Entertainment channel Gold is celebrating the work of Victoria Wood with dinnerladies diaries, a three-part special based on Wood’s personal diaries. 

Gold will give viewers a glance into Victoria’s notebooks, her backstage photos and studio records - all of which have never been seen before. The series will also feature interviews with the cast and friends of dinnerladies as they reminisce about one of Britain’s most loved comedies on its 20th anniversary.

Twenty years ago, Victoria Wood put pen to paper and wrote her multi-award-winning comedy, dinnerladies. She’d never written a sitcom before, having stuck to sketches, songs and playlets – this was a big thing for her. How do we know?  Because she recorded all her thoughts and feelings in diaries, notebooks, photos and backstage footage.

dinnerladies diaries tells the story of how this groundbreaking comedy was conceived, developed, produced and why Victoria chose to end it after just two series. 

Ordered by UKTV’s director of commissioning Richard Watsham and Gold general manager Steve North, the series was commissioned by senior commissioning executive Iain Coyle who says: “These days the phrase ‘national treasure’ gets bandied about all too often but in Victoria’s case, it is apt and accurate.  The folks at Phil McIntyre TV have uncovered some extraordinary material, that will give us a unique insight into how one of ourbest-loved shows was conceived and produced.” 

Gold celebrated 25 years on air with two hit retrospective documentary series, David Jason: My Life on Screen and The Story of Only Fools and Horses, with great success reaching over 2.05million adults. The channel has honoured comedy legends in the past with UKTV Originals The Two Ronnies Spectacles, Bring Me Morecambe and Wise and The Interviews. 

dinnerladies diaries will air on Gold in 2018.