Victoria Wood has been gone for ten years and I miss her every dsy | UK | News

I was lucky enough to call Victoria Wood a friend. During numerous meetings over more than twenty years, a
A great fit. Victoria was a delightful, life-enriching presence. I always walked away from seeing him with a glow of joy inside me and an irrepressible, goofy grin on my face.

The atmosphere was clear when we first met in 1994. From the moment we sat down for a chat on the West London set of her brilliant film about mismatched sisters Pat and Margaret, I instantly fell in love with Victoria’s megawatt charisma.

She was in tremendous shape that day, her character making fun of Margaret’s tight curly perm.

“No naked flames near them, please. The entire budget was spent on this.”

The comedian recalled filming the day before at Heston Services, where Margaret was cooking fries.

“On our way to Ladies Day at Ascot we were ambushed by 45 women. They were all pointing at us as if we were rare llamas in the zoo.

“On another occasion, bystanders started videotaping us. ‘Oh, that’s the woman on TV.’ ‘Who do you mean?’ ‘You know.’ ‘We’ll ask Doreen.’ ‘No, he’s in the toilet’.”

As I sat there laughing uncontrollably at his spontaneous genius, a long-lasting friendship was born.

That’s why I remember with particular sadness the death of my friend 10 years ago this year. This was a moment of intense national mourning.

Victoria’s long-time friend and collaborator, Dame Julie Walters, summed up the national mood by posting: “I am too sorry to comment. Her loss is incalculable.”

I was very lucky to go to Victoria’s memorial service at St James’s Piccadilly in London on 4 July 2016; I was the only journalist to do this. The event was a hugely moving affair, with more than 400 people attending, including Victoria’s friends Celia Imrie, Steve Coogan, Emilia Fox, David Threlfall, Vic Reeves, Dame Maureen Lipman, Maxine Peake and Joan Armatrading.

The incomparable Julie performed some of Victoria’s unforgettable skits and Michael Ball performed some of her timeless songs.

There was not a dry eye in the church as an 11-piece band from the Royal Academy of Music Brass closed the ceremony with a medley of Victoria’s favorite songs.

It was a day of deep sadness, celebrating someone who brought us deep happiness.

And I’m not alone in still feeling a great sense of loss over Victoria’s passing.

On the 10th anniversary of his death from cancer aged just 62, millions of people across the country will mourn the passing of one of our greatest comedians ever.

To celebrate this milestone, her amazing life story is told in the feature documentary Becoming Victoria Wood, which opens in cinemas on Friday and on U&Gold in February.

This month will also be marked by the opening of the new Victoria Wood Theater in Bowness-On-Windermere in the Lake District.

In May, the venue will host the world premiere of Fourteen Again, a musical based on the artist’s songs.

So why is Victoria still missed so much? So what attracted and continues to attract countless legions of fans (known as “The Woodettes”) to this comic genius?

To begin with, no other artist has excelled in so many different fields. Victoria excels in everything from stand-up (she sold out the Royal Albert Hall for a record-breaking 15 nights – twice!), sketch shows (Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV) and sitcoms (Dinnerladies) to comedy hits (The Ballad of Barry & Freda (Let’s Do It)), humorous films (Pat And Margaret), dramatic films (Housewife, 49) and musicals (Acorn Antiques: The Musical!) happened.

He won four Bafta awards along the way. It was truly one of a kind. As Julie puts it: “He was the only one of his own. You can’t compare Vic to anyone else.”

Catherine Abbott, director of Becoming Victoria Wood, agrees. “He was unique. It was difficult for him early in his career because no one knew what to do with him.

“They wanted to put him in a box, but there wasn’t one shape that would fit him. So he had to make his own box.”

Victoria was also universally loved for its appeal to audiences. He portrayed the kind of ordinary people not often portrayed on television. Audiences connected with Victoria because even when she was rich and famous, she remained “one of us.”

He saw it this way: “My only perception is that we’re all in this together and some of us go on TV and talk about it.”

The key to his comedy was relatability.

Blossoming after discovering comedy following a reclusive and lonely childhood in Bury, Victoria managed to identify with her audiences in a way few performers could. He was never bossy towards his fans as he always had the ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary.

They were very excited when they saw themselves reflected in the woman on stage. In short, he “caught” us.

“Even though she was very famous, she remained the same ordinary person that she had started out with,” says Geoff Posner, producer and director of Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV and Dinnerladies.

Catherine nodded. “The audience would feel like they were seeing themselves, or seeing someone who understood them and expressed something about their life that no one else had.

“Part of the reason for this was that Victoria continued to explore everyday life and the kinds of people and stories that weren’t always celebrated front and centre.

“He could see the magic in all of this.

“In his hands, everyone was interesting and everyone could be funny.”

Another notable feature of Victoria’s comedy was her willingness to defend the underdog.

The mother of two once said: “I am aware of people who have no chance in life, who are stuck in a situation.

“I understand what it’s like to feel like you don’t matter and that people don’t find you interesting, because that’s how I felt when I was younger. These are things I always want to bring to my work.”

Victoria’s use of language and meticulous use of brand names was always remarkable.

Remember that immortal line from The Ballad of Barry & Freda: “Take me to the bottom with a Woman’s Weekly.”

Victoria once told me how she had such flawless dialogue. “I pay little people to come to my house and tell me about their lives,” he joked. “That’s how I talk and keep my ears open.

“I want my characters to look realistic and not speak in ‘slapstick dialogue’.

“I’m a lower-middle-class person. I haven’t changed my attitude; I’ve just added a few cars and houses. Alan Bennett has lived in Regents Park for 30 years and can still do it.” Viewers were also intrigued by the essential British trait of self-deprecation. “It’s a British thing, I was born with it,” Victoria once told me.

“I couldn’t just go up on stage and tell them how amazing I am. It’s more like, ‘I’m here to entertain you, but I can see you’re busy, so I’m not going to hold you back any longer than necessary.'”

In the male-dominated world of comedy in the early 1980s, Victoria was groundbreaking in her view of the world from a female perspective. It broke down barriers previously thought to be insurmountable.

In one of the widely quoted one-liners, Victoria once asked: “You know that building in London where all the windows blew out? It wasn’t a bomb, there were 56 premenstrual women the day the chocolate machine broke down!”

Geoff recalls that when Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV started in 1985, people said: “‘We can’t have a half-hour program hosted and written by a woman, especially a woman from the North who doesn’t talk about personal things,'” Geoff recalls.

Victoria even made a joke about Southerners disdaining the North.

In one skit, the flamboyant continuity announcer played by Susie Blake in Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV says: “We’d like to apologize to viewers in the north. It must have been a terrible situation for them.”

But Victoria would never depend on men’s opinions. “All kinds of things she talked about had never been talked about on television before from a woman’s perspective,” says Geoff.

“Victoria lifted the stone and examined what was underneath. In one part of her stand-up routine, she talked about how you get hemorrhoids when you have a baby. It’s something everyone knows, but no one talks about it.”

Victoria was a pioneer for other female comedians. “He gave us permission,” says Dawn French, another distinguished comedian. “He was a pioneer.”

Maxine, Victoria’s co-star in Dinnerladies, believes it’s crucial that The Ballad of Barry & Freda, for example, is told from the perspective of a woman with a sex drive.

“This was very important because a lot of women were embarrassed not to talk about these issues,” she says. “Sometimes you would laugh until you cried because it was about the female experience.

“People felt seen by him. I would say it was therapy wrapped in laughter.”

Reflecting on her life, Victoria once reflected: “All I ever wanted to do was be funny. That was my passion. I really can’t imagine a better job; writing things and making people laugh.” He did it, and earned the world untold comedy gold in the process.

All of this made Victoria’s death ten years ago that much more heartbreaking.

“His passing was a real moment when everyone was devastated. That’s when you realized the impact he had on so many people’s lives,” recalls Michael, who starred in the brilliant 2014 musical film That Day We Sang.

Catherine adds: “I well remember the pain and collective national shock when he died. “It felt like a huge loss at the time, and I don’t think it has particularly diminished in the years since.

“She remains very loved. There’s a gap there. There are a lot of great comedians around, but Victoria is so unique and there’s no one else doing it the same way because she is who she is.”

Maxine agrees. “He is still praised as the best comedian (not comedian) we have ever had.”

But it is Victoria who best encapsulates his enduring popularity. “People had a really hard time describing me, but now they describe other people as ‘Just like Victoria Wood’.”

A pause. “So I guess I’m out of it.”

● Being Victoria Wood will be released in cinemas on Friday and on U&Gold in February