MY FRIEND VICTORIA WOOD

Ten years after the death of the comedy legend, her unique brilliance remains unrivalled. As a new documentary honours her entertainment evolution, writer JAMES RAMPTON, above, pays tribute to the star who instinctively 'got' ordinary people

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I WAS LUCKY enough to count Victoria Wood as a friend. During numerous meetings over more than two decades, we established a terrific rapport. Victoria was a delightful, life-enhancing presence. I always came away from seeing her with an inner glow of joy and an irrepressible, silly grin on my face.

The tone was set at our very first encounter in 1994. From the moment we sat down to chat on the West London set of her marvellous film about ill-matched sisters, Pat and Margaret, I instantly fell for Victoria’s megawatt charisma.

She was in tremendous form that day, mocking her character Margaret’s tight curly perm.

“No naked flames near it, please. All the budget went on it.”

The comedian went on to recall a previous day filming at Heston Services, where Margaret worked cooking fry-ups.

“We were ambushed by 45 women on their way to Ladies’ Day at Ascot. They were all pointing at us as though we were rare llamas in a zoo.

“On another occasion, bystanders started videoing us. ‘Ooo, it’s that woman off telly.’ ‘Who do you mean?’ ‘You know.’ ‘We'll ask Doreen.’ ‘No, she’s in toilet.”

As I sat there, laughing uncontrollably at her spontaneous brilliance, a long-lasting friendship was born.

So it is with particular sorrow that I remember the death of my friend 10 years ago this year. It was a moment of intense national bereavement.

Victoria’s longtime friend and collaborator Dame Julie Walters encapsulated the national mood when she released a statement saying: “I’m too heart-sore to comment. The loss of her is incalculable.”

I was very fortunate to go to Victoria’s memorial service at St James’s Piccadilly in London on July 4, 2016 — the only journalist to do so. Attended by more than 400 people, including friends of Victoria’s such as Celia Imrie, Steve Coogan, Emilia Fox, David Threlfall, Vic Reeves, Dame Maureen Lipman, Maxine Peake and Joan Armatrading, it was a deeply moving occasion.