The Royle Family (1998)

Name: The Royle Family
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 8.2
Cast: Ricky Tomlinson, Sue Johnston, Caroline Aherne, Craig Cash, Ralf Little

Comedy

The Royle Family is a British sitcom created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, and produced by Granada Television for BBC Two (series 1) and BBC One (series 2 and 3). It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, comprising lazy patriarch Jim, his hard-working wife Barbara, their entitled daughter Denise, their put-upon son Antony, and Denise's lad fiancé–later husband–David.

IMDb rating: 8.2 (10,220 votes)
Episode average: 8.0 -0.2 vs IMDb
Seasons: 4
Streaming (US): Amazon Prime Video
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 4 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1998)

7.93 avg 6 episodes 7.8 → 8.3 28 min avg

Big finale

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Bills, Bills, Bills	7.8	240
2	Making Ends Meet	7.7	209
3	Sunday Afternoon	8.0	211
4	Dad's Birthday	7.9	196
5	Another Woman	7.9	196
6	Wedding Day	8.3	208

Season 2 (1999)

8.03 avg 7 episodes 7.8 → 8.2 30 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Pregnancy	7.8	176
2	Sunday Lunch	8.2	178
3	Nana's Coming to Stay	7.8	171
4	Nana Comes to Stay	7.9	170
5	Barbara Finally Has Enough	8.0	176
6	Antony's Birthday	8.3	198
7	Christmas with the Royle Family	8.2	216

Season 3 (2000)

8.00 avg 7 episodes 7.6 → 8.3 29 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Baby	7.6	152
2	Babysitting	7.7	152
3	Decorating	8.2	177
4	Funeral	8.4	178
5	London	7.9	156
6	The Christening	7.9	161
7	The Royle Family at Christmas	8.3	191

Season 4 (2006)

7.82 avg 5 episodes 9.3 → 6.6 58 min avg

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Queen of Sheba	9.3	684
2	The New Sofa	7.6	333
3	The Golden Egg Cup	7.7	253
4	Joe's Crackers	7.9	222
5	Barbara's Old Ring	6.6	216