Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985)

The one to start with, and the one people quote. Across twelve half-hour episodes on BBC2 and a 40-minute special in 1987, Wood built a troupe around Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston, with Patricia Routledge and Susie Blake dropping in every week. The famous bit is Acorn Antiques, a spoof soap set in an antiques shop, with cheap sets, missed cues and Walters as the unforgettable tea lady Mrs Overall. But the quieter pieces are the real treat: the spoof slice-of-life documentaries, Margery and Joan's hopeless daytime magazine show, and Blake's snooty continuity announcer stitching it all together. The show won BAFTAs for its entire run, and the writing about ordinary women's small vanities has hardly dated.