Post by petrolino on Jan 2, 2024 1:59:35 GMT
The documentary 'Caroline Aherne : Queen Of Comedy' (2023) is produced and directed by Claire Whalley and Hannah Lowes. There's some nice footage of Caroline Aherne's early days in television and stand-up comedy, with accompanying interviews from colleagues Steve Coogan, John Thomson, Craig Cash and Henry Normal, as well as poet Lemn Sissay. There's recollections from family and friends. Aherne loved Benny Hill and Dick Emery and had a similar gift for character comedy and wordplay. Music was a part of her comedy and she did a stint on KFM Radio.
"Celebrity is just a game. It’s a fascinating game and loads of people love playing it. But I can’t be arsed playing it anymore because I’ve decided I’m no good at it."
- Caroline Aherne, The Mirror
Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne & John Thomson
There's a lengthy section on 'The Royle Family' that looks at influences from her own family and personal life, her battles with cancer, dealing with bipolar disorder, decision to not have children. I found some scenes poignant.
"The Royle Family was given to the BBC written and with a full cast list, with Caroline Aherne saying that she didn’t want any notes on it. There was doubt about whether it could work (as with her standup routine, Aherne wanted to avoid writing jokes, insisting that real people were naturally funny enough) but, of course, it did.
Craig Cash explains that some of their inspiration came from Three Salons at the Seaside, a short 1994 documentary about hair salons in Blackpool, which makes sense when you see it. Sue Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little talk about their experiences of working with Aherne, and, as with everyone else who speaks here, the emphasis is on how her work was filled to its core with love and warmth. Watch the scene in which Denise (played by Aherne) goes into labour, and cries in the bathroom with her father by her side, and it becomes impossible to think of any sitcom scene more finely crafted, more exquisitely moving, than this."
Craig Cash explains that some of their inspiration came from Three Salons at the Seaside, a short 1994 documentary about hair salons in Blackpool, which makes sense when you see it. Sue Johnston, Ricky Tomlinson and Ralf Little talk about their experiences of working with Aherne, and, as with everyone else who speaks here, the emphasis is on how her work was filled to its core with love and warmth. Watch the scene in which Denise (played by Aherne) goes into labour, and cries in the bathroom with her father by her side, and it becomes impossible to think of any sitcom scene more finely crafted, more exquisitely moving, than this."
- Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian
Sister Mary Immaculate
She packed a lot in to her creative life, this brought back a lot of happy memories for me, personal memories too of Manchester. This was my favourite tv programme I saw this Christmas; generally speaking, I think there's far too many shows being made nowadays in the U K with the same revolving celebrity cast list doing anything and everything on camera for an expenses-paid trip. This is a documentary I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in Caroline Aherne's work, though you could just as easily enjoy it not knowing anything of her work (as per comments and reactions being shared online), which I feel is the sign of a good documentary.