Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood

Date of birth: 19-05-1953
Date of death: 20-04-2016

Victoria Wood was still a drama student at Birmingham University when she got her first break, winning the ITV talent show New Faces in 1973, at just 20 years old.

She had wanted to be a performer since seeing a live show by Joyce Grenfell at the age of six. But the talent show victory wasn’t the instant passport to success she might have hoped for - as her inexperience meant any live gigs she did land went badly.

In 1976, she became a regular on the consumer show That’s Life! singing a weekly comedy song, and supported Jasper Carrott on tour that year. She also met her husband, magician Geoffrey Durham, that same year. They divorced in 2002.

Her writing also provided another route to fame. In 1978, she wrote and performed a sketch for the In At The Death revue show at London’s Bush Theatre, acting alongside Julie Walters for the first time.

A year later, Wood wrote an award-winning play called Talent for Granada, set on the northern club circuit and starring herself and Walters.

The pair had their own ITV sketch show, which only ran for one series, but the partnership was enduring, with Walters a regular on her As Seen On TV BBC shows (which included the spoof soap Acorn Antiques), her sitcom Dinnerladies and various one-offs. The pair alternated the role of Mrs Overall when Acorn Antiques became an unlikely West End show in 2004.

As well as her TV work, Wood has written a number of comedy books, including It's Up to You, Porky, Barmy and Mens Sana In Thingummy Doodah.

Considering her fame, Wood has not been that prolific over her 30-year career, yet her comedy is so well-crafted and well-observed that it bears up to regular repeats, ensuring her a place among British comedy’s greats.

She was awarded the OBE in 1997 and the CBE in 2008. In 2005, she and Julie Walters were given the British Comedy Award for Outstanding Achievement.

She's also won six Baftas, a Writers' Guild Award and a Broadcasting Press Guild Award, among many others.

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BBC orders a tribute to Victoria Wood

Based on a secret list she made of her favourite sketches

The BBC is to pay tribute to Victoria Wood using a newly unearthed list of her favourite sketches. 

The comedian had written down what she considered to be her best performances in a personal notebook before she died of cancer in 2016 at the age  of 62.

Now her manager Phil McIntryre, who is also a TV producer, will use the previously unknown list as the basis of the two-part special, which has the  working title Victoria Wood’s Secret List.

As well as more than 20 sketches, the programmes will also contain previously unseen clips, photos and scripts from her personal archive.

Producer Lindsay Jex said: 'Victoria had planned to make a whacking great compilation of her work but sadly, never got around to it.

'The list of sketches discovered after she died are all classic Victoria Wood comedy gold, and together with previously unseen footage, photos and scripts from her personal archive, these two unique shows will be a huge treat for Victoria’s fans.'

Jo Wallace, acting controller of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, added: 'Victoria Wood was without question one of the most brilliantly talented and fantastically funny comedians of our generation.

'It is an absolute honour to be able to share with viewers her personally selected favourite moments and lots more besides in this very special trip down memory lane.'

The tribute is expected to air at the end of  the year.

• The Daily Telegraph has been running extracts from a new biography of Victoria Wood this week. Read part one here, and part two here.

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Published: 3 Oct 2020

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