Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV

 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
type
TVTItem
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
label
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
page
VictoriaWoodAsSeenOnTV
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
comment
Victoria Wood - As Seen On TV is a British Sketch Show, written by and starring Victoria Wood. Following an ITV show, Wood and Walters, she was offered a new show by the BBC which she accepted provided she was given a greater say in the production than she had been previously. Having felt that her previous show was hamstrung by the casting, she insisted on working on a repertory of actors who were names in their own right (rather than the sometimes anonymous side men who had been typical in sketch shows up until then) so hired people such as Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake, and Patricia Routledge. The result was the perfect marriage of Wood's incisive and sharp comedy writing with high calibre comic acting.Each show consisted of an opening monologue from Wood, at least one comic song and a spoof documentary, but perhaps the most fondly remembered aspect of the show was Acorn Antiques — a parody of the then popular soap opera Crossroads featuring deliberately shonky camera work, wooden acting and poor expository dialogue. Acorn Antiques ended up being spun off into a West End Musical.The series was also notable for the descriptions in the listings magazine Radio Times, which generally had little or nothing to do with the contents of the show itself ("The last of the series 47: Managing without Opera. How are Hanna and Gavin coping?") — all the descriptions were written by Victoria Wood herself.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
fetched
2023-09-27T09:31:53Z
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
parsed
2023-09-27T09:31:53Z
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
processingComment
Dropped link to Mockumentary: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
processingComment
Dropped link to ShakespearianActors: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_16d8476f
type
Protest Song
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_16d8476f
comment
Protest Song: Spoofed with an overwrought gospel number about the evils of...not being able to find what you want in the shops.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_16d8476f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_16d8476f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_16d8476f
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_3ea462d7
type
Take That, Audience!
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_3ea462d7
comment
Take That, Audience!: A speciality of Susie Blake's continuity announcer, including such gems as "We'd like to apologise to viewers in the North. It must be awful for them."
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_3ea462d7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_3ea462d7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_3ea462d7
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_415b3315
type
Stylistic Suck
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_415b3315
comment
Stylistic Suck: Acorn Antiques parodied the problems that resulted from contemporary soap operas' unfeasibly tight shooting schedules and low budgets, with wildly inconsistent and improbable plots and characterisation, clunky and awkward dialogue, actors missing their cues (whether early or late) and clearly reading off cue cards, visible technical equipment (with which the actors sometimes collided), cheaply made sets (the studio lights were often seen at the top of a shot, while the painted backdrop through the shop window would often be visibly swaying), badly-fitting costumes, crew members audibly hissing directions from off camera... the sketches put more effort into being bad than soaps of the day put into being good.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_415b3315
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_415b3315
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_415b3315
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_47fea76b
type
Butt-Monkey
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_47fea76b
comment
Duncan Preston as Mr Clifford is slightly better at seeming natural but comes across as the most inept of all at television acting in that he's the most likely to miss his mark, face away from the camera, bump his head, damage the scenery or generally act as a Butt-Monkey.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_47fea76b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_47fea76b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_47fea76b
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Many of the mockumentaries had these. Hilary in "On Campus" becomes so friendless and isolated that she tries to kill herself. Chrissie in "Swim the Channel" goes missing during her swim, and the final shot is of her empty bedroom with her teddy bear and her posters for Annie.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_4e3d253b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_4e3d253b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_4e3d253b
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_50b05d30
type
Disproportionate Retribution
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_50b05d30
comment
Disproportionate Retribution: In the mockumentary "The Making of Acorn Antiques", Alpha Bitch showrunner Marion Clune is hosting a story conference. One writer has suggested a story about AIDS. Marion decides that it's been done, and suggests instead doing a story on earwax.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_50b05d30
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_50b05d30
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_50b05d30
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_664bc28f
type
British Brevity
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_664bc28f
comment
British Brevity: Only 12 episodes and one special. Its brevity was due to the fact that Victoria Wood was the only writer and decided to quit while she still felt it was at its height.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_664bc28f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_664bc28f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_664bc28f
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_78c895c8
type
Amusing Injuries
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_78c895c8
comment
Amusing Injuries: In the very first episode of the parody soap opera Acorn Antiques, Mr Clifford (Duncan Preston) is sitting on a sofa when he stands up abruptly and whacks his head off the boom mic dangling directly above him. It's played in-universe as though his actor is in such pain that he can't even go on with the scene: he just sits on the sofa clutching his head and mutters "Bloody nora!". What makes it especially funny is that the other character, Mrs Overall, after a hesitation and a nervous Aside Glance, just goes on with the scene, not even filling in his lines for him but responding to them as though he'd actually said them. In the following scene, Mr Clifford isn't there (his actor presumably being off getting medical attention) but he's supposed to be, and the other characters behave as though he is, even addressing lines to the empty space on the sofa where he'd been sitting.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_78c895c8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_78c895c8
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_78c895c8
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_823c6e3e
type
Large Ham
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_823c6e3e
comment
Celia Imrie as Miss Babs is a Large Ham, delivering most of her lines in a fluty, cut-glass voice while making sure the camera is getting her best angle.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_823c6e3e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_823c6e3e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_823c6e3e
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_87d70f73
type
Reluctant Fanservice Girl
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_87d70f73
comment
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: In one of the mockumentaries, "To Be An Actress", the subject, a young actress called Sarah, is three years out of drama school without work and is so desperate to get a job that she'll become one of these.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_87d70f73
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_87d70f73
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_87d70f73
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_a7aef9ff
type
Obfuscating Stupidity
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_a7aef9ff
comment
Obfuscating Stupidity: The sketch "Is It On the Trolley?" features two entitled yuppie types in a restaurant being served by a waitress, played by Wood, who appears to be using this.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_a7aef9ff
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_a7aef9ff
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_a7aef9ff
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ae3d6438
type
Deadpan Snarker
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: Susie Blake's continuity announcer was this, although given her perpetual Stepford Smile it shaded into Cute But Psycho.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ae3d6438
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ae3d6438
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ae3d6438
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_c9597a03
type
Self-Deprecation
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_c9597a03
comment
Self-Deprecation: Any time the script called for a fat woman, Wood would play the part herself. One show ended with a voice-over saying "There'll be more attempts at comedy from the overweight comedienne next week."
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_c9597a03
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_c9597a03
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_c9597a03
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_d0a09849
type
Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_d0a09849
comment
Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: The continuity announcer has this for more or less everyone who isn't like her:
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_d0a09849
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_d0a09849
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_d0a09849
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_f19e8a55
type
Bad "Bad Acting"
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_f19e8a55
comment
Bad "Bad Acting": The cast of Acorn Antiques do this, in different ways. Wood herself as Berta is stilted and inept, with her terrible wig usually half-obscuring her face, and saying everything in a high-pitched, overly-fast mumble. Celia Imrie as Miss Babs is a Large Ham, delivering most of her lines in a fluty, cut-glass voice while making sure the camera is getting her best angle. Julie Walters as Mrs Overall is an even bigger Large Ham but with Method Actor tendencies, giving her character a very distinctive stumping walk and an impenetrable Birmingham accent. Duncan Preston as Mr Clifford is slightly better at seeming natural but comes across as the most inept of all at television acting in that he's the most likely to miss his mark, face away from the camera, bump his head, damage the scenery or generally act as a Butt-Monkey.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_f19e8a55
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_f19e8a55
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_f19e8a55
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ff24ad1d
type
Bawdy Song
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ff24ad1d
comment
Bawdy Song: "The Ballad of Freda and Barry" (better known as "Let's Do It") is a classic example and one of Wood's most popular songs.
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ff24ad1d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ff24ad1d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_ff24ad1d
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
type
ItemName
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
comment
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV / int_name
itemName
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Bad "Bad Acting" / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
British Humour / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Continuity Announcement / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Miss Conception / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Soap Within a Show / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Take That, Audience! / int_ed6cd101
 Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV
hasFeature
Visible Boom Mic / int_ed6cd101