Dinnerladies

[BeenThruMoreThanALilBit]

Just rewatched it all. Victoria Wood was so talented. Julie Walters such an amazing actress. Actually, the entire ensemble was brilliant. A tiny part of the writing hasn’t withstood the test of time (it’s been almost 23 years ), but the most - almost all - of it is just as relevant and touching and human and incisive as it was back then. It’s like a warm bath, or sitting in front of the fire when it’s snowing outside. Love it.

Wonder if The Detectorists will age in the same way. I think it might.

I rewatched Dinnerladies not long back and thought exactly the same.
A great talent sadly missed :(

All the Dinnerladies episodes and all of Jam & Jerusalem live permanently on my recorded programmes and I watch them often, agree completely with the warm bath or cosy fire feeling, they're my go-to when I'm having an off day too.

Comfort TV at its best. I have all the episodes and Dinnerladies Diaries saved on the hard drive and dh knows if he ever deletes them his life won't be worth living!

It’s such a brilliantly written show, I love watching it and the jokes are funny every time.

Born Christmas Eve so we called her Brenda 😂

I agree, great show.
Family friendly and actually funny without resorting to sex and swearing!

Victoria Wood was incredible.

And really clever writing, too. Sharp wit. Acute social observation. Bren, the main character, was a neglected and abused child, who made inevitable bad choices as an adult, and VW writes so baldly about her insecurities and weaknesses. And there’s actually a plot! From a factory canteen! Anita’s pregnancy; Jean’s DH leaving her; Dolly’s son being gay; death of Stan’s dad; Philippe’s love life… there’s so much there. So brilliant.

Yes. Though I do find it incredibly bittersweet watching since her death. Such a loss.

It is absolutely wonderful. I watch it when I want comfort, even though as you say the wit is quite sharp.
But the feeling is warmth and acceptance.
Victoria Wood was a genius!

I love how VW was insistent on genuine catering equipment being used. Such attention to detail.

I miss Victoria Wood so much....dinnerladies is a go to when I need comfort and a laugh.

"Where's my Clint"?
"Not unless sperm can get through a sash window".
Watch the whole series regularly while I do my job!!

Jean – It’s a load of codswash, dieting. All that misery for what? You could fall under a bus tomorrow.

Dolly – I could. You wouldn’t fit under a bus, it would have to be jacked up.

————-

Tony – All a bloke really wants for Christmas is a voucher that says “Take this to 32 Sycamore Avenue. Mrs Janet Farnsbarnes will be stark naked waiting for you. You can have as long as you like, you get a cup of tea afterwards and you don’t have to have a bloody conversation.”

———-

I fell off a diving board in Guernsey.

I watched it all a while ago. DH was in another room and came through to see what was making me laugh so much.

My favourite has to be where Bren asks Twink about the audition for exotic dancing, she’s describing the moves and then she couldn’t believe they expected her to smile while doing the moves!

“Twelve rounds of white, low-fat spread!”

“Dolly was a beautiful baby, dainty like a little doll. And then WOOF! She looked like a dinghy with plaits.”

“That was puberty.”

“It was not, it was pies.”

Found it:
“It went wobble wobble, thrust thrust, wobble wobble bum..but you know what they expected you to do at the same time? Smile! I said ye can stuff that!”

Sheila: I've got high blood pressure and water retention. Do you know what that gives you?
Bren: Boiling water?

Customer: Do you have that yogurt for your intestines?
Dolly: No.
Customer: It's advertised with singing bacteria.
Dolly: Where was this?
Customer: Well, this was in Carlisle.
Dolly: Well, Carlisle! That's a much more gullible part of the country!

I haven't got the pelvis for a futon

Funnily enough, I watched them all through a few months ago.
Really stood the test of time too.

Babs from Urmston is the best guest part in a sitcom ever.

I can't decide which is funniest, 'Where's my Clint?' or 'Can you smell my Charlie?' I don't know how they ever managed to deliver those lines without laughing.

I can never think about Delius or Delia Smith without also thinking about The Syphilitic Delius Myth.

I think I can recall Victoria Wood saying the BBC treated it a bit shabbily as they considered it old-fashioned. I know quite a few teenagers who absolutely love it. Good writing is good writing.

It annoys me that the final few special episodes are never included with the current repeats.

WHERE'S MY CLINT?

I was going to go on Mastermind but I can't sit on leather.

dinnerladies should be written with a lower case d. That was what Victoria wanted apparently.

I've rarely felt stunned or moved by a celebrity death but I miss the gargantuan talent of Victoria Wood. She was sublime. I have her photo above my toilet.

I rewatch dinnerladies often and it never fails to make me laugh.

I came from Urmston.

there's two ways to get to Urmston.

I love dinnerladies, it's genuine, funny perfection. I think Dolly is my favourite....her viagra rant is splendid and that little face she makes when revealing her son Stephen lives with a microbiologist called Marcus is so wonderful...pathos, resignation, pride, confusion, sort of breaks my heart a little bit every time.

Such amazing writing from VW.

My teens love dinerladies!