i thought this show was mid 1990`s but i just checked and its the modern era

this was a good sitcom with a few episodes that truly stand out and i think it should gone on for a third series

any one remember this sitcom or got a opinion

Yeah, I quite like it, but something about it which doesn't "grab" me though. Not entirely sure what it is, but either way it's still a pretty good show.

Repeated on UKTV Gold quite frequently too.

yea its that watch everyso often but without the grab factor which makes it only a good sitcom not great one.

yeah back onto the topic of dinnerladies, what channel and time slot is it on these days, i havent seen it for a while.

UKTV Gold, 4pm and 8:20pm weekdays (but varies occasionally, so check listings).

I like the idea of ressurecting an old thread. But the main reason for this post is I got the DVDs recently. The writing is genius however I think one of the reasons why it isn't considered a true classic is that it seems caught between the brilliant Alan Bennett type observations and the Are You Being Served? style innuendo. I personally much prefer the observational bits. The characters of Stan has some of the greatest lines ever known to man.

I think the reason dinneladies was not a bigger hit than it was comes down to timing. It was a gallant attempt to breathe life back into the old-fashioned studio sitcom at a time when such things were being made to look contrived and dated compared to shows such as The Office. (I think Victoria Wood herself has said something to this effect.)

The studio sitcom has since been rediscovered, complete with its contrivances, and if dinnerladies was to be first broadcast today I am sure it would be recognised as the classic it is.

BTW, this is one thread where I would not object to This post is off-topic appearing.

This may be totally unfair (in fact it almost certainly is), but from what I saw of this series was there something rather When The Whistle Blows about it?

Quote: Timbo @ September 8 2009, 9:40 AM BST

I think the reason dinneladies was not a bigger hit than it was comes down to timing. It was a gallant attempt to breathe life back into the old-fashioned studio sitcom at a time when such things were being made to look contrived and dated compared to shows such as The Office. (I think Victoria Wood herself has said something to this effect.)

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I remember her saying she wanted it to look all shaky hand held camera filmed on location, but the BBC wanted it to be traditional studio-based. So maybethat's the likeness to When the Whistle Blows.

Quote: Dolly Dagger @ September 8 2009, 9:50 AM BST

but the BBC wanted it to be traditional studio-based.

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I think I remember Victoria Wood saying that the BBC's decision was also partly based on how much money they wanted to spend on it. (Even though The Office was single camera and location, its actors would have cost a fraction of what the cast of dinnerladies must have come to.)

Quote: Tim Walker @ September 8 2009, 9:44 AM BST

This may be totally unfair (in fact it almost certainly is), but from what I saw of this series was there something rather When The Whistle Blows about it?

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Really only in the workplace setting and the studio production values. The performances were not particularly broad and I do not recall any use of catchphrases.

I was never really sure whether When The Whistel Blows was spoofing bad studio sitcoms, which are fair game, or all studio sitcoms, which kind of misses the point. Studio sitcoms have never been naturalistic. For them to work they rely on an element of collusion on the part of the audience in accepting the exaggeration and contrivance. As of course do single camera sitcoms, for all the illusion of reality.

This goes back to the point I made in my original post about dinnerladies not being of the moment, in terms of the level of contrivance that the audience, and the critics, were prepared to accept.