Phil Dunning: The Comedian Behind Smoggie Queens and His Rise to TV Fame

Introduction

Phil Dunning is a British actor, comedian, and television writer best known for creating and starring in the BBC comedy series Smoggie Queens. He plays Dickie, an outspoken character whose dramatic personality brings much of the show’s humour.

His career took time to grow.

Before television recognition, he worked in a theatre box office, performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and spent years developing comedy characters. He even considered leaving the entertainment industry.

Things changed with Smoggie Queens.

The comedy brought him three BAFTA nominations in 2025 and introduced his writing to a much wider audience. Today, his work includes television acting, scriptwriting, live comedy, and digital entertainment.

Quick Facts About Phil Dunning

Detail	Information
Professional name	Phil Dunning
Birthplace	Teesside, North East England
Nationality	British
Profession	Actor, comedian, writer
Known for	Smoggie Queens
Famous character	Dickie
Other TV appearances	Feel Good, The Other One, Boat Story
Comedy background	Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Major recognition	Three BAFTA nominations in 2025
Award	RTS North East and the Borders Newcomer, 2025
Latest major project	The Dickie Show (2026)
Talent agency	PBJ Management

Who Is Phil Dunning?

Phil Dunning is a character comedian who grew up in Teesside, England.

His work combines unusual personalities, sharp humour, and stories taken from real experiences.

Phil Dunning has appeared in several British television comedies. Yet his biggest success came through a programme he created himself.

That programme was Smoggie Queens.

Set in Middlesbrough, the sitcom follows a group of LGBTQ+ friends who support each other through everyday problems, relationships, and personal changes.

Dunning created the series and plays Dickie.

His character can be loud. Very loud, actually.

But the programme has more going on beneath the jokes. Friendship and acceptance sit close to its story, giving the characters reasons to stay together even when everything gets messy.

The series helped establish its creator as a recognised name in British television comedy.

Early Life and Childhood

Phil Dunning grew up in Teesside, an industrial area in North East England.

His connection to the region remained strong after he moved away.

Years later, he chose Middlesbrough as the setting for his biggest television project.

That choice was personal.

He wanted to write about a place he knew rather than place every character in a familiar London setting.

Phil Dunning Interest in Comedy

Comedy caught his attention early.

In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, he discussed enjoying performers such as French and Saunders.

Phil Dunning also remembered Death Becomes Her and Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes among his early influences.

Those interests make sense when you watch his performances.

Phil Dunning enjoys unusual characters. Big personalities appeal to him.

Instead of relying only on ordinary stand-up jokes, he often builds situations around people who behave in strange or exaggerated ways.

What Is Known About His Family?

Phil Dunning has spoken publicly about his relationship with his mother and the place humour holds in their family life.

However, detailed information about his parents and siblings has not been established through reliable public sources.

Phil Dunning generally keeps family members outside his professional publicity.

Education and University Experience

Phil Dunning attended university.

During a May 2026 interview with the Royal Television Society, he explained that he came out while studying there.

Phil Dunning also discussed the time it took to feel completely comfortable sharing personal experiences with his friends.

Those memories later influenced his television writing.

In the second series of Smoggie Queens, the character Stewart has a coming-out celebration. Dunning connected that storyline to experiences from his own university years.

His education became part of his creative work.

The name of his university and his academic qualifications have not been established in the verified sources used for this article.

How His Comedy Career Started

Success did not arrive quickly.

After moving to London, Dunning worked full-time in a theatre box office while trying to build a career in comedy.

Phil Dunning needed a regular income.

At the same time, he wanted to perform, write material, and reach audiences who enjoyed his style of humour.

His manager gave him time away from work to attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

That created an opportunity.

But performing was expensive.

In his 2026 Royal Television Society interview, Dunning explained that his Edinburgh appearances had left him in considerable debt.

Phil Dunning continued working despite those difficulties.

At one point, he considered finding a comfortable office job and leaving entertainment behind.

That never became his long-term plan.

Phil Dunning kept writing and performing.

Edinburgh Fringe and Early Comedy Shows

Live performance became an important part of his early career.

His documented solo productions include:

• Songs with Phil (2015)
• The People’s Prince (2016)
• The House of Pigs (2017)

These shows gave him space to develop unusual fictional personalities.

Character comedy became his speciality.

A performer working in this style may use costumes, voices, facial expressions, exaggerated behaviour, and different identities to create humour.

Dunning became known for taking that approach seriously while making the resulting characters completely ridiculous.

Phil Dunning also performed at comedy venues and events outside Edinburgh.

His management profile records live work associated with London’s Moth Club and Knock2Bag.

The experience helped prepare him for television.

Phil Dunning First Television Roles

Dunning gradually moved into British television comedy.

Phil Dunning started with smaller appearances.

These included work in Stath Lets Flats, Harry Hill’s Clubnite, and BBC comedy productions.

A supporting appearance may seem small, but such credits gave him professional screen experience.

Phil Dunning was learning a different kind of performance.

Live comedy allows a performer to respond directly to an audience. Television requires closer attention to timing, scripts, and other actors.

He continued working across both formats.

Early Screen Appearances

His professional credits include:

Year	Television show	Role
2019	Stath Lets Flats	House party guest
2019	Harry Hill’s Clubnite	Performer
2019	Sorry	Luke
2019	Anna’s People	Nephew
2020	Phil Dunning’s Cam Room	Phil, writer
2021	Feel Good	Professor Spink
2021	The Emily Atack Show	Ensemble performer
2022	The Other One	Frankie
2022	Lazy Susan	Sleepy Girl
2022	Ellie & Natasia	Ensemble performer
2022	Am I Being Unreasonable?	Gavin
2023	Boat Story	Andrew
2024	Smoggie Queens	Dickie
2025	Am I Being Unreasonable? Series 2	Gavin
2026	Smoggie Queens Series 2	Dickie

These roles are recorded in his PBJ Management profile.

His Breakthrough With Smoggie Queens

Everything became bigger in 2024.

That November, BBC Three introduced Smoggie Queens, a comedy created and written by Dunning.

The story takes place in Middlesbrough.

It follows a group of friends within the town’s LGBTQ+ community.

They have different personalities. They disagree constantly. Still, they support each other.

Dunning plays Dickie, one of the programme’s central characters.

Dickie is dramatic, outspoken, and often unpredictable.

The character brings plenty of laughs.

But the show also gives the audience a reason to care about the people behind the jokes.

What Is Smoggie Queens About?

The programme follows a chosen family.

That means a group of people who build close, family-like relationships through friendship rather than blood relations.

Their lives involve dating, personal identity, arguments, celebrations, and the ordinary struggles of living in a town they care about.

Middlesbrough is more than a background location.

Its local identity runs through the comedy.

Dunning wanted the programme to reflect the humour and experiences he recognised from growing up in the North East.

Main Cast of Smoggie Queens

Actor	Character
Phil Dunning	Dickie
Mark Benton	Mam
Alexandra Mardell	Lucinda
Patsy Lowe	Sal
Elijah Young	Stewart

The first series also featured guest appearances from Charlotte Riley and Michelle Visage.

Andrew Chaplin directed the original series, with Hat Trick Productions involved in its production.

Why the Show Became Important

The series offered something personal to its creator.

Phil Dunning could write about home.

Phil Dunning could also use experiences from his own life while making the material funny enough for a broad television audience.

That balance helped the programme attract attention from viewers and industry award organisations.

In March 2025, the BBC confirmed another series.

By May 2026, the second series had arrived and a third had been commissioned.

BAFTA Nominations and Awards

The success of Smoggie Queens brought major professional recognition.

In 2025, Dunning received three BAFTA nominations.

They covered acting and writing.

His nominations included:

Year	Award category	Result
2025	BAFTA Male Performance in a Comedy	Nominated
2025	BAFTA Television Craft — Writer: Comedy	Nominated
2025	BAFTA Television Craft — Emerging Talent: Fiction	Nominated

These were nominations rather than wins.

Still, they marked a major change in his career.

The Royal Television Society also recognised his work.

At the 2025 RTS North East and the Borders Awards, he won the Newcomer award.

Smoggie Queens received further recognition, including the regional RTS Comedy award and the 2025 Broadcast Digital Award for Best Comedy Programme.

For someone who once considered leaving comedy, that was a remarkable professional turnaround.

The Dickie Show: A New Project in 2026

Phil Dunning returned to his famous character in The Dickie Show.

The programme launched in April 2026.

Produced by Hat Trick, it brought Dickie into a comedy chat-show format developed for BBC digital audiences.

Instead of following the usual sitcom structure, Dickie interviews celebrity guests.

Things quickly become strange.

The humour comes from the character’s unusual questions, unpredictable behaviour, and interactions with visitors.

Celebrity Guests

The programme featured guests including:

• Rylan
• James Acaster
• Russell T Davies
• Vanessa Feltz
• Siobhan McSweeney

The eight-part series appeared through BBC YouTube channels and BBC iPlayer.

In an interview with the Royal Television Society, Dunning admitted he had never interviewed anyone before.

He found the experience stressful.

Still, he wanted to try something different with the character.

The programme also reflected the BBC’s growing interest in producing entertainment specifically for online audiences.

Comedy Style and Creative Influences

Phil’s work has a recognisable style.

He likes theatrical performances.

His characters often have enormous confidence, strange habits, and very little awareness of how ridiculous they appear.

That contrast creates laughs.

He has mentioned several comedy influences in interviews, including French and Saunders and Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage.

His interest in Lily Savage is especially relevant.

In The Dickie Show, he explained how performing in character gives him freedom to ask unusual questions and behave differently from how he would as himself.

Costumes and fictional identities become part of the comedy.

But he still writes about recognisable emotions.

Behind the exaggerated behaviour, audiences often find stories about relationships, friendship, and feeling accepted.

Radio, Podcasts and Other Work

Television is only part of his career.

His management profile also records radio and podcast appearances.

These include Birthday Girls’ House Party on BBC Radio 1 in 2019.

He voiced Declan in the 2023 audio comedy Springleaf.

Earlier, he performed the character Joan Diamonds in Backstage with Joan Diamonds in 2016.

He has also worked on online sketches and live cabaret performances.

This mixture of work allowed him to keep developing characters in different formats.

Personal Life and Relationships

Phil Dunning has spoken publicly about growing up queer and coming out during university.

Phil Dunning has also discussed friendships, family relationships, and his experiences within the LGBTQ+ community.

Some of those subjects appear in his television writing.

His professional interviews often focus on how personal experiences can become comedy.

As for his present relationship status, there is no reliable public confirmation of a spouse or long-term partner in the sources checked for this article.

His private life should not be confused with the relationships of characters he portrays.

Where Does Phil Dunning Live?

Dunning grew up in Teesside before moving to London.

In a November 2024 interview with The Big Issue, he was reported to be living in South London.

There is no verified recent public confirmation of his exact current residential location.

Middlesbrough remains strongly connected to his work through Smoggie Queens.

Career in 2026 and Future Plans

As of October 2026, Dunning’s professional work is closely linked to Smoggie Queens and its growing television audience.

The second series aired in May 2026.

A third series has been commissioned.

His work on The Dickie Show also gave him experience with a different entertainment format.

That project introduced his character to celebrity interviews and short online episodes.

No confirmed release date for the third series was established in the verified sources consulted for this article.

For now, his latest documented work includes writing, acting, and developing comedy built around the characters that made him widely known.

What Makes His Career Story Different?

There was no instant breakthrough.

He worked a regular job.

He performed at comedy festivals, dealt with the costs of producing live shows, and struggled with the uncertainty of working in entertainment.

He considered quitting.

Then his own television idea reached the BBC.

That experience is an important part of his story because it explains why Smoggie Queens meant so much to him.

The programme allowed him to return to the people, places, and humour he understood from childhood.

And this time, he was creating the story himself.

Final Thought

Phil Dunning spent years building his comedy career before Smoggie Queens reached television.

His journey includes difficult financial periods, small acting roles, live comedy shows, and major award nominations.

What stands out is his connection to Teesside.

He took the humour and experiences of his hometown and turned them into a BBC comedy watched across Britain.

His career is still growing, with another series of Smoggie Queens commissioned and new formats already added to his work.

From the Edinburgh stage to BBC television, he has come a long way.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is Phil Dunning?

Phil Dunning is a British actor, writer, and comedian best known for creating and starring in the BBC sitcom Smoggie Queens.

2. Where is Phil Dunning from?

He was born and raised in Teesside, North East England. His hometown inspired the setting and humour of Smoggie Queens.

3. How old is Phil Dunning?

His exact date of birth and age have not been reliably confirmed in public sources.

4. Is Phil Dunning married?

His present marital status has not been publicly verified through reliable sources.

5. What television shows has Phil Dunning appeared in?

His credits include Feel Good, The Other One, Boat Story, Am I Being Unreasonable?, and Smoggie Queens.

6. Did Phil Dunning win a BAFTA?

He received three BAFTA nominations in 2025 but did not win those awards. He won the RTS North East and the Borders Newcomer award that year.

7. Who does Phil Dunning play in Smoggie Queens?

He plays Dickie, an outspoken and dramatic member of the programme’s central friendship group.

8. What is Phil Dunning doing in 2026?

His documented 2026 projects include the second series of Smoggie Queens and The Dickie Show. A third series of Smoggie Queens has also been commissioned.

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