I watched Hatching, Matching and Dispatching (I can hardly believe) almost 14 years ago when it first aired on CBC. It's dark-comedy and rough around the edges style were such a relief when compared to almost everything else from the era except maybe Trailer Park Boys when we're talking about things from and in Canada. As a non-Newfoundlander I loved (still do) the tough-love and brutal honesty of the show, and was greatly disappointed when next year, it wasn't on the roster of 'comedies' that CBC produced.
It came as a great surprise when I saw that the Christmas Fury special was by and starring the exact same cast as the exact same characters, what, almost 15 years later? and with an even better topic; the horrors and joys of Christmas. The special retained much of the show's dark and brutal comedy, while deviating from the mockumentary style of it's 1st and sadly only season, it worked very well for an Xmas special and while maintaining it's light-hearted, never hard to watch style, it still took on some relevant issues such as the hardships of youths involved in the child protective services. From the ever-political Walsh, I expect no-less.
Though CBC's been quiet about any future HMD related programs, the success of this special, not to mention the great success of the entire cast (who seemed to have found their voices on HMD) gives me hope that maybe the CBC will do what's right and bring them back for future endeavors, or who knows, maybe another season?