The Royle Family

The Royle Family is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprising family patriarch Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson), his wife Barbara (Sue Johnston), their daughter Denise (Caroline Aherne), their son Antony (Ralf Little) and Denise's fiancé (later husband) David (Craig Cash).

The series features simple production values and a comic portrayal of working-class family life at the turn of the millennium. It therefore has something in common with kitchen sink drama. Almost all of the episodes take place in the Royles' home, largely in the telly-centric living room, with the humour derived from the conversations held therein. Aherne and Cash co-wrote every episode, along with Henry Normal (series one), Carmel Morgan (series two), and Phil Mealey (five Christmas specials). The later specials are presented in a more traditional sitcom format. A further special episode was set to be written, but Aherne was ill and died on 2 July 2016, effectively ending the programme.

In the British Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest British television programmes drawn up in 2000 and voted on by industry professionals, The Royle Family was placed 31st. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Jim Royle, the misanthropic head of the household known for such mocking phrases as "my arse!", was ranked eleventh on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom, The Royle Family was placed 19th. The series also won several BAFTA awards. In 2020, The Royles were voted the UK 3rd favourite TV family behind the Simpsons and the Trotters. The series was described by Simon Hattenstone of The Guardian as "a sitcom that compares to the best of Beckett and Pinter."