REMEMBERING VICTORIA
“Victoria was an absolute power-house of creativity. I miss her.” Julie Walters and others remember the comedy legend...
Over the course of her career, spanning more than 40 years, Victoria Wood entertained thousands with her distinct talent to turn everyday situations into comedy gold, whether through hilarious sketches like Acorn Antiques or the words of a song.
The Ball ad of Barry and Freda(Let’sDoIt) became one of her most iconic and enduring piano songs – one she later admitted that she daren’t finish a show without performing, describing it as “a joy to write, a sod to learn.”
A stand-up comedian first and foremost, Victoria’s talent also extended into singing, songwriting and even serious drama.
Now, more than a year on from her death from cancer at the age of just 62, friends and fellow actors have gathered to pay tribute to Victoria in the BBC six-part series, Our Friend, Victoria.
As well as giving viewers the chance to see a selection of rare photos from Victoria’s personal collection for the first time, the series, currently showing on BBC One, features many of Victoria’s friends and former colleagues who remember her fondly – Maxine Peake, Michael Ball and Celia Imrie are among those to recall their favourite anecdotes about the comedienne.
One of her closest friends, Julie Walters, brought to life some of Victoria’s most iconic characters, such as Mrs Overall in AcornAntiques.
Julie says she’ll never forget the joy she experienced during their many collaborations.
“I think it was when we very first worked together on Wood&Walters back in 1981 up at Granada. We were very young and mad. And when I first met her at the Bush Theatre, thinking, ‘Who is this amazing woman?’ we just clicked.
“Victoria just had an amazing way of looking at life and she had such an extraordinary ear for people’s frailty but in a funny way, and for puncturing pomposity. And it was about our everyday lives; it always felt so close to home, everything she did. Just really funny. Nobody like her.”
Victoria’s humour certainly lay in finding the quirks and foibles of simple day-to-day activities and breathing life and laughter into them through her much-loved characters. Speaking of her work, she admitted her inspiration came from the ordinary.
“I do like my work to be based on reality, or a version of reality. They are people who I like to think are only one stage removed from someone you could meet at work or in the local supermarket. If people can recognise them then they are much more likely to find them funny. Dinnerladies, for example, came from my own memories of going into a canteen. It was all there. Again the script was about people and their relationship with the world rather than sit-com jokes.”
Making people laugh and having fun was always Victoria’s driving force. Typically down to earth, she always shunned the tag, “national treasure”.
“Everyone’s a national treasure these days; you can’t move for them,” she once joked. “My creativity is what defines me and my main ambition is to have fun. I never laugh so much as when I’m working.”