The Royle Family was a British television sitcom produced by Granada Productions for the BBC, which ran for three series between 1998 and 2000, and specials from 2006 onwards. It centered about the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles. The series features simple production values and a stereotypical portrayal of state benefit-dependent family life at the turn of the millennium. It therefore has something in common with kitchen sink drama. The scripts contain often banal conversations. Almost all of the episodes take place in the Royles' home; most centre on the telly-centric living room. The first series of the show was written by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, who also acted in it, along with poet and comedian Henry Normal. In the second series Aherne and Cash were joined by Carmel Morgan, and finally the third series was written by Aherne and Cash alone. The series reunited Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston, who had previously played married couple Bobby and Sheila Grant in Brookside from 1982 until Tomlinson's departure in 1987. In a list of the 100 greatest British television programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted on by industry professionals, The Royle Family was placed 31st. In a 2004 poll to find Britain's best sitcom, The Royle Family was placed 19th out of 100 nominations. The series has also won several BAFTA awards.