{"id":220792,"date":"2026-05-05T16:15:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220792\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:15:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:15:34","slug":"smoggie-queens-star-phil-dunning-teases-series-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/220792\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoggie Queens star Phil Dunning teases series 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phil Dunning<\/a> is in a red halterneck dress, curly blonde wig, deerstalker and drawn-on moustache when I arrive to visit the set of Smoggie Queens<\/a> series 2. It is, appropriately, the kind of over-the-top, barely-held-together drag that his character Dickie is known for \u2013 this particular incarnation is called Detective Sexy (see opposite). Seeing it on a weekday in a Stockton function suite tells you almost everything you need to know about the programme Dunning writes and acts in. The BBC Three comedy that launched in late 2024 to cult adoration is returning this spring and, judging by what the cast describe during a press roundtable this afternoon, it\u2019s set to push the boundaries considerably further.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really overwhelmed with the amount of love we\u2019ve got from it\u201d \u2013 Phil Dunning<\/p>\n

Read next<\/p>\n

\u201cSmoggie\u201d, for those who are unfamiliar with Teesside, is a slang term for people from Middlesbrough. And for a show that nobody was certain would find an audience, the numbers tell an interesting story. Series one drew around 600,000 viewers per episode \u2013 meaningful figures for BBC Three. Then came the awards. In 2025, Dunning picked up three BAFTA nominations<\/a>: Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for his role as Dickie; Writer: Comedy; and Emerging Talent: Fiction at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards. He also appeared in the TV, Music & Film category of Attitude\u2019s 101 list in 2025<\/a>, in company that included Cynthia Erivo, Olly Alexander and Colman Domingo. Earlier this year, he won Best Comedy and Best Newcomer at the RTS North East Awards. Not bad for a first-time writer-performer from Teesside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really overwhelmed with the amount of love we\u2019ve got from it,\u201d Dunning tells me after de-frocking. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

What catches the cast off-guard is not just that the show works, but who it works for. Alexandra Mardell, who plays Lucinda, recalls the response they didn\u2019t quite see coming. \u201cYou had a lot of straight, burly men who said, \u2018I love this,\u2019 and they weren\u2019t expecting to, and that\u2019s what you wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeesside has been really proud of it\u201d \u2013 Elijah Young on the Smoggie Queens audience<\/p>\n

\"PhilPhil Dunning as Dickie in Smoggie Queens (Image: BBC\/Hat Productions)<\/p>\n

Dunning has heard similar. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of that actually: \u2018I didn\u2019t expect to like it, but\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The reaction in Teesside understandably carries particular weight. Elijah Young, who plays Stewart, the group\u2019s freshly out newcomer, describes a dual response that feels, in his words, like the whole point of making the show. \u201cTeesside has been really proud of it, but then also the queer community being like, \u2018Oh, this is the kind of comedy that we want.\u2019 Having that response has been what the show is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young talks about how much feedback he gets after his character\u2019s coming out storyline in series one. \u201cSo many, both young and old,\u201d he says, when asked whether people had reached out. \u201cThere\u2019s always conversations about, \u2018Oh, have we had too many coming out stories?\u2019 But I think they\u2019re always needed. And then there\u2019s another side to this one, being in the North East. The queer scenes in regional areas like the North East aren\u2019t really shown on TV as much.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I\u2019ve got a gay show. What else have you got?\u2019\u201d \u2013 Smoggie Queens producer Chris Jones on pitching the show<\/p>\n

For producer Chris Jones, the show\u2019s success comes down to a simple principle. \u201cIt\u2019s an LGBTQ+ comedy, but also it\u2019s just a comedy. There\u2019s definitely heartwarming and dramatic beats in the show, but definitely funny first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting the show commissioned at all required a confluence of circumstances. From Jones and Dunning submitting the pilot to the show first airing, barely 11 months elapsed \u2013 a turnaround Jones describes as \u201ccrazy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The pair worked on the script for a long time before sending it, trying to make it something you \u201ccan\u2019t say no to\u201d. Jones explains the barriers they\u2019d faced before: \u201cI\u2019ve been to pitch meetings for other broadcasters where they\u2019ve said, \u2018I\u2019ve got a gay show. What else have you got?\u2019 And it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, OK.\u2019 Like a one-in, one-out kind of thing.\u201d The BBC, and a spotlight on North East funding at the time, reset the balance.<\/p>\n

Monica Dolan \u201ctook herself for a parmo\u201d \u2013 Smoggie Queens star Patsy Lowe<\/p>\n

\"SmoggieSmoggie Queens\u00a0series two cast (Image: BBC)<\/p>\n

Series one\u2019s guest cast set a high bar. Michelle Visage<\/a> appeared alongside Peaky Blinders star Charlotte Riley, with local hero Steph McGovern also turning up. For series 2, new faces include BAFTA and Olivier award-winning Monica Dolan alongside Amalia Vitale and Freya Parker, with McGovern, Riley and Visage among those returning. The reaction to Dolan on set is unanimous. \u201cShe just really threw herself into the part,\u201d says Dunning. \u201cShe had so many questions for us about the character, and it\u2019s really refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patsy Lowe, who plays the magnificently odd Sal, adds that Dolan even took herself for a parmo \u2013 a classic Teesside delicacy \u2013 while filming. \u201cShe said it was absolutely delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did the research,\u201d adds Dunning.<\/p>\n

When is Smoggie Queens series 2 coming out?<\/p>\n

Smoggie Queens series 2 will arrive on 15 May\u00a02026, available on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read the full feature in the Attitude May\/June 2026 issue, available in print and on digital platforms including\u00a0Apple News<\/a>+<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Attitude app<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phil Dunning is in a red halterneck dress, curly blonde wig, deerstalker and drawn-on moustache when I arrive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,66902,122,124,123,66898],"class_list":["post-220792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-phil-dunning","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-smoggie-queens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}