dinnerladies

I have watched on DVD hundreds of times All the episodes of Dinner Ladies. Those who did not like or maybe not quite understood some of the humour, check it out again, there are a great many hidden gems as to the brilliant mind of Victoria woods writing. "He played my body like a pinball machine. I lit up, paid out, and no tilting" was the brilliant line of Bren (victoria wood) mother (Julie Walters) describing her relationship with her young man. It was everyday folk, talking about everyday issues. Hidden behind the charm and the humour the show showed its emotional side, with Bren giving up her holiday to help her mother financially, single mothers, and redundancy. The show lasted two series. I look with great hesitation Victoria Woods next project.

'dinnerladies' (sic) was a short lived but concise series which was a delight to watch. The scripts were quite simply charming. Victoria Wood's attention to character detail is so well refined, there is little like it elsewhere in the land of situation comedy. Even series which clock up over a hundred episodes do not have the brilliance or depth of character as can be seen here.

A lot of the credit also goes to the performers. Particularly Anne Reid and Thelma Barlow as the bickering friends Jean and Dolly respectively. We had seen aspects of Thelma Barlow's comic timing when she was in Coronation Street but it is brought to great fruition here.

It may not be as 'in your face' or as loud and bumptious as a lot of nineties comedies and I feel it is sad that 'dinnerladies' is often compared to these others. This is a series of pure classic comedy writing - showing off a great knowledge of idiolect and pathos.

Victoria Wood kept the series short to leave on a high note, and she certainly did. The second series proved just how brilliant a writer she is. I certainly hope she pens another sitcom of an equal standard sometime in the future.

Those who make any form of negative comments about this hilarious comedy should have their heads tested. This program is British comedy at its best, capturing the dry wit and sarcasm that is such a common feature of the great Englishman/ woman. Victoria Wood's writing is pure genius and the incredibly talented actors who surround her deliver those classic lines with impeccable timing. Victoria Wood resists the temptation, that so many "comedians" succumb to, of using slap stick to gain laughs. By capturing the charming characteristics of normal everyday people, particularly the Northern culture, that we can all relate to, Wood is 100% successful in producing a comedy which proves that British comedy shows ARE the funniest in the world.

Brilliant stuff, I've always loved Victoria Wood and everything she's ever done. After watching her TV shows there's some of her repertory company, co-star Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, and Duncan Preston. I've never watched Coronation Street as I am not a fan of soaps, but I recognised two of its regulars (Anne Reed and Thelma Barlow) though I didn't know the actresses names. It was good to be introduced to actresses who were new to me, Shobna Gulati and Maxine Peake, as well as to Andrew Dunn.

I've since enjoyed seeing Anne Reed in several TV programmes. And Andrew Dunn in one or two occasional shows. I absolutely love Julie Walters in everything I've ever seen her in. She is a consummate actress who plays every part to perfection. I can't disagree more with the comments about her character. She is extremely eccentric but that's no bad thing, I think she is wonderfully weird. No one else could have possibly played that part, she is Petula.

This is one of my favourite comedy shows with a great selection of colourful characters, each brilliantly performed by an incredibly talented team of artists. They formed such a perfect partnership, that I could certainly imagine them working together. Anyone used to working in what I consider to be a normal environment, such as a factory will be able to to relate to the show. The natural badinage that exists between workmates used to each others company, is wonderfully encapsulated.

Dinnerladies is uniquely british and unsurprisingly does not travel well beyond these shores. There is little physical humour and the references are primarily based on UK culture and the north of England in particular. However, it is also the best example of its type I've ever seen. Victoria Wood's dialogue is fantastic, (Alan Bennett is the only other writer in her league in this regard). The staging is restricted (effectively one set, two rooms) the plots are secondary and contrived because they are of no real significance. It is all merely backdrop for the characters Ms Wood creates and the way they speak to, across and around each other.

A superb example of intelligent writing managing to survive in a world of slapstick