackers, Diamonds Are For Heather and Thicker Than Water, when Del and Rodder’s dad turns up looking for a billet.

Lamenting Reggie's return, Del says: “Some people get wise men bearing gifts - we get a wally with a disease.” It's a Christmas cracker one-liner and, with writer John Sullivan's penchant for pathos, sums up the Trotters’ life experience.