''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, musician, screenwriter, and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades, and her live comedy act ...

, broadcast on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

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 Go ...

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!'', ''

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'' and ''

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''. 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 direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...

Jayne Torvill Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. She and her partner Christopher Dean are considered amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Wint ...

and

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer considered, with his skating partner Jayne Torvill, amongst the greatest ice dancers of all time. The pair won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal ...

, and Anton du Beke. Sylvestra Le Touzel,

Dorothy Atkinson Dorothy Caroline Atkinson (born 1966) is an English actress and singer. She has appeared in several plays by playwright Alan Ayckbourn and in films by Mike Leigh, including ''Topsy-Turvy'', '' All or Nothing'', and '' Mr. Turner'', which premi ...

, Marcia Warren, Harriet Thorpe,

Jason Watkins Jason Peter 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 British Academy Television Award for Bes ...

Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is a British actor, comedian, writer and magician. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen, with Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson. Jointly with Pemberton, he created, wrote and starr ...

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 Aca ...

and

Lorraine Ashbourne Lorraine Ashbourne (born 7 January 1961) is an English actress. Early life Ashbourne was born 7 January 1961, in Manchester, England. She attended Wilbraham High School, when living in Fallowfield. She joined Stretford Children's Theatre. She 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