BFI Screenonline: Aherne, Caroline (1963-) Biography
and
Marti Caine
) won her a prize at Butlins. After studying Drama at Liverpool Polytechnic she worked as a BBC secretary with aspirations of becoming a writer and programme researcher.
Aherne began working with her long-time collaborator
Craig Cash
on the Stockport radio station KFM, creating numerous characters including country and western singer Mitzi Goldberg and Sister Mary Immaculate. Another popular character was agony aunt Mrs Merton, who, with the aid of writers Cash,
Dave Gorman
and
Henry Normal
, took on a life of her own, making her television debut as the next door neighbour in
Frank Sidebottom's Fantastic Shed Show
(ITV, 1992).
The Mrs Merton Show
(BBC, 1995-98) was an unqualified success. Surrounded by an audience of real-life pensioners and supported by her in-house band Hooky and the Boys (Aherne was then married to
Peter Hook
of
New Order
, and even credited as 'Caroline Hook' for a time), Mrs Merton's interviewing style ("warm with a gentle kicking") enabled her to ask cheekier questions to her guests than more conventional hosts might have dared - including, famously, asking
Debbie McGee
; "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" The character's popularity produced adverts for British Gas, a spin-off sit-com
Mrs Merton and Malcolm
(BBC, 1999), and a BAFTA in 1995.
Whilst playing Mrs Merton, Aherne contributed a handful of characters to the award winning sketch series
The Fast Show
(BBC, 1994-2000), including Spanish TV weathergirl Paola Fisch ("Scorchio!"), Rochdale schoolgirl Janine Carr and the sharp-tongued supermarket checkout girl forever commenting on the shoppers' items ("Ribbed condoms? Very thoughtful.").
With Cash and Normal, Aherne created the BAFTA-winning
The Royle Family
, in which the lives of a Manchester family revolved around the television. The action rarely ventured away from the living room as the family drank tea and held sofa based discussions. Aherne played the bone idle daughter Denise and also directed the third series.
Her writing partnership with Cash came to an abrupt end when she walked out of work on
Early Doors
(eventually broadcast by the BBC in 2003) over problems with the script. Suffering from depression and constant press intrusion into her private life, she left Britain for Sydney. Coaxed by BBC2 controller
Jane Root
into creating a new comedy series, Aherne wrote and directed the Australia-set
Dossa and Joe
(BBC, 2002), about the breakdown of a long-term marriage post retirement. The series was a critical success but a ratings failure.
Graham Rinaldi