Well, firstly may I wish all readers and users a happy new year. Unfortunately, some people have not been lucky enough to make it to 2017. Over the festive period we have lost Rick Parfitt, Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, George Michael and the underrated Liz Smith. Smith was a marvellous comic actress with a wonderful technique for delivery and timing so I feel it is only right to construct a review on this superb little series as a tribute not only to her, but also to her co-star ( who was also the show's co-creator ), the stunningly gorgeous Caroline Aherne, who died five months earlier.
Meet the Royles, a family of couch potatoes whose mundane existence is ruled by endless hours in front of the television. The patriarch of the family is Jim ( brilliantly played by Ricky Tomlinson ), a scruffy, bearded, bone-idle specimen of a human being who seldom shifts from his armchair except to make a journey to the toilet. His wife is Barbara ( Sue Johnston, who previously played Tomlinson's wife in the Channel 4 soap 'Brookside' ), a put-upon middle aged woman to whom the years have not been kind. They have two children, of whom the eldest is Denise ( Aherne ), a whining, chain-smoking, lazy ( a trait she inherited from her father ) individual. The youngest child is Antony ( Ralf Little in his first acting role ), a shy young lad who is often made to perform various chores around the house.
Denise at the start of the series is engaged to Dave Best ( Craig Cash ), who she later weds and has two children with. Dave is something of a nit- wit and is wrapped right around Denise's little finger but essentially is a kind hearted soul.
Other regular visitors in the household are Jim's fly-by-night friend Twiggy ( the underrated, and sadly deceased, Geoffrey Hughes ), Antony's gormless friend Darren ( Andrew Whyment ) and Jim and Barbara's neighbours Mary and Joe ( Doreen Keogh and Peter Martin ), her a fussy mother hen and him a mostly silent, withdrawn individual. Their daughter is Cheryl ( the gorgeous Jessica Hynes, credited here as Jessica Stevenson, in a role that was originally intended for Kathy Burke ), a dowdy young woman with zero confidence and a voracious appetite. My favourite, however was Nana ( played to perfection by Liz Smith ), Barbara's dotty mother who with her hilarious statements ( ''I never liked her, even when we were friends!'' ) as well as her feuds with Jim stole every scene she was in.
'The Royle Family' was one of the last great sitcoms to hail from the '90's. Each cast member played their parts to perfection, in particular Liz Smith, Ricky Tomlinson and Geoffrey Hughes. The scripts, written by Aherne and Cash in collaboration with Henry Normal and Carmel Morgan, did vary in terms of quality but when they good they were very good. Sheridan Smith appeared briefly in the early shows as Antony's girlfriend Emma ( who later appeared with Little on the set of 'Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Of Crisps' ) but the relationship soon fell apart. He later got married to Saskia, played by Joanne Froggat. The third and final series ended in 2000 though it returned in triumph six years later with a brilliant special episode 'The Queen Of Sheba' which saw the final appearance of Liz Smith as Nana. Four more specials followed from 2008 to 2012 however Caroline Aherne's death in July 2016 ensured that no further episodes will be made.
User 'geordiesdad' says the show 'makes stamp collecting look like a bloodsport'. As Jim would say: ''my arse!''. By turns it was funny, moving and true to life, probably more so than people ever realised.
Meet the Royles, a family of couch potatoes whose mundane existence is ruled by endless hours in front of the television. The patriarch of the family is Jim ( brilliantly played by Ricky Tomlinson ), a scruffy, bearded, bone-idle specimen of a human being who seldom shifts from his armchair except to make a journey to the toilet. His wife is Barbara ( Sue Johnston, who previously played Tomlinson's wife in the Channel 4 soap 'Brookside' ), a put-upon middle aged woman to whom the years have not been kind. They have two children, of whom the eldest is Denise ( Aherne ), a whining, chain-smoking, lazy ( a trait she inherited from her father ) individual. The youngest child is Antony ( Ralf Little in his first acting role ), a shy young lad who is often made to perform various chores around the house.
Denise at the start of the series is engaged to Dave Best ( Craig Cash ), who she later weds and has two children with. Dave is something of a nit- wit and is wrapped right around Denise's little finger but essentially is a kind hearted soul.
Other regular visitors in the household are Jim's fly-by-night friend Twiggy ( the underrated, and sadly deceased, Geoffrey Hughes ), Antony's gormless friend Darren ( Andrew Whyment ) and Jim and Barbara's neighbours Mary and Joe ( Doreen Keogh and Peter Martin ), her a fussy mother hen and him a mostly silent, withdrawn individual. Their daughter is Cheryl ( the gorgeous Jessica Hynes, credited here as Jessica Stevenson, in a role that was originally intended for Kathy Burke ), a dowdy young woman with zero confidence and a voracious appetite. My favourite, however was Nana ( played to perfection by Liz Smith ), Barbara's dotty mother who with her hilarious statements ( ''I never liked her, even when we were friends!'' ) as well as her feuds with Jim stole every scene she was in.
'The Royle Family' was one of the last great sitcoms to hail from the '90's. Each cast member played their parts to perfection, in particular Liz Smith, Ricky Tomlinson and Geoffrey Hughes. The scripts, written by Aherne and Cash in collaboration with Henry Normal and Carmel Morgan, did vary in terms of quality but when they good they were very good. Sheridan Smith appeared briefly in the early shows as Antony's girlfriend Emma ( who later appeared with Little on the set of 'Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Of Crisps' ) but the relationship soon fell apart. He later got married to Saskia, played by Joanne Froggat. The third and final series ended in 2000 though it returned in triumph six years later with a brilliant special episode 'The Queen Of Sheba' which saw the final appearance of Liz Smith as Nana. Four more specials followed from 2008 to 2012 however Caroline Aherne's death in July 2016 ensured that no further episodes will be made.
User 'geordiesdad' says the show 'makes stamp collecting look like a bloodsport'. As Jim would say: ''my arse!''. By turns it was funny, moving and true to life, probably more so than people ever realised.