Mine have never failed either myself or my wife. I first saw it done by Brian Turner on the TV and it works a treat but will agree with beating it well or use a mixer.
There are many recipes out for them but a foolproof way is equal quantities of eggs, milk and SR flour leave mix in fridge for 1 hour and then put in dishes of boiling fat/ dripping, never fails they always rise, sometimes too much, but it works for people that are dubious and buy them frozen.
That is the view of many and the same people probably have ketchup on a roast . The correct answer is no they should only accompany beef and horseradish sauce IMHO. I wouldnt have room on my Christmas Dinner for them anyway unless we didnt have Turkey and either Pork or Gammon and had beef on...