Johnston: I can’t delete Aherne from my phone
SUE JOHNSTON has admitted she cannot bring herself to delete the number of Caroline Aherne, her friend and Royle Family co-star, from her mobile phone contacts.
Aherne, who also wrote the hit sitcom, died of lung cancer two years ago at the age of 52.
“I can’t bring myself to take her number out of my phone. It’s that word ‘delete’. It’s so final,” said Johnston. The Royle Family
“I’ve got a few friends who have passed but are still in my phone and they sometimes come up as I’m scrolling through my contacts list.
“If you’ve got them there in your phone, they’re still part of you and still alive in a way.”
Johnston, who played the mother of Aherne’s character Denise in The Royle Family, said in an interview with The Lady magazine: “I dreamt about Caroline last night, which I’ve not done for a long time. I think it was because my subconscious knew I was going to do this interview.”
This year sees the 20th anniversary of the first airing of the comedy, written by Aherne with Craig Cash and Henry Normal, which dispensed with canned laughter and a traditional set in favour of a fly-on-the wall approach that proved lastingly influential.
“It really moved comedy forward and people started realising that you didn’t have to have canned laughter or a studio audience to make things work,” said Johnston. “It’s Caroline’s legacy and I’m delighted it’s still held in such high regard.”
Johnston, 74, currently starring in Age Before Beauty on BBC One, says the roles offered to older women have improved, but that “there’s still an awful lot of cliched stuff ”.
She added: “You only have to look around and see how women actually are in their 70s and 80s. We have lives and dress fashionably and whimsically and eccentrically. You should absolutely grow old disgracefully.”