Showbiz:Mrs Merton drops out Down Under

Caroline Aherne, writer and star of The Mrs Merton Show and The Royle Family, has quit Britain for a new life in Australia.

Aherne, 37, has put her London house on the market while she takes an extended stay in Australia after dropping all television work.

The award-winning star, who fought a battle with the bottle and was treated in a clinic after knocking back pills and booze, said she would not appear on television again.

A source at Granada, which makes The Royle Family for the BBC, said: "She has gone to Australia but we're not sure how permanent a move it is."

Aherne is selling her home in Hampstead, a location favoured by celebrities. She has often joked about her celebrity lifestyle in the area but has tended to stay away from the party circuit after her well-publicised problems.

She announced in April that she was quitting the spotlight after photographers pursued her on holiday.

"I will drop out of telly altogether for a while, and when I come back I will just write and direct," she said. "I want my life back."

Aherne said she had become a "tabloid attraction" because her life was "up and down like a roller-coaster."

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A star of the X-Men movie may replace troubled actor Robert Downey jun as Ally McBeal's love interest in the comedy series.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, James Marsden is in the final stages of negotiation to join the show, which stars Calista Flockhart as a Boston lawyer.

Downey was dumped from the series after he was arrested in April in a motel when allegedly in possession of drugs.

Marsden, 27, is tipped to be cast as the boyfriend of Flockhart's character after Downey was written out of the show two episodes before the end of the last series.

The show is also losing two more of its main actors. Lisa Nicole Carson, who plays Ally's housemate Renee Radick, and James LeGros, who plays Mark Albert, are both quitting to pursue other projects.

John Hopkins, who acted alongside George Clooney in The Perfect Storm, and Regina Hall, who starred in Scary Movie, have signed to join the show.

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Michael J. Fox is taking another spin on Spin City, if only briefly. The actor said he would return to the sitcom in a guest appearance next season.

Fox, who turns 40 on Saturday, left his starring role on the show last year to devote his time to researching Parkinson's disease. He revealed in 1998 that he suffers from the disease.

"Sometimes I feel great," he said, "but I don't look great."