Den & Angie: episode by episode
Episode two (21 February 1985)
Downstairs at the Queen Vic, Den and Angie’s anniversary party is about to begin. Upstairs, Den is making a secret phone call - he’s having an affair. Seventeen years of marriage is just one big joke to him.
Den and Angie’s married life is not just unhappy, then; it’s a sham. They present a united front for the benefit of the Vic’s customers (and, to some extent, in the presence of Sharon). As the party gets underway, they pose for anniversary photos, but their smiles are just for show.
Out of sight, they’re at daggers drawn.
The tensions in the Watts’ relationship are in sharp contrast to the happiness shared by two of their long-married friends. Pauline and Arthur Fowler are in the pub celebrating the news that they’re going to be parents for the third time.
Angie is a loose cannon, drowning her sorrows in booze and getting easily-led Arthur drunk too. Den remains grimly sober throughout the evening. By closing time, Angie is legless, confused and filling the empty pub with raucous laughter.
Den has had enough and swiftly takes charge. He flings his wife over his shoulder (with such ease that you get the impression this is a regular occurrence) and carries her upstairs.
In the kitchen, Angie makes jokes at Den’s expense, waggling a floppy flower in front of his crotch. Romance is certainly not in the air. There’s nothing for it but for Den to carry Angie, who’s still laughing wildly, off to bed like a sack of potatoes.
Sharon watches her parents’ farce on the landing, exasperated but not surprised.
The next morning, Angie has a hell of a hangover. No surprise there either.
Their personal life is characterised by conflict and division, but nothing brings the Vic’s seasoned landlord and landlady together like fiddling the brewery. When a brewery rep drops in, Den and Angie are caught red-handed with knock-off alcohol. The pair must think on their feet and work together as they try to pass it off as supplies for ‘a private party’, even inviting the rep to the imaginary event.
Will they get away with it?