She sometimes said she’d rather be a hairdresser but Aherne’s cheeky early appearances in the pubs and clubs of Manchester led her to TV fame

Joyce Grenfell inspired her, she wrote her own musical at school and a fringe theatre show with Julie Walters paved the way to TV fame. As Victoria Wood’s Talent returns, we revisit her early stage years

Our series exploring the stage origins of hit comedies continues with the cult hospital horror show that scared up audiences to become a fringe sensation

In the first of a series exploring the stage origins of hit comedies, the actor remembers creating the delusional letting agent at Bristol University