Victoria Wood CBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 19 May 1953) is a British
comedienneA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actress,
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
,
screenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and
sitcomA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
s, and her live
stand-up comedyStand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. Much of her humour is grounded in everyday life, and includes references to popular British media and brand names of quintessentially British products. She is noted for her skills in observing culture, and in satirising
social classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
es.
She started her career in 1974 by winning the
ATVAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
talent show
New FacesNew Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
. It wasn't until the 1980s that she began to establish herself as a comedy star, with the award-winning television series
Victoria Wood As Seen On TVVictoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...
and became one of Britain's most popular stand-up comedians. In 1998, she wrote and starred in the (again, award-winning) sitcom
dinnerladiesDinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:...
. In 2006, she won two BAFTA awards for her one-off drama for
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
,
Housewife, 49Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
. Wood frequently works with long-term collaborators
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
,
Duncan PrestonDuncan Preston is an English actor probably best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood. His best remembered roles are Clifford in the Victoria Wood As Seen On TV soap opera parody Acorn Antiques , and Stan in dinnerladies.In July 2010, Preston revealed he was...
and
Celia ImrieCelia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
.
Early years
Wood is the youngest daughter of Stanley Wood and Nellie Mape. She has three siblings: a brother, Chris, and two sisters, Penny and Rosalind.
Wood was educated at
Bury Grammar Girls' SchoolBury Grammar School is an independent grammar school in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, that has existed since Kev Cryer was born, c.1570. The current headmaster is the Reverend Steven Harvey MA. The previous headmaster, Keith Richards MA, retired after sixteen years of headmastership on 7...
and began her showbusiness career while an undergraduate studying drama at the
University of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, appearing on the TV talent show
New FacesNew Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...
. This led to her appearance in a sketch show featuring the winners of that series,
The Summer ShowA British comedy sketch show from 1975 featuring winners of the ATV talent show New Faces.Designed to emulate the fast moving style of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, it featured Marti Caine, Lenny Henry, Victoria Wood, impressionist Aiden J Harvey and singer Trevor Chance...
. Her first big break was as a novelty act on the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's consumer affairs programme
That's Life!That's Life! was a magazine-style television series on BBC1 between 26 May 1973 and 19 June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. The show was generally recorded about an hour prior to transmission, which was originally on Saturday...
in 1976. Wood had first met long-term collaborator
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
in the early 1970s, when Wood applied for Manchester Polytechnic, and coincidentally met up once more when they appeared together in the same theatre revue,
In At The DeathA sketch revue performed at The Bush Theatre, London in 1978, most notable for being the first time that future colleagues Victoria Wood and Julie Walters would work together....
, in 1978 (for which Wood wrote a brief sketch). Its success led to the commissioning of Wood's first play,
TalentTalent is a play written by Victoria Wood, first performed in 1978. It centres around two friends, one of whom is about to enter a talent contest in a run down nightclub. Commissioned for the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, it received much acclaim and transferred to a London run in 1979. That same...
(also 1978), starring Hazel Clyne (in a role which had been written for Walters), and which won Wood an award for 'Most Promising New Writer'.
Peter EckersleyPeter Eckersley was a British television producer who was Head of Drama at Granada Television in the 1960s and 70s.In the 1960s, he was also a writer and producer on Coronation Street. He wrote 62 episodes between April 1962 and November 1969...
, the then-head of drama at
Granada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, saw
Talent and immediately invited Wood to create a television adaptation. This time Julie Walters took the lead role which had been written for her, while Wood reprised her stage role.
1980–88
The success of the television version of
Talent led to Wood writing the "follow-up",
Nearly A Happy EndingNearly A Happy Ending is a television play written by Victoria Wood, which ITV broadcast on 1 June 1980.It is a sequel to Wood's earlier play Talent, with the same lead character's, Julie and Maureen ....
. Shortly afterwards, a third play for Granada was written and made,
Happy Since I Met YouHappy Since I Met You is a television play written by Victoria Wood, and broadcast on ITV on 9 August 1981.It stars Julie Walters, Duncan Preston, Tracey Ullman and Jim Bowen and was directed by Baz Taylor as part of ITV's Screenplay series. In Happy Since I Met You, Duncan Preston, who would later...
, again with Walters alongside
Duncan PrestonDuncan Preston is an English actor probably best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood. His best remembered roles are Clifford in the Victoria Wood As Seen On TV soap opera parody Acorn Antiques , and Stan in dinnerladies.In July 2010, Preston revealed he was...
as the male lead. During 1980 she also wrote and starred in the stage play
Good FunGood Fun is a play by Victoria Wood, first performed in 1980. It is set in an Arts Centre in North West England.-Origins:Wood, keen to trade on her previous stage success Talent, was commissioned to write another play by impresario Michael Codron. "I wrote one called Pals, which he said was 'very...
.
Recognising her talent, Eckersley offered Wood a sketch show, though Wood was unsure of the project; she only agreed to go ahead with the programme if Walters received equal billing. Eckersley came up with the obvious title
Wood and WaltersWood and Walters is a British television comedy sketch show starring Julie Walters and Victoria Wood for Granada Television and written entirely by Wood...
, and the dry run of the show (the pilot episode) was filmed. The programme was arranged to be made into a full series, and went on to co-star Duncan Preston and a cast of other supporting actors. However, in between the filming of the pilot and the series, Eckersley died. Wood cites Eckersley as giving her her first big break, and feels that
Wood and Walters suffered due to his death. She was not impressed by Brian Armstrong, the emergency fill-in for Eckersley, and was of the opinion that he hired unsuitable supporting actors.
Wood also appeared as a presenter in
Yorkshire TelevisionYorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
's schools television programme for hearing-impaired children,
Insight, alongside
Derek GriffithsDerek Griffiths is a British actor who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to 1980s and more recently has played parts in TV drama.- Career :...
, between 1980 and 1983. In 1982 and 1983 she appeared in BBC Radio's
Just a MinuteJust a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
.
Wood left Granada in 1984 for the BBC, who promised Wood more creative control over projects. Later that year, Wood's sketch show
Victoria Wood As Seen On TVVictoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...
went into production. This time, Wood chose actors and actresses herself: her friend Julie Walters once again starred, as did Duncan Preston. Wood's friend
Celia ImrieCelia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
was also cast, as well as
Susie BlakeSusie Blake is a British actress.-Personal life:Blake trained at the Arts Educational School and LAMDA in London. She is the granddaughter of the actress Annette Mills and a great - niece of the actor Sir John Mills...
and
Patricia RoutledgeKatherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
.
As Seen On TV was notable for featuring classic sketches such as
Acorn AntiquesAcorn Antiques is a parodic soap opera written by Victoria Wood as a regular feature in the two seasons of Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, which ran from 1985 to 1987. It was turned into a musical by Wood, opening in 2005.-Television version:...
, a spoof of low-budget soap opera and rumoured to be named after an antiques shop in her birthplace. Acorn Antiques is remembered for characters such as "Mrs Overall" (played by Walters), the deliberately bad camera angles and wobbling sets, as well as Celia Imrie's sarcastic tone as "Miss Babs". The sketches were seen as satirising the production values of the ITV soap opera
Crossroads in the 1970s. Wood's most popular comic song, "The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let's Do It)" originated in this show. It tells the story of Freda (a woman eager for sex) and Barry (an introverted man terrified of sex), makes clever use of allusions to a multitude of risqué activities while avoiding all taboo words.
There was a second series of
Victoria Wood As Seen On TVVictoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...
in 1986, followed by a one-off 'special' in 1987.
In 1988, she appeared in the BAFTA-winning
An Audience With Victoria Wood for
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. At the time of recording the show, Wood was six months pregnant.
1989–99
During this period Wood began to move away from the sketch show format and into more self-contained works, often with a more bittersweet flavour.
Victoria WoodVictoria Wood was a series of six one-off situation comedies written by and starring Victoria Wood in 1989, who took a break from sketches, two years after her very successful and award winning series Victoria Wood As Seen On TV. Wood appeared as "Victoria" in all six episodes and "Miss Wood" in...
(six parts, 1989)) featured Wood in several individual stories such as "We'd Quite Like To Apologise", set in an airport departure lounge, and "Over to Pam", set around a fictional talk show. There was a brief return to sketches with the 1992 Christmas Day special
Victoria Wood's All Day BreakfastA one-off, fifty minute comedy sketch show special, written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood. Broadcast on Christmas day 1992.The show was linked by Duncan Preston and Wood as husband and wife daytime TV presenters 'Martin Cumbernauld' and 'Sally Crossthwaite'...
. The television film,
Pat and MargaretPat and Margaret is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending 27 years apart...
(1994), starring Wood and
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
as long-lost sisters with very different lifestyles, continued her return to stand-alone plays with a poignant undercurrent to the comedy. In 1998, she wrote her first sitcom,
dinnerladiesDinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:...
, which continued her now established milieu of mostly female, mostly middle-aged characters depicted vividly and amusingly, but with a counterpoint of sadder themes.
In 1994 there was also the one off BBC 80 minute programme
Victoria Wood: Live in Your Own Home featuring Julie Walters and Duncan Preston.
2000–05
December 2000 saw the Christmas sketch show special
Victoria Wood with All The TrimmingsVictoria Wood with All The Trimmings was a one-off Christmas comedy sketch show special written by and starring comedienne Victoria Wood. It was broadcast on BBC1 on Christmas Day 2000....
, starring her traditional troupe of actors and actresses as well as a string of special guest stars. However, it was during this period that Wood tended to move away from comedy, focusing on drama instead. She did continue to produce one-off specials, though, including
Victoria Wood's Sketch Show Story (2002) and
Victoria Wood's Big Fat Documentary (2005).
Wood wrote her first musical,
Acorn Antiques: The Musical!Acorn Antiques:The Musical! is a musical about an antiques dealer, based on the parodic soap opera of the same name by Victoria Wood. It premiered in the West End in 2005, and starred Julie Walters and Celia Imrie...
, which opened in 2005 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, for a limited period, directed by
Trevor NunnSir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
. It starred most of the original cast, with
Sally Ann TriplettSally Ann Triplett is a British singer and actress most famous for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and many West End productions.-Eurovision:...
playing Miss Berta (played in the series by Wood). Wood played Julie Walters' character Mrs. Overall for matinee performances.
2006–10
Wood wrote the 2006 one-off
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
serious drama
Housewife, 49Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
, an adaptation of the real diaries of
Nella LastNella Last was a housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1965 making it one of the most substantial diaries held by M-O...
, and played the eponymous role of an introverted middle-aged character who discovers new confidence and friendships in Lancashire during World War II.
Housewife, 49 was critically praised, and Wood won
BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
s for both her acting and writing for this drama — a rare double.
In November 2006, Wood directed a revival production of
Acorn Antiques: The Musical! with a brand new cast. The musical opened at The Lowry in
SalfordThe City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
in December and toured the United Kingdom from January to July 2007.
In January 2007, she appeared as herself in a series of new adverts featuring famous people working for supermarket chain
AsdaAsda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
. The adverts featured Wood working in the ASDA bakery and introduced a new catchphrase for the supermarket – "there's no place like ASDA". Wood was also the subject of an episode of
The South Bank ShowThe South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
in March 2007 and is the only woman to be the subject of two
South Bank programmes (the previous occasion was in September 1996).
Wood appeared in her own travel documentary show on
BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
called
Victoria's EmpireVictoria's Empire is a three part British travel series that was first broadcast on BBC One in 2007. It was fronted by comedienne and actress Victoria Wood. Wood travelled around the world in search of the history, cultural impact and customs which the British Empire placed on the parts of the...
, in which she travelled around the world in search of the history, cultural impact and customs which the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
placed on the parts of the world it ruled. She departed Victoria Station, London for:
- Programme One: Calcutta (India), Hong Kong and Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
- Programme Two: Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and NewfoundlandNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, Canada
- Programme Three: New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and ZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, finishing at the Victoria FallsThe Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
.
In a tribute to Wood, the British television station
UKTV GoldGOLD is the original channel of the UKTV network, broadcasting to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It launched on 1 November 1992 as UK Gold, and is currently available on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and terrestrial subscription via Top Up TV. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC...
celebrated her works with a weekend marathon of programmes between 3 November and 4 November 2007. The weekend focused on programmes such as
Victoria Wood Live and
dinnerladiesDinnerladies is a British sitcom written, co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. It ran on BBC One for 16 episodes from 1998 to 2000.-Plot:...
in addition to
Victoria Wood As Seen On TVVictoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...
– this marked the first time it has been shown on British television since its last rerun in 1995.
Wood returned to stand-up comedy with a special performance written for the celebratory show
Happy Birthday BAFTA on 28 October 2007, alongside other household names. The programme was transmitted on
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
on Wednesday 7 November 2007. On Boxing Day 2007 she appeared as "Nana" in the Granada dramatisation of
Noel StreatfeildMary Noel Streatfeild OBE , known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes . Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.-Biography:...
's novel
Ballet ShoesBallet Shoes is a 2007 British television film, adapted by Heidi Thomas from Noel Streatfeild's 1936 novel Ballet Shoes. It was produced by Granada Productions and premiered on BBC One on 26 December 2007...
.
In December 2007, while guesting on the radio programme
Desert Island DiscsDesert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
, Wood said that she was about to begin writing a movie, described as a contemporary comedy about a middle-aged person, marking her first foray into film. On Thursday 12 June 2008, Wood was part of the celebrity guest panel on the series
The Apprentice: You're Fired!The Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice...
on BBC Two.
In June 2009, Wood appeared as a panelist on the first 2 episodes of the new series of
I'm Sorry I Haven't a ClueI'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or Clue, is a BBC radio comedy panel game broadcast since 11 April 1972 at the rate of one or two series each year , transmitted on BBC Radio 4, with occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC's World Service...
.
Wood returned to television comedy for a one-off Christmas comedy sketch-show special, her first in 9 years, titled
Victoria Wood's Mid Life ChristmasVictoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas is a comedy sketch show written by and starring comedienne Victoria Wood, broadcast on Christmas Eve 2009....
, transmitted on BBC One at 21:00 on
Christmas EveChristmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
2009. The special, which reunited Wood with long-time collaborator Julie Walters, included a spoof of BBC period drama (
Lark Rise to CandlefordLark Rise to Candleford is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. They were written by Flora Thompson and first published together in 1945...
,
Little DorritLittle Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
and
CranfordCranford may refer to:*Cranford - a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell*Cranford - a BBC television adaptation of Cranford and other works by Elizabeth GaskellCranford may also refer to the following places:...
) entitled
Lark Pies to Cranchesterford, a spoof documentary following
Acorn AntiquesAcorn Antiques is a parodic soap opera written by Victoria Wood as a regular feature in the two seasons of Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, which ran from 1985 to 1987. It was turned into a musical by Wood, opening in 2005.-Television version:...
star Bo Beaumont (Walters) titled
Beyond The Marigolds, highlights from the
Mid Life Olympics 2009 (with Wood as the commentator), parodies of personal injury advertisements and a reprise of Wood's most famous song "The Ballad of Barry and Freda" ("Let's Do It").
Victoria Wood: Seen On TV, a 90-minute documentary looking back on Wood's career, was broadcast on BBC Two at 20:30 on December 21, whilst a behind-the-scenes special programme about
Midlife Christmas,
Victoria Wood: What Larks!, was broadcast on BBC One at 23:00 on December 30.
2011 onwards
On New Year's Day 2011 Wood appeared in a BBC drama
Eric and ErnieEric and Ernie is a 2011 television film produced by BBC Wales on the early career of the British comic double-act Morecambe and Wise. It completed production in 2010 and premiered on BBC Two on 1 January 2011.-Selected cast:*Bryan Dick - Ernie Wise...
as Sadie Bartholomew, mother of
Eric MorecambeJohn Eric Bartholomew OBE , known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the award-winning double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death of a heart attack in 1984...
..
For the 2011
Manchester International FestivalThe Manchester International Festival is an international cultural festival of original new work, held in the English city of Manchester. It is a biennial event, first taking place in June–July 2007, and subsequently recurring in the summers of 2009 and 2011...
, Wood wrote and directed "That Day We Sang", a musical set in 1969 with
flashbacksFlashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
to 1929. It tells the story of a middle-aged couple who find love after meeting on a TV program about a choir they were both involved in 40 years previously. Although the characters are imaginary, the choir really did exist, singing with the Hallé Orchestra in the Manchester Free Trade Hall on a record which sold over a million copies. Apart from the pieces on the 1929 recording (
PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
's "Nymphs and Shepherds" and the Evening Benediction from
Hansel and Gretel) the score for the musical was written by Wood herself .
Associated actors
Wood is notable for frequently including the same actors in her shows. These actors have appeared in most of her work in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s and include — most notably —
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
,
Celia ImrieCelia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...
and
Duncan PrestonDuncan Preston is an English actor probably best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood. His best remembered roles are Clifford in the Victoria Wood As Seen On TV soap opera parody Acorn Antiques , and Stan in dinnerladies.In July 2010, Preston revealed he was...
. To a lesser extent, other associate actors include:
Lill RoughleyLill Roughley is an English actress who has appeared on British television since the 1970s. Her notable roles include Alice in Mulberry and Ella Dawkins in My Hero...
,
Anne ReidAnne Reid, MBE is a BAFTA Award-nominated English film and television actress from Newcastle upon Tyne, best known for her roles as Valerie Tatlock in Coronation Street and Jean in dinnerladies....
and
Susie BlakeSusie Blake is a British actress.-Personal life:Blake trained at the Arts Educational School and LAMDA in London. She is the granddaughter of the actress Annette Mills and a great - niece of the actor Sir John Mills...
,.
Awards and recognition
Wood has received many awards in her long career. In 1997, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List . Earlier in 1994, she was made an honorary
Doctor of LettersAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
by the
University of SunderlandThe University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, north east England. The university has more than 17,500 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
. She was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
Her work has also been laden with awards, both by the public and her professional contemporaries.
In 2003, she was listed in
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as one of the
50 Funniest Acts in British Comedy. In the 2005
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
poll
The Comedian's Comedian, she was voted 27th out of the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. She was the highest-ranked woman on the list, beating
French & SaundersFrench and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
(who paid tribute to her in their 'Lord of the Rings' spoof, where a map of middle earth shows a forest called 'Victoria Wood'),
Joan RiversJoan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...
and
Joyce GrenfellJoyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
.
Her sketch show
Victoria Wood As Seen On TVVictoria Wood As Seen On TV was a British comedy sketch series starring comedienne Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge...
won BAFTA awards for its two series and Christmas Special. In 2007, she was nominated for and won the
BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
awards for "Best Actress" and for "Best Single Drama" for her role in the British war-time drama
Housewife, 49Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
, in which she plays the part of an ordinary housewife dominated by her moody husband. Wood's character eventually stands up to him and helps the WRVS (Women's Royal Voluntary Service) in their preparations for the British soldiers.
Her popularity with the British public has been confirmed when she won 'Best Stand-Up' and 'Best Sketch Show' by
Radio TimesRadio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
readers in 2001. Wood was also voted 'Funniest Comedian' by the readers of
Reader's DigestReader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
in 2005 and came 8th in ITV's poll of the public's
50 Greatest Stars, four places behind fellow co-star
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
.
Personal life
Wood married magician
Geoffrey DurhamGeoffrey Durham is a British comedy magician and actor who was known for many years as 'The Great Soprendo'.-Early life:...
in March 1980. They separated in October 2002. They have two children, Grace (born 1988) and Henry (born 1992). Although Wood fiercely maintains her privacy and that of her children, even originally refusing to publicly release the name of her son when he was born, Henry Wood appeared in a small cameo in her 2010 BBC Christmas Special. Henry is now at Leeds College Of Music doing a degree in Music Production
Wood is a vegetarian, once remarking; "I'm all for killing animals and turning them into handbags. I just don't want to have to eat them."
Wood lives in
HighgateHighgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, North London.
Stand-Up videos
- Sold Out (1991)
- Live In Your Own Home (31 October 1994)
- Live 1997 (27 October 1997)
- At The Albert Hall – Live (25 November 2002)
External links