The History

In the Spring of 2005, when Grumpy Old Women had already been successful on the television, the producer Judith Holder and grumpy contributor Jenny Eclair had a simultaneous brain wave: why not write the live show? Looking back it was probably the HRT talking. (To be honest no one can remember whose idea it was first, we shall probably end up in court over it).

The show was semi-written separately allowing both Grumpy Old Women simultaneously to talk to the plumber, bleach the loo and put a wash on. Then re-written when Jenny went to stay with Judith who has got a spare room complete with a rocking horse, a bed and everything. Judith made Jenny go swimming as well as write which was a bit beyond the call of duty, but she makes a very good cheese soufflé so that was nice. Jenny made Judith take a good long look at all her shoes, and gave her a lesion in how to make herself look less Women’s Royal Voluntary Service and more sex goddess. But Judith secretly kept her comfiest slip-ons. And wears them when Jenny isn’t looking.

Then they started casting, which was simple: we chose great performers who could stand to be in the small train carriage with each other. Obviously it was a short list, but by the end of the tour they may need to be travelling separately.

Rehearsals began for a mini-tour in the Autumn of 2005, the director, Chris George, got a bit cross when the ladies forgot their lines and it turned into a proper grumpy old experience but with a lot of laughs. The women shared Marks and Spencer’s couscous and compared techniques for complaining to the council. Sometimes they brought in catalogues.

The mini-tour set off on seven dates in November 2005 and went really well which was a huge relief to everyone, but mainly the producers who were a bit scared. People laughed. A lot. And in the interval when people had their very own Lakeland catalogues to browse in, Jenny and Judith felt the full impact of the grumpy old women movement had been born. That one way or another women of a certain age who pop out in their anorak or spend their Saturday mornings at the bottle bank will never be ignored, or over-looked again. That all of a sudden it was ok to be a middle aged woman. No, much better than that, all of a sudden it was cool to be a woman of a certain age. It was cool to be grumpy. And this made Judith and Jenny very happy indeed.

In the spring of 2006 the first grumpy cast, Jenny Eclair, Dillie Keane and Linda Robson set off on a 40 date sell out tour. Despite this nearly killing them, the ladies then went straight into a four week West End run at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Ave, offering comfort and entertainment to a great many World Cup widows.

Following the West End run the grumpy bandwagon continued to roll on. For the Autumn tour two brand new grumpies were recruited, Rhona Cameron and Annette Badland. Together with Jenny they ventured off on another national tour, with new cities to explore and new Loo’s to try out. Again the tour was a success with thousands of women filling theatres across the country and leaving hundreds of men with no idea what they were going to have for their dinner.

After being on the road for two consecutive tours (and a run in the West End darling!), with nearly a year’s worth of blisters and more time spent on a train than any other human should be expected to endure, the grumpies decided that they didn’t want to spend the winter in a rainy old Britain, especially when there is a whole other continent to grumble about. So the original cast reunited, less like a glorious reunion more like a WI meeting. They are a little bit older, a little bit wider but still as grumpy as ever and ready to unleash their 90-minute HRTantrum on and unsuspecting Australia.

Go grumpies