The Mrs Merton Show
Alt nameMrs Merton in Las Vegas
Runtime30 minutes
DirectorPati Marr
Tony Prescott
Dominic Brigstocke
Philippa Robinson
Starring
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
ProducerPeter Kessler
Mark Gorton
Spencer Campbell
Philippa Robinson
Executive producerAndy Harries
Clive Tulloh
CompanyGranada Television
NetworkGranada TV (pilot)
BBC Two (series 1–2)
BBC One (series 3–4)
First aired5 December 1993[1]
Last aired2 April 1998
Num series4 (+ 2 pilots)
Num episodes30 (incl. 6 specials)
RelatedMrs Merton and Malcolm

The Mrs Merton Show was a mock talk show starring Caroline Aherne, also credited as Caroline Hook, as the elderly host Mrs Dorothy Merton.[2]

Originally portraying 'Mrs Murton' in a pilot for Yorkshire TV which was not picked up, Caroline Aherne retooled the character, making her older, and recorded a second pilot in 1993 for Granada Television, who commissioned the series. Running from 10 February 1995 to 2 April 1998, it was produced by Granada and aired on the BBC. The writers included Aherne, Craig Cash, Henry Normal and, for the first few series, Dave Gorman.

Character origination

The character was first created in 1986 on Piccadilly Radio, first played by Kate Copstick, being replaced by Caroline Aherne in 1988.

Prior to television success, Aherne's Mrs Merton character appeared on Frank Sidebottom's album 5/9/88 and on Aherne's KFM Radio show in Stockport.[3][4][5][6][7]

The character first appeared on national radio in the late 1980s, on Radio 2, produced by Mark Radcliffe, and also on BBC GMR. Aherne was offered £10 by BBC GMR, which Radio 2 raised to £15.[8]

After that she made a few appearances on local television in the north west including Granada's Saturday morning show Express! and on the Yorkshire Television series, Frank’s Fantastic Shed Show. On the former show, presented by I Am Kloot's John 'Johnny Dangerously' Bramwell[9][10] and Sumy Kuraishe, she was the regular celebrity interviewer and interviewed guests from a number of random locations in the north west, whilst the latter show was with Chris Sievey in his Sidebottom persona.

The character first appeared on satellite TV for the BSB (British Satellite Broadcasting) children's programme 'Cool Cube', made by Granada, with Zoe Ball as a researcher, in the early 1990s.[11] Caroline had no ownership of the copyright to the character.[12]

Her national terrestrial television debut came on the 1991 Channel 4 gameshow Remote Control, hosted by Anthony H Wilson. The talk show was followed up by a sitcom, Mrs Merton and Malcolm, based on Mrs Merton and her son Malcolm, who was played by Craig Cash.

Television series history

For the first two series, the house band was Hooky and the Boys, fronted by Aherne's then husband Peter Hook. Following their marital break up the band was replaced by The Patrick Trio from the 1996 Christmas special until the end of the show's run in 1998.

In 1997 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 final series if she could do it. This became the BAFTA Award winning The Royle Family.

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?"[13]

In 2022, the Patrick Trio-era series was acquired by That's TV[14][15] for its comedy line-up which also included repeats of Hale and Pace and Monty Python's Flying Circus[16][17][18]

Format

The Mrs Merton Show was a mock chat show which featured real-life celebrities getting outrageous faux-naïf questions from Aherne in her Mrs Merton persona. In one memorable example the wife of magician Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, was asked "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"[19] whilst in another episode Aherne asked comedian Bernard Manning, after he had clashed with One Foot in the Grave's Richard Wilson, “Who do you vote for now Hitler's dead?” in regard to his racist attitudes.

As well as the celebrity guests and regular band, the show featured a few appearances from Craig Cash as Malcolm and a had audience of pensioners, who would sit behind Mrs Merton and the guests, and who would be used for regular discussion segments and for Aherne to field questions from. This group included a large number of older ladies who would be used for the programme from week-to-week and also included spots for the former child actor Roy Williams, who was known for his brightly coloured clothes and odd views,[20][21] former Manchester City goalkeeper Harry Dowd[22] and Stockport pensioner Horace Mendelsohn.[23][24]

Media releases

  • The Best of The Mrs Merton Show: Series One (VHS) – Released: 7 October 1996[25]
  • The Best of The Mrs Merton Show: Series Two (VHS) – Released: 4 November 1996[26]
  • The Complete Series (DVD) – Released: 25 February 2008[27]

References

  1. ^ The Complete Series (DVD) – Released: 25 February 2008
  2. ^ "MRS Merton and Malcolm"
  3. ^ "The MRS Merton Show". Archived from the original on 2 January 2009.
  4. ^ "Terry Christian: Raw and northern – no wonder TV's luvvies didn't get Caroline Aherne". Independent.co.uk. 3 July 2016.
  5. ^ "KFM Radio | About Us". 25 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Caroline Aherne obituary". TheGuardian.com. 2 July 2016.
  7. ^ "KFM - Stockport". 25 July 2020.
  8. ^ Manchester Evening News Wednesday 29 January 1997, page 27
  9. ^ "I Am Kloot: 'I hope we're going to reach people who have never heard us' | Music feature". TheGuardian.com. 3 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Preview; JOHN BRAMWELLThe Kazimier. - Free Online Library"
  11. ^ Manchester Evening News Wednesday 5 March 1997, page 19
  12. ^ Manchester Evening News Friday 3 January 1997, page 28
  13. ^ "Kay dishes up best TV one-liner". BBC News. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  14. ^ "The MRS Merton Show"
  15. ^ "Home". thats.tv
  16. ^ "Monty Python's Flying Circus to be repeated on TV for first time in 35 years"
  17. ^ "That's Tv to Show Monty Python After Nearly 35 Years off Air"
  18. ^ "Monty Python is back on TV for the first time in 34 years | Virgin Radio UK". 11 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Entertainment | Kay dishes up best TV one-liner". BBC News. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  20. ^ "MRS Merton star Roy bows out". 28 May 2005.
  21. ^ "BBC Inside Out – North West comedy". bbc.co.uk. 17 January 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Harry Dowd: Fearless goalkeeper who succeeded Bert Trautmann at". Independent.co.uk. 6 July 2015.
  23. ^ "MRS Merton's Horace dies". 25 June 2009.
  24. ^ "MRS Merton's Horace shot to stardom in audience". 24 June 2009.
  25. ^ "The Mrs Merton Show: The Best Of Series 1 [VHS]". amazon.co.uk. 7 October 1996. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Mrs Merton - The Best Of Mrs Merton Show - Series Two [1995]". amazon.co.uk. 4 November 1996. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  27. ^ "The Mrs. Merton Show - The Complete Series". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2024.