Radio Times GUIDE TO TV COMEDY

Radio Times GUIDE TO TV COMEDY

Victoria Wood—As Seen On TV

Country of origin UK

Broadcaster BBC

Production company

Type of comedy Sketch/Standup

Total number of episodes 13 editions

Length of programme 12 x 35 mins
1 x 40 mins

Format Colour

Transmission information Series One (6 x 35 mins) 11 Jan–15 Feb 1985
BBC2 Fri 9pm
Series Two (6 x 35 mins) 10 Nov–15 Dec 1986
BBC2 Fri 9pm
Special (40 mins) 18 Dec 1987
BBC2 Fri 9pm

Main cast Victoria Wood
Julie Walters
Celia Imrie
Duncan Preston
Susie Blake

Credits Writer Victoria Wood
Director/producer Geoff Posner

Synopsis/critique A regular company of fine performers, good production values, incisive scripts and a snappy pace added up to a five-star gem in As Seen On TV. The series rarely dipped below the brilliant and featured numerous delights, such as Wood's hilariously authentic dialogue and her surprisingly stinging satirical characters (Susie Blake as a continuity announcer with 'attitude', incredibly bitchy daytime TV show hosts, venomously cruel gossips, and so on). All this plus the screamingly funny continuing TV soap spoof Acorn Antiques, with its wobbly sets, sensationalist plots, appalling acting, crude camerawork and dopey dialogue, uncannily reminiscent of bad soaps in general and Crossroads in particular.
Wood was the driving force but she was wonderfully served by a cast that seemed instinctively to understand how to reap maximum effect from already fine lines. As Seen On TV firmly established Wood as the leader of a happily increasing group of female comics (French and Saunders, Ruby Wax, Tracey Ullman, Emma Thompson) thriving in what was, hitherto, a virtually exclusively male domain.
Note. Highlights from the series were broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in two half-hour programmes (18 and 25 April 1992), as Victoria Wood—As Heard On TV.

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Country of origin	UK
Broadcaster	BBC
Production company
Type of comedy	Sketch/Standup
Total number of episodes	13 editions
Length of programme	12 x 35 mins 1 x 40 mins
Format	Colour
Transmission information	Series One (6 x 35 mins) 11 Jan–15 Feb 1985 BBC2 Fri 9pm Series Two (6 x 35 mins) 10 Nov–15 Dec 1986 BBC2 Fri 9pm Special (40 mins) 18 Dec 1987 BBC2 Fri 9pm
Main cast	Victoria Wood Julie Walters Celia Imrie Duncan Preston Susie Blake
Credits	Writer Victoria Wood Director/producer Geoff Posner
Synopsis/critique	A regular company of fine performers, good production values, incisive scripts and a snappy pace added up to a five-star gem in As Seen On TV. The series rarely dipped below the brilliant and featured numerous delights, such as Wood's hilariously authentic dialogue and her surprisingly stinging satirical characters (Susie Blake as a continuity announcer with 'attitude', incredibly bitchy daytime TV show hosts, venomously cruel gossips, and so on). All this plus the screamingly funny continuing TV soap spoof Acorn Antiques, with its wobbly sets, sensationalist plots, appalling acting, crude camerawork and dopey dialogue, uncannily reminiscent of bad soaps in general and Crossroads in particular. Wood was the driving force but she was wonderfully served by a cast that seemed instinctively to understand how to reap maximum effect from already fine lines. As Seen On TV firmly established Wood as the leader of a happily increasing group of female comics (French and Saunders, Ruby Wax, Tracey Ullman, Emma Thompson) thriving in what was, hitherto, a virtually exclusively male domain. Note. Highlights from the series were broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in two half-hour programmes (18 and 25 April 1992), as Victoria Wood—As Heard On TV.