prints of many members of the Royal Family including Prince Andrew and the late Duke of Windsor, which he bought from a local junk shop. This, however, did not stop him from criticising them when he thought they deserved it. His biggest passion in life though, was his local football team West Ham United. Generally, Alf blamed his problems on everybody but himself. His family was the usual target of his anger and frustration. In the shows, Garnett was regularly ridiculed for his illogical views and hypocrisy by his family, but he stubbornly refused to admit he was wrong. Alf was mean and selfish towards his emotionally detached wife, Else played by Dandy Nichols, referring to her as a "silly old moo". Else usually turned a deaf ear to most of Alf's rantings, but if he got too personal, she would come up with a sharp retort to fight back. Her usual retort was to call him "Pig!" Though detached from him emotionally, she could easily give as good as she got. In the sequel series In Sickness and In Health Else needed to use a wheelchair, and Alf grumbled about having to care for her. When Dandy Nichols died in 1986, the character of Else was killed off. Alf always treated his wife appallingly, but genuinely missed her after her death. Alf was outraged when his daughter Rita, played by Una Stubbs, decided to marry Michael, her long-haired, unemployed boyfriend, played by Antony Booth. Michael was from Liverpool and a Catholic of Irish descent, precisely the type of person Alf hated most. Alf often described him as a "Randy Scouse Git". This terminology was later picked up by the American pop group The Monkees for their song, "Randy Scouse Git", included on their 1967 album Headquarters. Alf and Michael had different political views and much of the programme focussed on their heated political debates. Rita could give as good as she got as well, her catchphrase was often "You make me sick, you do!" before she would go off on her own tirades, at times aimed at her husband for his stupidity, but more often at her extremely overheating father over his appalling treatment of her mother. Writer Johnny Speight often commented that the character was supposed to be a figure of ridicule, but admitted that not all viewers saw the satirical elements of the character. Speight defended the