Housewife, 49
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Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness during World War II.
Nella Last participated in the Mass-Observation project, a British Government scheme designed to document and examine the lives of ordinary people, signing her letters 'Housewife, 49' (her age when she first began the correspondance). Her letters to Mass-Observation, often written in pencil, provide the narrative of the play, as she documents her life. In some scenes, the staff of Mass-Observation are seen reacting to, and sometimes visibly moved by, her letters. During the course of the programme, Last moves from being an introverted, isolated, and depressed individual, in a difficult marriage, to become an outgoing character who, through her voluntary work during wartime, becomes a backbone of the local community.
It also documents the lead character's changing relationships with those around her; standing up to her domineering husband (David Threlfall), developing a close but sometimes strained friendship with Mrs Waite (Stephanie Cole) the head of the Local Womens Voluntary Service, and her changing relationship with her younger son Cliff (Christopher Harper) who is changed by his experiences of combat. It is hinted that Cliff might have been gay, although Nella does not realise this.
It was first broadcast in the UK by ITV1 on 10 November 2006.
| Victoria Wood |
|---|
| Situation Comedies |
| Victoria Wood (1989 TV series) | dinnerladies |
| Sketch Shows |
| The Summer Show | In At The Death | Wood and Walters | Victoria Wood As Seen On TV | Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast | Julie Walters and Friends | Victoria Wood: Live In Your Own Home | Wetty Hainthropp Investigates | Victoria Wood with All The Trimmings |
| Television Dramas |
| Pat and Margaret | Housewife, 49 |
| Notable Collaborators |
| Julie Walters | Celia Imrie | Duncan Preston | Anne Reid | Susie Blake | Trevor Nunn | Grimms | John Dowie | Patricia Routledge |
| Theatre |
| In At The Death | Talent | Nearly A Happy Ending | Happy Since I Met You | Acorn Antiques: The Musical |
| Stand Up Comedy |
| Funny Turns | Lucky Bag | An Audience With Victoria Wood | Victoria Wood Up West | Victoria Wood: Live In Your Own Home | Victoria Wood Live 1997 |
| Books |
| Lucky Bag:The Victoria Wood Song Book | Up To You, Porky | Barmy | Mens Sana in Thigummy Doodah | Chunky |
| Other Roles |
| New Faces | That's Life! | Great Railway Journeys of the World | The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse | The Wind in the Willows | Big Fat Documentary | Victoria Wood: Moonwalking
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