With the news that Fawlty Towers is set to get the reboot treatment, many may have their fingers crossed for a similar announcement from the team behind The Royle Family. Unfortunately, co-creator and star of the show Craig Cash, who played David, has completely ruled that out.
When asked about the possibility of returning to chez Royle, Craig gave a hard no.
He said: “I wouldn’t want to do a spin-off, no. Because Caroline’s gone, she’d be like, ‘Oh b****y hell, I want to do it!’ and I’d feel a bit mean.
“That show was a compilation of both our voices.
“I could do it, but it wouldn’t be the same. It’s best left where it is.”
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However, while he has ruled out a reboot, he did admit to occasionally thinking about the characters.
Asked if he ever wondered what they were up to these days he added to the Radio Times: “Not really, but when [Amazon’s] Alexa came along, I did think it would be brilliant for Jim [Royle] (Ricky Tomlinson), to be given it as a present — it wouldn’t work for him, so he’d be rowing with it and cursing it.”
The Royle Family ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, with separate specials running from 2006 to 2012.
The simple premise followed the titular Royles, a television-fixated Manchester family.
A further special was set to be written, but Aherne was ill and died on 2 July 2016, effectively ending the programme.
The Royle Family was placed 31st in the British Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest British television programmes.
And in a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Jim Royle was ranked eleventh on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
The influence of the show even stretched to reality TV and heavily influenced Gogglebox, which Cash currently narrates after he took over the role from Aherne.
In a previous interview with CTS, Gogglebox co-creator Tania Alexander, who came up with the format alongside Stephen Lambert said: “For Gogglebox, I visualised the Royle Family set-up.
“It was the first thing that came to mind; a huge influence and inspiration.
“That’s why Caroline Aherne was the perfect choice for the Gogglebox narrator – she’s got that really gossipy warm northern tone that I love.”
The full interview is available to read in this week’s Radio Times. Episodes of The Royle Family are available on the BBC iPlayer.
