The series was created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, who drew on their own backgrounds to forge a new kind of family sitcom. Aherne was already a big name in British comedy through her persona as Mrs. Merton, a deceptively sweet old lady who interviewed and frequently humiliated minor celebrities. Instead of the usual weary plots, she based the new series firmly on the characters and their interactions, saying “I knew that if you strip it bare and have funny characters and love in it, it would work.”

Nothing special happens in The Royle Family, and that is the point of the show. There are a few major life events, such as weddings or births, but mostly the Royles just sit round the television and talk. Dad Jim is coarse, miserly, and hypocritical, while the mother, Barbara, is kind, loyal, and slightly dim. Daughter Denise (played by creator Aherne) is idle, while the nice son Anthony, is put upon and long suffering. Son-in-law Dave lends a constant air of dull stupidity to the proceedings, as does Barbara’s whining mother Norma. Occasionally friends, like the Carrolls who live next door, visit. For the audience, the lack of action quickly ceases to be a problem because it becomes the expectation. The audience understands that the pleasures of the series are in magnifying humdrum reality.

Executives originally insisted on a studio audience, but a test episode proved disastrous, so it was dropped. Also out are harsh studio lighting and the theatrical performance conventions of television sitcom. The Royles’ sitting room, the center of all the episodes, is beautifully shot on film in a documentary style. The actors rely on laughs from the smallest facial expression or verbal quirk, which allows the complexities of the characters to be gradually revealed to the audience. Unlike many sitcoms, the quality of acting is as good in minor roles (such as Jessica Stevenson as Denise’s friend Cheryl) as it is in the leads. Perhaps as a result of the success of The Royle Family, these innovations are becoming the norm in U.K. TV comedy.

The Royle Family is also important in its understanding of the role the media plays in our lives. Previously TV programs existed in a parallel universe, where people never watched TV themselves nor were affected by it. Here the characters are not only watching television, they are also talking about it. The audience at home is watching a show about a family watching television. The mirror image is constantly there to challenge the viewer.

For all the formal innovation and self-reflection, however, the success of the series is also a result of its affirmation of traditional British sitcom virtues. There is an air of melancholy underlying the laughter. People are held back by their flaws, by bad luck, and by society, but they have the strength to endure.

In many ways The Royle Family echoes the classic 1960s program Till Death Us Do Part. Like Alf Garnett, Jim Royle captured the mood of the nation. Ricky Tomlinson’s portrayal of an obnoxious but witty slob (“with more faces than the town hall clock”) was hugely popular. British audiences treasured him as a wry comment on what they suspected they had become.

The family became popular at a time when some claimed the English working class no longer existed, or had become reactionary. Aherne is affectionate but not uncritical about the reality of life in the north of England. Inevitably a few critics (invariably middle class themselves) accused her of being condescending, but she was speaking from her own experience. Only on very rare occasions (the baby’s middle name is Keanu) is there a false note.

The general critical consensus was that the program declined over the three series. The show could feel repetitive, but even so it still dared to challenge its audience. In the third series, for example, Denise’s neglect of her baby and Jim’s bullying of Anthony were highlighted. Aherne was brave enough to give these actions a comic aspect, but there is also a deep sense of unease. Even so, at no time does she moralize or go for cheap laughs.

Eventually, and probably wisely, Caroline Aherne pulled the plug on the show. Tired of media intrusion into her private life, she announced her retirement from performing and moved to Australia.

The Royle Family imparted a much-needed freshness to the sitcom genre and proved it could be popular once more. It reminded us that sitcoms could be profound about the human condition and command the highest quality in writing, camera work, and performance. It also offered a shared pleasure at a time when the viewing public seemed irredeemably fragmented.