The beginning of the first series introduces the characters, a group of mostly female and middle-aged canteen workers at a factory in Manchester. The main character is the kind and dependable Brenda "Bren" Furlong, whose relationship with sarcasti…

• Victoria Wood as Brenda "Bren" Furlong
Bren is the deputy manager of the canteen, and arguably the most reasonable of the characters. She had an unhappy childhood as her mother had her taken into foster care, and she later married an alcoholic n…

The series was written entirely by Victoria Wood, with no additional contributors or script editor. Wood approached writing by allowing plots to develop from interactions between characters, rather than fitting characters into pre-determined storylines. …

Humour is mostly derived from the conversation and banter between characters, regarding their lives and popular culture, most commonly film and television: dialogue often features humorous misunderstandings, malapropis…