Is a play written by Victoria Wood

Television version[edit]

Talent
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Victoria Wood
Directed by	Baz Taylor
Starring	Victoria Wood Julie Walters Bill Waddington Kevin Lloyd Peter Ellis
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	1
Production
Producer	Peter Eckersley
Running time	75 minutes
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3 full screen
Original release	5 August 1979

Granada Television producer Peter Eckersley was so impressed with the show, he signed Wood for a television adaptation of it which was broadcast on the ITV network on 5 August 1979.[5] Wood had originally written the part of Julie for her co-star in In at the Death, Julie Walters, and while she was not available for the stage version, she was able to appear in the TV remake. It was the first of many television appearances the two would make together.
The rest of the cast were Bill Waddington (George Findley), Kevin Lloyd (Mel), Nat Jackley (Arthur), Sue Glover (Cathy Christmas), Peter Ellis (Compere), Andrew Dodge (Cathy's accompanist).[6]
The television critics were unanimous in their praise, and Wood received congratulatory letters from actor John Le Mesurier and fellow northern writer Alan Plater. It even led to an offer for Wood to join the then new satirical comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, which she turned down.[7]
A year later, a television-only sequel to Talent called Nearly A Happy Ending was broadcast on Granada, again written by Wood and starring Wood and Walters reprising their roles.[1]

The Smiths[edit]

A song from the show, Fourteen Again, had its lyrics adapted for another tune, Rusholme Ruffians by the eighties pop group The Smiths. Its lead singer Morrissey was a fan of Wood's, and had even proposed marriage to her via the music press (to which she responded "Morrissey and I have been married for 11 months, though due to touring commitments, we have yet to meet.") According to the band's biographer Johnny Rogan "He paid her the ultimate 'compliment' by hijacking her song 'Fourteen Again' and transforming its sardonic nostalgia into a lacerating satire on mind-numbing proletarial leisure. In Morrissey's landscape, the fairground in the original song becomes a carnival of violence tinged with bitter romance...It is fascinating to observe Wood's characteristic self-effacing, but affectionate, adolescent recollections juxtaposed to Morrissey's almost cinematic melanchony. They both share an appealing laconic style and dour wit, but Morrissey's world view is more threatening, pessimistic and painful."[2]