Born in 1953, Victoria Wood wanted to be famous since she was just four years old. At 12, she began to like the idea of singing songs or being a comedy actress, but it wasn't until at the age of 15 that her talent began to shine. She joined a local youth theatre group, and from being a shy schoolgirl only interested in the music lessons at school, she became known as a witty and humorous person with bags of talent. She went on to study drama at Birmingham University and first found her way onto the stage through her music.

Victoria won the TV talent show New Faces at just 20 years old and in 1978 she was asked to write songs for a show at the Bush Theatre. She later submitted a sketch for the show that was included in an emergency at the last minute. She also performed in this sketch alongside a then relatively unknown actress named Julie Walters. It was here that Victoria Wood and Julie Walters began their long working partnership and a year later Victoria wrote a play called Talent, which was made into a television show that they starred in together.

She did a number of live, solo shows in front of small audiences, but it wasn't until she reformed with Julie Walters in 1984 that she became a household name. She began writing for the BBC, a comedy series called Victoria Wood as Seen on TV - a hugely successful show which won two BAFTA awards and led to a second series and a Christmas Special. From there Victoria moved to ITV for a one-off Audience With Victoria Wood stand up show in front of the likes of French and Saunders and similar comedy greats.

Her next piece of work which won much acclaim was the TV film 'Pat and Margaret' in 1994, which described her 'As Seen on TV' pals Celia Imrie, Julie Walters and Duncan Preston. Among one critic is Mrs Merton star Caroline Aherne who describes the film as being "absolutely brilliant".

She has won an OBE and countless awards for her outstanding comedy shows while still continues to do live stand-up tours (most recently in 1997).

Her latest project is something a little bit new, she's written a sitcom called Dinner Ladies (1998) which was one of the BBC's most promising and successful sitcoms.

Victoria Wood is one of British television's greatest assets.