Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, singer and songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood wrote and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanied on piano. Wood also composed and performed the theme music for her award winning BBC sitcom Dinnerladies. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life, and included references to popular British media and brand names of quintessentially British products. She was noted for her skills in observing culture, and in satirising social classes.
She started her career in 1974 by winning the ATV talent show New Faces. It wasn't until the 1980s that she began to establish herself as a comedy star, with the award-winning television series Victoria Wood As Seen on TV and became one of Britain's most popular stand-up comics. In 1998, she wrote and starred in the (again, award-winning) sitcom Dinnerladies. In 2006, she won two BAFTA awards for her one-off drama for ITV1, Housewife, 49. Wood frequently worked with long-term collaborators Julie Walters, Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie. Victoria Wood died on 20 April 2016 after a short battle with cancer. She was 62.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.6465 |
| Birthday | 1953-05-19 |
| Place of Birth | Prestwich, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Also Known As |
2008
Ballet Shoes
6.3/278
An unusual explorer named Gum and his kindly niece adopt three orphans -- Pauline, Petrova and Posy -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But...
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Ballet Shoes
1996
The Wind in the Willows
5.8/63
Jailed for his reckless driving, rambunctious Mr. Toad has to escape from prison when his beloved Toad Hall comes under threat from the wily weasels,...
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The Wind in the Willows
2006
Housewife, 49
6/18
Downtrodden wife and mother Nella's life takes an unexpected turn for the better after she joins the Women's Voluntary Service office in Barrow-in-Fur...
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Housewife, 49
1985
Personal View: Victoria Wood
0/0
Victoria Wood discusses her career and her writing, and gives a glimpse of life backstage on her comedy tour.
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Personal View: Victoria Wood
2011
The Borrowers
5.9/62
Family adventure based on Mary Norton's classic children's books about a race of tiny people who live under the floorboards, resourcefully surviving b...
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The Borrowers
2011
Eric & Ernie
6.7/9
Single drama telling the story of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise's formative years, from child stars to national treasures. 'Big head, short legs' is E...
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Eric & Ernie
2016
Let's Do It: A Tribute to Victoria Wood
0/0
Friends and fans pay tribute to a great comic talent in this celebration of the life and work of the hugely popular Victoria Wood, who died of cancer...
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Let's Do It: A Tribute to Victoria Wood
2009
Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays
6/1
Victoria Wood delves into the making of her Mid-Life Christmas, with behind the scenes footage from sketches including Lark Pies to Cranchesterford an...
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Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays
2021
Parkinson at 50
10/1
Sir Michael Parkinson looks back over his 50 years as a broadcaster, revealing some tricks of the interview trade and remembering some of his favourit...
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Parkinson at 50
1994
Pat and Margaret
7.7/11
Unexpected events occur when Pat, a glamorous British-born star of American soaps, returns home to plug her auto-biography on television and meets, fo...
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Pat and Margaret
1979
Talent
7/1
A play with music by Victoria Wood. Julie (Julie Walters) is a young woman seeking escape, with the help of her frumpish friend Maureen (Wood) she pr...
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Talent
2000
Don't Panic: The Dad's Army Story
7.5/2
Victoria Wood presents the true story behind Britain's timeless comedy. Includes footage of the cast on location and incredible personal tales about t...
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Don't Panic: The Dad's Army Story
1988
An Audience With Victoria Wood
5.3/5
British comedy legend Victoria Wood entertains a star-studded audience including Julie Walters, Judi Dench and Dawn French in this 1988 special. Watch...
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An Audience With Victoria Wood
1991
Not Now Bernard
0/0
Bernard's got a problem: he's found a monster in the back garden but his mum and dad are just too busy to notice. So Bernard tries to befriend the mon...
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Not Now Bernard
1987
Acorn Antiques
7.5/1
Starring Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, with the snobby continuity announcer played by Susie Blake, Acorn Antiques was a m...
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Acorn Antiques
1982
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
6.3/6
Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese,...
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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
2011
Eric & Ernie: Behind the Scenes
0/0
A history of the British television comedy double act Morecambe & Wise to coincide with the BBC drama about their early lives.
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Eric & Ernie: Behind the Scenes
1991
Victoria Wood: Sold Out
0/0
A live performance of the comedienne from 1991. Starting out on the working mens' club circuit, Victoria Wood graduated to performing her one-woman ac...
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Victoria Wood: Sold Out
2015
Fungus The Bogeyman
2.5/3
Raymond Briggs' classic family story about smelly monsters, dangerous humans and what happens when the things that go bump in the night move in next d...
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Fungus The Bogeyman
1997
Victoria Wood: Live
7.8/2
Over half a million people packed into over 200 venues throughout the country during 1997 to see her best show ever. This tour included an unpreceden...
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Victoria Wood: Live
2000
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
7/7
The comedienne stars in this festive sketch show, alongside a host of celebrity guests.
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Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2009
Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
4/2
This is the time of year when friends and family gather round the television to exchange the traditional greeting -“Don’t bother, there’s nothing on”....
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Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
1986
Comedians Do It On Stage
0/0
A Group of Britain's top comedy and music performers gather at a London Theater, to give their support to the Oncology Club Fund. The Fund is a charit...
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Comedians Do It On Stage
2002
Victoria at the Albert - Live
0/0
Victoria Wood seen performing live at her sold-out show in the Albert Hall using her usual anecdotal humour and amusing songs to cheer the huge audien...
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Victoria at the Albert - Live
2014
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
0/0
That Musical We Made is an honest and funny look at the making of a musical. Victoria Wood takes us behind the scenes of That Day We Sang, the film sh...
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Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
1992
Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast
6/3
A television comedy special broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day 1992. Sketches, stand-up comedy and songs combine to create the latest daytime show...
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Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast
1994
Victoria Wood Live In Your Own Home
10/1
Filmed at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1994, the much loved comedienne presents a special show featuring stand up, monologues and sketches in her own...
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Victoria Wood Live In Your Own Home
2017
Dying Laughing
6.4/19
The craft, creative process and complicated lives of Stand-up Comedians.
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Dying Laughing
2010
The Angina Monologues
0/0
Victoria Wood takes to the stage with an all female bill for a night of comedy in support of The British Heart Foundation to help raise awareness of h...
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The Angina Monologues
1981
Happy Since I Met You
8/2
A play by Victoria Wood. Frances is 28, single and happy, despite ritual interrogation from her family as to why she's not married. Then she meets Jim...
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Happy Since I Met You
1980
Nearly a Happy Ending
9/1
A play by Victoria Wood. Maureen has been faithfully attending the slimmers' club for months. Now the weeks of endless crispbreads have paid off - but...
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Nearly a Happy Ending
1991
Julie Walters and Friends
0/0
Julie Walters stars in new sketches by four accomplished writers who helped make her famous.
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Julie Walters and Friends
2006
Acorn Antiques: The Musical
8/2
Acorn Antiques: The Musical! is the all-singing, all-dancing and fully overalled stage version of the beloved TV spoof. The triumphant West End produ...
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Acorn Antiques: The Musical
2005
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
6.1/101
The fictional world of Royston Vasey is facing apocalypse and the only way to avert disaster is for our nightmarish cast of characters to find a way i...
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The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
2020
Victoria Wood In Her Own Words
0/0
A look back at the life and work of one of Britain's greatest comediennes, featuring interviews with those who worked alongside Victoria.
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Victoria Wood In Her Own Words
2013
Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea
0/0
Comedy legend Victoria Wood travels the globe to explore Britain's love affair with tea in a two part special on the little plant that changed the wor...
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Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea
1980
Profiles of Andrea Dunbar and Victoria Wood
0/0
This 1980 Arena documentary profiles writer and performer Victoria Wood and teenage playwright Andrea Dunbar. Wood is seen, alongside Julie Walters, d...
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Profiles of Andrea Dunbar and Victoria Wood
2003
Thora Hird Tribute
0/0
Friends, colleagues and fans, including Julie Walters, Jonathan Ross, Norman Wisdom, Keith Barron and Victoria Wood, pay tribute to Dame Thora Hird, w...
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Thora Hird Tribute
2008
Stanley Baxter: Now and Then
0/0
Comedy legend Stanley Baxter returns from retirement and returns to the Christmas schedules with a trawl through the very best of his classic sketches...
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Stanley Baxter: Now and Then
2026
Becoming Victoria Wood
6/1
A feature length documentary celebrating the life of Britain’s beloved comedy icon Victoria Wood delving into the complex inner world of this national...
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Becoming Victoria Wood
2015
20 Moments That Rocked Talent Shows
0/0
The film features clips looking at the successes, upsets and moments that caused drama in different talent shows.
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20 Moments That Rocked Talent Shows
2026
Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare And Unseen
0/0
A selection of rarely seen comic moments from the actor and comedian, who rose to fame as Kevin Turvey and as Rick in The Young Ones, a show he helped...
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Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare And Unseen
2003
More Great Comedy Moments
0/0
Following on from the success of Great Comedy Moments comes More Great Comedy Moments. A compilation of modern comedy sketches from a variety of progr...
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