23 December 2023 , 19:10
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A comedic inspiration for so many, Victoria Wood spent a fittingly heartwarming final few hours with her family, just before her death from cancer at the age of 62.
The much-loved comedian and sitcom writer passed away on April 20, 2016, and it appears that she kept her wonderful sense of humour to the very end. After being discharged from hospital, it's understood the star spent her last days at her home in Highgate, London, where she was cared for by her two adult children Grace and Henry, sister Rosalind, and her close friend and collaborator Piers Wenger.
In Jasper Rees' authorised biography Let's Do It, published back in 2020, those close to Victoria shed some light on the final chapter of her life. Her long-time writing partner Julie Walters stated that the multi-BAFTA award-winner was in a state of 'determined denial', once declaring: "I just need to get this managed – the pain. And then I'm going to write something."
Even when gravely ill, Victoria managed to write a 'hilarious' sketch (BBC)
The beloved comedian died at home, with her family at her side (Getty Images)Julie, who struck up a friendship with Victoria during their student days, continued: "They were sending her home to die in fact, but she wasn't going home to die. It was her way of dealing with it. Otherwise, you have to face, 'OK, this is the end'. She didn't want to do that." Her sister Rosalind also attested that Victoria had remained brilliantly creative and funny despite being so poorly, at one point even writing a sketch about tidying up her sock drawer. Rosalind recalled: "I was cursing that I couldn't record it. It was absolutely hilarious."
In a separate interview with The Sun, a friend of Victoria's painted a picture of the night before Victoria's death, sharing: "She was sat up in bed talking and joking at 11pm with her family around her but the next morning she died. It has shocked the family but she dealt with it in her own way. She always knew what she wanted and liked to be in control. She handled the cancer the same way."
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Rees' biography also revealed that Lancashire-born Victoria had been diagnosed with cancer for the first time four years earlier, with the disease returning after she got the all-clear. Many of those who'd followed her four-decade-long career concurred with Walters' heartbreaking statement that her loss was 'incalculable'.
Born in Prestwich, Manchester, Victoria built a name for herself as a distinctly northern comedian with a terrific ear for comfortingly ordinary, yet hilarious dialogue. Her canteen-based sitcom Dinnerladies is regularly cited as a classic of the genre, while her stand-up routines remain endlessly quotable. She also branched out into drama, earning critical acclaim for her 2006 television film Housewife, 49, which was based on the World War II diaries of Lancashire housewife Nella Last.
Whatever people living with cancer need to ask about cancer, work, money or life. The big things and the small stuff. Macmillan is at the end of the phone and online to provide support. Call the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 or visit macmillan.org.uk and ask anything.
A repeat of Victoria Wood With All The Trimmings will air on December 23 at 8:10 pm, on BBC Two.