ATV Icon: Victoria Wood

The next star heading into ATV’s hall of fame is Victoria Wood…

Comedian and actress Victoria Wood, shot to fame on ATV’s New Faces talent show in 1974, and became a major part of the UK comedy scene through to her death in 2016.

Born on the 19th of May 1953 in Prestwich, Lancashire, she auditioned for the Derek Hobson fronted New Faces talent show while studying at Birmingham University. The series, produced by ATV in Birmingham for ITV, saw Wood win the 1974 series with a performance of witty jokes and musical comedy routines. A summer variety series followed on ITV with fellow New Faces personalities; however, it was a switch to the BBC that gave Victoria her first major long running television exposure.

Big TV break: On ATV’s New Faces / ATV

New Faces stars including Victoria, Lenny Henry and Marti Caine featured on The Summer Show in 1975 / ATV

In 1976 she joined the Esther Rantzen fronted mash-up that was consumer investigations meets entertainment series That’s Life! providing a weekly musical comedy reflection on current topics of the time.

Across the late 1970s there were several other ventures in live theatre and television including 1978’s Talent which had proved a success on the stage – with Wood bestowed a gong for Most Promising New Writer. It was adapted for television by Granada in Manchester and saw Wood team up with long established pal Julie Walters. It was however material from the 1980s and 1990s that wood, and indeed Walters, would be best remembered for.

In 1984 Wood left Granada Television for the BBC, who promised her more creative control over her programming. This led to the launch of sketch series Victoria Wood as Seen on TV. The show launched a host of well-loved and remembered characters, with Acorn Antiques becoming possibly the best known. A mixture of the bizarre storylines from Crossroads with iffy production values of serials of the 1960s and 70s, it became a huge hit. Especially with fans of Crossroads, Victoria later would become a honorary member of the Crossroads Appreciation Society.

That’s Life! Victoria features on Esther Rantzen’s Beeb series / BBC

As Seen on TV: Julie Walters and Victoria behind the scenes of a Coronation Street skit / BBC

Crossroads returned in 2001, and therefore so did Acorn Antiques / BBC

As Seen On TV ran for two series and a one-off special. The show won a number of BAFTA Awards, and, in 1996, it was awarded all-time Favourite Comedy Series by the BBC. In 1988 ITV celebrated her comedy talent with the prestigious An Audience With Victoria Wood produced by London Weekend Television. The show later won a BAFTA.

As the late 1980s became the early 1990s Wood had moved away from the sketch show format with more focus on stand-alone comedy storytelling and a move into comedy drama, notably with the poignant Pat and Margaret comedy drama in 1994 which starred Wood and Julie Walters in the title roles. She also had a number one ‘hit’ in 1991 with the Comic Relief single The Smile Song. A double A-side with Hale and Pace’s The Stonk.

In 1998, she wrote her first sitcom, Dinnerladies, set in a factory’s refectory. There were also several one-off sketch show specials across the years including the celebrity filled Victoria Wood’s Mid-life Christmas, Victoria Wood with All The Trimmings and Victoria Wood’s All Day Breakfast. There were also two one-off revivals of Acorn Antiques for special BBC programmes, the last airing in 2001, while in 2005 the spoof soap opera moved to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London as it became a successful stage musical.

Sitcom: Victoria led the cast of Dinnerladies / BBC

More serious: A publicity shot for comedy drama Pat and Margaret with Victoria and Duncan Preston / BBC

A year later and Victoria Wood turned to serious drama with ITV’s Housewife, 49, an adaptation of the real diaries of Nella Last. Wood played the lead role of the introverted middle-aged woman who discovers new confidence and friendships in Lancashire during the Second World War. Wood won BAFTAs for both her acting and writing with the drama. She would return to serious drama in 2011 featuring in the BBC’s Eric and Ernie which told the early years of comedians Morecambe and Wise. She appeared as Sadie Bartholomew, mother of Eric Morecambe.

On April 20th 2016 the shock news was announced that Wood had died aged 62 after succumbing to cancer. She had kept the entire period of her illness up to her death unannounced. The statement released announcing the writer, actress and comedian’s death noted it had been a ‘short brave battle’ against the disease. Wood married magician Geoffrey Durham in March 1980. They separated in October 2002. They have two children, Grace (1988) and Henry (1992).

Speaking the day after Victoria’s death her brother Chris Foote Wood paid tribute on Good Morning Britain:

“It’s quite obvious that Victoria is even more loved by the public than perhaps we thought she was because in all her years that she’s been working in various endeavours the public have really taken her to their hearts and everything she’s done in the last 30 years has been very popular. People remember Victoria and her performances and that’s a wonderful thing that although we’ve lost her at a very early age, she’s left all this wonderful work behind that we can enjoy again and again.”

In the years after her death there have been several tribute programmes on the BBC and UKTV as well as a lasting memorial when a bronze statue was unveiled outside Bury Art Museum in 2019.

Behind the scenes: Recording the ‘Eldorado spoof’ soap ‘The Mall’, Julie Walters and Victoria / BBC