Victoria Wood

One of our best-loved comedians and a trailblazer for women in comedy, Victoria Wood first hit our screens in 1974 as a winner on the ITV talent show New Faces. This was the start of a career  in  television and stand-up notable  for its sharp observational comedy and a focus on the funnier side of everyday life.

Victoria was born in Prestwich in 1953 and although she was a bright girl, she hated her schooldays and had very few friends. But on joining the Rochdale Youth Theatre Workshop she knew she’d found the right place for her budding talents.

As a performer, writer and singer she won four Bafta tv awards and won millions of fans with Victoria Wood: As seen on tv - complete with its iconic Acorn Antiques sketch; Pat and Margaret and Dinnerladies.

One of her Baftas came for the one-off An audience with Victoria Wood, with the memorable Ballad of Barry and Freda ‘Let’s do it’ song.

And beside her tv comedy, there were mammoth sell-out tours, documentaries and serious drama.

Her cancer diagnosis in 2015 was known only to her immediate circle, so her death the following year at the age of 62 came as a shock, even to many who’d work closely with her.

Her legacy was summed up perfectly by Caroline Aherne - who herself died just a few weeks later. Victoria Wood, she said, had ‘a rare gift of making us laugh at the mundanities of life with a humour that was never cruel, and only ever warm.’