dinnerladies

I absolutely love this show! It's the highlight of my week, watching it on a Friday night. It has me in hysterics from start to finish. I've heard a lot of people say they don't like it, but I just can't see why. It captures men and women perfectly, and that's REAL men and women, not just stereotypes. The way Tony just gives up when the girls start talking about PMS or blokes, the way Dolly criticises Jean in practically every other sentence, the way Bren and Tony never quite get together and you really want them to, the way Stan won't go in the ladies loo... Hilarious every time! Ok, it hasn't got MUCH staying power, as they talk about mostly current issues, but I hope it goes on for a good long time. I f every comedy was as good as this, the world would be a much happier place. Victoria Wood is a comic genius and totally underrated. She totally understands real people's thoughts and feelings! If only Friends was this good...

A whimsical observational comedy from Victoria Wood. As another contributor said, not a million miles away from the works of Allan Bennett. It featured a mixture of Wood's 'repertory company', familiar from her other shows such as Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie and talented Northern English character actors such as Sue Devaney and Thelma Barlow (both veterans of the long-running soap 'Coronation Street') The main characters were richly detailed, the lesser ones caricatures, but very recognisable types. The one false note, I feel, was struck by the character of the heroine Bren's alcoholic, fantasist mother who made occasional raucous appearances. She was a grotesque figure, out of the wilder reaches of Charles Dickens, and seemed to have been included merely to give an opportunity for Wood's old pal Julie Walters to overact shamelessly. Victoria Wood bravely decided to end this popular show after only two series while it was still fresh (like the dinnerladies' bacon butties).

'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.

It might not sound like an amusing premise, but believe me, it's funny. This is a great show from Victoria Wood, with a wonderful ensemble cast, including Celia Imrie and Julie Walters, which has got to lead to some laughs. As well as humour it's got its more serious moments, making it all-round great entertainment. Definitely one to watch.

Dinnerladies ranks as one of the best comedies of all all time, it's as witty, hilarious and all out lovely as it was when it first aired.

It's consistent from beginning to end, the humour remains sharp and witty throughout, the characters are incredible, and such is the writing, and the acting, that you care for them. You will see this particularly so in the episode Christine.

Wood's writing was so brilliant, and so selfless, she could have saved the best lines for herself, but she didn't. The lines were generously spread around, however, Walters always seemed to steal the show, Petula Gordino became more and more extreme, and more funny.

Favourite episodes include Fog and the glorious finale Toast.

This was a wonderful, clever, funny comedy, I loved it 9/10.