The Royle Family

Oh, is this not the MOST innocuous of situations - a sitcom set almost exclusively in a working class family's sitting room, with an overflowing ashtray and the TV permanently on? On the face of it, one may think - boring, boring. But, that would be to dismiss a show that is not far from being a national treasure. Written primarily by the ever excellent Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne (Mrs. Merton, Early Doors) with support from other comedy writers Henry Normal and Carmel Morgan, The Royle Family (TRF) has that happy knack of making the most everday phrase or social situation happy and funny at the same time. There aren't enough external ...  Read the complete review

The idea for the sitcom the royle family seems like such a boring and pointless idea, a sitcom based around a family who basically just sit in there living room watching tv, drinking tea and talking about every day things. This couldn't be further from the truth though as the royle family is in my opinion probally one of the best and funnyest british sitcoms that has been on tv in the last ten years ( apart from the office ). Watching the royle family is almost like you've got a camera watching the next door neighbours live out there daily lives, it just seems so mundane and realistic. I guess this is the winning formula behind this amazing true to life ...  Read the complete review

The Royle Family! I think if we were all honest we would all admit that there are tiny bits of each of us in this family. This show, shown on BBC, is literally set in the front room of the Royle household. There's Jim (Rickly Tomlinson), the father, who doesn't lift his finger or move out of his chair, Barbara, the mum (Sue Johnston) and their two children (Caroline Aherne) and of course Nana. Each show focuses on an evening with the Royles, either watching a certain TV show, or talking about the next door neighbours latest operation. It's a very funny show, I think because we all recognise aspects of the characters, or at least we know people like ...  Read the complete review

I love The Royle Family for my this is where my Sky pays for itself as I am always watching repeats of the show in UK Gold (sorry cant remember what they have changed its name to) The show is a comedy based on a family, the main characters are Jim Royle - dad of the family played by Ricky Tomlinson Jim is overweight, lazy, unemployed, opinionated and grumpy. The is very preoccupied with the amount of money the family spends, particularly how much his daughter wedding is going to cost him. But even after saying all this he is so loveable and his favourite say is "my arse" and I think like many people this saying is one I now use. ...  Read the complete review

The Royle Family is without doubt one of the finest comedies ever to grace our TV screens. I defy anyone to watch an episode and not see something in the Royle's that they don't see in a friend or relative. I saw clips of this when it was first released on BBC1 and to me it looked rubbish. A comedy set completely inside a front room, with the family mostly watching TV, with no audience laughter.... What a load of rubbish I thought! How wrong I was! Finally I caught an episode of the third series, I think it may have been when Jim (Ricky Tomlinson) and Twiggy (Geoffrey Hughes) attempt to decorate the dining room (I say attempt, as you find out ...  Read the complete review