EXCLUSIVE: Caroline Aherne, the beloved British comedy star behind The Royle Family and The Mrs Merton Show, is to be the subject of a feature film.
Andy Harries, producer of The Crown and Left Bank Pictures‘ executive chairman, is collaborating with Oscar-nominated Philomena writer Jeff Pope on the project, which remains in its infancy.
Harries told Deadline that Pope has written a script that chronicles Aherne’s “peak creative years,” from her stand-up work in the early nineties to writing and starring in The Royle Family, the iconic comedy series about a TV-obsessed Manchester family.
Harries had front-row seats to Aherne’s talents, having executive-produced The Royle Family and Mrs Merton for the BBC. Pope also worked closely with Aherne on The Fattest Man in Britain, starring Timothy Spall, and comedy The Security Men.
Harries is on the hunt for a director for the picture, while a cast has yet to be attached. He said the script is “sad, funny, and very emotional.” As for the role of Aherne, “it’s a really challenging part for an actress in her early to mid-30s,” Harries added.
Craig Cash, the co-creator of The Royle Family, is involved as a consultant and executive producer. Cash is best known nowadays as the narrator of Gogglebox, a job he inherited from Aherne after she died from cancer in 2016. She was just 52.
Pope said: “I loved Caroline and I still think about her, or some funny line she came up with, almost every day. She was a true original, a working-class woman from Manchester who broke all the rules — every single one of them. I want more people to understand what a genius she was, and what drove her.”
Pope spoke movingly about her death in 2016, telling The Guardian that she “suffered appallingly” with depression, but that her interest in people was a hallmark of her writing. Aherne won four BAFTA Awards during her career, while her other work included appearing as a regular on sketch series The Fast Show.