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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 251505" data-attributes="member: 23">Wood & Walters (January-February 1982) <img src="https://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/comedies/900x450/w/wood_and_walters.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Although technically I haven't quite finished the entire series, the only episode left for me to watch is the final one which is a compilation. I must confess crossed my mind that I could have skipped all the episodes bar the final clip show and skipped a lot of the drab stuff. But I'm a completist. Besides, drab can make for an interesting journey. Credit where it's due: the series has become more watchable. The first couple of regular episodes were something of a trial, but as the episodes have gone by I've found myself giving chuckles which have become less half-hearted.There is something quite stiff and awkward about the series, and Wikipedia says this:I'd agree that the audience doesn't help. The very small audience in the Pilot was noticeably quite mixed in its demographic, but far less so in early episodes of the regular series.  In one early episode, the biggest laughs were reserved for Jill Summers in her solo piece while everything else got polite little titters. It's all very reserved and at times feels like the audience are there to tolerate Vic and Julie. I could really feel them having to work really hard to get the audience on side and found myself feeling quite protective towards them and willing the audience to get it. They engaged the audience so charmingly, but I can't help wondering if some of the post-credits cold endings that took humorous swipes at the producer, the audience or the critics were borne out of a frustrating reality. There was even a meta sketch about two men waiting to audition to appear on the show who got chatting about how terrible it was and pulled Victoria's writing apart. I do feel the content is a bit of a Curate's egg. Most of the sketches are too random and both Vic and Julie seem unusually self-conscious in some of the sketches. It's as though Vic was trying to write for what she thought the audience wanted rather than doing her thing. As the episodes have gone along, it's felt like they've relaxed into it, making for a more enjoyable experience all round. But six episodes, plus Pilot, plus compilation feels like plenty of this particular format. There's surprisingly little of Vic in here. I've been watching some clips from her later live shows which have popped up in my suggestions, and just boggling that the series features none of those hilarious monologues she'd become known for.  The sketches haven't done it for me. At this point, Vic's strength is in her songs, and the series has featured a number: some funny, some very poignant. She's even cleverly squeezed in some more to her solo speaking sections by simply reciting song lyrics, Pam Ayres style. The lyrical stuff has been the highlight of the series for me. It's also been nice to have "reprises" from Talent and Nearly A Happy Ending. Notably, Julie sang Fourteen Again (again), and there's also this song which was previously sung at the end of Nearly A Happy Ending:[MEDIA=youtube]SKxYlc2g3uo[/MEDIA]Northern Song is another classic to come from the series:[MEDIA=youtube]DHscyhDp6Nk[/MEDIA]While far from the pinnacle of Vic’s work, the series has certainly whetted my appetite for what’s to come. </blockquote>

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