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The Royle Family is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprising family patriarch Jim Royle, his wife Barbara, their daughter Denise, their son Antony and Denise's fiancé David.
Peter John Kay is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books.
Caroline Mary Aherne was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host Mrs Merton, in various roles in The Fast Show, and as Denise in The Royle Family (1998–2012), a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family.
Phoenix Nights is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series That Peter Kay Thing, and in turn was followed by the spin-off Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere. It was produced by Goodnight Vienna Productions and Ovation Entertainments, and broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK.
That Peter Kay Thing is a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in 2000. It was written by Peter Kay, Dave Spikey, Neil Fitzmaurice and Gareth Hughes, and was directed by Andrew Gillman. The series was narrated by Andrew Sachs. Set in and around Bolton, each episode functions as a self-contained documentary following a different set of characters, many of them played by Kay. The pilot episode, "The Services", was shown in 1998 as an episode of Comedy Lab, a series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Many of the characters went on to appear in the successful spin-off series Phoenix Nights.
Craig Cash is an English comedian, actor, voice actor, director and BAFTA award-winning writer and producer. His best known works are in the television shows The Royle Family, The Fast Show, The Mrs Merton Show, Early Doors, Sunshine and most recently The Café, Rovers and After Hours. Cash took over from his Royle Family co-star Caroline Aherne as the narrator of Channel 4's Gogglebox after her death in 2016.
Dave Spikey is an English comedian, actor, writer and film producer. He is best known for his stand-up comedy, writing and starring in the British comedy programme Phoenix Nights, presenting Bullseye and Chain Letters, and serving as team captain for the first four series of 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Neil Simon Fitzmaurice is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Jeff, the love rival of protagonist Mark Corrigan, in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. He has written for a number of other shows, including Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and Benidorm.
Janice Connolly is an English actress, comedian and artistic director. She runs the Birmingham-based group Women and Theatre and performs stand-up comedy as her character Mrs Barbara Nice. Connolly has also appeared in Coronation Street, That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere, Thin Ice and Dead Man Weds. In 2017, Connolly was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours list for services to community arts in the West Midlands. In 2022, she began appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Rosie Colton.
The Mrs Merton Show was a mock talk show starring Caroline Aherne as the elderly host Mrs Dorothy Merton.
Jason John Manford is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer.
So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom.
Toby Hadoke is an English actor, writer, stand-up comedian and comedy promoter. He is known for his work on the Manchester comedy circuit, where he performs regularly, and as a prominent fan of the television series Doctor Who. He runs the XS Malarkey comedy club, and is involved with many comedy nights in the region. His comedy tends towards the topical and/or political.
XS Malarkey is a not for profit comedy club in Manchester. It is promoted and compered by the comedian and actor Toby Hadoke, and runs every Tuesday night. In 2007, a Guardian article described XS Malarkey as a "great example of how a club should be run".
Andy Robert Wilkinson, better known by his stage name of Smug Roberts, is an English stand up comedian and actor. Born in Harpurhey, Manchester, Wilkinson attended North Manchester High School for Boys before taking various jobs such as a relief pub landlord and the coach of a football team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He also ran a signwriting business for a time.
Glenn Wilhide is an American screenwriter and television producer.
The Security Men is a British television comedy pilot, written by BAFTA-award-winning comedian Caroline Aherne and Jeff Pope, that first broadcast on ITV on 12 April 2013. The pilot, written as a precursor to a planned four-part series, follows a group of night security guards working at the fictional Whittington shopping centre in Greater Manchester, who create an elaborate scheme to hide a robbery that has taken place on their watch. The pilot, which was filmed in 2011, remained shelved whilst writing on a planned four-part series, which promised to "follow the characters home to meet their friends and families", was written. Although the series did not materialise, for reasons undisclosed, the pilot was finally broadcast in 2013 as part of ITV's new "primetime comedy" season.
Peter Kay's Car Share is a British sitcom set around supermarket assistant manager John Redmond and promotions rep Kayleigh Kitson, and their participation in a company car-sharing scheme.
The Delightful Sausage are a comedy double act, created by Amy Gledhill and Christopher Cantrill. In 2019 and 2022 they were nominated for 'Best Show' at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Alma's Not Normal is a British sitcom first broadcast as a pilot episode on BBC Two in April 2020. The series follows the eponymous Alma, from Bolton, as she tries to give her life meaning and the "fabulous" outcome she has always dreamed of, while coping with the strained relationships of her family that saw her spend time in care, something else which she is trying to reconcile. The series is written by and stars Sophie Willan and is inspired by her own experiences of the care system.