EXCLUSIVE: Much-loved Sue Johnston, 82, has spoken about how she will always cherish Royle Family co-star Caroline Aherne, with her home acting as a shrine for the tragic actress
Sue Johnston says she talks to a picture of treasured former co-star and close friend Caroline Aherne every day, a decade on from her tragic death.
In a candid chat about life, loss and her refusal to even contemplate calling it a day, the much-loved 82-year-old actress says is still taking it all in her stride, as says it’s not even a big deal that she’s close friends with the Prime Minister or that she used to be pally with the Beatles.
Weeks from her 83rd birthday, Sue will begin shooting series two of hit comedy Ann Droid alongside Diane Morgan after it pulled in almost eight million viewers per episode. But for many, she will forever be remembered most fondly as downtrodden Barbara in iconic show The Royle Family. But following the death of Caroline from cancer in 2016, she had to stop watching the re-runs and only in the past few years has she found the strength to sit through the episodes again.
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It’s now 30 years since scriptwriters sat down and created the BBC classic and one of its biggest stars has some news for fans hoping to celebrate the screen milestone in 2028.
“Everything about that show I adored, it was like it was yesterday,” she told the Mirror. “I’ve got photographs on the wall. I’ve actually got one of Caroline at the bottom of my stairs. I make sure I say good morning to her every day. I miss her incredibly.
“It’s very hard, but it was a joy of a job. People still stop me now to tell me about their favourite moment. They always talk about the pleasure it brought them.
“Now youngsters are watching it, but I can’t believe it is 30 years since they started writing it. I’m very proud of the Royle Family. I have heard on the grapevine that someone is making a documentary about it. They are casting us with younger people playing us. I don’t know much more than that.
“I need to make some calls. I’m still friends with Ricky. I’m friends with them all, but I see Ricky all the time.”
She’s not just living in the past and she can’t wait to get back on the set of Ann Droid when the programme returns. “We had so much fun, I can’t wait for the second series,” she said.
“Everyone comes up to me and says ‘Sue, Sue, Sue…’ I went to see the doctor the other day and the first thing he said was ‘come on in Sue, Sue, Sue! I thought ‘oh we’ve arrived’.”
As much as things have stayed the same, they’ve also changed in 2026 for the star. The proud Liverpudlian now counts the Prime Minister as a good friend, and says she has been forced to pull pals up when Andy Burnham has copped some flack on the WhatsApp groups.
We were treading on thin ice ourselves when we asked if the thought of retirement had even entered her head.
“No, don’t even mention the word, please!” she barks playfully. “Do I feel my age? Oh in the mornings, yes. I do. If you could see me very early in the morning you would say ‘oh yes, you can tell she’s very nearly 83!
“But I have a zest for life, I have an energy. I get more tired now, age does that to you, but I don’t think because I’m in my 80s that I should be slowing down.
“I sometimes want to shout at people in Sainsbury’s ‘get your shoulders back, let’s go’!
“Age is funny. You can give in to old age, you can kind of accept it and you shouldn’t. It starts with posture. As soon as you stick your shoulders back and look at the world, you feel 100 times better. Does that sound pompous?
“I come from a long line of well-lived people. I have an aunt who is 98, and another who is 94. Hopefully it’s a genetic thing and I’ll be around for a while! I just feel lucky I have a brain that’s still active.”
She says for as long as her mind is sharp, she’ll continue saying yes to work. “I can remember I did a Play For Today for Channel 5 with Paul Copley last year,” she said. “It was just the two of us in it, talking talking talking. At the end of it, we both went ‘yipeee, we’ve not got Dementia’. The lines, and remembering them like you need to as you get older, that’s always the biggest worry.
“Somehow or another I manage to do them still. It’s part of the brain that’s trained I suppose. I mean, I can’t remember people’s names and I walk into a room and have no idea why I am there, but I can learn lines!”
Sue has teamed up with Maltesers to remind Brits that technology can help answer plenty of questions, but when it comes to life’s biggest moments, there’s still nothing quite like a chat with someone who’s been there, done it and has a story or two to share.
In a world where there’s an AI tool for almost everything, Sue says she has her own battles to fight with technology. “There are two people being Sue Johnston on Instagram, and I don’t know how to stop it – ‘Sue Johnston OBE’ and ‘the real Sue Johnston’. Neither of them are me,” she said.
“Some friends of mine are following them, and it was through them that a friend said they had seen a photo of me on Instagram and I told them ‘But I’m not on Instagram!’
“It worries me because I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t quite know what they’re doing as I don’t go on there. There is a fear. I have to ask my grandson to do things for me.”
New research from Maltesers found that 92% of Brits believe some forms of wisdom can only be gained through lived experience. She has responded by launching an ‘Age Intelligence’ panel.
“In the way of communication, I do worry,” she added. “I have grandchildren, they’re teenagers, and the constant referring to a phone does concern me. The lack of talking, the lack of sharing. That’s what really worries me. I used to talk to my aunties and my uncles and I loved their stories. I still have them in my memories.
“What do you do with all the wisdom when you’re old if you can’t share it? What’s the point in accumulating it if you can’t help people along the way?
“I know how much I treasure talking to my friends. I seek advice from them and I am willing to give it back. There’s a strength in that, and that’s what I love about the campaign. The world is in a crazy place. I love to help other people, and guide them. They can tell me to get lost, but I can try at least!”
To find out more about the campaign, click here.
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