49 Fun Facts About The Royle Family

Which Oasis B-side to 'Whatever', sung by Noel Gallagher, is The Royle Family's theme tune?

Half the World Away was written and sung by Noel Gallagher, who admits it sounds 'exactly the same' as a Burt Bacharach tune and is surprised he has never been sued for it.

Which actor plays Jim Royle, having been jailed in 1973 as one of the picketing builders called the Shrewsbury Two?

Ricky Tomlinson was a plasterer sentenced to two years for conspiracy to intimidate after the 1972 builders' strike; the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in March 2021, 48 years later.

Which two-word catchphrase punctuates Jim Royle's outbursts from his armchair in The Royle Family?

'My arse!' greets most of what the telly offers; Jim is written as a misanthropic, cynical slob who spends his days in the armchair doing as close to nothing as possible, yet shows understanding when the family really needs it.

Which 2006 special, The Royle Family's first new episode in six years, sees Nana die after moving in with the Royles?

The Queen of Sheba also sees Denise name her newborn daughter Norma after Nana, and the performance won Nana's actress a British Comedy Award at the age of 85.

Which British sitcom staple did The Royle Family do without in 1998, when it was shot on film with one camera?

A laugh track was standard for British sitcoms of the time, but The Royle Family was filmed with no studio audience, and most episodes seem to unfold in real time, as if viewers had simply dropped in.

Which actress, who made her film breakthrough at 49 in Mike Leigh's Bleak Moments, plays Nana in The Royle Family?

Liz Smith was born Betty Gleadle and was selling toys in Hamleys one Christmas when Mike Leigh's message reached her; she went on to a BAFTA for the 1984 film A Private Function.

Before The Royle Family, which spoof chat-show host asked Debbie McGee what attracted her to millionaire Paul Daniels?

Mrs Merton's Paul Daniels line came second in a 2006 poll of TV's best one-liners; the pensioner's show ran from 1995 to 1998, and her on-screen son Malcolm was played by the future Dave Best.

Which actress plays Barbara Royle while spending eleven years as profiler Grace Foley in Waking the Dead?

Sue Johnston worked for Beatles boss Brian Epstein and as a tax officer before acting, and was a 2000 BAFTA nominee for Barbara, losing to her own screen daughter.

In which soap had The Royle Family's Jim and Barbara already played married couple Bobby and Sheila Grant?

Brookside was shot in real houses that Mersey Television bought on a cul-de-sac in Croxteth, Liverpool; the Grants moved into number 5 when the soap began on 2 November 1982.

Which Royle Family co-writer plays Dave Best and took over narrating Gogglebox after his writing partner died in 2016?

Craig Cash came to comedy from DJing on the south Manchester radio station KFM, and shares two BAFTA Television awards for the show with the partner who wrote every episode with him.

Which Royle Family co-creator plays Denise and won the 2000 BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance for the role?

Caroline Aherne beat both of her screen parents, who were nominated in the same category, on a night when the show also won Best Situation Comedy.

Which actor plays Antony, the Royle family dogsbody, having quit Manchester medical school in 1998 to act?

Ralf Little later played semi-professional football for clubs including Maidstone United and Edgware Town, and spent six series as Jonny in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

Which actor plays Twiggy, the Royles' dodgy-goods dealer, having been binman Eddie Yeats in Coronation Street?

Geoffrey Hughes was acting with Liverpool's Unity Theatre when the actor Tom Bell spotted him, a break that led to his West End debut in the 1964 musical Maggie May.

Which Keeping Up Appearances character did Twiggy's actor play in all 44 episodes across five series?

Onslow is the sofa-bound, unshaven husband of Hyacinth Bucket's sister Daisy, and his turning up keeps wrecking her efforts to look upper class.

Which Beatle did Twiggy's actor voice in the 1968 film Yellow Submarine, thirty years before The Royle Family?

Paul McCartney, like the other three Beatles, was voiced by an actor: the band supplied the songs but appeared in person only in the film's closing live-action scene.

Which Spaced co-creator plays Cheryl, Denise's perpetually dieting best friend from next door, in The Royle Family?

Jessica Hynes was credited under her birth surname Stevenson at the time; she co-wrote and starred in Spaced with Simon Pegg and later won a BAFTA as Siobhan Sharpe in W1A.

Darren's actor, Andrew Whyment, has played which Coronation Street character since leaving The Royle Family in 2000?

Kirk Sutherland nearly lost him in 2003: he handed in his notice to star in a new Carry On film, then went back to the Street when its scripts were delayed.

Which future Mrs Biggs BAFTA winner plays Emma, Antony's well-off first girlfriend, in The Royle Family?

Sheridan Smith went on to spend 2001 to 2009 as Janet in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, opposite Antony's actor again, before Mrs Biggs earned her the 2013 BAFTA for Best Actress.

Which BBC detective series cast Antony Royle's actor as DI Neville Parker from 2020 to 2024?

Death in Paradise kept him in the Caribbean for five years; before that he had co-written and starred in his own Sky 1 sitcom, The Café, set in Weston-super-Mare.

Which Stockport pub sitcom did Dave Best's actor, a Royle Family co-writer, create with Phil Mealey in 2003?

Early Doors began as a project with his Royle Family writing partner, who pulled out over the script, so he finished it with Mealey and the two played pub regulars Joe and Duffy.

Inspired by which TV cook does Denise take on Christmas dinner in the 2008 Royle Family special The New Sofa?

Nigella Lawson's influence produces a Christmas dinner cooked by the family's laziest member, with Dave's parents invited over too, much to Jim's dismay.

To which Welsh resort do Jim and Barbara Royle take a caravan holiday for their 50th wedding anniversary in 2009?

Prestatyn's holiday caravan has no television and no chip pan, so the anniversary trip is a disaster and the Royles decide to go home early.

Which TV show does Dave hope to get on in the 2012 Royle Family special Barbara's Old Ring?

Dragons' Den is where Dave hopes to pitch an invention in the final special, while next-door neighbour Joe goes looking for love and a new neighbour causes havoc for the Royles.

Which Downton Abbey actress plays Saskia, Antony's pregnant nurse girlfriend, in 2010's Royle Family Christmas special?

Joanne Froggatt appears only in this special: Saskia spends Christmas Day at the Royles' heavily pregnant, and she and Antony get a surprise delivery.

Which poet co-wrote series one of The Royle Family and co-founded Baby Cow Productions in 1999?

Henry Normal retired from Baby Cow in 2016 and went back to poetry, writing and performing a run of BBC Radio 4 shows about his life and family.

Which 2001 football mockumentary stars Jim Royle's actor and features his famous '4-4-2' rant?

Mike Bassett: England Manager promotes its Norwich boss to the national job and sends him to the finals in Brazil, where England beat Argentina with a punched goal, a nod to the 'hand of God'.

Jim Royle's actor, a plasterer by trade, was born in which seaside resort rather than his adopted Liverpool?

Blackpool was where his mother had been evacuated as war began, because Liverpool was expected to be bombed; he grew up back in Liverpool, his parents' home city.

In which sitcom was The Royle Family's Nana actress killed off as Letitia Cropley in a 1996 Easter special?

The Vicar of Dibley killed Letitia Cropley off after seven episodes, and the actress found out when a motorcycle messenger brought the script with a note breaking the news.

Which musician from Manchester's music scene married The Royle Family's Denise actress in 1994, a marriage that ended in 1997?

Peter Hook, New Order's bassist and a Joy Division co-founder, led the house band, Hooky and the Boys, on his wife's chat show during the marriage.

Born in Ealing, The Royle Family's Denise actress was raised from the age of two in which Manchester district?

Wythenshawe was home from the age of two for the daughter of an Irish railwayman; a childhood cancer of the retina, which her brother also had, left her partially sighted in one eye.

Which one-word forecast did The Royle Family's Denise deliver as Chanel 9 weather girl Poula Fisch on The Fast Show?

'Scorchio!' accompanied a forecast of 45 °C for every location on the spoof channel; her other Fast Show regulars included Renée, the chattering wife of silent Roy, and the Checkout Girl.

Which ITV company produced The Royle Family for its rival, the BBC, from 1998 to 2008?

Granada, the Manchester-based ITV company, kept its name on the Royles until ITV retired the brand in 2009, so the last two specials were credited to ITV Studios instead.

On which channel did The Royle Family's first series air before its following earned a promotion for series two?

BBC Two aired the six-episode first series in autumn 1998; the BBC moved series two to BBC One a year later, where every later episode and special stayed.

After which medical procedure does Nana move in with the Royles in series two, to Jim's open annoyance?

A cataract operation brings Nana to the Royles' to convalesce, in the episode where Antony announces he is managing a band called Exit and the family, Jim above all, find it hysterical.

In The Royle Family's very first episode, the phone bill shows somebody has been ringing which Scottish city?

Aberdeen's phone calls open the 1998 debut, which aired on 14 September and, like almost every episode that followed, never leaves the Royles' house.

Where does Barbara Royle work part-time, for a while the only member of the Royle household holding down a job?

A bakery job starts for a nervous Barbara in the very first episode, and with Jim refusing to stir from his armchair she becomes the household's main breadwinner.

Which sparkling drink, with cake and photographs, marks Jim Royle's birthday in series one of The Royle Family?

Pomagne toasts Jim before the family head to the pub, while Antony's fresh black eye from a fight with the Beswick brothers is mocked all evening.

Antony, who wanted a record deal for his band in series three, has become what by The Royle Family's 2006 special?

A successful businessman who no longer lives in Manchester is how 2006 finds the boy the family treated as a dogsbody, ordered to answer the door, make tea and babysit.

Which Royle Family director went on to win an Emmy for directing Succession and make the 2022 film The Menu?

Mark Mylod won that Emmy for 'Connor's Wedding', shooting the siblings' reaction to losing their father as one unbroken half-hour take, with spare film magazines hidden around the set.

The Royle Family's Mary, Doreen Keogh, had played which Coronation Street character, the Rovers Return's first barmaid?

Concepta Riley ran up 320 Coronation Street episodes for a Dublin-born actress who also coached Barbra Streisand in a cockney accent for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

What surname do the Royles' chatty Irish neighbour Mary, her monosyllabic husband Joe and their daughter Cheryl share?

Carroll is the name next door: Mary is Barbara's best friend, Cheryl is Denise's, and dreary, near-silent Joe turns sociable only once he has had a few drinks.

Almost every scene of The Royle Family takes place in which room of the family's council house?

The living room, with the television always on, is where the Royles sit, bicker and channel-hop; the action first left the house in the 2006 special, for a hospital.

Which department store's 2015 Christmas advert used Norwegian singer Aurora's cover of The Royle Family's theme?

John Lewis's advert took Aurora's version to number 11 in the UK and sent the 1994 original to a chart peak of number 56, twenty-one years after it was first tucked away on a B-side.

Which comedian played a dustman addicted to betting in Sunshine, the 2008 drama co-written by The Royle Family's Dave Best actor?

Steve Coogan's Bing cannot stay away from the horses; the head of a gambling helpline called the performance brilliant and said he would get all his counsellors to watch it.

Denise and Dave return from one of Dave's DJ gigs rowing about which woman in series one of The Royle Family?

Beverly Macca is the woman a drunk Denise accuses Dave of flirting with, a week before their wedding; her parents talk her round and the night ends in a sing-along to Jim's banjo.

How does Jim Royle try to earn a fortune in the 2012 special while Barbara hunts for her lost wedding ring?

Scratch cards are Jim's get-rich plan in Barbara's Old Ring, while Dave pins his hopes on an invention and Joe next door places a lonely hearts advert reading 'Vacant Lady Wanted'.

Where in the house does Denise go into labour in the 1999 Royle Family Christmas special, as Jim tries to comfort her?

The bathroom floor is where Denise's waters break after Dave has left to drive Nana home, so it falls to Jim to comfort her, in tears as he recalls the day she was born.

What do Denise and her husband name the son whose christening buffet closes The Royle Family's third series?

David, known to all as Baby David, gets a christening that the third series builds towards, with Jim and Twiggy scraping off the dining-area wallpaper and Barbara laying on the buffet.

Barbara Royle's demanding elderly mother, known to everyone as Nana, carries which surname in The Royle Family?

Speakman is also Barbara's maiden name; Nana's first name, Norma, is the one Denise gives her newborn daughter in the 2006 special.