Victoria herself said that Dinnerladies looked old fashioned against the Royle Family but I believe that its format is its strength. I remember watching the first series and thinking this is not as good as I expected from Victoria Wood but you have to watch it again because now I think both the series are genius. Fantastic scripts (apparently there is not an ad-lib, everything is tightly scripted) written brilliantly. It rewards repeated watching and just gets funnier every time you see it. The performances are fantastic from all the cast-special mentions for Andrew Dunn, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Shobna Gulati, Anne Reid and the fantastic Thelma Barlow. Maxine Peake (brilliant actress) was so lucky to get the part of Twinkle as her first acting job. Even the small appearances are wonderfully observed and performed.
I find it incredible that Miss Wood can write, compose, act and play at such an incredibly high standard. Whether other countries could really relate to the humour is a mystery to me but comedy relies on timing and I find myself laughing at US references in Frasier even though I may not know the situation they are referring to. I think thats down to timing. Maybe Dinnerladies will work that way too, 'cos the timing is spot on.If you have watched and not liked it,try it again-you may be very pleasantly surprised. I am watching again for what must be the twentieth time, both my wife and I still laugh out loud at lines we know backwards. That is the combination of writing, performance and timing.I guess it is peculiarly English and will not travel well, but that does not make it any less brilliant. Oct 2012 - I have just watched episode 1 of series 1 , having caught it on Gold. It was the one with which I was originally disappointed . I cannot for the life of me see why now. It just hit the ground running and was a hoot from the beginning. The characters were fully formed and incredibly acted down to the smallest part, for example - the stripper delivers her couple of lines with consummate skill. If I have one criticism it would be Julie Walters' part - the viewer is left to decide whether she is totally barmy or not and she seems a little young to be Victoria Woods' mom. It is a piece of work which can be watched again and again and still find funny stuff and lines which you missed the last time round.
I find it incredible that Miss Wood can write, compose, act and play at such an incredibly high standard. Whether other countries could really relate to the humour is a mystery to me but comedy relies on timing and I find myself laughing at US references in Frasier even though I may not know the situation they are referring to. I think thats down to timing. Maybe Dinnerladies will work that way too, 'cos the timing is spot on.If you have watched and not liked it,try it again-you may be very pleasantly surprised. I am watching again for what must be the twentieth time, both my wife and I still laugh out loud at lines we know backwards. That is the combination of writing, performance and timing.I guess it is peculiarly English and will not travel well, but that does not make it any less brilliant. Oct 2012 - I have just watched episode 1 of series 1 , having caught it on Gold. It was the one with which I was originally disappointed . I cannot for the life of me see why now. It just hit the ground running and was a hoot from the beginning. The characters were fully formed and incredibly acted down to the smallest part, for example - the stripper delivers her couple of lines with consummate skill. If I have one criticism it would be Julie Walters' part - the viewer is left to decide whether she is totally barmy or not and she seems a little young to be Victoria Woods' mom. It is a piece of work which can be watched again and again and still find funny stuff and lines which you missed the last time round.