| The Mrs Merton Show | |
|---|---|
| Format | Comedy |
| Starring | Caroline Aherne |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 29 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | 1994 – 1998 |
The Mrs Merton Show is a mock talk show starring Caroline Aherne as the elderly host Mrs Merton. It ran from 1994 to 1998, and was produced by Granada Television.
The writers included Aherne, Craig Cash, Dave Gorman and Henry Normal.
It was followed up by a sitcom, Mrs Merton and Malcolm, based on Mrs Merton and her son Malcolm, who was played by Craig Cash.
In August 2006 a poll of 4,000 people was commissioned by UKTV Gold for the best comic one-liner. In second place was a line from the Mrs Merton Show when she famously asked Debbie McGee, "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"[1]
The complete series, including pilot and specials, was released on 25 February 2008 by Network DVD.
Prior to TV success, Aherne's Mrs Merton character appeared on Frank Sidebottom's album "13/9/88".
For the first two series, the house band was Hooky and the Boys, fronted by Aherne's then husband Peter Hook. Following their break up the band was replaced by The Patrick Trio from the 1996 Christmas special until the end of the show in 1998.
In 1998 the production moved to Las Vegas for a series of specials with Hollywood stars. The series was not well received and was slated by critic Garry Bushell amongst others. For the following (and final) series back in the UK, Bushell was a guest and got appropriately roasted by Mrs Merton and her studio audience.
In an interview in November 2001 Aherne revealed that she did not want to carry on with the show and wanted to write a sitcom with Craig Cash and only agreed to a fourth series if she could write the sitcom which was the Bafta winning The Royle Family