The Royle Family
- TV sitcom
- BBC One / BBC Two
- 1998 - 2012
- 25 episodes (3 series)
The Royles are a family of couch potatoes who watch television in their dirty living room whilst chatting, arguing, and drinking copious amounts of tea and alcohol. Stars Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Caroline Aherne, Ralf Little, Craig Cash and more.
Streaming rank this week: 1,072
Press clippings Page 4
Actor Liz Smith dies
Actor Liz Smith, best known as The Royle Family's Nana and The Vicar Of Dibley's Mrs Cropley, has died.
British Comedy Guide, 26th December 2016Caroline Aherne remembered by Ricky Tomlinson
The Royle Family actor recalls working with Aherne on her biggest hit, where the team 'couldn't wait to get to work'.
Ricky Tomlinson, The Observer, 11th December 2016Comedy reboots: never go back
If we want to wallow in nostalgia, let's have repeats rather than retreads.
Deborah Shrewsbury, The Custard TV, 11th July 2016Henry Normal on Caroline Aherne
Her Royle Family co-writer recalls how she stuck to her guns when the BBC questioned why the sitcom had no plot.
Henry Normal, The Guardian, 4th July 2016How Aherne ensured The Royle family became a classic
Studio executives wanted The Royle Family to have either have an audience or laughter track, something that Aherne fought against. They also pushed to expand the series from it's iconic central location of the Royle's living room - slouched on the sofa in front of their beloved television set - with the mindset of introducing bigger storylines to the series. Fortunately, Aherne opposed these ideas also allowing her creativity to win out over studio exec's short-sightedness.
Jacob Stolworthy, The Independent, 2nd July 2016Royle Family could be back as soon as this year
It's been a while since we enjoyed the unique company of The Royle Family - but the drought could almost be over as they could be back with us as early as this year.
Duncan Lindsay, Metro, 23rd February 2016The Royle Family Christmas special attracts over 4m
A repeat of The Royle Family was the most watched peak time programmes last night (December 23) outside of soaps, according to overnight data.
Jamie Harris, Digital Spy, 24th December 2014How we made The Royle Family
Ricky Tomlinson, actor: 'After a toilet scene I did, Caroline told me they had to digitally remove one of my testicles'
Laura Bennett, The Guardian, 23rd December 2014On a night of frantic comic mugging over on Children In Need, here's a welcome chance to catch a genuine comedy classic. It's Liz Smith's finest hour as Nana, stealing the show in this special episode from 2006, which walks the finest of lines between comedy and tragedy. Among the trademark Royle Family bawdiness and burping, a rich mine of emotion is tapped, reminding us how much we'd taken these characters to our hearts.
Carol Carter and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Metro, 15th November 2013The Royle Family Christmas Special was about as special as cold sprouts. And it wasn't funny. Jurassic Jim's Mutley laughing at erectile dysfunction? Outdated humour at its crass worst. This once peerless comedy should be put out of our misery now.
Kevin O'Sullivan, The Mirror, 29th December 2012