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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 255511" data-attributes="member: 23">Victoria Wood’s Mid Life Christmas (24th December 2009) <img src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1200x675/p01gmbp4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 799px" />It’s appropriate that the final show of my chronological DVD rewatch also marks the thirtieth anniversary of Talent, the twentieth anniversary of the Victoria Wood sitcom series (this shocked me. Where does the time go?), fifteen years since Pat and Margaret, and ten years since dinnerladies was drawing to a close. In common with all the above, Vic is paired with Julie Walters for one of several threads running through the series. Better yet, Julie is playing one of her most iconic roles: actress Bo Beaumont. The brilliant spoof documentary Beyond The Marigolds sees Bo - post Mrs Overall - attempting to find her way back into the public eye by entering the tacky world of reality TV. Along the way, Bo and her “friend and companion” Wendy (played by Vic) meet various household names - Delia Smith, Torvill & Dean, Anton from one of the dancing shows - who are horrified by her ideas (Delia), lack of skill (Torvill & Dean) or lack of interest and application (Anton). There’s also a reverse situation when Bo storms off after meeting a producer of I’m A Celebrity… who fills her in on celebrities eating sphincters and willies of various animals. Vic does this documentary style so well. Julie is brilliant as the theatrical luvvie who is condescending towards everyone she meets (she keeps forgetting Anton’s name, and criticises the biscuit Delia offers her for being in the oven a couple of minutes too long). She also gamely flails about while clinging to the side of an ice rink. The relationship between Bo and Wendy isn’t explicitly stated, and is all the better for it. If the announcer had simply stated that Bo now lives happily with her lover Wendy, it would be a one joke moment (and a pretty bad one at that). Instead, Wendy is simply seen being domestic around the house, fetching and carrying for Bo and tagging along with her to all her engagements. It’s almost addressed in a moment at the ice rink, where the documentary maker Colin gets a moment alone with her:It reminds me very much of Vic’s song Pam in which the protagonist unwittingly “chums up” with Joan who moves in then professes her love. Is Wendy an obsessed fan? Does she love Bo? And, if so, is it reciprocal? Is Bo even aware of Wendy’s feelings? Does she love Wendy back? Or is she simply happy to have a slave? I love that these questions aren’t answered. Appropriately, as we near the end of their collaborative work, the relationship between the glamorous, showbiz-loving Bo and her homely, timid companion Wendy has echoes of Julie and Maureen from their first screen pairing Talent, more than three decades earlier. After deciding to forget the whole reality show business, she settles in at home where Wendy puts a blanket over her knees, serves her a plate of assorted snacks (including her famed “crackermole”) and they settle down to watch When Celebrity Gastric Bands Fail. The message, perhaps, is that it’s more fun to watch celebrities making fools of themselves than to be a celebrity making a fool of yourself. Bo, for all her ignorance about reality TV and the people who occupy it, has ended up making the wisest choice of all. It’s a delight to see the happy sparkle in Bo’s eyes as she sits, tray on lap, and stuffs her face. It’s the perfect way to leave this character, and I’m glad she’s had a kind of closure. It's a good place to leave her.(continued) </blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?