Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, and features a number of her regular collaborators.
to:
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, Creator/VictoriaWood, and features a number of her regular collaborators.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Changed line(s) 3,4 (click to see context) from:
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, and features a number of [[HeyItsThatGuy her regular collaborators]].
to:
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, and features a number of [[HeyItsThatGuy her regular collaborators]].
collaborators.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
No Circular Links, please.
Changed line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) from:
!!{{dinnerladies}} contains examples of these tropes:
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Dolly delivers one to their revolting and irritating temporary colleague Christine.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Twinkle. Hardly ever a jerk on a personal level - she moans and snarks about nearly everything, is frequently late and thinks nothing of her professional appearance, but greatly values her friendship with her colleagues, particularly Bren.
to:
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Twinkle. Hardly ever Twinkle (although she's not really a jerk on a personal level - she moans and snarks about nearly everything, is frequently late and thinks nothing of her professional appearance, but greatly values her friendship with her colleagues, particularly Bren.Bren).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Twinkle. Hardly ever a jerk on a personal level - she moans and snarks about nearly everything, is frequently late and thinks nothing of her professional appearance, but greatly values her friendship with her colleagues, particularly Bren.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
*** Put your glasses on!
to:
*** Put your glasses specs on!
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Jean misreading newspapers and magazines.
*** Put your glasses on!
*** Put your glasses on!
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** Also a stealth pun. A unicorn's got a big horn, so not unicorn means...
to:
** Also That's also a stealth pun. A unicorn's got a big horn, so not unicorn means...
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Also a stealth pun. A unicorn's got a big horn, so not unicorn means...
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Bread man Norman's endless list of things that he cannot do because he is 'agoraphobic, you know. I fell off a diving board in Guernsey.
** The pie man and his creepy obsession with Tony.
** Bread woman Glenda's surgery, which is played for laughs with purposeful ambiguity about its nature.
** The pie man and his creepy obsession with Tony.
** Bread woman Glenda's surgery, which is played for laughs with purposeful ambiguity about its nature.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Tony and Bren definitely count too.
Added DiffLines:
** Dolly's stories about her previous, much classier employer, the Café Bonbon.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* RunningGag: Quite a few, often carried through an entire series (or sometimes even both).
** Tony going out to the fire escape for a cigarette is always followed by a chorus of 'Shut the door!'
** Numerous references to Jean's HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) treatment.
** Many times, the characters attempt to name a TV show/film/musical/actor, often going through an enormous range of misnomers and non-sequiturs to do so.
** Phillipa's confusion over the name of her job: It WAS Personnel, but now it's Human Resources.
** Petula's namedropping of, and outlandish stories about, incredibly famous people with whom she is (obviously not) close.
** Tony going out to the fire escape for a cigarette is always followed by a chorus of 'Shut the door!'
** Numerous references to Jean's HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) treatment.
** Many times, the characters attempt to name a TV show/film/musical/actor, often going through an enormous range of misnomers and non-sequiturs to do so.
** Phillipa's confusion over the name of her job: It WAS Personnel, but now it's Human Resources.
** Petula's namedropping of, and outlandish stories about, incredibly famous people with whom she is (obviously not) close.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** '''Twinkle''': "Oh, ha ha, (Comedian, occasionally another phrase like 'straight to video')", a deadpan response to someone else making fun of her.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Moving to trivia.
Deleted line(s) 48 (click to see context) :
* TheOtherDarrin: Norman the bread man.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
this should be discussed on the discussion page
Deleted line(s) 50 (click to see context) :
** This troper is pretty sure the above is NOT a euphemism. A somewhat drunk Jean asks Tony, 'Can you smell my Charlie?', being a little flirtatious, so it could easily appear to be a euphemism - however, she's likely asking if he can smell her perfume, since 'Charlie' is actually the name of a cheap perfume produced by cosmetics company Revlon.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
adding a reference to the unusual euphemism trope.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
adding a reference to the unusual euphemism trope.
Added DiffLines:
** This troper is pretty sure the above is NOT a euphemism. A somewhat drunk Jean asks Tony, 'Can you smell my Charlie?', being a little flirtatious, so it could easily appear to be a euphemism - however, she's likely asking if he can smell her perfume, since 'Charlie' is actually the name of a cheap perfume produced by cosmetics company Revlon.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* NoodleImplements: Among Petula's posessions, revealed when she's rummaging in her handbag are a blanket and a large funnel sporting extremely suspect brown stains, which alongside her chronic flatulence hint strongly at an undisclosed and unexplored bowel complaint
to:
* NoodleImplements: Among Petula's posessions, possessions, revealed when she's rummaging in her handbag are a blanket and a large funnel sporting extremely suspect brown stains, which alongside her chronic flatulence hint strongly at an undisclosed and unexplored bowel complaintcomplaint
* OopNorth
* OopNorth
Added DiffLines:
* VitriolicBestBuds: Dolly and Jean
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** '''Stan''' "My father was a Desert Rat... (unlikely wartime feat)"
Added DiffLines:
** And let us not forget Petula's friend 'Babs from Urmston'
Added DiffLines:
* ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: Petula returns from a drunken fumble with Tony fiddling with her bra-strap and remarking 'That's the thing about shoplifting; you can never try something on.'
Added DiffLines:
* ManipulativeBastard: Petula Gordino
Added DiffLines:
* NoodleImplements: Among Petula's posessions, revealed when she's rummaging in her handbag are a blanket and a large funnel sporting extremely suspect brown stains, which alongside her chronic flatulence hint strongly at an undisclosed and unexplored bowel complaint
Added DiffLines:
** Petula speaking about parking her caravan on a petrol station forecourt: "Can I winch my legs down onto your hard standing?"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Removing wick to Did Not Do The Research per rename at TRS.
Deleted line(s) 35 (click to see context) :
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens, even going so far as to have a functioning catering toaster on set and serve toast to the studio audience.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
The comedy predominantly comes from the [[SliceOfLife interactions between the cast]] rather than wacky hijinks, {{Take That}}s, visual gags or blatant vulgarity- to the point that, with the exception of two small scenes involving a hospital and a GameShow, the entire 18-episode production only used one set.
to:
The comedy predominantly comes from the [[SliceOfLife interactions between the cast]] rather than wacky hijinks, {{Take That}}s, visual gags or blatant vulgarity- to the point that, with the exception of two small scenes involving a hospital and a GameShow, the entire 18-episode 16-episode production only used one set.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BritishBrevity: The show only ran for two series of six and ten episodes; the final episodes of series 2 were designed to wrap up the plot.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 34 (click to see context) from:
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.
to:
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.canteens, even going so far as to have a functioning catering toaster on set and serve toast to the studio audience.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Philippa spelling, according to BBC website.
Changed line(s) 5,6 (click to see context) from:
The plot follows Brenda "Bren" Furlong (Wood) in an otherwise ordinary canteen job, flanked by four colleagues, the older [[VitriolicBestBuds best friends]] Dolly and Jean- one uptight and prudish, the other... ''less'' so, as well as the younger Twinkle (brassy, loud, ladetteish) and Anita (quiet, ditzy), all presided over by their boss, Tony, and supported by a cast of peripheral factory workers- HR manager Phillipa, planning manager Jane and caretaker Stan. Oh, and Bren's {{Cloudcuckoolander}} mum, Petula.
to:
The plot follows Brenda "Bren" Furlong (Wood) in an otherwise ordinary canteen job, flanked by four colleagues, the older [[VitriolicBestBuds best friends]] Dolly and Jean- one uptight and prudish, the other... ''less'' so, as well as the younger Twinkle (brassy, loud, ladetteish) and Anita (quiet, ditzy), all presided over by their boss, Tony, and supported by a cast of peripheral factory workers- HR manager Phillipa, Philippa, planning manager Jane and caretaker Stan. Oh, and Bren's {{Cloudcuckoolander}} mum, Petula.
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} - Anita, who is just highly [[TheDitz ditzy]], Phillipa, who just gets a bit muddled up, and Petula, who is under the impression she is a friend of the rich and famous, but actually lives in a caravan behind a petrol station.
to:
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} - Anita, who is just highly [[TheDitz ditzy]], Phillipa, Philippa, who just gets a bit muddled up, and Petula, who is under the impression she is a friend of the rich and famous, but actually lives in a caravan behind a petrol station.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Spoiler tag
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. {{spoiler:TheyDo}}.
to:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. {{spoiler:TheyDo}}.[[spoiler:TheyDo]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. {{spoiler: TheyDo}}.
to:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. {{spoiler: TheyDo}}.{{spoiler:TheyDo}}.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 15,21 (click to see context) from:
* {{all lowercase letters}} - the title text.
* BerserkButton - Anything, according to Stan.
** Also, Dolly, when she drinks coffee containing Viagra which someone had mistaken for sweetener.
* BreathlessNonSequitur - the source of a lot of the show's jokes. Especially when Petula gets her NoodleImplements out.
* BrickJoke - a non-comedic example. In the very first episode, Petula asks Bren to throw a mobile phone into a bin. In the very last episode, Petula reveals that the phone belonged to someone who gave her a lot of money, which then finds its way to Bren and the other staff. It isn't mentioned in any of the intervening episodes.
* BritishStuffiness - Dolly embodies this trope, frequently name-dropping The Daily Mail.
* BuffySpeak - "You know, he's that thing, sort of a bouncy word. Not unicorn {{beat}} Impotent, that's it."
* BerserkButton - Anything, according to Stan.
** Also, Dolly, when she drinks coffee containing Viagra which someone had mistaken for sweetener.
* BreathlessNonSequitur - the source of a lot of the show's jokes. Especially when Petula gets her NoodleImplements out.
* BrickJoke - a non-comedic example. In the very first episode, Petula asks Bren to throw a mobile phone into a bin. In the very last episode, Petula reveals that the phone belonged to someone who gave her a lot of money, which then finds its way to Bren and the other staff. It isn't mentioned in any of the intervening episodes.
* BritishStuffiness - Dolly embodies this trope, frequently name-dropping The Daily Mail.
* BuffySpeak - "You know, he's that thing, sort of a bouncy word. Not unicorn {{beat}} Impotent, that's it."
to:
* {{all lowercase letters}} - letters}}: the title text.
*BerserkButton - BerserkButton: Anything, according to Stan.
** Also, Dolly, when shedrinks thinks she has drunk coffee containing Viagra which someone had mistaken for sweetener.
*BreathlessNonSequitur - BreathlessNonSequitur: the source of a lot of the show's jokes. Especially when Petula gets her NoodleImplements out.
*BrickJoke - a BrickJoke: A non-comedic example. In the very first episode, Petula asks Bren to throw a mobile phone into a bin. In the very last episode, Petula reveals that the phone belonged to someone who gave her a lot of money, which then finds its way to Bren and the other staff. It isn't mentioned in any of the intervening episodes.
*BritishStuffiness - BritishStuffiness: Dolly embodies this trope, frequently name-dropping The Daily Mail.
*BuffySpeak - BuffySpeak: "You know, he's that thing, sort of a bouncy word. Not unicorn {{beat}} Impotent, that's it."
*
** Also, Dolly, when she
*
*
*
*
Changed line(s) 32 (click to see context) from:
* DeadpanSnarker - Twinkle.
to:
* DeadpanSnarker - DeadpanSnarker: Twinkle.
Changed line(s) 34,42 (click to see context) from:
* DidNotDoTheResearch - Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.
* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed - Averted. Tony's Cancer- and its treatment- becomes a major plot point.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune - On the last episodes of each series, in the credits.
* DownerEnding - Bren's mum dies, and the canteen is to be closed. Then they pull it out of the bag, so to speak, as Bren rescues the inheritance she accidentally threw away and shares it with her coworkers.
* FreudianSlip - when visiting royals ask Anita about her views on wearing a uniform.
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit. The punchline to this is itself a NoodleIncident - "We thought you were pregnant" "Not unless sperm can get through a sash window"
* ShowWithinAShow - "Totally Trivial"
* StatusQuoIsGod - Played relatively straight in the first series (Although nothing of significance really happens in it), but continuity hits hard in the second.
* UnusualEuphemism - "Can you smell my Charlie?"
* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed - Averted. Tony's Cancer- and its treatment- becomes a major plot point.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune - On the last episodes of each series, in the credits.
* DownerEnding - Bren's mum dies, and the canteen is to be closed. Then they pull it out of the bag, so to speak, as Bren rescues the inheritance she accidentally threw away and shares it with her coworkers.
* FreudianSlip - when visiting royals ask Anita about her views on wearing a uniform.
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit. The punchline to this is itself a NoodleIncident - "We thought you were pregnant" "Not unless sperm can get through a sash window"
* ShowWithinAShow - "Totally Trivial"
* StatusQuoIsGod - Played relatively straight in the first series (Although nothing of significance really happens in it), but continuity hits hard in the second.
* UnusualEuphemism - "Can you smell my Charlie?"
to:
* DidNotDoTheResearch - DidNotDoTheResearch: Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.
*TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed - TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Averted. Tony's Cancer- cancer - and its treatment- treatment - becomes a major plot point.
*DoItYourselfThemeTune - DoItYourselfThemeTune: On the last episodes of each series, in the credits.
*DownerEnding - DownerEnding: Bren's mum dies, and the canteen is to be closed. Then they pull it out of the bag, so to speak, as Bren rescues the inheritance she accidentally threw away and shares it with her coworkers.
*FreudianSlip - when FreudianSlip: When visiting royals ask Anita about her views on wearing a uniform.
*MistakenForPregnant - MistakenForPregnant: Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit. The punchline to this is itself a NoodleIncident - "We thought you were pregnant" "Not unless sperm can get through a sash window"
*ShowWithinAShow - ShowWithinAShow: "Totally Trivial"
*StatusQuoIsGod - StatusQuoIsGod: Played relatively straight in the first series (Although nothing of significance really happens in it), but continuity hits hard in the second.
*UnusualEuphemism - TheOtherDarrin: Norman the bread man.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Can you smell my Charlie?"
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* UnusualEuphemism: "Can you smell my Charlie?"
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. TheyDo.
to:
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. TheyDo.{{spoiler: TheyDo}}.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit.
to:
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit. The punchline to this is itself a NoodleIncident - "We thought you were pregnant" "Not unless sperm can get through a sash window"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:310:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinnerladies_2_396x222_6434.jpeg]]
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, and features a number of [[HeyItsThatGuy her regular collaborators]].
The plot follows Brenda "Bren" Furlong (Wood) in an otherwise ordinary canteen job, flanked by four colleagues, the older [[VitriolicBestBuds best friends]] Dolly and Jean- one uptight and prudish, the other... ''less'' so, as well as the younger Twinkle (brassy, loud, ladetteish) and Anita (quiet, ditzy), all presided over by their boss, Tony, and supported by a cast of peripheral factory workers- HR manager Phillipa, planning manager Jane and caretaker Stan. Oh, and Bren's {{Cloudcuckoolander}} mum, Petula.
The comedy predominantly comes from the [[SliceOfLife interactions between the cast]] rather than wacky hijinks, {{Take That}}s, visual gags or blatant vulgarity- to the point that, with the exception of two small scenes involving a hospital and a GameShow, the entire 18-episode production only used one set.
Despite the humour shown, which being a Victoria Wood programme, can often take a turn for the slightly bizarre, most of the characters have darker moments to contend with both on-camera and in their backstories. This generally sees the programme described in listings as "Bittersweet".
Came twenty-eighth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
----
!!{{dinnerladies}} contains examples of these tropes:
* {{all lowercase letters}} - the title text.
* BerserkButton - Anything, according to Stan.
** Also, Dolly, when she drinks coffee containing Viagra which someone had mistaken for sweetener.
* BreathlessNonSequitur - the source of a lot of the show's jokes. Especially when Petula gets her NoodleImplements out.
* BrickJoke - a non-comedic example. In the very first episode, Petula asks Bren to throw a mobile phone into a bin. In the very last episode, Petula reveals that the phone belonged to someone who gave her a lot of money, which then finds its way to Bren and the other staff. It isn't mentioned in any of the intervening episodes.
* BritishStuffiness - Dolly embodies this trope, frequently name-dropping The Daily Mail.
* BuffySpeak - "You know, he's that thing, sort of a bouncy word. Not unicorn {{beat}} Impotent, that's it."
* CatchPhrase: A few.
** '''Norman''': "I fell off a diving board in Guernsey!"
** '''Dolly''': "It was in the Daily Mail!"
*** Blaming everything on "'''TonyBlair'''!", saying his name in a hilariously contemptuous manner.
** '''Bren''': "What's that word? Not X ''({{beat}})'' Y" - where X and Y are completely unconnected and unalike words.
*** Not unrelated so much as distantly, idiomatically related.
**** "What's that word? Not unicorn, ''({{beat}})'' dilemma!" - The link here is a horn.
**** "What's them things like cucumbers? ''({{beat}})'' Suffragettes!" - The link here is courgette.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} - Anita, who is just highly [[TheDitz ditzy]], Phillipa, who just gets a bit muddled up, and Petula, who is under the impression she is a friend of the rich and famous, but actually lives in a caravan behind a petrol station.
* ClusterFBomb: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PwTG_pab40 "Never mind your bloody coffee- get in the bloody bloody BLOODY FRIGGING CAR!"]]
* DeadpanSnarker - Twinkle.
--->"Oh ha ha, straight to video."
* DidNotDoTheResearch - Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.
* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed - Averted. Tony's Cancer- and its treatment- becomes a major plot point.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune - On the last episodes of each series, in the credits.
* DownerEnding - Bren's mum dies, and the canteen is to be closed. Then they pull it out of the bag, so to speak, as Bren rescues the inheritance she accidentally threw away and shares it with her coworkers.
* FreudianSlip - when visiting royals ask Anita about her views on wearing a uniform.
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit.
* ShowWithinAShow - "Totally Trivial"
* StatusQuoIsGod - Played relatively straight in the first series (Although nothing of significance really happens in it), but continuity hits hard in the second.
* UnusualEuphemism - "Can you smell my Charlie?"
* VideoWills
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. TheyDo.
A two-series WorkCom set in a Mancunian factory canteen. Written by, and indeed starring, Victoria Wood, and features a number of [[HeyItsThatGuy her regular collaborators]].
The plot follows Brenda "Bren" Furlong (Wood) in an otherwise ordinary canteen job, flanked by four colleagues, the older [[VitriolicBestBuds best friends]] Dolly and Jean- one uptight and prudish, the other... ''less'' so, as well as the younger Twinkle (brassy, loud, ladetteish) and Anita (quiet, ditzy), all presided over by their boss, Tony, and supported by a cast of peripheral factory workers- HR manager Phillipa, planning manager Jane and caretaker Stan. Oh, and Bren's {{Cloudcuckoolander}} mum, Petula.
The comedy predominantly comes from the [[SliceOfLife interactions between the cast]] rather than wacky hijinks, {{Take That}}s, visual gags or blatant vulgarity- to the point that, with the exception of two small scenes involving a hospital and a GameShow, the entire 18-episode production only used one set.
Despite the humour shown, which being a Victoria Wood programme, can often take a turn for the slightly bizarre, most of the characters have darker moments to contend with both on-camera and in their backstories. This generally sees the programme described in listings as "Bittersweet".
Came twenty-eighth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
----
!!{{dinnerladies}} contains examples of these tropes:
* {{all lowercase letters}} - the title text.
* BerserkButton - Anything, according to Stan.
** Also, Dolly, when she drinks coffee containing Viagra which someone had mistaken for sweetener.
* BreathlessNonSequitur - the source of a lot of the show's jokes. Especially when Petula gets her NoodleImplements out.
* BrickJoke - a non-comedic example. In the very first episode, Petula asks Bren to throw a mobile phone into a bin. In the very last episode, Petula reveals that the phone belonged to someone who gave her a lot of money, which then finds its way to Bren and the other staff. It isn't mentioned in any of the intervening episodes.
* BritishStuffiness - Dolly embodies this trope, frequently name-dropping The Daily Mail.
* BuffySpeak - "You know, he's that thing, sort of a bouncy word. Not unicorn {{beat}} Impotent, that's it."
* CatchPhrase: A few.
** '''Norman''': "I fell off a diving board in Guernsey!"
** '''Dolly''': "It was in the Daily Mail!"
*** Blaming everything on "'''TonyBlair'''!", saying his name in a hilariously contemptuous manner.
** '''Bren''': "What's that word? Not X ''({{beat}})'' Y" - where X and Y are completely unconnected and unalike words.
*** Not unrelated so much as distantly, idiomatically related.
**** "What's that word? Not unicorn, ''({{beat}})'' dilemma!" - The link here is a horn.
**** "What's them things like cucumbers? ''({{beat}})'' Suffragettes!" - The link here is courgette.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} - Anita, who is just highly [[TheDitz ditzy]], Phillipa, who just gets a bit muddled up, and Petula, who is under the impression she is a friend of the rich and famous, but actually lives in a caravan behind a petrol station.
* ClusterFBomb: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PwTG_pab40 "Never mind your bloody coffee- get in the bloody bloody BLOODY FRIGGING CAR!"]]
* DeadpanSnarker - Twinkle.
--->"Oh ha ha, straight to video."
* DidNotDoTheResearch - Averted. Wood went to great lengths to make the canteen as authentic as possible, to appease those who work in canteens.
* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed - Averted. Tony's Cancer- and its treatment- becomes a major plot point.
* DoItYourselfThemeTune - On the last episodes of each series, in the credits.
* DownerEnding - Bren's mum dies, and the canteen is to be closed. Then they pull it out of the bag, so to speak, as Bren rescues the inheritance she accidentally threw away and shares it with her coworkers.
* FreudianSlip - when visiting royals ask Anita about her views on wearing a uniform.
* MistakenForPregnant - Bren, after a fainting spell brought on by the mention of needles when the blood donor van comes to visit.
* ShowWithinAShow - "Totally Trivial"
* StatusQuoIsGod - Played relatively straight in the first series (Although nothing of significance really happens in it), but continuity hits hard in the second.
* UnusualEuphemism - "Can you smell my Charlie?"
* VideoWills
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Bren and Tony. TheyDo.
