Press clippings Page 20
A season of autobiographical comic shorts, where top names in British comedy write, narrate, star and sometimes direct dramatisations of their pasts. It opens with Victoria Wood's film about Eunice, an eight-year-old who is spending a rather gloomy Christmas with her dad in 1961. A visit to Mrs Whitefield's home changes things, as Eunice realises that precious memories can never be forgotten. Chris O'Dowd's story relates his childhood fear and distrust of Santa Claus and his plan to sabotage the big guy in the red suit's visit. It's gentle, nostalgic comedy that aims to leave you with a suitably glowing, festive feeling.
Martin Skegg, The Guardian, 18th December 2010Victoria Wood: Why Eric & Ernie STILL bring me sunshine
Victoria Wood first thought ten years ago of telling the story of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise before they were famous.
Richard Barber, Daily Mail, 10th December 2010Victoria Wood to host Sky1 comedy night
Victoria Wood is to host a night of comedy from performers including Jo Brand at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with the event being broadcast on Sky1.
Matthew Hemley, The Stage, 2nd December 2010Victoria Wood: 'I feel at the BBC I'm not trusted'
The comedian and writer on how difficult it is to work for the BBC, her insecurity - and her troubled relationship with food.
Decca Aitkenhead, The Guardian, 27th September 2010Victoria Wood to star in Morecambe and Wise film
Comedians Victoria Wood and Vic Reeves have signed up to star in a feature-length film about the comic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.
BBC News, 9th September 2010Katherine Jakeways is the new Victoria Wood. And that's official. Her character comedy is so acutely observed and so sharp that it's in danger of causing permanent injury. Sheila Hancock narrates this story of life in a small Northamptonshire town that's home to the funniest of locals. Miss this at your peril.
Radio Times, 8th June 2010Victoria Wood set for Morecambe and Wise drama
Comedian and actress Victoria Wood is to star in a TV drama about the early years of Morecambe and Wise, playing Eric Morecambe's mother.
BBC News, 27th April 2010Comediennes are not the most conventionally alluring creatures on television - Dawn French, Victoria Wood and Jo Brand, to name a few, have often exploited their comfortable shape to hilarious ends.
So it will come as no surprise that striking funny-girl Olivia Lee, whose one-woman sketch show - Dirty, Sexy, Funny - starts on Comedy Central next week, has struggled to marry her glamorous appearance with her comic buffoonery.
"It has been hard sometimes getting people to take me seriously as a comedienne because people look at me and think: 'She's not going to be funny', says Olivia, 29. But that's a good thing because I am changing the cliched perception and bringing a bit of glam to it. You don't have to look funny to be funny - and there are always prosthetics which I can use in some of the sketches, although that is more for disguise in the hidden-camera bits."
Richard Kay, Daily Mail, 5th March 2010Victoria Wood moves behind camera after BBC snub
Irked that the BBC relegated her promised Christmas Day special to Christmas Eve, Victoria Wood says she plans to give up performing.
Tim Walker, edited by Richard Eden, The Guardian, 13th January 2010The marvellous Victoria Wood returned to our screens the other night with her first Christmas special in nearly a decade - a show which reunited her with, among others, her old friend Julie "Mrs Overall" Walters.
Here, to savour while we're still in the mood, is a not-remotely-serious documentary, showing how it was all was put together. Sort of.
Mike Ward, Daily Star, 30th December 2009