Caroline Aherne was born in London
but grew up in Withenshawe in Manchester. She studied
drama at Liverpool Polytechnic, then took a job as
a BBC secretary, all the while honing her performance
skills on the comedy circuit.
She found national fame in 1994 with both The Fast
Show and The Mrs Merton Show. Though 'Checkout Girl'
was a popular character in the The Fast Show, it was
Mrs Merton who really made her name.
The sweet old lady would ask the most outrageous,
below-the-belt questions of her guest stars. She famously
asked Debbie McGee, "So, what attracted you to
the millionaire Paul Daniels?". Aherne won Best
Female Comedy Performance at the 1996 British Comedy
Awards for the role.
As Mrs Merton's popularity diminished, Aherne struck
gold a second time with The Royle Family. This was
an unusual sitcom format: A working class family sat
in front of the TV, and not much happened. When it
did, you noticed. The secret of its success was its
keen writing and perfect casting.
In 2001 Caroline Aherne announced her retirement
from TV and emigrated to Australia. Within a year she
had written and produced Dossa and Joe - a sitcom about
an Aussie couple who don't do very much. She returned
to Britain in 2002 |