The adorable baby David in BBC sitcom The Royle Family was David and Denise’s first child and starred in season three of the series – but two decades on the actor who played him James Matthew-Hughes is all grown up.
James’ character was born on Christmas Day back in 1999 and his christening day and first birthday were featured in the series which told the story of a working class family living in Manchester.
These days he stars in numerous stage shows after training to be a musical theatre actor.
According to his CV, James is able to do a variety of accents and is also skilled in dance jazz, tap, ballet and period dance as well as being a classically trained singer.
After growing up, James got a degree in theatre arts and has starred in musicals such as Crazy for You and Me And My Girl at the London Palladium.
(Image: StarNow)
James played David for a year before Harry Cash took it on 2006 for the reunion episode of the show The Queen of Sheba, where he was seen as a young child with his father looking like the spitting image of his dad, with the pair matching T-shirts.
After the tragic death of its creator and Denise star Caroline Aherne back in 2016, many cast member have said they would not like to see the series brought back to TV screens without her.
(Image: Press Association)
Ricky Tomlinson, who played Denise’s dad Jim in the sitcom said on Loose Women in 2020: “Not for me, if it’s not broke don’t try and fix it.
“She was wonderful. How many people of my age love going to work? How many people can’t wait to get up and go to work in the morning and have a laugh? That’s what it was like.”
Ricky also recalled his fondest memory on set was the 1999 Christmas Special in which Denise went into labour and Jim was left to comfort her.
(Image: PA)
He explained: “I think it was so special to her because she didn’t have children.
“And it was so special to me because my own girl, my Kate, was born on Christmas Day.
“And that’s why the tears were real. The cameraman was the son of Corrie character Stan Ogden and at the end he was crying and said: ‘That’s it. We don’t need another take.’ It just stands out in my mind.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
