Educating Marmalade (1982) (Episode 9)

Ep 9: The Nativity Play. Having reluctantly escaped from prison, Marmalade makes her way back home on a donkey she has acquired. But she soon finds herself sent back to the Convent of the Blessed Limit for her schooling, much to the reluctance of the two psychotic nuns who run the place. They are preparing for Christmas and the school nativity, but there is no part in it for Marmalade - until she gets into the nuns good books by telling them she has a donkey they can use in the play. Unfortunately she soon discovers that her father has sold it to some rich Arabs, leaving her without a donkey and just days before the school nativity... Starring Charlotte Coleman, John Bird, Lynda La Plante, Gillian Raine, Brian Glover, Matthew Scurfield, Sandra Osborn, Sarah Bryett, Julia Sawalha, Claire Callaghan, Lisa Michelle Hopton, Donna Spinal, Tina Foley and Goia Izquierdo. This was originally broadcast on December 20th 1982 and was the Xmas episode of the series. It's one of the best, not least because of the return of the homicidal nuns, with Brian Glover a joy as the "old school" teacher whose idea of discipline now has a disturbing sort of logic. I doubt this series would ever see the light of day today - not only for Marmalade's father "swindling the Arabs", but for a certain scene in the nativity involving the three Kings. You'll know what I mean when you see it...