Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Let's Do It
- The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood
- Narrated by: Julie Walters, Jasper Rees, Kate Robbins, Richenda Carey, Jane Wymark, Daniel Rigby, David Threlfall, Anne Reid, Susie Blake, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Trapeze audiobooks presents an extraordinary multi-voice tribute to one of Britain's most talented and most loved entertainers: Victoria Wood.
This audiobook features narration from some of the extraordinary voices who worked with Victoria over her career:
Susie Blake
Richenda Carey
Celia Imrie
Duncan Preston
Anne Reid
Daniel Rigby
Kate Robbins
David Threlfall
Julie Walters
Jane Wymark
With an introduction read by Jasper Rees and two recordings of Victoria Wood's classic Ballad of Barry and Freda.
I was born with a warped sense of humour and when I was carried home from being born it was Coronation Day and so I was called Victoria, but you are not supposed to know who wrote this anyway. It is about time I unleashed my pent-up emotions in a bitter comment on the state of our society but it's not quite me so I think I shall write a heart-warming story with laughter behind the tears and tears behind the laughter which means hysterics to you Philistines....
From 'Pardon?' by Vicky Wood, aged 14. Bury Grammar School (Girls) Magazine, 1967.
In her passport, Victoria Wood listed her occupation as 'entertainer' - and in stand-up and sketches, songs and sitcom, musicals and dramas, she became the greatest entertainer of the age. Those things that might have held her back - her lonely childhood, her crippling shyness and above all the disadvantage of being a woman in a male-run industry - she turned to her advantage to make extraordinary comedy about ordinary people living ordinary lives in ordinary bodies. She wasn't fond of the term, but Victoria Wood truly was a national treasure - and her loss is still keenly felt.
Victoria had plenty of stories still to tell when she died in 2016, and one of those was her own autobiography.
'I will do it one day,' she told journalist and author Jasper Rees when he first met her in 2001. 'It would be about my childhood, about my first few years in show-business, which were really interesting and would make a really nice story.'
That sadly never came to pass, so Victoria's estate has asked Jasper Rees, who interviewed her more than anyone else, to tell her extraordinary story in full. He has been granted complete and exclusive access to Victoria's rich archive of personal and professional material and has conducted more than 200 interviews with her family, friends and colleagues - among them Victoria's children, her sisters, her ex-husband, Geoffrey Durham, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Dawn French, Anne Reid, Imelda Staunton and many more.
What emerges is a portrait of a true pioneer who spoke to her audience like no one before or since.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
What listeners say about Let's Do It
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 19-11-20
Unexpectedly revealing about who Victoria Wood was
I really loved that it was read out by her fellow artistes and was raw without putting a shine on it. She'd have hated any over-sentimentality and the book was perfect. As for the ending...I was laughing and crying at the same time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 28-11-20
Comprehensive
Well worth persevering. The last chapters would,as they say, “Bring a tear to a glass eye.”
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda
- 10-04-21
Such a talent, such a loss
As a huge fan of Victoria Wood, I loved this audiobook biography. Victoria was an incredibly shy person who guarded her personal life intensely. For all her huge success in her many roles as comedienne, composer, lyricist, writer, actress and producer, she still felt the insecurity of her upbringing in a dysfunctional family. Her constant hard work whether as a writer or as a mother was driven by the need to feel good enough. Victoria, you were always good enough and I am among so many of your fans who mourn your loss but still manage to roar with laughter as we remember you. Your were the best and this book is a fitting tribute to your astonishing talent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cath
- 29-10-20
Essential and exhaustive listening for Victoria Wood fans
As a huge VW fan I’m really glad I got this audio book. Having her friends and collaborators read the chapters was great (Kate Robbins’ As Seen on TV chapter was the best as she did the voices of the many quotes that are used extensively in the book.) We get all the details of her life - including some of the more mundane bits- when I’d have liked a few more behind the scenes anecdotes maybe. Apart from fleshing out her troubled relationship with her distant parents, there aren’t too many salacious revelations. Would have liked a few more clips of her many fabulous sketches and songs (maybe copyright issues?) but you are reminded again in the very hard to listen to chapter dealing with her death - sensitively read by Anne Reid - just how tragic her death at such a young age was. An incredible talent. RIP the best comedian of her generation
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- p d king
- 16-04-22
love it
love it was a cracking roller coaster book well worth a good listen you will not be disappointed
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Helen
- 08-07-22
What a hug loss Victoria Wood was
I was born in 1981 so not aware of some of Victoria’s work but i was a huge fan of Dinnerladies and bought back memories of when i was 16/17 and working in a kitchen myself. Housewife 49 was another favourite and now i know a bit more about her i realise what a big loss she was and how much more she would have done for people and women in particular. Thank you for sharing this book with us
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- crochetdiva
- 25-03-21
It makes you laugh, it makes you cry
It feels like Victoria Wood was a big part of my living room for many years, Losing her was the same as losing Princess Diana, the loss was so deep. Having this book, and hearing from those closest to her, made me realise it wasn't easy for her, but she fought, and won, every battle, except the last one. RIP Victoria. A very moving book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael and Jane Bochenski
- 29-04-21
Back to the dvds
What a life! The love just pours out through the multiple narrators and the author’s finely crafted biography. This has sent us back to the DVD’s, happily and nostalgically. VW we miss you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan Head
- 10-03-21
OK
Love Victoria Wood but found this audio a struggle with different celebs reading chapters
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julia
- 05-01-21
Wonderful
Joyful celebration of all that made up a real comedy legend. From struggling to success and everything in between.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!