Victoria Wood OBE is a BAFTA award winning English comedian, actor, singer and writer born 19 May 1953 in Prestwich Village, Greater Manchester . She has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with songs of her own composition, which she accompanies on piano. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A singer is a musician who uses his or her voice to produce music. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year (140th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which has a population of 2. ... A situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

Victoria Wood on Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy in 2006

Wood is often regarded as among the top sitcom writers in Britain owing to her understanding of English culture and high command of the English language. Much of her humour is lost on those not well-acquainted with English culture, since it abounds with references to popular British media, stereotypically English pastimes, attitudes, prejudices, and even brand names of quintessentially English products. She is noted for her skills in observing culture, and in satirising classes of people using a variety of regional accents. Wood's humour is also characterised by euphemism. One of her most popular comic songs, "The Ballad of Barry and Freda (Let's Do It)", which 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. Her sitcom dinnerladies is regarded as a prime example of dialogue-based TV comedy, where the focus is more on discussion between characters than story or action. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Dawn Frenchs Girls Who Do: Comedy was an interview series shown on BBC Four. ... The Culture of England is sometimes difficult to separate clearly from the culture of the United Kingdom, so influential has English culture been on the cultures of the British Isles and, on the other hand, given the extent to which other cultures have influenced life in England. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... dinnerladies was a British sitcom written and co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. ...

Career

Early years

Wood began her showbusiness career as an undergraduate, appearing on the TV talent show New Faces in the midst of studying drama at the University of Birmingham. This lead to her appearance in a sketch show featuring the winners of that series The Summer Show. Her first big break was as a novelty act on the BBC's consumer affairs programme That's Life! in 1976. She first met long-term collaborator Julie Walters when they both appeared in the same theatre revue together, In At The Death in 1978. Its success lead to the commission of Wood's first play, Talent (also 1978), which won her an award for Most Promising New Writer, the first of many. New Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s, presented by Derek Hobson. ... Website http://www. ... A British comedy sketch show from 1975 featuring winners of the ATV talent show New Faces. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Thats Life! was a television magazine-style series on BBC between 1973 and 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. ... Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the 1976 Gregorian calendar. ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ... A 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. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ...

1980 - 1988

Wood performing an opening monologue on As Seen on TV, BBC, 1985

During this period Wood wrote and starred in several TV sketch shows, usually alongside Walters. These shows included Wood and Walters (1981) and Victoria Wood As Seen On TV (1985) and featured highlights such as a sarcastic BBC announcer (Susie Blake) issuing lines like "We'd like to apologise to our viewers in the North. It must be awful for you." Image File history File links Victoria_Wood. ... Image File history File links Victoria_Wood. ... British television comedy sketch show starring Julie Walters and Victoria Wood for Granada Television and written entirely by Wood. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... An Award winning comedy sketch series starring comedian Victoria Wood, broadcast on BBC2 between 1985 and 1987. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Susie Blake (born 19 April 1950, Highgate) is a British actress. ...

Victoria Wood As Seen On TV was also notable for featuring the classic spoof soap opera Acorn Antiques, rumoured to be named after an antiques shop (closed 1990's) in her birthplace. Acorn Antiques became famous in its own right, and was celebrated for characters such as "Mrs Overall" (Julie Walters), the deliberately bad camera angles, Celia Imrie's superb sarcastic tone, the wobbly sets and the unforgettable line "...and 87p change. Enjoy your antiques!". The sketches had more than a passing resemblance to the production values held by real-life ITV soap opera Crossroads in the 1970s. An Award winning comedy sketch series starring comedian Victoria Wood, broadcast on BBC2 between 1985 and 1987. ... Clifford, Berta, Mrs O and Babs, as played by Duncan Preston, Victoria Wood, Julie Walters and Celia Imrie Acorn 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. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Clifford, Berta, Mrs O and Babs, as played by Duncan Preston, Victoria Wood, Julie Walters and Celia Imrie Acorn 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. ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ... Celie Imrie (born 15 July 1952 in Guildford England) is a British actress. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

1989 - 1999

During this period she began to move away from the sketch show format and into more self-contained works, often with a more bitter-sweet flavour. Victoria Wood (1989) (six parts) featured Wood in several individual stories such as 'We'd quite like to apologise', set in an airport departure lounge, and '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 Breakfast. The television film, Pat and Margaret (1994), starring Wood and Julie Walters as long-lost sisters with very different lifestyles, continued her trend into stand-alone plays with a poignant undercurrent to the comedy. In 1998, she wrote her first sitcom, dinnerladies, which continued her now established milieu of mostly female, mostly middle-aged characters depicted vividly and amusingly, but with a counterpoint of sadder themes. 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. Bored with the sketch format and with a yearning to recapture previous success as a... A one-off, fifty minute comedy sketch show special, written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood. ... Pat and Margaret was a television film written by and starring the British comedian Victoria Wood. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... dinnerladies was a British sitcom written and co-produced by and starring Victoria Wood. ...

2000 - 2005

During this period Wood became less prolific. She wrote and starred in Acorn Antiques: The Musical!, which opened in 2005 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, for a limited period. It starred the same cast as the original 1985 series, with the exception of Wood playing Julie Walters' "Mrs Overall" role for a couple of performances each week. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

2006 - present

She wrote the 2006 one-off ITV serious drama Housewife, 49, an adaptation of the real diaries of Nella Last, and played the eponymous role of an introverted middle-aged character who discovers new confidence and friendships in Lancashire during World War II. She won the BAFTAs for both her acting and writing for this drama: a rare double. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ... Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. ... Nella Last (October 4, 1889 - 1968) was a housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, England. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

In November 2006, Wood directed a revival production of Acorn Antiques the Musical! which opened a The Lowry, Manchester in December and toured the UK from January to July 2007.

She was the subject of a South Bank show programme in 2007 and is the only female to be the subject of two South Bank programmes.

In 2007, she appeared as herself in new adverts for ASDA. The adverts had Wood working in the ASDA bakery and introduced a new catchphrase for the supermarket - "there's no place like ASDA." ASDA is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom offering food, clothing and general merchandise products. ...

She also appeared in her own travel documentary show on BBC One called Victoria's Empire where she travelled around the world in search of the history, cultural impact and customs which the British Empire placed on the parts of the world it ruled. She departed Victoria Station, London for: Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... BBC One is the primary television channel of the BBC, and the first in the United Kingdom. ... Scholars debate about what exactly constitutes an empire (from the Latin imperium, denoting military command within the ancient Roman government). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

• Programme One: Calcutta (India), Hong Kong and Borneo
• Programme Two: Ghana, Jamaica and Newfoundland, Canada
• Programme Three: New Zealand, Australia and Zambia, finishing at the Victoria Falls.

This article is on Calcutta/Kolkata, the city. ... Borneo is the third largest island in the world. ... For other uses, see Newfoundland (disambiguation). ... Victoria Falls entrance Africas Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders) are, by some measures, the largest waterfall on the planet, as well as being among the most unusual in form, and having arguably the most diverse and easily-seen wildlife of any major waterfall site. ...

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 80's and 90's and include Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake, Anne Reid, Lill Roughley and most notably Julie Walters. Celie Imrie (born 15 July 1952 in Guildford England) is a British actress. ... Duncan Preston (born in Bradford, Yorkshire) is a English actor best known for his appearances in television productions written by Victoria Wood. ... Susie Blake (born 19 April 1950, Highgate) is a British actress. ... Anne Reid (born 28 May 1935) is an accomplished British actress with a lengthy career on TV, stage and film. ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ...

Awards and recognition

• She was awarded the OBE in 1997.
• She was made a honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Sunderland in 1994.
• In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
• In the 2005 Channel 4 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 & Saunders, Joan Rivers and Joyce Grenfell.
• She has been voted funniest comedian by the readers of Readers' Digest.
• She was voted best comedian by Radio Times readers.
• In 2006, Victoria came 8th in ITV's poll of the public's 50 Greatest Stars, four places behind fellow co-star Julie Walters.
• In 2007, she was nominated ^[1] for and won ^[2] the BAFTA awards for "Best Actress" and for "Best Single Drama".

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) Knight Commander... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An honorary degree (Latin: honoris causa ad gradum, not to be confused with an honors degree) is an academic degree awarded to an individual as a decoration, rather than as the result of matriculating and studying for several years. ... St Peters Campus The University of Sunderland is located in the City of Sunderland in North East England. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... French & Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, and also the name by which the performers are known on the rare occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Joyce Grenfell OBE (10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979), born Joyce Irene Phipps, was an English film and television actress, comedian, and singer-songwriter. ... The cover of the May 2004 issue of Readers Digest. ... Current Radio Times logo Radio Times is the BBCs weekly television and radio programme listings magazine. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

Personal life

Wood married magician Geoffrey Durham in March 1980. They separated in October 2002. They have two children, Grace (born 1988) and Henry (born 1990). Geoffrey Durham (born 22 July 1949) is a comedy magician who was known for many years as The Great Soprendo. ...

Wood is a vegetarian, and once said "I'm all for killing animals and turning them into handbags. I just don't want to have to eat them."

External links

• Victoria Wood at the Internet Movie Database
• In-depth look at her first TV play 'Talent'
• Victoria Wood at the BFI's Screenonline
• Profile at Caroline's Comedy Base
• Profile at TV Museum
• Victoria Wood at BBC Comedy Guide
• A Chronology
• Songs and Sketches
• Return to drama (Manchester Evening News)
• Biography (Museum of Broadcast Communications)

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and... screenonline is a website devoted to the history of British film and television, and to social history as revealed by film and television. ...

References

1. ^ Wood nominated for record BAFTA.
2. ^ Victoria Wood scoops Bafta double.