What, no falling over? The penultimate episode of Miranda had almost everything. A Frank Spencer moment in a shopping centre, some prancing like dressage ponies, a spot of physical clowning with Stevie on the sofa. Even a cameo from Joe Wilkinson as a sexually inadequate traffic warden. But no actual falling over. Just falling head over heels for Gary, who the unconventional star finally got engaged to.

After Miranda’s decision to marry Gary and his cute proposal with a pickled Monster Munch – cue mass audience gushing – the episode reverted to type with lots of visual gags and wry addresses to camera. As the wedding plans whirled on, however, there were doubts in Gary’s mind, leaving devoted viewers with a mandatory cliffhanger and setting things up for another will-they-won't-they? finale on New Year’s Day.

Advance previews of the finale are not available so I have no inside knowledge, but I can't see the wedding not happening. Miranda is a very traditional upbeat comedy and, despite the Christmas Day edition ending on a low, I can't see how the very last episode can go the same way.

It’s an interesting coincidence that on the same day the Christmas special went out Dapper Laughs made his comeback on YouTube. Both, in their own way, present a very unreconstructed view of gender politics. There was even a moment in this episode where Miranda and Stevie have to stop themselves from swooning over a hunky fireman. I’ve never seen a sitcom where the noticeably female-sounding audience oohs and aaahs as much as in Miranda. 

This was certainly a well-constructed return to form. Quickfire montages of old mishaps made up for the lack of pratfalls this time round, while a nice bit of dancing to MC Hammer can be added to the memory bank of great Miranda moments. Could the final instalment go out on a downbeat note? It would feel very much against the grain and would leave the audience sobbing if it did. Like her hero Eric Morecambe I assume Miranda Hart wants to leave them laughing.

Watch Miranda on iPlayer here.