It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Ever since this first aired in the late 90s I was a fan. I've been a fan of Victoria Wood, Julie Walters and the rest for many years, but apart from Acorn Antiques (beautifully observed), no sitcom from Victoria Wood. Then dinnerladies... The cast are perfect: her familiar co-performers Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie and Julie Walters are flawless. Julie Walters steals every scene she's in. And Anne Reid and Thelma Barlow bounce off each other wonderfully. Shobna Gulati and (the as yet unknown) Maxine Peake, and Andrew Dunn completing the core cast and delivering their lines with impeccable timing. The beauty of dinnerladies is the interplay between the cast, and the language. Not a word is wasted. Such lines as "And where has it got you, having a pelvic floor like a bulldog clip?" or "Sex, it's like icing a cake - you've got to bloody concentrate!". It must have been a dream to act in. To write and script edit the show, with no additional input must have been incredible hard work, but the end result is a (probably slightly under-appreciated) gem. And it's only really coming to light now that Victoria Wood is no more. If this were her only legacy it would be enough, but her work spanned 40 years, and was so brilliant and diverse. And dinnerladies, for me, was right at the top of the list.

Victoria herself said that Dinnerladies looked old fashioned against the Royle Family but I believe that its format is its strength. I remember watching the first series and thinking this is not as good as I expected from Victoria Wood but you have to watch it again because now I think both the series are genius. Fantastic scripts (apparently there is not an ad-lib, everything is tightly scripted) written brilliantly. It rewards repeated watching and just gets funnier every time you see it. The performances are fantastic from all the cast-special mentions for Andrew Dunn, Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Shobna Gulati, Anne Reid and the fantastic Thelma Barlow. Maxine Peake (brilliant actress) was so lucky to get the part of Twinkle as her first acting job. Even the small appearances are wonderfully observed and performed.I find it incredible that Miss Wood can write, compose, act and play at such an incredibly high standard. Whether other countries could really relate to the humour is a mystery to me but comedy relies on timing and I find myself laughing at US references in Frasier even though I may not know the situation they are referring to. I think thats down to timing. Maybe Dinnerladies will work that way too, 'cos the timing is spot on.If you have watched and not liked it,try it again-you may be very pleasantly surprised. I am watching again for what must be the twentieth time, both my wife and I still laugh out loud at lines we know backwards. That is the combination of writing, performance and timing.I guess it is peculiarly English and will not travel well, but that does not make it any less brilliant. Oct 2012 - I have just watched episode 1 of series 1 , having caught it on Gold. It was the one with which I was originally disappointed . I cannot for the life of me see why now. It just hit the ground running and was a hoot from the beginning. The characters were fully formed and incredibly acted down to the smallest part, for example - the stripper delivers her couple of lines with consummate skill. If I have one criticism it would be Julie Walters' part - the viewer is left to decide whether she is totally barmy or not and she seems a little young to be Victoria Woods' mom. It is a piece of work which can be watched again and again and still find funny stuff and lines which you missed the last time round.

I absolutely love this show! It's the highlight of my week, watching it on a Friday night. It has me in hysterics from start to finish. I've heard a lot of people say they don't like it, but I just can't see why. It captures men and women perfectly, and that's REAL men and women, not just stereotypes. The way Tony just gives up when the girls start talking about PMS or blokes, the way Dolly criticises Jean in practically every other sentence, the way Bren and Tony never quite get together and you really want them to, the way Stan won't go in the ladies loo... Hilarious every time! Ok, it hasn't got MUCH staying power, as they talk about mostly current issues, but I hope it goes on for a good long time. I f every comedy was as good as this, the world would be a much happier place. Victoria Wood is a comic genius and totally underrated. She totally understands real people's thoughts and feelings! If only Friends was this good...

I also remember a time when British comedy was funny - and it still is regardless of its many detractors.'Dinnerladies' is up there with the better British comedy shows of the late 90's. It shows some young, and not so young ladies going through the daily running of a factory cafeteria. The characters are very interesting, and the writing is well suited for them.All in all, its not the best but its good enough if you're needing some light entertainment to cheer you up.