Julie Walters

Marking 70 years since the Queen ascended the throne, Britain’s best-loved stars share memories of the changes they have lived through during her reign.

Remembering The Queen through the decades of her reign.

Based on the short story from Terry Pratchett's book of Christmas tales entitled "Father Christmas's Fake Beard". It tells the story of a quintessentially English town which is thrown into disarray by a huge snowfall and the dramatic appearance of a 14-foot tall Abominable Snow Baby. Shunned and feared by the local townsfolk, Snow Baby is rescued by the indomitable Granny who along with grandson Albert, welcomes him into her home, showering her new pet with love and affection, changing the town’s perception and helping the community overcome their initial prejudices.

Cookery and food disasters aren't the exclusive domain of home cooks... things famously go wrong for TV chefs for millions of viewers to see. Chefs including Gino D'ACampo, James Martin, Ainsley Harriott and Lisa Faulkner watch and remember those moments where it all went horribly wrong - on telly. Chefs' Burnt Bits blends some of the best food bloopers in TV history to cook up a classy and funny dish of moments where things didn't go quite according to plan in the kitchen.

Mary Lennox is born in India to wealthy British parents who never wanted her. When her parents suddenly die, she is sent back to England to live with her uncle. She meets her sickly cousin, and the two children find a wondrous secret garden lost in the grounds of Misselthwaite Manor.

5.5/10
6.6%

This one-hour special documentary celebrates 25 star-studded years of the National Television Awards, with contributions from stars including Graham Norton and Simon Cowell.

A young Scottish singer, Rose-Lynn Harlan, dreams of making it as a country artist in Nashville after being released from prison.

7.2/10
9.2%

Since his arrival at Buckingham palace, Rex lives a life of luxury. Top dog, he has superseded his three fellow Corgis in Her Majesty’s heart. His arrogance can be quite irritating. When he causes a diplomatic incident during an official dinner with the President of the United States, he falls into disgrace. Betrayed by one of his peers, Rex becomes a stray dog in the streets of London. How can he redeem himself? In love, he will find the resources to surpass himself in the face of great danger…

4.8/10

Members of the weasel family are often portrayed as the villains of the natural world, but do they deserve this reputation? By following the adventures of a tiny orphaned weasel named Twiz, this film reveals the true nature of these pocket-sized predators, which relative to their size have a bite more powerful than a tiger’s. In Yorkshire, a unique garden rigged with over 50 cameras gives a rare insight into the dramatic life of a mother stoat as she tries to raise her first family. And new science uncovers the problem-solving abilities of the honey badger, the secrets behind the ferret’s legendary flexibility, and the remarkable sense of smell of the wolverine. Together, using their extraordinary skills, this feisty and fearless family have conquered the planet.

Garden gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet, recruit renown detective, Sherlock Gnomes, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.

5.1/10
2.7%

In Depression-era London, a now-grown Jane and Michael Banks, along with Michael's three children, are visited by the enigmatic Mary Poppins following a personal loss. Through her unique magical skills, and with the aid of her friend Jack, she helps the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives.

6.7/10
7.9%

Five years after meeting her three fathers, Sophie Sheridan prepares to open her mother’s hotel. In 1979, young Donna Sheridan meets the men who each could be Sophie’s biological father.

6.7/10
8%

Liverpool, 1978: What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme-fatale, the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame, and her young lover, British actor Peter Turner, quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort.

6.7/10
8%

Actor Julie Walters rides upon the UK's most beautiful coastal railways.

8.1/10

Paddington, now happily settled with the Browns, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy, but it is stolen.

7.8/10
10%

A warm and witty celebration of Sue Townsend's life and writing, the story is told with the help of children from Sue's old school, her friends and family, as well as the comedy and literary stars she inspired - including Stephen Mangan, Ian Hislop, David Nicholls, Isy Suttie and Adrian Scarborough. Drawing on Sue Townsend's own archive of letters and notebooks, the film also features unseen photographs, footage and even her appointment diary, which includes poignant entries about her struggles with ill health, written in a humorous style instantly recognisable from her books.

7.3/10

Paul Finchley is a bona fide "national treasure", one half of a popular, long-running comedy double act. The famous comedian's world is thrown into chaos when he is accused of historic sexual abuse.

7.4/10
9.1%

In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Eilis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.

7.5/10
9.7%

Epic drama set in the summer of 1932 where India dreams of independence, but the British are clinging to power. Set against the sweeping grandeur of the Himalayas and tea plantations of Northern India, the drama tells the rich and explosive story of the decline of the British Empire and the birth of modern India, from both sides of the experience. At the heart of the story lie the implications and ramifications of the tangled web of passions, rivalries and clashes that define the lives of those brought together in this summer which will change everything.

7.2/10
8.3%

Julie Walters tells the story of how Morph, Shaun the Sheep and that cheese-loving man Wallace and his dog Gromit first came to life.

7.6/10

Twitter feed Very British Problems is adapted for television. The show features different famous faces talking about the crushing weirdness and awkwardness of life as a Brit.

7.2/10

A look at the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.

5.9/10
4.2%

A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a new home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family.

7.2/10
9.7%

This film follows the remarkable and inspirational true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night.

6.8/10
6.3%

The comedy film sees TV Burp star Hill embark on a road trip to Blackpool with his Nan when he discovers that his hamster only has one week to live.

3.7/10
3.3%

A heart-warming tale about friendship, honour & courage, which sees a young boy become a man as he embarks on a quest to become a knight.

6/10
1.3%

The witch from Pixar's Brave uses magical illustrations to tell the legend of a power-obsessed prince who sought a magic spell that would allow him to wrest control of a kingdom from his brothers, only to destroy that kingdom and his own fate as well.

6.2/10

Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Mérida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Mérida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Mérida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Mérida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.

7.1/10
7.8%

A bumper recollection of the BAFTA-winning comedienne's most recent TV treats, including the definitive costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford, the Midlife Olympics, and the further adventures of Acorn Antiques star Bo Beaumont - alias Julie Walters.

Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.

8.1/10
9.6%

A version of Shakespeare's play, set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes. Garden gnomes Gnomeo and Juliet have as many obstacles to overcome as their quasi namesakes when they are caught up in a feud between neighbors. But with plastic pink flamingos and lawnmower races in the mix, can this young couple find lasting happiness?

5.9/10
5.5%

To mark the release two weeks ago of the eighth and final movie in the series, Robbie Coltrane narrates a countdown of the movie franchise's best moments. From Harry's first meeting with Ron and Hermione aboard the Hogwarts Express through to magical mysteries.

7.7/10

Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.

7.7/10
7.7%

A docudrama about the life of the former UK Secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam.

7.9/10

As Harry begins his sixth year at Hogwarts, he discovers an old book marked as 'Property of the Half-Blood Prince', and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort's dark past.

7.6/10
8.3%

Just after losing her husband to a similar condition, Dr Anne Turner is diagnosed with a fatal neurological condition. So she plans to end her life herself. Based on a true story.

7.5/10

This is the time of year when friends and family gather round the television to exchange the traditional greeting -“Don’t bother, there’s nothing on”. Well this Christmas join Victoria Wood for her ‘Mid Life Christmas’ featuring highlights from the Mid Life Olympics 2009, with the most unlikely sporting events and a dance number that brings together the killer combo of midriff bulge. Victoria then dons a bonnet and corset, for the popular costume drama Lark Pies to Cranchesterford, and revel in the further adventures of soap star Bo Beaumont played by long term collaborator Julie Walters. DVD extras include the searing in-depth documentary (!) ‘What larks!’

6.5/10

An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on a Greek island is about to marry off the spirited young daughter she's raised alone. But, the daughter has secretly invited three of her mother's ex-lovers in the hopes of finding her biological father.

6.4/10
5.4%

The story of the rise of morals crusader Mary Whitehouse in the UK in the 1960's.

7.2/10

This short documentary is about the making of the 2008 film musical "Mamma Mia!".

Returning for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned to find that his warnings about the return of Lord Voldemort have been ignored. Left with no choice, Harry takes matters into his own hands, training a small group of students – dubbed 'Dumbledore's Army' – to defend themselves against the dark arts.

7.5/10
7.8%

A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman.

7.1/10
5.8%

Sally Lockhart has struck a man dead with just three words, sent to her in a message from her father just before he drowned in the South China Seas. But unfortunately, Sally has no idea what the words The Seven Blessings mean. Before long, she is drawn into a mystery filled with opium, secrets from her own past and, at the heart of it all, the Ruby of Agrapur.

6.7/10

Acorn Antiques: The Musical! is the all-singing, all-dancing and fully overalled stage version of the beloved TV spoof. The triumphant West End production brought together Julie Walters (Mrs Overall), Celia Imrie (Miss Babs) and Duncan Preston (Mr Clifford) - the original cast of the series. It was directed by Sir Trevor Nunn ("Les Miserables", "Woman in White", "Starlight Express") and written by Julie's understudy, the award-winning Victoria Wood. Filmed during the sell-out run at the beautiful Haymarket Theatre, the musical features an all-star supporting cast of Josie Lawrence, Neil Morrissey & Sally Ann Triplett.

8.4/10

A shy teenage boy trying to escape the influence of his domineering mother, has his world changed when he begins to work for a retired actress.

6.7/10
4.8%

Drama based on real-life events. Marie Stubbs, a diminutive Glaswegian headmistress who is coming up to retirement age, takes on one last challenge: to improve the fortunes of St George's School in north west London which was facing closure after the notorious murder of its previous headmaster, Philip Lawrence, in 1995 as he was breaking up a fight between his pupils and those from a rival school.

7.2/10

Starring Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, with the snobby continuity announcer played by Susie Blake, Acorn Antiques was a mini soap opera set in a shop on the outskirts of Manchesterford. Viewers were gripped with the everyday dramas that beset Miss Babs (Celia Imrie), Berta (Victoria Wood) and the glamorous Mrs Overall (Julie Walters). Now each thrilling episode is available together for the first time on DVD, including "Babs and the Cup of Coffee", "Mrs Overall and her Apron" and the memorable classic "Berta coming through the Doorway". Re-live the drama as Mrs Overall serves up another batch of macaroons and Babs discusses the future of the shop. What will be this week's riveting cliff hanger? Will the set survive? Written by Victoria Wood, Acorn Antiques was Produced and Directed by Geoff Posner and first transmitted as part of Victoria Wood as Seen on TV… in January 1985.

Set at the end of the 1960s, as Swaziland is about to receive independence from United Kingdom, the film follows the young Ralph Compton, at 12, through his parents' traumatic separation, till he's 14.

6.8/10
5.4%

The film tells the story of two boys who become friends at the start of the Troubles in 1970. The boys share an obsession with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, with the consequence that they run away to Australia.

7.3/10

Harry, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts for another magic-filled year. Harry comes face to face with danger yet again, this time in the form of escaped convict, Sirius Black—and turns to sympathetic Professor Lupin for help.

7.9/10
9%

A former alcoholic returns home after ten years in prison for the murder of her husband. As her recollection of the murder returns, things take a different turn.

6.5/10
9.5%

Members of a Yorkshire branch of the Women's Institute cause controversy when they pose nude for a charity calendar.

6.9/10
7.4%

The Canterbury Tales is a series of six single dramas that originally aired on BBC One in 2003. Each story is an adaptation of one of Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales which are transferred to a modern, 21st century setting, but still set along the traditional Pilgrims' route to Canterbury.

7.1/10

The funny, heart-warming and moving new film, from director Lewis Gilbert. When Violet Heaney's three daughters return home for her funeral, each sister finds her own way of coping with her loss. For Teresa, the eldest, it's herbal tea, obsessive cleaning and hectoring her long-suffering husband, Frank. Catherine, the youngest, resorts to retail therapy, industrial quantities of marijuana and manic phone calls to her elusive boyfriend in Barcelona. Middle daughter Mary seeks consolation in professional detachment and the arms of her lover, Mike. Like Mary, Mike's a doctor. Unlike Mary, he's married... The sisters soon discover that their early memories have grown fuzzy over time and the past becomes fuzzier still as they attempt to cope with their mother's parting.

5.6/10

Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.

7.4/10
8.3%

Chris Maurer is killed the day after his 21st birthday and his grieving mother, Angela Maurer, is unable to come to grips with that fact. She is taken advantage of by a self-interested journalist who only cares about getting a front-page story and she is completely dissatisfied with the way the police are handling the case. A local shopkeeper tries to help her through these trying times, but to no avail. The police arrest Chris' friend Ryan McGuinness, after they learn Chris may have spent the night with Ryan's girlfriend but Chris also had a testy relationship with his brother-in-law. The Good Samaritan who found Chris bloodied and beaten on the sidewalk agrees to participate in a reconstruction of the crime. In the end, a simple slip of the tongue reveals the identity of the killer and then the motive for the murder.

7.6/10

The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002. The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.

7.7/10

Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard -- with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths -- and about the villain who's to blame.

7.6/10
8.1%

A younger boy falls in love with a tragic girl who flirts with, and manipulates, her older suitors in 1800s Russia.

4.9/10

Drama - A NYC psychiatrist is diagnosed with leukemia - and when he finds out he was adopted, he travels to England in search of his birth mother and some answers. - Paul Reiser, Amber Sealey, Lachele Carl

7.7/10

Set against the background of the 1984 Miners' Strike, 11-year-old Billy Elliot stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family's set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes.

7.7/10
8.5%

The comedienne stars in this festive sketch show, alongside a host of celebrity guests.

7.6/10

Oliver Twist is a 1999 television mini-series produced by ITV based on the book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

7.7/10

A series of monologues.

8.8/10

Belfast 1972: The politically naive Bernie is trying to bring up a normal family in less than normal surroundings. Her best friend is accidentally shot dead by the IRA, and her neighbours are constantly raided by the army. In this climate of fear she stands up and condemns the murders. Criticising both factions, her call for a ceasefire is interpreted as an attack against the IRA, and as her peace movement takes momentum, she and her family are placed in the frontline.

6.3/10
8.4%

Dinnerladies is a BBC sitcom written by and starring Victoria Wood that chronicles the antics of a group of workers in a canteen in the north of England. Bren tries to maintain a semblance of order in amongst the chaos, while dealing with the canteen supervisor, slightly sex-obsessed cancer sufferer Tony. Dolly and Jean are the bickering menopausal older women, always at odds but best friends beneath it all. Then there's thick-as-two-short-planks Anita, and the terminally uninterested Twinkle, more concerned with having a good time than anything else. Making up the motley crew are military man handyman Stan, all rules and regulations, and ditzy Philippa, who never seems to get anything right.

7.6/10

Two British best friends and in-laws Dawn and Jackie work together at a factory. When Dawn is diagnosed with a brain tumor Jackie shares $100,000 she's got from her secret lover with Dawn to fulfil her dream - a visit to Las Vegas. They buy two tickets and fly there...

6.6/10

A televised pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk featuring various celebrities.

Award-winning war correspondent Guy Foster, distraught after the loss of his first wife, joins a cruise to Cape Town, where he meets beautiful and mysterious Melissa. A sophisticated blonde PR girl, Melissa is travelling with an exuberant group of media friends. Guy falls desperately in love with the exotic Melissa and she suggests they marry. But while they celebrate, dark events begin to take place. An elderly widower is ‘accidentally’ lost overboard. The bodies of a middle-aged couple are discovered in Cape Town. Then one of Melissa’s friends is brutally killed. The finger of suspicion falls on Guy – and when Melissa herself is killed, he is found bending over her bloodied corpse.

7/10

A man tries to commit suicide for the love of his goldfish, but finds it surprisingly difficult to accomplish.

In 1950s England, sailor Harold Guppy arrives in a small seaside town looking for his estranged brother. After a brief reunion, Harold finds a room for rent in the house of Mrs. Beasley, her meek husband and their teenage daughter, Joyce. It's clear that Harold has a troubled past, but his future is about to get more perilous yet. Despite the rosy surface, Harold soon finds himself in a tawdry sexual tug-of-war that won't end well.

6.3/10
1.4%

After meeting her old school friend Sandra Delaney, who now works as a stripper, pub owner Maureen Hardcastle decides to spice up her flagging business by turning it into a male stripper club, with the help of untrustworthy businessman Billy Bowman.

6.6/10

Jamie looks after his son Jake while his wife works all hours.

7.8/10

Unexpected events occur over a long weekend when Pat, a glamorous British born star of American soaps, returns home to plug her auto biography on television and meets, for the first time since they were teenagers, Margaret her plain, fat and frumpy younger sister. The meeting is painful for both sisters highlighting the vast differences in their lives and resurrecting painful memories of their unhappy childhood with their uncaring mother. The tabloid press smell a juicy story and a race ensues to trace the current whereabouts of the long lost errant mother...

8.4/10

A documentary about actor Michael Caine. Narrated by Caine himself, it includes interviews of his family, friends and colleagues and clips from some of his films.

Alan Bleasdale's comic crime caper for Channel 4 about a former getaway driver desperate to leave his life of crime behind. Featuring Alfred Molina, David Ross, Amanda Mealing, Andrew Schofield and Julie Walters. Raymond Murtagh's Requim Apache tells the story of Hamish, who was once one of the criminal underworld's best getaway drivers. Now a new father and retired to the Suffolk countryside, he has to watch the baby at home alone. However, Hamish's peaceful and idyllic new life is shattered when his past rears its ugly head once again, and the old gang comes over for a visit. They make him an offer he dare not refuse to take on one last bank job. However, with no babysitter available, he is forced to take the baby with him.

8.2/10

A woman's fight to adopt a war baby from the Third World after becoming unable to conceive.

The film is based on a true incident in Le Mans, France in 1933 called the Papin murder case, where two sisters brutally murdered their employer and her daughter. The murder shocked the country, and there was much speculation about the sisters, including allegations that they were having an incestous lesbian affair with each other.

6.6/10
6.3%

Diana and Deric have an ideal marriage: they thrive in each other's company, they're funny, and they enjoy their two grown children and Deric's dotty mother; the trouble is, Diana can no longer walk and her malady defies medical diagnosis. To care for Diana, Deric is letting his business slide, but at a civic luncheon, he is seated next to Aileen Armitage, a novelist who is blind. They have a nice time, and on the sly, Diana contacts Aileen to made an odd request. Diana's declining health and her resolve bring this triangle of unlikely friends to a surprising place.

7.4/10

Margaret (Lena Headey) is a shy, pale, middle-class Englishwoman who is reluctantly engaged to her older, twittish neighbor Syl Monro (David Threlfall). Both bride- and groom-to-be still live with their mothers in the humdrum suburb of Croydon. However Margaret has been acting strangely ever since a vacation in Egypt, where she stayed with her mother's friend Marie-Claire (Catherine Schell). She secretly despises Syl, but does not resist when her mother Monica (Julie Walters), who has repressed the failure of her own matrimony, insists on marriage for the sake of social convention.

6.2/10
7.3%

Gerald is a smart, young, high-flying American banker. Everything is great until his wife finds another woman's underwear in their bedroom and subsequently throws him out. He finds lodgings with Monica, a recently divorced 50-year old housewife, who is smitten with Gerald. But after their first night of love, Gerald avoids her. Monica feels used and betrayed until Gerald confesses he likes to dress up as a woman. Monica learns to accept and eventually support Geraldine, Gerald's alter ego. Based on the novel by Monica Jay.

5.7/10
4%

Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast is a 50-minute television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood. It was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day 1992.

Mavis (Liza Minnelli) was a chorus line dancer on Broadway. Just as she was on the verge of getting more prominent roles, she fell in love. Her full-of-himself boyfriend moved them to Buffalo, far from the theater scene. As a musician, he plays with a band in the local clubs, often with the very talented Mavis singing at his elbow. But, they are just two bit players, mostly because of his total lack of ambition. On the side, Mavis runs a dance studio for ordinary folks. In her classes, among others, are a lovely nurse, a librarian, a lady with an overbearing husband, a lady with an unemployed son, a bossy middle aged housewife (Julie Walters) and a lone, divorced, very shy male. The studio pianist is a strong-willed senior (Shelley Winters). One day, a woman who operates a more prominent dance school in Buffalo invites Mavis and her class to perform a number in a charity dance recital.

6.4/10

GBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray, the Militant tendency-supporting Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson, the headmaster of a school for disturbed children. The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council — in an interview in the G.B.H. DVD Bleasdale recounts an accidental meeting with Hatton before the series, who indicates that he has caught wind of Bleasdale's intentions but does not mind as long as the actor playing him is "handsome". In normal parlance, the initials "GBH" refer to the criminal charge of grievous bodily harm - however, the actual intent of the letters is that it is supposed to stand for Great British Holiday.

8.6/10

Julie Walters and Friends was a one-off comedy sketch show showcasing the talents of actress Julie Walters. Sketches were written by Walters' frequent collaborators, including Victoria Wood, Alan Bennett, Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale. Walters portrayed new characters alongside roles she had previously been known for, including a monologue in which she appeared as Mrs Murray, her character from G.B.H, written by Bleasdale. The show was nominated for the Best Light Entertainment award at the 1992 BAFTAs.

8.4/10

A man, always very devoted to his mother, decides to look for his father whom he never met. He meats a seducing older woman prone to drinking and her aged boyfriend whom she grew tired of.

4.7/10

In the 19th century London, a young girl falls for a famous womanizing criminal and they decide to get married. Her family strongly disapproves so her father "the king of thieves" gets the gangster arrested.

5.7/10
2%

Victoria Wood was a series of six one-off situation comedies written by and starring Victoria Wood in 1989, who took a break from sketches, two years after her very successful and award winning series Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. Wood appeared as "Victoria", a fictionalised version of herself, in all six episodes - in The Library it was said that she "worked in TV" and in Over To Pam characters appeared to recognise her celebrity and in the final episode, Staying In, she was taken to a party to perform as a comedienne and was expected to go through her stand-up 'routine'. Her character often broke the 'fourth wall' of TV and spoke directly to the camera, but not in every episode. Bored with the sketch format and with a yearning to recapture previous success as a playwright, Wood came up with six individual sitcoms as a compromise. She admitted to finding the writing difficult. Though Wood was written as the central character, other lead parts were written with specific actresses in mind, like Julie Walters and Una Stubbs. "I want people to like me and the people who play my friends, and not everybody else" she said. Screenonline says of the shows "Modest in ambition and scale but rich in wit and acuity, the six playlets showcase Wood's eye for human foibles and her distinctively eccentric characters.".

7.4/10

Buster is a small time crook who pulls a big time job. When he finds that the police will not let the case drop, he goes into hiding and can't contact his wife and child. He arranges to meet them in Mexico where he thinks they can begin again, but finds that he must choose between his family and freedom.

5.8/10

Victoria Wood's live 1988 show to an audience of stars.

8.1/10

Stephen Frears directs this biographical drama focusing on controversial British playwright Joe Orton, revealed in flashback after his murder by lover Kenneth Halliwell. Born in 1933 in Leicester, in the English Midlands, John 'Joe' Orton moves to London in 1951, to study at RADA, and enjoys an openly gay relationship with Halliwell in their famous Islington flat in the 1960s. However, when Orton achieves spectacular success with such plays as 'What the Butler Saw' and 'Loot', Halliwell begins to feel alienated and the pair's future looks increasingly uncertain.

7.3/10
9.4%

The story of the rise of a madame of a suburban brothel catering to older men, inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne. The story follows Christine Painter (Julie Walters) as the down-at-heel waitress who, with the help of prostitute Shirley (Shirley Stelfox) and cross-dressing Wing Commander Morten (Alec McCowen), seeks to up her earnings by turning her suburban home into a brothel. Before long she and her girls are chaining up judges, spanking Generals and attending to the needs of Honourable Members. Christine sees herself as providing a vital service to these harmless pervs and when finally the house is busted and the case comes to court, it's fair to say that the presiding judge isn't unfamiliar with her work.

6.4/10
6.7%

It is Stanley's birthday, but the party he is given is not quite what he expects.

7.7/10

In the throes of a midlife crisis, a man buys a new Jaguar, and it immediately becomes his new love. What he doesn't know is that his wife is as attracted to the Jaguar salesman as he is to the car.

5.4/10

Julie Walters stars as a single mother seemingly haunted by a sinister telephone system that seems to have become an evil intelligence in its own right.

Exploring the somewhat darker and more mysterious side of the Lewis Carroll's classic book, the movie follows Alice Liddell (the book's inspiration) as an old woman who is haunted by the characters she was once so amused by. As she thinks back on it, she starts to see her relationship with the shy author/professor in a new way and realizes the vast change between the young Alice and the old.

6.8/10
10%

Billy Connolly delivers his special brand of stand-up comedy and abrasive humour in front of a celebrity audience.

8.4/10

A British television series based on the book of the same name written by Sue Townsend.

7.7/10

Victoria Wood As Seen On TV is a British comedy sketch series starring comedian Victoria Wood, with Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge. The show was televised on BBC Two between 1985 and 1987 and included sketches that became famous in the United Kingdom; these included one-offs like Two Soups and regular features like Acorn Antiques, as well as musical performances by Wood including her most well-known number, The Ballad of Barry and Freda. The show was created when Wood was enticed away from rival television station ITV in 1984. She wrote the whole programme, and also the synopsis of it for listings magazine the Radio Times. The series has led to spin-off script books, video tapes and DVDs. The show won BAFTA Awards for all its episodes and, in 1996, it was awarded all-time Favourite Comedy Series by the BBC itself. Wood preferred to work with a regular repertory of actors she could trust. Since the show ended, she has occasionally revived aspects of it with these colleagues. A notable spin-off is Acorn Antiques, the West End musical.

7.9/10

A humorous and revealing tale of a group of eight women from varying walks of life, who have volunteered for a rugged survival course at a tough mountain school in the English lakes.

5.5/10

Rita, a witty 26-year-old hairdresser, wants to 'discover' herself so she joins an Open University where she meets the disillusioned professor of literature, Dr. Frank Bryant. His marriage has failed, his new girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whisky. What Frank needs is a challenge... and along comes Rita.

7.2/10
8%

When Denis Midgley's father is rushed to hospital, Midgley drops everything to be by his side. They've never really got on, so Midgley wants to be sure he's there if his father ever regains consciousness. As he hates his job as a schoolteacher, and his home-life with his wife, her senile mother and their insolent teenage son, he has no qualms about lingering around the hospital. But as days turn into weeks, his father obstinately refuses to 'slip away', and Denis' motivation for staying by his father's bedside has more and more to do with Valery, a young nurse.

Alan Bleasdale's five-part series relates the further experiences of unemployed Liverpudlian tarmac layers Dixie, Chrissie, Loggo and Yosser, and their revered older friend, retired longshoreman and union leader, George Malone. As they struggle to make ends meet in a depressed economy, and to hold together their financially battered families, they are harrassed by the petty bureaucrats of the DHSS. But the lumbering investigational juggernaut is, both comically and tragically, guided by drivers with only a provisional license.

8.6/10

A play by Victoria Wood. Frances is 28, single and happy, despite ritual interrogation from her family as to why she's not married. Then she meets Jim, and finds she has decisions to make.

7.9/10

In 1920 a trio of British soldiers have to guard an exploded mine washes up on a beach. Part of the BBC2 Playhouse strand.

Wood and Walters is a British BAFTA nominated comedy sketch show starring Julie Walters and Victoria Wood for Granada Television and written entirely by Wood. The show was short-lived, with just one pilot in 1981 and a series of seven shows in 1982.

7.2/10

A play by Victoria Wood. Maureen has been faithfully attending the slimmers' club for months. Now the weeks of endless crispbreads have paid off - but is her optimism misplaced? Sequel to Wood's earlier play Talent, featuring the same characters of lifelong friends Maureen and Julie.

7.4/10

A play with music by Victoria Wood. Julie (Julie Walters) is a young woman seeking escape, with the help of her frumpish friend Maureen (Wood) she prepares for her singing debut at a seedy Manchester club's talent show

8.4/10

Empire Road was a British television series, made by the BBC in 1978 and 1979. Written by Michael Abbensetts, the show ran for two seasons of eight episodes each. The series was the first British television series to be written, acted and directed predominantly by black artists. A soap opera, similar in format to Coronation Street, Empire Road depicted life for the African-Caribbean, East Indian and South Asian residents of a racially diverse street in the city of Birmingham. Prominent cast members included Norman Beaton, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Wayne Laryea, Joseph Marcell and Rudolph Walker. The programme also provided early TV exposure for Julie Walters who appeared in a few episodes. The series was made at BBC Pebble Mill with location work in the Handsworth area of Birmingham. The eponymously named theme song was recorded by Matumbi and also released as a single in 1978.

8.9/10

A day in the life of a timid English literature professor.

8/10

One man's view of the British Army in Germany - the social life, discipline, drink, women and, occasionally, the defence of the West.

After 12 years away, Mrs Jordan’s son arrives in Birmingham from Jamaica. Writer Barry Reckord returns to the theme of an interracial relationship which causes conflict within a Jamaican family. Reconstructed from the surviving unedited studio footage by Simon Coward (Research Manager, Kaleidoscope).

BBC2 Playhouse is a one hour UK anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas created by Sara Pia Anderson and produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Among its many notable guest stars were Helen Mirren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Liam Neeson, Paul Scofield, Deborah Kerr, Ben Kingsley, Donald Pleasence, Brenda Blethyn, and Peggy Ashcroft. It premiered in the UK on March 13, 1974 and ran through May 20, 1983.

6.5/10