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<\/p>\nCaroline Aherne’s genius is the subject of an affecting film, Caroline Aherne: Queen Of Comedy, which will go out on BBC Two on Christmas Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among contributors is her best friend and writing partner Craig Cash, who wept as he recalled how she called him after taking an overdose in 1998.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cash wept again as he talked about her illness and death from cancer in 2016, after she’d enjoyed a professional revival with the special Queen Of Sheba episode of The Royle Family and narrating Gogglebox.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘What happened next felt very cruel,’ he said, adding: ‘She said: ‘We had some laughs, didn’t we Cashy?’<\/p>\n
Caroline’s former co-star Sue Johnston recently revealed she has only just been able to watched her hit sitcom The Royle Family after the deaths of many of its cast members.<\/p>\n
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Caroline Aherne’s genius is the subject of an affecting film, Caroline Aherne: Queen Of Comedy, which will go out on BBC Two on Christmas Day<\/p>\n
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The one-off documentary will feature unseen photographs and contributions from The Royle Family cast, as well as colleagues and friends\u00a0L-R) Sue Johnston as Barbara, Ricky Tomlinson as Jim, Ralf Little as Antony, Craig Cash as Dave and Caroline Aherne as Denise<\/p>\n
The actress, 80, who played Barbara Royle in the comedy, was left so heartbroken by the deaths of her former co-stars that she could not bring herself to watch a single episode of the BBC series.<\/p>\n
While Caroline, who co-created the programme and starred as Sue’s on-screen daughter Denise Best, died\u00a0in 2016,\u00a0actress Liz Smith, who portrayed the beloved Norma ‘Nana’ Speakman, the mother of Sue’s character Barbara, died aged 95 on Christmas Eve in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Peter Martin, who starred\u00a0as neighbour Joe Carroll in The Royle Family, died at the age of 82 in April this year, while actress\u00a0Doreen Keogh, who played Peter’s on-screen wife\u00a0Mary Carroll, died in 2017 at the age of 93\u00a0after a battle with Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
Sue told the Radio Times\u00a0Christmas issue: ‘It was very hard, because there are so many people in it who are no longer with us, but The Queen of Sheba [the landmark 2006 episode] is my favourite, and I watch it with a lot of pride.<\/p>\n
‘The first series was rerun the other day, and do you know, little kids now ask for selfies with me because they love it as much as the older generations did.\u00a0I think how proud Caroline would have been to know it\u2019s still loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘It was one of the happiest jobs I have ever done. And yes, I miss her. All the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘She\u2019s another one who would have loved to have got old and grown wrinkles\u2026 Although maybe she would have had Botox!’<\/p>\n
The Royle Family fans were left in floods of tears during the 2006 Christmas\u00a0special, The Queen of Sheba, when character Norma ‘Nana’ Speakman, played by the late actress Liz Smith, died.<\/p>\n
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Among contributors is her best friend and writing partner Craig, who wept as he recalled how she called him after taking an overdose in 1998 (pictured in 1999)<\/p>\n
Nana, the mother of Sue’s character Barbara, was often seen clashing with Barbara’s husband Jim (Ricky Tomlinson) over a variety of hilarious issues from owning everything featured in an episode of Antiques Roadshow to not sharing her chocolates.<\/p>\n
In the episode, bedridden Nana met her newborn great-granddaughter Norma, who Denise and David (Craig Cash) named after her.<\/p>\n
After she was rushed to hospital, she woke up to see her family around her bed before dying peacefully.<\/p>\n
Actress Liz, also known for starring in sitcom\u00a0The Vicar of Dibley, died at the age of 95 on Christmas Eve in 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sue will feature this Christmas in the one-off BBC Two tribute special to the comedy actress and writer Caroline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Sue has only recently been able to watched her hit sitcom The Royle Family after the deaths of many of its cast members, including its creator Caroline (Sue pictured last week)<\/p>\n