Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

Victoria Wood (Performer)

Born: May 19, 1953 in Prestwich, Greater Manchester

Best Known For: Endless TV hits and her stand-up performances.

Early-life: Born on May 19, 1953, in Prestwich, Greater Manchester. She had three siblings and was educated at Bury Grammar Girls' School and the University of Birmingham. It was while she was still an undergraduate studying drama that she won the TV talent show New Faces. Her second big break came in 1976 when she landed a weekly slot on BBC consumer affairs programme That's Life! She first teamed up professionally with long-term collaborator Julie Walters in a 1978 theatre revue, In at the Death, and the pair worked together again when Wood's first play, Talent, was made for TV.

Career: Victoria Wood and Julie Walters received equal billing in a short-lived sketch show for Granada Television, Wood and Walters, but they enjoyed more success at the BBC in 1984 with Victoria Wood As Seen on TV. The series was notable for classic sketches such as Acorn Antiques, which was eventually turned into a stage musical in 2005. Wood's stand-up routine was showcased in 1988 on ITV in the Bafta-winning An Audience with Victoria Wood. She later wrote and starred in comedy drama Pat and Margaret, and the sitcom dinnerladies. She took on a serious acting role in 2006 when she starred in Housewife, 49, a role that garnered Baftas for both her acting and writing. She also wrote That Day We Sang and Eric and Ernie; in the latter she played Eric Morecambe's mother. She died on April 20, 2016 after a short battle with cancer. She was 62

Quote: "I once found myself in bed with a man who was a real do-it-yourself enthusiast... he ripped off all his clothes and said 'What would you like me to do?' I said, 'Well, really I'd like you to fix my overflow and re-point my brickwork.'"

Trivia: Wood frequently worked with Julie Walters, Duncan Preston and Celia Imrie.

Julie Walters (Performer)

Born: February 22, 1950 in Smethwick, Birmingham

Best Known For: Her work with Victoria Wood.

Early-life: Born February 22, 1950, in Smethwick, Birmingham, the daughter of an Irish postal worker mother and a decorator father. She has two older brothers. As a child she often performed impromptu shows impersonating Eartha Kitt or Shirley Bassey. She was expelled from school and dreamed of becoming an actress, but her mother persuaded her to take up a "sensible" career, so she worked as a nurse and in a cigarette factory. She then studied English and Drama at Manchester Polytechnic, where she met Victoria Wood.

Career: Walters' first acting job was at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, where she caught the eye of playwright Alan Bleasdale - the beginning of many collaborations. She appeared in his first stage success, Scully, in 1974, and in Boys from the Blackstuff in 1980, a year after making her TV debut in Victoria Wood's Talent. She reunited with Wood in the series Wood and Walters, and reprised her stage role in Educating Rita on the big screen, earning an Oscar nomination. Walters has worked steadily ever since. Her most notable projects include Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, Pat and Margaret, Mamma Mia! and the Harry Potter films. She was awarded an OBE in 1999, gained a second Oscar nomination for Billy Elliot in 2000, and won a Bafta (her seventh) in 2010 for her performance in TV drama Mo.

Quote: "I've never had Botox or surgery and I wouldn't because I'd feel I was letting myself down. I've embraced not being young."

Trivia: She was awarded the Bafta Fellowship in 2014.

Alan Rickman (Performer)

Born: February 21, 1946 in Hammersmith, London

Early-life: Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman was born in London on February 21, 1946. He was the second eldest of four children born to a housewife mother and factory-worker father. His dad died when he was eight, and his mother later remarried, but soon divorced. He was interested in acting at school, but attended the Royal College of Art and became a graphic designer before finally enrolling at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). He supported himself during this period by working as a dresser for Nigel Hawthorne and Ralph Richardson.

Best Known For: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Career: After graduating from Rada, Rickman worked in repertory theatre. His big break came when he was nominated for a Tony Award in the Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. He was passed over for the film version, instead making his big screen debut in Die Hard as the villain Hans Gruber. He went on to play a wide variety of roles on the stage and on the big screen. His other film credits included Truly, Madly Deeply, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Sense and Sensibility, the Harry Potter films, Love Actually and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Rickman also directed the movies A Little Chaos and The Winter Guest, and maintained a strong stage career. He died from cancer on January 14, 2016 at the age of 69.

Quote: "I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously."

Trivia: Rickman won a Bafta film award for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy for TV miniseries Rasputin.

Pete Postlethwaite (Performer)

Celia Imrie (Performer)

Born: July 15, 1952 in Guildford, Surrey

Best Known For: Her association with Victoria Wood.

Early-life: Born Celia Diana Savile Imrie in Guildford, Surrey, on July 15, 1952. Her father, David, a radiographer from Glasgow, didn't live to see his daughter's success, although she believes he would have been very proud. Her Scottish blood has come in handy in playing numerous Celts on the big and small screen, although her original dream was to be a dancer. Unfortunately, a growth spurt in her teens meant she became too tall for ballet. She worked as a cleaner before landing starring roles.

Career: Imrie's first professional jobs in showbusiness were in the chorus of various pantomimes. Her film and TV debuts came in 1974 in House of Whipcord and Upstairs, Downstairs. She continued to gain small roles in various productions, but her big break occurred when Victoria Wood offered her roles in As Seen on TV in 1985. Since then, she's continued to occasionally work with Wood and won a prestigious Olivier Award in 2006 for her role in Acorn Antiques: The Musical. Her other credits include Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Highlander, Gormenghast, Bridget Jones' Diary, Star Wars: Episode One, Doctor Zhivago, Frankenstein, Calendar Girls, Nanny McPhee and St Trinian's (and its sequel). On TV she has also appeared in Kingdom, After You've Gone, Cranford, and the acclaimed one-off drama The Road to Coronation Street.

Quote: On stripping off for Calendar Girls: "I am very happy now that at my time of life I have learned to laugh at my bosom. In years gone by I could never have done all this."

Trivia: In 2013, Imrie received an honorary doctorate by the University of Winchester.

James Bolam (Performer)

Born: June 16, 1935 in Sunderland

Best Known For: Being a Likely Lad.

Early-life: Born James Christopher Bolam on June 16, 1935, in Sunderland. His father died when he was young. The family left the North East when James was 12, and he attended school in Derby. There was no showbiz influence in his family, but Bolam went to the cinema every Saturday and that inspired him to try acting. He briefly worked as a trainee chartered accountant, before winning a place at the Central Drama School in London. He made his professional stage debut at the Royal Court in 1959.

Career: Bolam appeared on stage alongside Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, then followed it up with films The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and A Kind of Loving, before being cast as cynical Terry Collier in The Likely Lads in 1964. He agreed to reprise the role in Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? nine years later. James went on to star in When the Boat Comes In, Only When I Laugh and Alan Plater's Beiderbecke trilogy. He has also appeared in Clockwork Mice, The End of the Affair, Born and Bred, Grandpa in My Pocket, To Kill a King and controversial feature-length drama Shipman, about serial killer doctor Harold Shipman. He starred in New Tricks between 2003 and 2012 and continues to appear on stage.

Quote: "I'm suddenly popular again. I don't know why."

Trivia: He was awarded an MBE in 2009.

Delia Smith (Performer)

Born: June 18, 1941 in Woking, Surrey

Best Known For: Her hugely popular cookery books and TV shows.

Early-life: Born in Woking, Surrey, Delia left school at 16 with no qualificiations. She worked as a hairdresser, shop assistant and travel agent before starting her career in cookery. At 21, she started work in a tiny restaurant in Paddington, London, called The Singing Chef. She started as a pot washer, then moved on to waitressing before being allowed to help with the cooking. She started reading cookery books in the Reading Room at the British Museum, trying out the recipes on a Harley Street family with whom she was lodging.

Career: In 1969, Delia was taken on as the cookery writer for the Daily Mirror's new magazine. Her first piece featured kipper pâté, beef in beer, and cheesecake. Her first cookery book, in 1971, was How to Cheat at Cooking. The next year she started a column in the Evening Standard which she was to write for 12 years. She then wrote a successful column for the Radio Times until 1986. Delia became famous by hosting a cookery TV show, Family Fare, and then launched a TV cookery course. A steady stream of books and shows have followed.

Quote: "Food is for eating, and good food is to be enjoyed... I think food is, actually, very beautiful in itself."

Trivia: Married to former journalist and publisher, Michael Wynne Jones, with whom she is also joint majority shareholder at Norwich City Football Club.

Richard E Grant (Performer)

Born: May 02, 1957 in Mbabane, Swaziland

Best Known For: Withnail and I.

Early-life: Born Richard Esterhuysen on May 2, 1957, in Mbabane, Swaziland. His mother left home when he was 11, leaving him and his brother Stuart to be raised by their father, the country's director of education. He attended school with Nelson Mandela's daughter. Grant knew from an early age he wanted to act after becoming infatuated with Barbra Streisand. He studied English and drama at university in Cape Town, South Africa, then settled in London, but struggled to make a name for himself.

Career: Grant gained good reviews for a performance in short film Honest, Decent and True in 1985, alongside Gary Oldman and Arabella Weir. His big break came when Daniel Day-Lewis dropped out of Withnail and I, and Grant took his place. The film was a cult smash. Since then, he's appeared in various films and TV shows, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, LA Story, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Gosford Park, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. His film diary, With Nails, was a best-seller, but a novel, By Design, was disappointing. In 2005, he made his directing debut with the critically acclaimed, semi-autobiographical Wah-Wah. His recent work includes roles in Colour Me Kubrick, Penelope, Cuckoo and The Iron Lady, in which he played Tory politician Michael Heseltine.

Quote: "Sometimes Hollywood doesn't seem a million miles from a Miss World contest. I just don't have strong enough mental furniture to withstand it."

Trivia: In 2006, he helped to expose a $98million scam to sell a bogus AIDS cure.

Derek Jacobi (Performer)

Born: October 22, 1938 in London

Best Known For: His classical roles.

Early-life: Derek George Jacobi was born on October 22, 1938, in Leytonstone, east London. His mother was a secretary and his father managed a department store. He is an only child. He became hooked on movies and dancing as a boy and played Hamlet at school, with the production later appearing at the Edinburgh Festival. During his time there, he was invited to meet an agent, who told him that, at 18, he was too young to become a star. Jacobi spent the next three years studying history at Cambridge, where he befriended Ian McKellen and Trevor Nunn.

Career: Following acclaimed performances at university, Jacobi joined Birmingham Rep. He was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who invited him to join the National Theatre Company. He made his film debut alongside Olivier in 1965's Othello. Since then, Jacobi has continued to make acclaimed appearances on stage and screen. Among his films are The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, Love Is the Devil, Gladiator, Gosford Park, The King's Speech and Hereafter. He inspired Kenneth Branagh to become an actor and worked alongside him in Henry V, Hamlet and Dead Again. Jacobi won a Bafta for I, Claudius in 1977, starred in the medieval-set series Cadfael, played The Master in Doctor Who, is the narrator of In the Night Garden and scored a surprise hit with Last Tango in Halifax.

Quote: "As an actor conscious that you are in a theatre, you still have to make it look as spontaneous as if you did not know that you are being watched by 1,000 pairs of eyes."

Trivia: He received a knighthood in 1994.

Alan Titchmarsh (Performer)

Born: May 02, 1949 in Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Best Known For: Ground Force and various chat shows.

Early-life: Alan Fred Titchmarsh was born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, on May 2, 1949. His love of gardening began while helping his grandfather on his allotment. He left school at 15 with an O-level in art and worked as an apprentice gardener at Ilkley Parks Department while studying for a City & Guilds in horticulture. He then studied at Oaklands College, Hertfordshire, before gaining a diploma at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew.

Career: Titchmarsh moved into editing gardening books, writing and broadcasting, and had a stint as a host on Pebble Mill at One on BBC One in the 1990s. He joined Gardeners' World as the main host in 1996 and Ground Force began a year later. After writing a number of horticultural books, he turned to writing novels. His first one, Only Dad, was published in 2001. More novels, gardening books and three biographies followed. He's also hosted the Proms, various series for Radio 2 and Classic FM and Love Your Garden. Despite retiring from The Alan Titchmarsh Show in 2014, he kept busy with writing and presenting commitments. TV shows he has presented since include Britain's Best Back Gardens, Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh and Love Your Home.

Quote: "I am partly to blame for the decking boom, and I am sorry, I know it's everywhere these days."

Trivia: He was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List in 1999 and has an honorary DSc from the University of Bradford.

Michael Parkinson (Performer)

Born: March 28, 1935 in Cudworth, West Yorkshire

Best Known For: Quizzing celebs

Early-life: Born on March 28, 1935. An only child, he grew up in a council house in the coalmining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. When he was 14, his father, a miner, took him down the pit to put him off working there. After his original dream of playing cricket for Yorkshire was dashed, Parkinson left school at 16 to work on a local paper before joining the Manchester Guardian and later the Daily Express. He was also the youngest officer to take part in the Suez crisis.

Career: Parkinson's first TV job was as a producer at Granada. In 1969 he began hosting the channel's Cinema programme. By 1971 he was working for Thames TV, presenting Teabreak with wife Mary, before getting his own chat show at the BBC which saw him interview such stars as Ingrid Bergman, Orson Welles, James Stewart and John Wayne. More than a decade later the series was dropped. He had a short-lived term at TV-am and appeared on the shows Give Us A Clue, one-off drama Ghostwatch and Going for A Song. In 1998, his chat show was revived and proved an instant hit. It switched from the Beeb to ITV1 in 2004 and ran until 2007 - the same year he retired from his Sunday morning Radio 2 programme.

Quote: "There comes a time when you have been around for so long you become like a well-worn, well-loved object on the mantlepiece."

Trivia: Parkinson owns a pub (which is run by one of his three sons), writes books and plays golf.

Imelda Staunton (Performer)

Born: January 09, 1956 in London

Best Known For: Vera Drake

Early-life: Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton was born in January 9, 1956, in London. She's the only child of Irish immigrants who worked as a labourer and a hairdresser. Her mother was a keen amateur musician, and her skills rubbed off on her daughter. She began acting at school, where she was spotted by an elocution teacher, who took her under her wing. Staunton went on to study at Rada.

Career: After graduating, she spent the next six years working in repertory companies across the UK, proving her versatility in a wide variety of parts. Her big break came when she gained a place with the National Theatre company in 1982. Staunton quickly landed increasingly larger roles and won numerous awards in the process. Her TV debut was in 1986's The Singing Detective, while her first film, Comrades, was made a year later. Since then, she's appeared in such acclaimed projects as Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love. She was Oscar-nominated for Vera Drake, and also appeared in period drama Fingersmith and the movie Nanny McPhee, before earning millions of new fans in the guise of Dolores Umbridge as part of the Harry Potter franchise.

Quote: "I am a character actress. Well, let's say, I am a leading character actress who does interesting, odd parts."

Trivia: Married actor Jim Carter in 1985. They have a daughter, Bessie, who was born in 1993.

Phil McIntyre (Executive producer)

Jon Plowman (Executive producer)

John Birkin (Director)

Jemma Rogers (Producer)

9:05 pm - 10:00 pm, Today on BBC Four (9)

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