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Caroline Aherne — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Early career

Aherne began performing on the Manchester comedy circuit as characters such as Mitzi Goldberg, lead singer of the comedy country and western act the Mitzi Goldberg Experience, and Sister Mary Immaculate, an Irish nun.

Her first job was as a secretary at the BBC in Manchester. She gave a cassette of her work to the DJ Martin Kelner.

The Mrs Merton character originated as a voice on the 1988 Frank Sidebottom album titled 5:9:88, after Aherne worked as a receptionist for his show on Piccadilly Radio. Aherne was then invited by Kelner to develop the character on his show, where she would spend many years appearing as a comedy agony aunt across the north of England on the BBC Night Network.

In 1990 Aherne became a late-night radio presenter on KFM Radio in Stockport, joining a line-up which included Craig Cash as well as Jon Ronson, Spence MacDonnald and The Word's Terry Christian.

Aherne's first TV appearances were as Mrs Merton in a semi-regular spot on the Granada TV discussion show Upfront in 1990. After that Mrs Merton became the regular celebrity interviewer on Granada's Saturday morning show Express!, a youth TV programme presented by I Am Kloot's John 'Johnny Dangerously' Bramwell and Sumy Kuraishe from a number of random locations in the north west. In 1992 Aherne appeared as Mrs Merton in the local Yorkshire Television series Frank's Fantastic Shed Show, with Chris Sievey in his Frank Sidebottom persona. For this Leeds-based ITV station Aherne had recorded a pilot of Mrs Murton's Nightcap, but they had not pursued the concept. In 1993, she made brief appearances in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and alongside Steve Coogan and John Thomson in a Granada TV pilot entitled The Dead Good Show.

From 9 April 1991 she appeared on the Radio 5 comedy series on Tuesdays at 12.30pm called 'Where Were You in...?', which featured mostly Manchester comedians. She appeared on BBC1 on 3 August 1991 on the late-night Saturday programme 'Paramount City', also with Simon Day. From 20 November 1993 she appeared on ITV's late-night Saturday programme 'Raw Soup'.

Later career

Following a disagreement with Cash, Aherne moved to Australia and retreated from the press. She wrote Dossa and Joe which was screened on BBC Two in 2002. Although critics applauded it, the show failed to attract viewers and did not return for a second series. Returning to Britain, she began work on another sitcom with Cash, but pulled out, after which Cash wrote Early Doors with Phil Mealey; Aherne was listed in the credits in the "Thanks To" section.

After Dossa and Joe, Aherne avoided media attention. When The Fast Show was featured on the BBC One show Comedy Connections, Aherne was the only cast member not interviewed. In April 2006, the BBC said Aherne and Cash were developing a script for a one-off special of The Royle Family. The Royle Family: The Queen of Sheba was broadcast on 29 October 2006, to an audience of 7.8 million. Aherne subsequently made few TV appearances. On 14 October 2008, she appeared in the BBC comedy drama Sunshine, written by Cash and Phil Mealey, as a barmaid. She appeared in The Royle Family special "The New Sofa" on Christmas Day 2008. In 2009, she appeared in another special for Comic Relief, as well as another Christmas Day special entitled "The Golden Eggcup".

She co-wrote the ITV comedy-drama The Fattest Man in Britain, which was broadcast in December 2009. In November 2010, Aherne appeared in the special The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa shown on Gold, featuring clips of The Royle Family and interviews with Aherne, Cash and the cast, which was followed by another Christmas Day special, "Joe's Crackers". She narrated a BBC1 documentary series Pound Shop Wars broadcast in November 2012. She also appeared in The Fast Show internet specials, sponsored by the lager brand Fosters, which reunited most of the original principal cast; only Mark Williams was unable to participate.

Aherne wrote the 2013 one-off sitcom The Security Men, along with Jeff Pope for ITV. The episode starred Paddy McGuinness, Brendan O'Carroll, Dean Andrews, Bobby Ball and Peter Wight.

Aherne's final major role was as narrator of the Channel 4 comedy reality series Gogglebox, reflecting her character in The Royle Family, who would frequently be watching TV and commenting on it. Cash filled in when she was unavailable and took over the role permanently in April 2016.

Aherne's final on-screen appearance came in the Sky One show After Hours, where she was reunited with Cash who produced and directed the show. She played the role of Sheila.

Personal life

In January 1994, Aherne met musician Peter Hook at the Hacienda, after filming at Granada. They married in Las Vegas on 23 July. By July 1996 they had separated, and divorced in 1997. During their marriage, he appeared in her TV series The Mrs Merton Show as leader of Hooky & the Boys, the show's house band. After Aherne's death, Hook said that their marriage was turbulent and that she had once attempted to stab him with a kitchen knife.

By September 1996 she had met 27-year old Matt Bowers, a TV producer from Watford, who had been at Granada from August 1996. They lived together in Didsbury. Their relationship ended by January 1997; by mid-February, Bowers was hospitalised with stomach cancer at Watford General Hospital, having had months of stomach pains. He died on 9 April 1997.

Aherne struggled with depression and alcoholism. She attempted suicide in July 1998 after Bowers' death and the end of her relationship with the actor Alexis Denisof. She checked in to the Priory, where she was diagnosed as a binge alcoholic. She had suffered from bladder cancer and had been born with a rare cancer of the retina. In 2014, she also embarked on a programme of treatment for lung cancer. In June 2014, Aherne appeared in Manchester at the launch of the Macmillan Cancer Improvement Partnership (MCIP), a £3.4 million scheme to co-ordinate cancer care in the city. She spoke about how a sense of humour had helped her cope with the disease. In 2016, Aherne became the voice behind the UK government's "One You" health campaign, to persuade people to cut down on cigarettes and alcohol.

On the morning of 2 July 2016, Aherne died of lung cancer at her home in Timperley aged 52. Aherne had told family and close friends in May that she was terminally ill. Her funeral took place on 14 July 2016. Many friends and co-stars were in attendance.

In October 2016, Steve Coogan paid tribute to Aherne at the Stand Up to Cancer 2016 event, speaking about her before a video was played of her TV moments, and then Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds performed The Royle Family theme tune "Half the World Away". As part of the Oasis Live '25 Tour, during their performance in Heaton Park, Gallagher dedicated the song once again to Aherne and Cash.