Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas: Difference between revisions

*Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas*
Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Victoria Wood
Starring	Victoria Wood; Julie Walters; Anton du Beke; Delia Smith; Jayne Torvill; Christopher Dean; Reece Shearsmith; Emily Atack; Steve Elias; Jennie Dale; Tony Maudsley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Producers	John Rushton; Victoria Wood (executive producer)
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	24 December 2009
Related
	Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays; Victoria Wood As Seen On TV; Victoria Wood With All The Trimmings;

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Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas is a comedy sketch show written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood, broadcast on Christmas Eve 2009.

The programme, Wood's first sketch show for nine years, was described by Wood as being "a whole night's telly crammed into one hour".^[1] The special featured a spoof documentary titled Beyond The Marigolds,^[2] in which Wood's long-time collaborator Julie Walters reprised her role as "Bo Beaumont", the actress behind Acorn Antiques character "Mrs. Overall". Beyond The Marigolds saw Beaumont's foray into the world of celebrity programming such as I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Dancing on Ice and Strictly Come Dancing. The sketch included special guest appearances from Delia Smith, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, and Anton du Beke.

Also featured in Mid Life Christmas was The Mid Life Olympics 2009, a series of sketches that include events such as the "4 by 400 Hedge Trimming" and "Ladies Outdoor Parking", featuring Wood as the commentator.^[3]

The programme achieved a total viewing audience of 7.45 million viewers and was the 12th highest rated show on BBC One and the 17th highest rated across all channels for the week ending 27 December 2009.^[4]

Contemporary and later press reports suggested that Wood was unhappy with the BBC's handling of the production and the decision to schedule it for Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day as she had expected.^[5]

References

^ "BBC One Programmes: Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas". BBC. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
^ BBC Press Office (19 September 2009). "Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas press pack". BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
^ BBC Press Office (19 September 2009). "Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas press pack". BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
^ http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30/
^ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6867117/How-BBC-bosses-ruined-Christmas-for-Victoria-Wood.html

External links

/

[1] "BBC One Programmes: Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas". BBC. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.

[2] BBC Press Office (19 September 2009). "Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas press pack". BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2009.

[3] BBC Press Office (19 September 2009). "Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas press pack". BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2009.

[4] ttp://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30/

[5] ttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6867117/How-BBC-bosses-ruined-Christmas-for-Victoria-Wood.html

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{Infobox television
 | show_name = Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas
+| image =
+| image_size =
+| caption =
 | genre = [[Comedy]]
 | picture_format = 16:9
@@ Line 10: / Line 13: @@
 | network = [[BBC One]]
 | first_aired = 24 December 2009
+| last_aired =
+| num_series =
 | producer = John Rushton<br>[[Victoria Wood]] (executive producer)
 | related = *''[[Victoria Wood: What Larks! Or... What I Did on My Holidays]]''
@@ Line 18: / Line 23: @@
 '''''Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas''''' is a comedy sketch show written by and starring comedian [[Victoria Wood]], broadcast on [[Christmas Eve]] 2009.
-The programme, Wood's first sketch show for nine years, was described by Wood as being "a whole night's telly crammed into one hour. Christmas is a stressful time and, by compressing an evening's viewing into 60 minutes, we hope families will have more time for other festive traditions such as arguing with relatives and defrosting turkeys under the hot tap".<ref>{{cite web
+The programme, Wood's first sketch show for nine years, was described by Wood as being "a whole night's telly crammed into one hour".<ref>{{cite web
+  | last =
+  | first =
+  | authorlink =
   | title = BBC One Programmes: ''Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas''
+  | work =
   | publisher = [[BBC]]
   | date = 2009-12-14
   | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pl0zp
+  | format =
+  | doi =
   | accessdate = 2009-12-17}}</ref> The special featured a spoof documentary titled ''Beyond The Marigolds'',<ref>{{cite web
+  | last =
+  | first =
+  | authorlink =
   |author=BBC Press Office
   | title = ''Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas'' press pack
+  | work =
   | publisher = [[BBC]]
   | date = 2009-09-19
   | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/12_december/02/victoria_wood.shtml
+  | doi =
   | accessdate = 2009-12-10}}</ref> in which Wood's long-time collaborator [[Julie Walters]] reprised her role as "Bo Beaumont", the actress behind ''Acorn Antiques'' character "Mrs. Overall". ''Beyond The Marigolds'' saw Beaumont's foray into the world of celebrity programming such as ''[[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!]]'', ''[[Dancing on Ice]]'' and ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]''. The sketch included special guest appearances from [[Delia Smith]], [[Jayne Torvill]] and [[Christopher Dean]], and [[Anton du Beke]].
@@ Line 42: / Line 58: @@
   | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/12_december/02/victoria_wood.shtml
   | doi =
+  | accessdate = 2009-12-10}}</ref>
-  | accessdate = 2009-12-10}}</ref> There was an homage to BBC costume drama (''[[Lark Rise to Candleford]]'', ''[[Little Dorrit]]'' and ''[[Cranford (TV series)|Cranford]]'') with the sketch ''Lark Pies to Cranchesterford''; a series of parodies of television adverts; and a send-up of ''[[The Apprentice (UK TV series)|The Apprentice]]'' in which [[Alan Sugar|Sir Alan Sugar]]'s sidekicks [[Margaret Mountford]] and [[Nick Hewer]] (portrayed inimitably by Wood and ''Mid Life Christmas'' choreographer [[Stephen Mear]]) share an uncharacteristic jazz dance together.
-To close the special, Wood reprised her famous song ''The Ballad of Barry and Freda'' (''Let's Do It''), first performed on her sketch show ''[[Victoria Wood as Seen on TV]]'' in 1987. The dance sequence accompanying the song spoofed the elaborate [[Busby Berkeley]] sequences of the 1930s and 1940s with, as the BBC described it, plenty of "midriff bulge".
 The programme achieved a total viewing audience of 7.45 million viewers and was the 12th highest rated show on BBC One and the 17th highest rated across all channels for the week ending 27 December 2009.<ref>http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-30/</ref>
+Contemporary and later press reports suggested that Wood was unhappy with the BBC's handling of the production and the decision to schedule it for Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day as she had expected.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6867117/How-BBC-bosses-ruined-Christmas-for-Victoria-Wood.html</ref>
-A 'behind the scenes' documentary about the making of the show titled ''Victoria Wood: What Larks!'' aired on [[BBC1]] on 30 December 2009, featuring additional material.
-Wood's son Henry Durham made small cameo appearances in both the special and the behind the scenes documentary. In the documentary, his end titles credit was placed over a still of himself taken from the programme, whereas in the main programme, his name was simply included with the other artists, coming between Jennie Dale and Steve Elias.
-When the programme was repeated on BBC One on 5 June 2010 it was re-titled ''Victoria Wood's Short Term Memories''. For this version, the opening stand-up section and [[Reece Shearsmith]]'s vicar monologue were removed. Both edits have been repeated on GOLD.''
-Contemporary and later press reports suggested that Wood was unhappy with the BBC's handling of the production and the decision to schedule it for Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day as she had expected.<ref>https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6867117/How-BBC-bosses-ruined-Christmas-for-Victoria-Wood.html</ref><ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1237939/Victoria-Wood-furious-BBC-Christmas-Day-snub.html</ref>
 ==References==

v t e Victoria Wood
Sketch shows	The Summer Show (1975) Wood and Walters (1981) As Seen on TV (1985–87; episodes; Acorn Antiques) Julie Walters and Friends (1991) All Day Breakfast (1992) With All the Trimmings (2000) Mid Life Christmas (2009)
Theatre	In at the Death (1978) Talent (1978) Good Fun (1980) Acorn Antiques: The Musical! (2005) That Day We Sang (2011)
Television dramas	Talent (1979) Nearly a Happy Ending (1980) Happy Since I Met You (1981) Pat and Margaret (1994) Housewife, 49 (2006) Eric and Ernie (2011) Loving Miss Hatto (2012) That Day We Sang (2014)
Situation comedies	Victoria Wood (1989) Dinnerladies (1998–2000; episodes)
Television documentaries	Victoria Wood: Moonwalking (2004) Victoria Wood's Big Fat Documentary (2004) Victoria's Empire (2007) Victoria Wood's Nice Cup of Tea (2013)