This reminds me of the version that the Doctor Who cast did back when Russel T Davis was leaving the show (along with David Tennant, Julie Gardner and several others I think) and they did a rewrite of it called 'The Ballad Of Russel And Julie' and Catherine did the 'Let's do it' part and David did the 'I can't do it' part and John Barrowman did the narration and I absolutely loved it lol

The way she introduced Victoria Wood at the end, like her idol was on stage taking a bow with her genuinely brought a tear!!!

The Ballad Of Barry And Freda is a bloody difficult song to do, and Catherine does an admirable job on her cover version. Nothing touches Victoria's various versions, obviously, but Ms. Tate gave it a right old go, and should be very proud.

What a lack luster audience. And here i am applauding my screen, shedding tear of one Comedy Genius paying Tribute to one of the Comedy Goddesses. Fantastic!!!!

Can we just accept that this woman can play piano without looking at the keys, moving up octaves too (this is such a difficult piece) and sing like that? Jesus Christ, Catherine Tate is talented all round and a massive credit to the nation. Bloody brilliant - keep it up xx

R.I.P Victoria Wood a true queen of comedy :'(

The smile on her face after the bow she did when finished singing. That's the smile that came from her deepest self. The smile of the young girl who olny dreamed about once being what she is now. The smile that is pure happieness. A true smile of feeling amazing.

Rogers and Hammerstein, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lennon and McCartney ... the list goes on - none of them wrote lyrics to compete with "beat me on the bottom with the Woman's Weekly" or "bend me over backwards on the Hostess Trolley" or "melt the buttons on my flameproof nightie".

I'm a simple person : I see Donna Noble singing, I like.

The applause Catherine received at the end was so richly deserved; the Ballad of Barry and Freda is a difficult piece, but Catherine covered it so well.

*As a lifelong Victoria Wood fan, my first thought was, **_"It's either a very brave or a very foolish person who attempts a cover of Barry & Freda"_** and especially live! But overall (no not Mrs), I think she pulled it off extremely well. Victoria Wood never had any pretensions about her own singing voice, as she admitted on several occasions off-stage, but yeah, Catherine Tate did pretty darn good here in my opinion.*

R.I.P Victoria Wood. You will be greatly missed. This is a Great tribute to her.

Catherine is one of the most amazingly talented multi performers of all time. What an incredible human being. ✌️♥️🇬🇧

Just looked back at the date of this. IMDB have it as released 2 Jan 2016. Victoria Wood was in her last few months of life, and hardly anyone knew. I hope she saw this and loved every minute of it x

4:09 to go straight to the singing. Damn I was surprised at how good Catherine Tate was singing this.

The tragic loss of a fantastic performer... RIP Victoria... You made so many people smile and laugh.x You are a legend!!

Victoria Wood was actually an incredibly skilled pianist, as well as a superlative writer, singer and everything else. Her songs are actually very difficult to perform. Catherine Tate did an excellent cover version of this song. Well done!

Cant believe I have just stumbled across this after the terrible week. What a wonderful woman. RIP xx

Never been able to look at a hostess trolley in the same way again

sad times, :( rest in peace to a great woman

obviously she's not going to b as good as victoria but it's a tribute to her so shut up and enjoy it people😂

DONNNAAHHHHHH !!

Oh Victoria Wood, bless you. Miss you so much.

I remember her she was so great miss her and her talent

Is there anything Catherine can't do? So talented. Love it!!

Catherine, you ACED THAT!!!

The Spinners, a hostess trolley, lagging pipes, Judith Chalmers, Woman's Weekly...very much a lovely wander through the nostalgia of my childhood 😁 The less wonderful reference was that of avocado! Whether the foodstuff or colour of bathroom suites. Couldn't stand either in the 70's, can't stand them now 😁 Brilliant lyrics all the way through ❤

Can't believe she has gone , such a shock, they knew she was going and did this for her. Sad great loss to comedy

What a performance Catherine ! Thank you. Was really enjoyable to watch to appreciate to listen and to dance on it !

BRILLIANT TRIBUTE CATHERINE YOU NAILED IT!

BRILLIANT EFFORT CATHERINE !!! Victoria WOOD ….have been sooooo PROUD of you. XXX ;)

I was never really a fan of Catherine Tate, but this was a really good tribute to the lateVictoria Wood. Well done Miss Tate, and r.i.p Victoria.

an absolutely bloody brilliant version and tribute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you have every reason to be proud girl

I love this. Catherine is so talented

I love her, her joy is infectious my favourite roles are 1) Lauren cooper 2) Donna noble

The great Miss Victoria Wood RIP, left us so many treasures this especially, a good effort by Catherine Tate. Hard to believe she is no longer here, love to her family.

"Best temp in Chiswick! 100 words per minute!" And that's how Donna decided to use her fingers to become a pianist.

Had no idea The Ballad of Russell and Julie was based on something else. XD

Such an amazing entertainer and a comedic icon in the making.

Brilliant. I never even knew Catherine Tate could sing and play the piano, and do it well. My estimation of her has gone up 100%😌

Catherine Tate is so talented. She is a joy to watch.

No one will do it like our Vic, but you can see the love in this perfect tribute. I am a huge Victoria Wood fan, and i know she would have loved this!

Such a tragic loss R.I.P Victoria Wood :'(

A brilliantly performed tribute to the late and so great Victoria Wood. HOW CAN THERE BE PEOPLE OUT THERE GIVING IT THE THUMBS DOWN? UNBELIEVABLE

Nice Job, Catherine. This is a really hard song to sing and to get right. Even Victoria Wood messed it up on occasion. She doesn’t sing it with the….. glee and twinkle that Victoria sings it with, but she clearly loves the song and gives it her best. We cannot ask for anything more. Well done.

Really good performance and so difficult to do, she did her own take on it which is respectful.

Aww bless! Catherine introducing a whole new generation to this classic ballad. When will she do Broadway?

Glad she brought that song back The Glorious Victoria being honoured RIP Wonderful lady

I was at the recording, amazing performance and a great tribute to the wonderfull Victoria Wood

Aww come on you guys, this was a great effort to pay tribute the wonderful Victoria Wood !!! And to be Honest it sounded good to me

the song starts at around 4:08

Rest In Peace you wonderful lady. Goodbye Victoria Wood x

I think anyone who tried to follow in the foot steps of Victoria is very brave, because obviously people are going to say its not like Victoria. Thank you Catherine for having a good go. Victoria your humour was amazing and i am sure you are continuing once you settle in the new abode. Thank you for all the laughter and joy you brought here. Safe journey home. You and Ronnie are going to have a ball in the heavenly realm that I am sure.

I love Catherines voice

"Beat me on the bottom with a Women's Weekly"........pure class😂

God, I love you, Catherine Tate!

Catherine Tate must have been devastated at her passing

After all these years this is still so good!😁

Catherine is an awesome singer and should do more of it.

FANTASTIC!

What a great video to meet for 1st time such a Comedian!... Catherine, You are me favourite brit comedian, but who inspired you, is always welcome...

This is real comedy!!!!! You sit down with blank mind, then you smile, you understand and feel the same, you laugh you wow, then you laugh and wow again in tears of joy, appreciation and respect!!!

2016 ... we've lost so many truly great people :'(

Sadly missed a comic icon and forever a legend miss Victoria Wood

No one performs this song like Victoria Wood - any attempt is futile! My God she was wonderful, there will never be another.

The words “full circle” come to mind, and I’m not talking about Adric’s debut.

What a wonderful, well done and respectful tribute. Well done Catherine! Thank you Victoria. x

Please say Catherine Tate is still here she is amazing

R.I.P. Victoria Wood Missed by all.x❤

To all the ppl complaining that shes faking the piano...shes doing a tribute. They literally showed Victoria Wood playing the piana while doing this song so you can see thats obviously why they made the decision to put catherine in front of the piano. Not to make her out to have a talent she doesnt have

Amazing and thanks for posting this.

Never seen this before.... Mad props to CT for the piano playing. Remember seeing VW do this as a kid.... VERY funny lady. RiP.

loved it so much RIP Victoria Wood your a gem xxx

HA! I see Catherine Tate acting like a normal person, and I still wait for the punchline. Love her. A master of comedy.

Well sung Catherine, can't be too many people on the planet who could/should even attempt that song. From the "published" date, this performance must have been some time before Victoria passed. I so hope she saw it. I'm certain she would have approved.

Two great comedy geniuses. One tributing the other. Brilliant

She was brilliant...!

Victoria wood is a one of a kind genius Excellent cover Catherine Tate 👏🏻

I fucking love Catherine Tate. Crazy beautiful and crazy talented.

Still miss Victoria Wood, but thank you Catherine, a great tribute.

What a fitting and glorious tribute to a sadly missed icon!!!

Victoria. ! One of the greatest. Thank you foR saving my humour. !

I wonder if Victoria Wood ever got to see this before she sadly passed away. This was amazing, Catherine is the most talented comediane out there

Late to the party - but I got a kick out of imagining this song playing as a bride and groom’s first dance where they are choreographed between moments of waltz and bits of modern dance.

this reminded me how much I love both victoria wood and catherine tate

Catherine is stunningly talented

A fair effort but you see why it has to be done in a northern accent. Only then does romance rhyme with chance

Feeling a pang of sadness listening to this. VW was brilliant doing this. CT's rendition is a fitting tribute

Nailed it. RIP Victoria!

I didn’t know Catherine played piano, let alone so well. She missed a couple of verses out but that was probably the programme producers.

Ok ok, here’s my take, for what it’s worth: I ADORE Catherine Tate. She’s super funny, clever, can sing, dance, act, write, create a truly awesome range of ‘characters’…. The list goes on. This ‘Ballad’ is mighty tricky to DO RIGHT. To get the timing, to bring the different accents and personalities of the two protagonists to life; so that, by the end of the song, we really feel like we know them individually; we know their differences. And herein lies the dilemma. BECAUSE it’s so hard to pull off perfectly, I think it’s a huge compliment to say that, even someone of Catherine Tate’s talent and abilities, had an “ok/decent” stab at it. Yes, half the verses were missing (and in my humble opinion, some of the funniest). Yes, it was significantly slowed down. Yes, the characters were not “bought to life” via their different accents, outlooks, and the tiniest glimpses we got of their personalities. BUT all this is simply testament to just how brilliant Victoria Wood was. It is in NO WAY a critique of Tate’s abilities; purely a reflection on Wood’s brilliance. They are both fantastic entertainers, and UK comedy would be far poorer place, had we never had the joy that they both, in their individual and unique way, have, and do still, bring to us.

tears of laughter when watching the comedy genius, now tears of sorrow with the sad passing of the great Victoria Wood. R .I. P

I loved Victoria Wood, she was so good and Catherine did a great job.

Awesome and entertaining! Well done Catherine!

October 2021, so amazing to watch Catherine

She's actually a good singer!

so talented gifted 1968 born actress!!

Never can one replace Victoria wood the queen of comedy.

glad she did it in a Southern accent. Put her own touch to it. Having said that her accent when she does the disgusted Yorkshire couple is bang on.

I love you Chatherine