The Mrs Merton Show

The Mrs Merton Show was a mock talk show starring Caroline Aherne as the elderly host Mrs Dorothy Merton.[3]

The Mrs Merton Show
Also known asMrs Merton in Las Vegas
Directed byPati Marr
Tony Prescott
Dominic Brigstocke
Philippa Robinson
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes29
Production
Executive producersAndy Harries
Clive Tulloh
ProducersPeter Kessler
Mark Gorton
Spencer Campbell
Philippa Robinson
Running time30 minutes
Production companyGranada Television
Release
Original networkGranada TV (pilot)
BBC Two (series 1–2)
BBC One (series 3–4)
Original release5 December 1993 (1993-12-05)[2] –
2 April 1998 (1998-04-02)
Related
Mrs Merton and Malcolm

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.

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.[4][5][6][7][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.

Her national 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.

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?"[11]

In 2022, the Patrick Trio-era series was acquired by That's TV[12][13] for its comedy line-up which also included repeats of Hale and Pace and Monty Python's Flying Circus[14][15][16]

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?"[17] 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 regards 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,[18][19] former Manchester City goalkeeper Harry Dowd[20] and Stockport pensioner Horace Mendelsohn.[21][22]

Episodes
Series Episode Airdate Guests
N/A YTV Pilot Never broadcast 1991: Mrs Murton's Nightcap. Chris Donald, Liz Kershaw and Andy Kershaw
N/A Granada Pilot 5 December 1993 Carol Thatcher, Mark Porter and Terry Christian
1 1 10 February 1995 Kriss Akabusi, Debbie McGee, Chris Greener and Steve Coogan.[23]
2 17 February 1995 Drusilla Beyfus, Kevin Kennedy, Ken Livingstone and Mandy Smith[24]
3 24 February 1995 Jilly Goolden, Cynthia Payne, Arthur Tomlinson (UFO expert) and Dave Lee Travis.[25]
4 3 March 1995 Dale Winton, Mary Whitehouse (not in the studio), Royal butler Peter Russell and Derek Jameson.
5 10 March 1995 Russell Grant, Countess Bienvenida Sokolow (former wife of Antony Buck) and Fred Talbot.
6 24 March 1995 Ned Sherrin, Mr Motivator, Terry Major-Ball and Nick Owen.
2 1 12 November 1995 Jo Brand, Lorraine Kelly and Chris Eubank.
2 19 November 1995 Matthew Kelly, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and George Best.
3 26 November 1995 Germaine Greer, PJ and Duncan and Michael Parkinson.
4 3 December 1995 Jimmy Hill, Andrew Neil and Paul Daniels.
5 10 December 1995 Peter Stringfellow, Des Lynam and Rolf Harris.
6 17 December 1995 Patrick Lichfield, Carol Vorderman and Barbara Windsor.
7 24 December 1995 Johnny Briggs and Amanda Barrie, Glenys Kinnock and Gary Rhodes.
3 1 24 December 1996 Noddy Holder, Clive James and Daniel O'Donnell.
2 14 February 1997 Jeff Banks and Jonathan Ross.
3 21 February 1997 Michael Winner and Teresa Gorman.
4 28 February 1997 Sacha Distel and Jeremy Clarkson.
5 7 March 1997 Boy George and Vinnie Jones.
6 21 March 1997 Keith Chegwin and Ian Botham.
7 28 March 1997 Joanna Lumley and Martin Clunes.
8 10 April 1997 Tony Curtis and Patrick Duffy.
9 17 April 1997 Engelbert Humperdinck and Bo Derek.
10 24 April 1997 None
4 1 27 December 1997 Edwina Currie and Max Bygraves.
2 26 February 1998 Keith Floyd and Melinda Messenger.
3 5 March 1998 Shane Richie and Wayne Sleep.
4 12 March 1998 Garry Bushell and Lisa Stansfield.
5 19 March 1998 Richard Wilson and Bernard Manning.
6 26 March 1998 Barry McGuigan and Nigel Kennedy.
7 2 April 1998 Richard Whiteley and Jimmy Tarbuck.
  Christmas Special
  Titled: "Mrs Merton in Las Vegas"

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

References
  1. Roy Williams
  2. The Complete Series (DVD) – Released: 25 February 2008
  3. "MRS Merton and Malcolm".
  4. "The MRS Merton Show".
  5. "Terry Christian: Raw and northern – no wonder TV's luvvies didn't get Caroline Aherne". Independent.co.uk. 3 July 2016.
  6. "KFM Radio | About Us". 25 September 2022.
  7. "Caroline Aherne obituary". TheGuardian.com. 2 July 2016.
  8. "KFM - Stockport". 25 July 2020.
  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. "Kay dishes up best TV one-liner". BBC News. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  12. "The MRS Merton Show".
  13. "Home". thats.tv.
  14. "Monty Python's Flying Circus to be repeated on TV for first time in 35 years".
  15. "That's Tv to Show Monty Python After Nearly 35 Years off Air".
  16. "Monty Python is back on TV for the first time in 34 years | Virgin Radio UK".
  17. "Entertainment | Kay dishes up best TV one-liner". BBC News. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  18. "MRS Merton star Roy bows out". 28 May 2005.
  19. "BBC Inside Out – North West comedy". bbc.co.uk. 17 January 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  20. "Harry Dowd: Fearless goalkeeper who succeeded Bert Trautmann at". Independent.co.uk. 6 July 2015.
  21. "MRS Merton's Horace dies". 25 June 2009.
  22. "MRS Merton's Horace shot to stardom in audience". 24 June 2009.
  23. "BBC Programme Index".
  24. "BBC Programme Index".
  25. "BBC Programme Index".
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