A TV special celebrating the “unique life and talent” of Caroline Aherne is set to air on BBC Two this Christmas Day.
There’s absolutely no denying that Caroline Aherne is a true Manc icon.
Although born in London to Irish parents, she moved to Manchester at the age of two, was raised in Wythenshawe, went to school in West Didsbury, and kick-started her illustrious and hugely-influential career on the city’s comedy circuit by performing as a collection of characters, all before developing the iconic ‘Mrs Merton’.
Aherne developed her Mrs Merton character with Frank Sidebottom for his show on Piccadilly Radio, where she worked as a receptionist.
She made a number of television appearances as the hilarious character, before rising to prominence in 1994 with the mock chat show The Mrs Merton Show, where she was known for asking celebrity guests a series of outrageous fake questions – the most-memorable example being to the wife of magician Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, asking: “So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?”.
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A TV special celebrating the life of Caroline Aherne is airing on BBC Two this Christmas Day / Credit: BBC
Aside from the Mrs Merton character, Aherne was known for appearing on BBC comedy sketch programme, The Fast Show, and then cemented her place in the heart of us Mancunians when she co-wrote and starred as Denise in beloved Manchester-based sitcom, The Royle Family.
The Royle Family ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and was a largely stereotypical portrayal of working-class family life at the turn of the millennium, with almost all of the episodes taking place in the Royles’ telly-centric living room and showing the hilarious conversations they’d have.
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Both before and after her sad death in July 2016, Caroline amassed a loyal fanbase, so it’s only right that we properly celebrate her legacy, right? Well that’s exactly what BBC Two is doing this ChristmasDay from 9pm, with the airing of a brand-new TV special, as well as lots of other programmes dedicated to the late legend and all she is loved for.
The 80-minute documentary is described by the BBC as being a “celebration of the unique life and talent of Caroline Aherne”.
Titled Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy, it will feature unseen photographs and contributions from a cast of her lifelong friends – including Steve Coogan, Jon Thompson, Craig Cash, and producer Andy Harries.
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The 80-minute special is titled Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy / Credit: ITV
Caroline Aherne: Queen of Comedy will air on BBC Two at 10:25pm on Christmas Day (25 December), and will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer shortly after.
This new TV special also follows BBC Two’s re-run of The Royle Family’s classic Christmas episode – which is titled ‘Christmas With The Royle Family’, and first aired back in December 1999 – a little earlier in the evening at 9:15pm.
It’ll also be on after a 15-minute long moment of reflection from Ricky Tomlinson at 9pm too.
According to the BBC, Ricky – who, of course, is most famous for his role as the Royle Family’s patriarch, Jim Royle – will sit back in his iconic chair and take a fond look back at the much-loved comedy series, sharing his memories and experiences working with Caroline Aherne.
And, if all that wasn’t brilliant enough as it is, you can also catch an episode of both The Mrs Merton Show and The Fast Show on the big day too.
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Sounds right up our street.
Featured Image – BBC
TV & Showbiz
Legendary Bury Black Pudding reveals secrets – including powdered blood
Daisy Jackson
Bury Black Pudding is one of Greater Manchester’s most famous and excellent exports, creating a breakfast staple that puts the borough on the culinary map.
This familiar sight on a full English breakfast has been being made using a traditional time-honoured recipe for generations.
And while this delicious blood sausage might not be to everyone’s tastes, Bury Black Pudding is the king of them all.
It’s the leading brand in the UK, with a gold medal-winning recipe dating back more than 100 years, and has a whole variety of flavours including chilli, gluten free, vegetarian and white pudding varieties.
Recently, Bury Black Pudding revealed some of its secrets, allowing the BBC unprecedented access into its factory in Bury for an episode of Inside the Factory.
The series, hosted by Paddy McGuinness and Cherry Healey, went beneath the surface of this heritage brand, from production all the way through to packaging.
Viewers have been stunned to learn what goes into Bury Black Pudding, and it really isn’t as much of a bloody mess as your imagination might’ve led you to believe.
In fact, most of the ingredients are cereals – only 5% of it is blood.
And the blood in the blood sausage? It’s powdered.
Bury Black Pudding on BBC’s Inside the Factory. Credit: BBC
In the episode, production director Richard Morris (who has worked for Bury Black Pudding his whole life, following in his grandfather’s footsteps), said: “There’s no big tubs of blood.
“To actually transport it, it needs to be dry. And there’s also no bacteria in it, so we can use this over a 12 month period.”
Inside every delicious slice you’ll also find oatmeal, pearl barley, rusk, onions and pork fat.
Another surprising thing is the sheer size and volume of the black puddings before they’re portioned and packaged for our homes.
A 600kg batch will make about 3,000 black puddings, with the mixture added to a vacuum filler before being pumped under high pressure into recyclable plastic casings.
Hundreds of these tubes are cooked into a steam oven for an hour and 20 minutes, then sliced into the black pudding we recognise in an ultrasonic slicer.
3,000 sticks a day, five days a week, are sliced up for the shelves into around 120,000 slices.
Speaking of the opportunity to appear on Inside the Factory, brand and marketing manager Matthew McDermid said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the heritage and passion that goes into making our black pudding.
“We are incredibly proud of our history and our role in bringing this traditional product to consumers, we can’t wait for the nation to see how the UK’s leading brand of black pudding is made.”
Manchester streaming platform StreamGM unveils four-part creative industry careers podcast
Thomas Melia
A new four-partpodcast by StreamGM featuring some of Greater Manchester’s top creatives has launched with the aim of powering creative careers.
Produced by Rebecca Swarray, a.k.a. ‘RebeccaNeverBecky’ – the founder of the Manchester events and arts collective – this podcast is designed to “ignite and elevate creative careers in music.”
Swarray deep dives into the current Manc music scene and beyond with the help of fellow insiders who vary upon each episode.
There are four parts in this latest series and there’s lots to cover, especially in an industry that’s ever-changing and ever-challenging.
Some of the guests and speakers you can expect to listen to on ‘ICAM’ (In Conversations and Masterclasses)Credit: StreamGM/The Manc Group
Listeners can expect to learn all about ‘Women Behind The Music’ as part of the In Conversations and Masterclasses series with Sophie Bee, Sara Garvey and Kat Brown.
The next episode delves into another key music industry area, ‘Promoters, Venues And Events’, which is broken down by Baz Plug One, Strutty, Tashadean Wood and Liv McCafferty.
‘Artist Development And Management’ features Karen Boardman, Karen Gabay, Damian Morgan, and Via Culpan deep in discussion.
The final episode in this four-part series is ‘Videography And Photography In The Creative Industries’, which sees Johan Reitan, Alice Kanako and Ahmani Vidal talking all things visual.
These four features will be an incredible resource for any creative talents as it put together by professionals for upcoming professionals of any age from any background, race, gender and walk of life.
After all, that’s what is all about, right?
Abbreviated to ‘ICAM’, the podcast is certainly one to check out, with for aspiring artist managers, producers, photographers, promoters—anyone driven to make their mark in music and events.
These podcast sessions understand industry challenges, explore career journeys, creative influences, crisis management and lots more creative field concerns.
You can find the first episode in full down below:
The first episode of the new limited StreamGM podcast.
This run of shows is the second instalment by StreamGM: Greater Manchester’s phenomenal streaming platform dedicated to all things music, nightlife and culture.
Whether you’re a budding creative arts talent or just curious to find out insights into this wonderful innovative industry, you can listen to all the episodes from the series directly on StreamGM HERE.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester music news, another very special event is kicking off very soon:
Emily Sergeant -
11th December 2023 
