
1st August 2023 The nations favourite comedy channel Gold is marking The Royle Familys 25th Anniversary with a refresh of its original 2010 documentary. The Royle Family: Down the Back of the Sofa (1x120) celebrates the much loved and critically acclaimed sitcom 25 years after it first aired.
Co-created by Craig Cash and the late Caroline Aherne and first airing in September 1998, The Royle Family was known for its unique approach to sitcom storytelling, breaking away from the traditional sitcom structure. Starring Aherne and Cash with Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston and Ralf Little, the show resonated with viewers with its relatable portrayal of family dynamics and garnered a loyal fanbase.
The Royle Family: Down the Back of the Sofa provides viewers with another chance to see the original documentary interviews with the core cast, which includes Craig and Carolines only ever filmed interview as a pair. In celebration of her legacy, the refreshed documentary will include fresh insights from celebrity fans such as Diane Morgan (Afterlife), Rosie Jones (Rosie Joness Disability Comedy Extravaganza), Jamie and Natasia Demetriou (Stath Lets Flats), John Thomson (The Fast Show), Rachel Fairburn (Brand New Bonus Mum), Shobna Gulati (dinnerladies), Jack Rooke (Big Boys), Sharon Rooney (Barbie) and producer of The Royle Family, John Rushton.
The Royle Family: Down the Back of the Sofa is commissioned for UKTV by Mark Iddon, senior commissioning editor for comedy and entertainment and Jason Dawson, commissioning editor, and ordered by Gerald Casey, channel director for Gold and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. The documentary is produced by Phil McIntyre Television, in collaboration with Craig Cash, with Lucy Ansbro as executive producer and Lindsay Jex as producer.
Jason Dawson said,
A quarter of a century! The Royle Family has without doubt left a permanent mark in television history and were delighted to have commissioned this documentary for the 25th anniversary. Working alongside Craig and the brilliant team at Phil McIntyre is such a pleasure, and we hope viewers will enjoy reliving this celebration of one of the nations most beloved shows.
Gerald Casey added,
We absolutely love an anniversary on Gold, and we know our viewers love these nostalgic trips down memory lane just as much as us. It is an honour to have this retrospective documentary airing on Gold this September.
Phil McIntyre Television said,
Its a real treat to be able to revisit Behind the Sofa for the Royle Familys Silver Jubilee. When we originally made this film, we were lucky enough to work closely with Craig and Caroline in what was their first on-screen interview, little did we know that it would turn out to be their last, so were very grateful to the team at Gold to be able to re-look at a film that were very proud of.
Royle Family: Down the Back of the Sofa will air on Gold later this year.
-
For more information, please contact:
Caroline Watt, Consumer Publicity Manager, UKTV
Jasmine Brewer, Communications Team Assistant, UKTV
About Gold
Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nations favourite comedy channel. Classic British comedy series loved by all the family sit comfortably alongside new UKTV Original scripted comedies crafted by some of the nations finest comedic minds, such as Dads Army: The Lost Episodes, Murder, They Hope, The Cockfields and Sandylands. Meanwhile Golds unscripted series reunite the stars and partnerships of the nations best-loved shows to get to the heart of what makes them so evergreen - from passion projects such as French & Saunders: Funny Women, Billy Connolly Does..., Lenny Henrys Race Through Comedy and Ricky and Ralfs Very Northern Road Trip to the retrospective likes of dinnerladies diaries and The Fast Show: Just A Load of Blooming Catchphrases.
Gold is the perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day.
gold.uktv.co.uk | @goldchannel
About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 30 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.
UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UKs most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the worlds leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
27/03/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
27/03/2026
Comcast Business deployed network infrastructure for the 2026 PLAYERS Championsh...
27/03/2026
Czech production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast van w...
27/03/2026
Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Western Australia has developed new broad...
27/03/2026
Deltatre has announced that CEO Andrea Marini will step down after five years in...
27/03/2026
DAZN has announced plans to launch DAZN Inflight, a live sports service for airline and maritime passengers, slated for 2027. Aviv Giladi, President of DAZN Par...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley has announced the completion of a live production deployment with NVP, a European media company specializing in live sports production, for LALIGA ...
27/03/2026
The Masters and Prime Video will debut Inside Amen Corner, a dedicated feed that...
27/03/2026
ESPN and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have reached a multi-year agreement to bring the WSOP Main Event back to ESPN platforms. Coverage will include a three...
27/03/2026
USSI Global has opened its Media Transport Solutions Lab on its Melbourne campus. The engineering center provides a platform-agnostic environment for testing al...
27/03/2026
From 14-camera coverage to official review from Variant Systems Group, Sellitto ...
27/03/2026
The United Football League (UFL) has named Sportable its Official Connected Ball and Player Tracking Partner. Sportable's connected football and wearable pl...
27/03/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
27/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and FuboTV have announced a multiyear distribution agreement to carry BravesVision on Fubo's live TV streaming platform beginning Opening...
27/03/2026
Besides restructuring for Season 3, the league worked with FOX and ESPN over the...
27/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves open their 2026 MLB season tonight against the Kansas City Ro...
27/03/2026
With new teams and new venues to adapt to, the spring-football league's part...
27/03/2026
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
27/03/2026
New Classic, Amplitude & FlexRange units introduced
GIK Acoustics have just introduced a trio of new bass trap designs that bring improved low-end absorptio...
27/03/2026
Offers personalised Dolby Atmos headphone monitoring
Sonarworks have put their calibration expertise to work on a new mobile app that allows users to create...
27/03/2026
NITV to broadcast farewell to Rhoda Roberts AO with special coverage and week-lo...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
27/03/2026
RT Supporting the Arts
RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April
RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...
27/03/2026
Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2
Over one million streams on RT Player
Highest number of streams for any single eve...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center
A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...