# The Royle Family (1998)

> A Manchester working class family spends its days glued to the television, bickering and bantering across one living room sofa.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/4171

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 20
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne
- Network: BBC One, BBC Two
- Cast: Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Caroline Aherne, Craig Cash, Ralf Little, Liz Smith, Jessica Hynes, Andrew Whyment
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129711/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: slow
- Intensity: subtle
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: wry, deadpan, affectionate, bickering, warm

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regard The Royle Family as an acclaimed, warmly observed sitcom whose naturalistic family banter and sharp northern humour captured everyday working-class life.

## Synopsis

The Royle Family (1998-2000) is a British sitcom created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash for BBC Two and BBC One. Produced by Granada Television, it follows a television-fixated Manchester family crowded around one living room. Ricky Tomlinson plays lazy patriarch Jim Royle, while Sue Johnston plays his hard-working wife Barbara, Caroline Aherne plays their entitled daughter Denise, and Ralf Little plays their put-upon son Antony. Craig Cash plays Denise's lad fiancé, later husband, Dave Best. The engine of the series is nothing more than the family's daily routine: endless cups of tea, a Sunday dinner, a visit from a neighbour, and the constant background drone of the telly. Nothing dramatic needs to happen for an episode to land, because the comedy grows from the sharp, overlapping banter of people who know each other too well. The show runs for three series of short, half-hour episodes, a compact run that keeps its focus on one house and one sofa. Its tone is affectionate, wry and unsentimental, with a warm undercurrent beneath the bickering. Fans of Gavin and Stacey, Shameless and Everybody Loves Raymond will find the same sense of recognisable family life, observed with deadpan northern humour.

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