Originally portrayed as 'Mrs. Murton' in a pilot for Yorkshire TV which was not picked up, Caroline Aherne retooled the character, making her older, and recorded a second pilot for Granada Television's Comic Timing called That Nice Mrs Merton which was broadcast on December 5th 1993. The series was then picked up and renamed The Mrs Merton show which ran from 10 February 1995 to 2 April 1998. Although produced by Granada it aired on the BBC.
It was in this show that Caroline Aherne (as Mrs Merton) asked her guest, Debbie McGee, the hilarious and now legendary question, "What first attracted you, to the millionaire, Paul Daniels?"