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At the same time she began to gain success as a stand-up character comedian and by 1990 was gaining regular TV exposure on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One's Paramount City, performing as bizarre nun Sister Mary Immaculate.Ìý

In 1994 she sprang to fame with two massive television successes, first as part of the performing team in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ TWO's hit character sketch series The Fast Show, before being given the opportunity to cut loose with her strongest character yet.

The Mrs Merton Show gave Aherne a platform to interview a range of celebrities using her persona as a kindly pensioner to catch them off-guard with unexpectedly cutting questions: most famously asking Debbie McGee "What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?"

Impressively, Aherne topped this in 1998 by co-writing and co-starring in smash hit sitcom The Royle Family.

Its realistic tone towards family life was a breath of fresh air and, as with Mrs Merton, the show's enormous popularity saw it move from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ TWO to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One.

Owing to a turbulent personal life, Aherne has since retreated from the limelight, although she did write another sitcom, (Dossa and Joe) which was lauded by critics but not a ratings winner.

More recently, in 2006 she returned to her greatest success by writing a one-off special of The Royle Family, delighting fans and attracting 7.8 million viewers.