dinnerladies (general)

Fact: Victoria Wood is a very funny woman.

Not convinced? Then look at the evidence. Three BAFTA awards for her As Seen On TV series; two more for her 1988 Audience With Victoria Wood and last year she picked up an OBE for tickling the nation’s funnybone.

Still not sure? Well how does this whet your whistle?

In her new series, Dinnerladies, she plays Bren, a woman who actually enjoys scraping bits of dinner into plastic dustbins. Her mother (played by Julie Walters) is called Petula Gordeno, fourteen years Bren’s senior, she had her daughter put in an orphanage — and then lost the address.

Wood is hoping that the new series will evoke more than a few titters over the coming weeks as she’s spent three years honing the sitcom and her character in particular.

Bren is single, nudging 40 from the far end, but she’s happy. The only bluebottle in her custard is her mother who pops into the canteen from time to time to borrow a sliced loaf.

It took time for Victoria to establish Bren’s personality. “The character I wrote first of all was very bland and ordinary, she just had lines to help the story along. Then I thought I’d make her a bit more vulnerable, so her main interest in life is work, it’s centred within that kitchen. A lot of her information comes from television so she’s articulate, but not in a clever way.”

Aside from Bren, the show centres on four other women — Jean (Anne Reid), Dolly (Coronation Street veteran Thelma Barlow), Twinkle (Maxine Peake) and Anita (Shobna Gulati) — who work in the canteen of a factory outside Manchester.

Writing a sitcom is a new experience for Wood who has been in the business now for 20 years. “I had the idea about two or three years ago, but I couldn’t do anything about it because I was on tour. I wanted to do something in television again after a long break and I also wanted it to be something where I could concentrate on the characters, which you just can’t do on a sketch show.”

Victoria knew what she wanted to achieve while writing the series but had a hard time getting there.
“I knew it was about a group of women in a factory canteen so I asked myself who are they? And how many? At first I thought there were about seven but I couldn’t manoeuvre seven people’s stories in half an hour. Once I got it down to five it was a lot simpler.”

Victoria brought in some old friends for the new series, like Julie Walters and Celia Imrie, as well as some fresh faces.

“I wrote most parts with the casting in mind,” she says. “The only parts I didn’t really write were Shobna and Maxine’s, they were sort of floating parts, as I was waiting to see who would get the tone, they are real finds.”

Wood is also delighted by some of the guest stars she’s attracted to the show.

“It’s going to be fantastic to see Thora Hird, Eric Sykes and Dora Bryan on screen. It’s a real treat to have them.”

dinnerladies (general)

Thelma Barlow

© 2001 Roger Crow

TM and © 2001Immolater