''Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas'' is a comedy sketch show written by and starring comedian

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, lyricist, singer, composer, pianist, screenwriter, producer and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over s ...

, broadcast on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipati ...

2009. The programme, Wood's first sketch show for nine years, was described by Wood as being "a whole night's telly crammed into one hour". The special featured a spoof documentary titled ''Beyond The Marigolds'', in which Wood's long-time collaborator

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a ...

reprised her role as "Bo Beaumont", the actress behind ''Acorn Antiques'' character "Mrs. Overall". ''Beyond The Marigolds'' saw Beaumont's foray into the world of celebrity programming such as '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their pr ...

'' and ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''. The sketch included special guest appearances from

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers ...

Jayne Torvill Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of th ...

and

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Early life Dean grew up ...

, and

Anton du Beke Anthony Paul Beke (born 20 July 1966), known professionally as Anton Du Beke (), is a British ballroom and Latin dancer, and television presenter, best known for being a professional dancer and later a judge on the BBC One celebrity dancing sh ...

Sylvestra Le Touzel Sylvestra Le Touzel (born 1958) is a British television, film and stage actor. She was born and raised in Kensington, London, to a prominent family from Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. She attended school in East Acton. Television Begi ...

, Dorothy Atkinson,

Marcia Warren Marcia Warren (born 26 November 1942) is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in ''Blithe Spirit'' as Madame Arcati and ''The Sea'' (2008) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She is currently appearing in Netflix's ...

, Harriet Thorpe,

Jason Watkins Jason Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also ...

Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of '' The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he l ...

Richard Lintern Richard Charles Lintern (born 8 October 1962) is an English stage, voice and screen actor. Early life Lintern was born in Taunton, Somerset. He studied English Literature at Durham University. He subsequently won a scholarship to the Royal ...

and

Lorraine Ashbourne Lorraine Ashbourne (born 10 April 1961) is an English actress. Career Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: ''The Street'', ''True Dare Kiss'', '' Thin Ice'', '' In a Land of Plenty'', '' Boon'', '' Playing t ...

also had roles. Also featured in ''Mid Life Christmas'' was ''The Mid Life Olympics 2009'', a series of sketches that include events such as the "4 by 400 Hedge Trimming" and "Ladies Outdoor Parking", featuring Wood and Bob Cryer as the presenters. The programme achieved a total viewing audience of 7.45 million viewers and was the 12th highest rated show on BBC One and the 17th highest rated across all channels for the week ending 27 December 2009. Contemporary and later press reports suggested that Wood was unhappy with the BBC's decision to schedule the programme for Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day as she had expected.

References

External links

Official site
*
BBC Press Office – ''Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas Press Pack''
{{Victoria Wood BBC television sketch shows Christmas television specials Television shows written by Victoria Wood 2009 television specials