Pat and Margaret: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|British  drama telefilm}}

Margaret Mottershead works as a cook at a [[motorway service area]]. She joins her colleagues on a trip to London, where they have been invited to see a recording of the television show ''Magic Moments'' (a parody of ''[[Surprise, Surprise (TV series)|Surprise, Surprise]]''). Pat Bedford, the glamourousglamorous British star of an American [[soap opera]], appears on the show to promote her memoir, unaware that she herself is one of the surprises. The host brings Margaret on stage and reveals that Pat is her long-lost sister. Pat is embarrassed by her working class [[Northern England|Northern]] origins, but hugs Margaret and feigns happiness in order to appear gracious and likeable.

The film was created and written by Wood, whose last full-length drama was ''[[Happy Since I Met You]]'' in 1981.<ref name="Duguid">{{cite web|last=Duguid|first=Mark|title=''Pat and Margaret'' (1994)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1246899/|work=[[Screenonline]]|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010}}</ref> It was directed by [[Gavin Millar]], recommended to Wood by Julie Walters,<ref name="rees">{{Cite book |title=Let's Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood |first=Jasper |last=Rees |chapter=Chapter 16: Henry and Albert, Margaret and Pat |isbn=9781409184126 |location=London |publisher=[[Orion Publishing Group|Trapeze]] |year=2020}}</ref> and produced by Ruth Caleb.<ref name="Rampton">{{cite news|last=Rampton|first=James|title='Ooo, it's that woman off telly': Victoria Wood has moved from the sketch to the big picture. James Rampton joined her on location as filming for ''Pat and Margaret'' drew to close|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film--ooo-its-that-woman-off-telly-victoria-wood-has-moved-from-the-sketch-to-the-big-picture-james-rampton-joined-her-on-location-as-filming-for-pat-and-margaret-drew-to-close-1413539.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film--ooo-its-that-woman-off-telly-victoria-wood-has-moved-from-the-sketch-to-the-big-picture-james-rampton-joined-her-on-location-as-filming-for-pat-and-margaret-drew-to-close-1413539.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=13 July 1994}}</ref> Wood was accustomed to a level of control over the direction of her scripts, which led to frustration with Millar, who at one point told her, "Go away [and] let me do it", and on another occasion reminded Anne Reid, "[Victoria's] not directing this; I'm directing this." Nevertheless, Wood liked and admired Millar, and acknowledged that she had a "nosy, critical, interfering side".<ref name="rees"/>

* Pat and Margaret's childhood home – Woodlea Road, Blackburn<ref>{{cite news |title=Five Years Ago: Stars in the street |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6121337.five-years-ago-stars-street/ |accessdateaccess-date=22 October 2020 |work=Lancashire Telegraph|date=8 June 1999}}</ref>

The film was watched by more than 10&nbsp;million viewers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Brown|first=Maggie|title=Talk of the Trade: Big money but little interest in TV films|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/talk-of-the-trade--big-money-but-little-interest-in-tv-films-1568406.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/talk-of-the-trade--big-money-but-little-interest-in-tv-films-1568406.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=17 January 1995}}</ref>

After going on location during filming, James Rampton for ''[[The Independent]]'' wrote that the film "contains many lines of vintage Victoria...And – judging from the script – the film is not a three-minute idea tortuously spun out over 90, but a living, breathing feature, with characters rather than caricatures and pathos rather than punchlines."<ref name="Rampton" /> For [[Screenonline]], Mark Duguid wrote the drama is Wood's "most ambitious, rounded and mature work to date" and describes it as "rapturously received". On Wood's comparisons with [[Alan Bennett]], he says that she "certainly shares Bennett's gift for characterisation and his ear for comic but natural dialogue".<ref name="Duguid" /> ''The Daily Telegraph''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Judith Woods described ''[[Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV]]'', ''[[Dinnerladies (TV series)|Dinnerladies]]'' and ''[[Acorn Antiques]]'' as "character-led television gems".<ref>{{cite news|last=Woods|first=Judith|title=Don't laugh... she's serious|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/comedy/3665296/Dont-laugh...-shes-serious.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217035551/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/comedy/3665296/Dont-laugh...-shes-serious.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 February 2013|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=22 May 2007}}</ref>

The film won the [[Broadcasting Press Guild]] Award for best single drama, and the best actress and best screenplay awards at the [[Reims Television Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Victoria Wood|url=http://www.speakerscorner.co.uk/file/631bb31c648373e6b5917e0e78ada1fe/victoria-wood-comedienne-cabaret-music-awards-host-after-dinner-stand-up.html|publisher=Speakers Corner|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010}}</ref> The drama was also nominated for two [[British Academy Television Awards]] in 1994: [[British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama|Best Single Drama]], and [[British Academy Television Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]] for Wood.<ref>{{cite web|title=Television Nominations 1994|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1994|publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]]|accessdateaccess-date=26 September 2010}}</ref>