The Royle Family

This sitcom is a must see for anybody like me who has fond memories of time spent working on a shop floor 'up north'. It perfectly captures the down-to-earth local sense of humour and a certain on-the-dole lifestyle, particularly from in and around the Liverpool-Manchester area.

The writing by Caroline Ahern, Craig Cash, and Henry Normal, is understated, pin sharp and full of detail. The direction is clever and challenging as almost all the (non-) action takes place in the tiny lounge watching endless soaps on the telly or in the adjoining kitchen making endless cups of tea. Like a fly-on-the-wall documentary we watch the group dynamics and hear the conversations between the family members often with all their eyes glued to the box. Unlike most sitcoms there is no canned laughter or 'live studio audience' so it is up to the viewer to work out the funny bits.

For example, I enjoyed spotting the fact that in an early episode father Jim Royle buys a pair of cheap jeans from a dodgy mate and then spends the rest of the series wearing them with the cuffs turned up, as they are far too long. I was also introduced to the sly betting game of who could best guess the value of the item being discussed on The Antiques Road Show. The scenes are nicely observed, from the huge, overflowing ashtrays to the TV remote control held together by red electrical insulation tape (just like mine) to the birthday bottles of Pomane.

But what ties all this material together are the perfect performances, everyone from young Ralf Little to multi-talented Sue Johnston and Ricky Tomlinson.

One of the funniest things on TV and in my view an instant classic.

Warning to non-UK readers: The Royle Family is only for the most dedicated of anglophiles - I expect half the viewers in England needed subtitles for some of the accents and idioms.

Title music specially written by Oasis.

Memorable quotes: [complaining when asked to fetch a couple of things from the kitchen] Denise: Shove a brush up my arse an' I'll sweep the floor.

Mum: I don't care what anybody is. I don't care if they're gay, straight or Australian.

We've only had access to BBC Canada for a few weeks now, but I'm finding myself making sure that I'm in front of the tv at 8:30 on Tuesday nights. I can't think of any Canadian or American shows that I HAVE to watch, even season premieres or finales! The Royle Family is unlike anything I've ever watched before; nothing happens but it's riveting! The characters rarely move from their couch, and when they do, it's just to stray into the kitchen to brew a cuppa. It makes American humour seem extremely brash and forced. Two thumbs up!!

Now and then comes along a perfect series (Fawlty Towers and The Office spring to mind) everybody loves them and everybody is right!! Any great show is built on the writing and the writing here is near perfect. Any show which can run over 18 episodes and 2 specials and only use 1 set AND be funny every time is genius!! Caroline Aherene has been quoted as saying this is her best work and she is right. Tha acting is the icing on the cake of course, with special mention to Sue Johnson who should get loads of work. The whole point is the exquisite, REAL language and very few visual gags. This looks and feels real all the time and runs through all human emotion; ultimately 'though it is a show about love. 11 out of 10!!!

I wasn't sure what to make of "The Royle Family" when I first saw it. It tends to meander a lot and if you're looking for action and excitement - forget it. But I stuck with it and after the first couple of episodes I was hooked. I've never seen such brilliantly observed characters on the small screen. They have been superbly created by the writers and brought to startlingly real life by a wonderful cast of actors.

Anyone who thinks this show is boring is really missing the subtlety of it. If you live in working class England, be it Newcastle, Liverpool, London, Manchester or just about any of the big cities, you'll know these people. You may even find elements of yourself or your friends in there. This is real English life; you might not want to believe me but it's true - I've seen it, I've grown up with it.

The closest American TV has come to depicting working class characters in a humorous way is with "Roseanne", "Grace Under Fire" and "Married with Children". While they all have their place in the lexicon of blue collar comedy, none of them could come close to matching "The Royle Family" because the humour is too obvious to be realistic. With this wonderful show you can find yourself laughing at an exchange between the mother and future son-in-law that involves nothing more sophisticated than him telling her what he had for his tea. But it works! It really is funny and if you can't see that then it's a real shame because you're missing out on something very special.

A classic - simple as that.

This comedy is fantastic, it's got some good dialogue that flows well but not only that all of the characters who have ever graced the show have been fantastic. The show has become a much loved comedic gem with more than it's fair share of fans and the reason it has become such a legend is because it was so well written and directed in only a way a BBC comedy could be. The character of Jim Royle (played by Ricky Tomlinson) one of the main characters in this show is a mini institution himself and then you have the delectable Sue Johnston playing his wife Barbara. They worked together fantastically on Brookside and they gel so well on this show too, it's sad that there are no new episodes of this excellent comedy currently airing but there's hope for the future.