‘I suppose I just find most of life completely hilarious,’ reflects Victoria Mather, creator of the Daily Telegraph’s Social Stereotypes that have placed British society mercilessly under the microscope. It’s her gift to make the rest of us find life pretty hilarious too, when dissected with inimitable Mather perspicacity. When it comes to holding our foibles up for ridicule, there are few satirical social commentators to match her.
Victoria Mather is a fascinating woman of contrasts. She can definitely be daunting. After her performance in Channel 4’s The Dinner Party Inspectors, AA Gill described her as ‘an ocean-going snob, akin only to one of PG Wodehouse’s awe-inspiring aunts’ and I suspect fools are not so much suffered as dispatched with one withering bon mot. She’s a self-confessed perfectionist, with an enviable media career: the Times, Telegraph and Standard; Harpers, GQ, Tatler and Vanity Fair, everything from op-eds to features. She’s transformed film and travel journalism, creating Tatler’s travel magazine, its 101 Best Hotels and Travel Awards. She’s adorned cult shows such as Radio 4’s Loose Ends and commentated on primetime television on both sides of the Atlantic.
She’s also manifestly a loyal friend, a beloved godmother to some 14 fortunate individuals and generous with both her time and influence when it comes to charities and issues about which she cares, ranging from ethical travel to education. She gives talks in schools and is passionate about ‘proper, all-round education’, deploring ‘these bloody "tick the boxes" tests that are so destructive’. She is also very, very funny.
This month she’s being generous with her time in support of the TalkInCompany series of local networking lunches, appearing as guest speaker on 13 September. The organisers are understandably delighted; as one told me: ‘Victoria was right up there in our "A-list dream team" and we’re just thrilled that she’s launching our autumn series.’ As well as providing a valuable local forum for discussion and networking, the lunches give 20% of their profits to the speaker’s chosen charity, in Victoria’s case, St Mary’s Church in Herriard, Hampshire.
So, was journalism a lifelong ambition? ‘No – I wanted to be a writer. But unless I was going to write the best-selling airport novel, preferably with gold stilettos embossed on the front, or I was going to write Pride and Prejudice, there’s nothing in between that would’ve satisfied me. I’m too vain. I just can’t bear failure. What I like doing is this – miniaturism.
She might not have written Pride and Prejudice, but in terms of miniaturism, I’m reminded of Jane Austen’s comment about ‘the little bit of ivory… on which I work with so fine a brush’. For the last 15 years, Victoria and Social Stereotypes artist Sue Macartney-Snape have, with a few beautifully synchronised brushstrokes, satirised just about every British social stereotype imaginable in a way Austen would warmly have appreciated. They’ve won a huge following for their subversive humour and the inspiration shows no sign of running dry.
A refreshing sense of the ridiculous informs Victoria’s world view. Of her landing, at a young age, the plum job of Telegraph film critic, she says: ‘We did have fun. Those were the marvellous days of the Telegraph, you know, when the Defence Correspondent was Rear Admiral Sir Air Commander Major-General Mufti Bingo Smythe-Blythe. I brought the average age down from 70 to 40-something; I’m quite proud of that!’
She’s had plenty more to be proud of in the subsequent two decades, not least her vivid, thought-provoking travel writing. As she says: ‘I’ve done what I consider two of the most difficult forms of journalism. Film and travel – which everyone thinks they can do. There are two things they say to you that just make you want to kill people. "Ooh, it’s lovely; you see all the films for free!" Which is terrific when you’re sitting through Hallowe’en 55. And "ooh, isn’t it lovely, you get lots of free holidays!" God, if you saw some of the places. And the food poisoning. Though looking on the bright side, as they say, you’re only one prawn away from your ideal weight.’
Plus it’s a punishing schedule: ‘I don’t leave my desk all that much except to go the airport. I do all my shopping when I’m travelling. My dress is either Jean Muir or Indian market or Marks & Spencers.’ Ordering in the shopping, whether it’s from Ocado or Chelsea Green’s fishmongers, is a lifesaver. But Victoria’s local patch ‘in this clever little part of south London, the only bit between two bridges’, suits her perfectly. ‘Ransome’s Dock is quite my favourite restaurant on the planet; when we had the builders in, I just about lived there. You used to see Posh Spice in there eating a lettuce leaf with no dressing. I’m keen on the Butcher & Grill restaurant too. And Foodways, known to us as Indian Harrods, they’re heaven; the sort of shop where you can leave the key for the plumber!’ She’s rather less appreciative of Albion Riverside, with its current empty units. ‘I suspect they’re trying to charge huge rents – and the building just looks like an elephant’s lavatory seat.’
I’ve rarely laughed my way through an interview as much as I did with Victoria Mather. I could listen to her for hours; and I’m looking forward to doing so for a couple more on 13 September. Why not book yourself a ticket and come and enjoy a true class act?
Victoria Mather is guest speaker at the TalkInCompany lunch on 13 September at Amici Bar & Italian Kitchen, 35 Bellevue Road SW17, 12-2.30pm. Tickets are £75 for all three Autumn 07 talks, sponsored by SW Magazine (12 October, the Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe; 9 November, Adam Pritchard); for details visit www.talkincompany.com or call 07847 568 786
The Wicked Teenager by Victoria Mather and Sue Macartney-Snape is published by John Murray (Publishers) on 4 October, £9.99 h/b. Signed advance copies will be on sale at the 13 September lunch.