RIP Victoria Wood.

Another huge loss. Victoria Wood was in the first TV commercial I ever made and was nothing like her screen persona. Her appearance on Desert Island Discs explained a lot. Hers was a remote, sad and solipsistic childhood – the plain, frumpy girl who seemed almost bewildered to have such brilliant comedic and musical talent. The commercial was shot by Bob Brooks, legendary American comedy director and one of the most miserable human beings I have ever encountered. So my first foray into comedy wasn’t quite what I’d expected. Since then, I’ve worked with a lot of comedians. Let’s just say their “humour bar” is set rather higher than ours, so maybe it takes rather more for them to crack a smile. Victoria Wood was a classic example. She only came to life when she performed but boy did she perform. And that is what the world is going to miss.