"Dinnerladies" (1998) TV series 1998-2000

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Geoff Posner

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

12 December 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Comedy about the workers in a factory canteen.

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Victoria Wood	...	Bren Furlong (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Thelma Barlow	...	Dolly Belfield (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Andrew Dunn	...	Tony Martin (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Shobna Gulati	...	Anita (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Celia Imrie	...	Philippa Moorcroft (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Maxine Peake	...	Twinkle (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Duncan Preston	...	Stan Meadowcroft (16 episodes, 1998-2000)
Anne Reid	...	Jean (15 episodes, 1998-2000)
Sue Devaney	...	Jane / ... (11 episodes, 1998-2000)
Julie Walters	...	Petula Gordino (9 episodes, 1998-2000)
Christopher Greet	...	Mr. Michael (7 episodes, 1998-1999)

Runtime:

30 min (16 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | Australia:PG

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Victoria Wood insisted that the title "dinnerladies" should be spelled with a lower-case D.

Quotes:

Tony: All a bloke really wants for Christmas is a voucher that says, "Take this to 32 Sycamore Avenue. Mrs. Janet Farnesbarnes 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!"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sunday AM: (#4.7)" (2008)

Charming and delightful

'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.