Diane Morgan

Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975)[2][3] is an English actress, comedian, and writer, known primarily for her comedy persona of Philomena Cunk – on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, appearing as presenter of the mockumentaries Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Britain and Cunk and Other Humans. She also works regularly with fellow comedian Joe Wilkinson as part of the sketch group Two Episodes of Mash.[4]

Diane Morgan
Born (1975-10-05) 5 October 1975
Bolton, Greater Manchester, England[1]
Alma materEast 15 Acting School
OccupationActress, comedian, writer
Years active2001–present
Partner(s)Ben Caudell

Morgan is also known for her roles in Sky One's comedy series Rovers, alongside Wilkinson, as Liz in the BBC Two sitcom Motherland and Kath in the Netflix black comedy series After Life, and for writing and starring in the BBC Two comedy series Mandy.

Career

Early career

Diane Morgan studied at East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex[5] before playing Dawn in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights. She then had a spell doing various jobs, including as a dental nurse and in telesales, before first attempting stand-up comedy.[5] As a stand-up comedian she placed second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year Award 2006 and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards.[6]

Interviewed in 2020, by Michael Hogan of The Observer, she said of her father, "there were a few actors on his side of the family: Julie Goodyear, Frank Finlay and Jack Wild. What a dynasty. We're like the Redgraves. Julie's got a touch of the Mandys, actually. Maybe I could cast her as Mandy's mum."[7]

Two Episodes of Mash

Morgan and Joe Wilkinson later formed the sketch duo Two Episodes of Mash. From 2008, they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for three consecutive years,[8][9][10] and in 2010 they appeared on Robert Webb's satirical news show Robert's Web.[11] In 2012, the group completed their second BBC radio series[12] (co-starring David O'Doherty), and appeared in BBC Three's Live at the Electric.

Philomena Cunk

Morgan is known for her portrayal of "Philomena Cunk", an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer and commentator on current affairs. The character first appeared in a regular segment on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2015).[13]

Cunk has since reappeared in other contexts. In December 2016 she presented BBC Two's Cunk on Christmas.[14] In April 2018, the five-part historical mockumentary Cunk on Britain began broadcasting on BBC Two.[15][16] Also in 2018, Morgan wrote Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena, published by Two Roads on 1 November.[17][18] In December 2019, Morgan appeared as Cunk for short episodes of Cunk and Other Humans, once again on BBC Two. She returned in a one-off episode of Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe, titled Antiviral Wipe, that responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020.[19]

The character was initially planned to have a "posh" accent. Morgan comments: "She was an idiot, but she was posh, hence Philomena. Sounds quite posh, doesn't it? I think they were worried that if it was a working-class accent it would look as if we were sort of taking the piss out of working-class accents." Nevertheless, Morgan suggested using her own Northern accent instead, and this was accepted.[5][20]

Other roles

In 2012, Diane Morgan appeared in Him & Her, which features Wilkinson, and in 2013 she played Nicola in the TV series Pat & Cabbage.[21] In 2014 she made an appearance in the TV series Utopia, as Tess,[13] and in 2015 she appeared in two episodes of Drunk History.

In 2016 Morgan played Mandy in Sky One's comedy Rovers, appearing in all six episodes of the first series. She also appeared in the pilot for the BBC2 comedy We the Jury as Olivia. She also plays receptionist Talia in Sky's comedy drama Mount Pleasant and Liz in the BBC2 sitcom Motherland.

Morgan also voices the character 105E in the 2021 animated Cartoon Network series Elliott from Earth.

In 2018, Morgan presented a three-hour special for BBC Radio 4 Extra, When Diane Met Ken, about experimental actor and director Ken Campbell, whom she met in her early days as an actor. It included interviews with Nina Conti and others who knew him.[22]

Morgan plays Kath in the Netflix black-comedy series After Life, written by Ricky Gervais.[23] She starred in the Gold sitcom The Cockfields, again alongside Wilkinson,[24] and in comedy-drama Frayed in 2019. In 2019 she wrote, directed and starred in the BBC2 comedy short Mandy, described as "a comedy by Diane Morgan about Mandy, a woman who really really wants a sofa, and will stop at absolutely nothing to get it". Carol Decker appeared as herself in the short. It returned in August 2020 for a full series, with Shaun Ryder, Maxine Peake and Natalie Cassidy in guest roles.

Also in 2020, Morgan played Gemma Nerrick in the British mockumentary Death to 2020, created by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones.[25]

Film roles

Diane Morgan played David Brent's public relations guru in David Brent: Life on the Road. She has appeared in several short films, including The Boot Sale, which was shortlisted in the Virgin Media Shorts film competition 2010.[26][27]

Morgan also had the small role of Margaret in the 2017 comedy drama Funny Cow, which starred Maxine Peake.[28]

Personal life

Diane Morgan grew up in Farnworth and Kearsley in Bolton, Greater Manchester.[29][30] She lives in Bloomsbury, London, with Ben Caudell, a BBC comedy producer.[31]

References
  1. "Comedy Club: Two Episodes of Mash". BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  2. @missdianemorgan (1 October 2020). "@sisofnight451 @macmillancancer Happy birthday!! (mines actually 5th October)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "TV star Diane Morgan on her rescue dog Bobby and what she misses about Lancashire". Great British Life. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. "Two Episodes of Mash", Radio 2's Comedy Showcase, BBC Radio 2, 2010.
  5. Jeffries, Stuart (10 May 2016). "Meet Diane Morgan, the genius behind TV dimwit Philomena Cunk". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  6. "Funny Women Final 2006". chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  7. Hogan, Michael (2 August 2020). "Diane Morgan: 'It sounds mad that I wrote, directed and star in Mandy. Like I'm Orson Welles'". The Observer. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  8. Donaldson, Brian (10 August 2010). "Two Episodes of Mash – Review". Edinburgh Festival List. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  9. Donaldson, Brian (21 August 2008). "Potentially great sketches simmer to nothing". Edinburgh Festival List. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  10. Meek, Thomas (19 August 2009). "Two Episodes of Mash". Edinburgh Festival List. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  11. "Robert's Web", Channel 4.
  12. Series 2: Two Episodes of Mash, BBC Radio 4.
  13. Harrison, Andrew (4 March 2014). "In Praise of TV Philosophress Philomena Cunk". Esquire. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  14. "Cunk on Christmas – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  15. "'She's bulletproof' – Diane Morgan talks 'Cunk On Britain'". 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  16. "Cunk on Britain – BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  17. Cowdrey, Katherine (18 May 2018). "Cunk on Everything to Two Roads". The Bookseller. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  18. House of Tomorrow Ltd claims the right to be identified as the author; ISBN 9781473690363; audiobook (performed by Diane Morgan) ISBN 9781473690370; eBook ISBN 9781473690394
  19. Moses, Toby (22 April 2020). "Charlie Brooker to return to BBC with lockdown special Antiviral Wipe". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  20. Murphy, Matt (5 April 2018). "Diane Morgan on playing Philomena Cunk". The Independent. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  21. "Pat & Cabbage – Cast & Crew". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  22. "BBC4 Extra – When Diane Met Ken". BBC. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  23. Sanusi, Victoria (8 March 2019). "After Life cast: who stars with Ricky Gervais in new Netflix series – and where else you've seen them". iNews. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  24. Guide, British Comedy. "The Cockfields – Gold Sitcom". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  25. "Death to 2020". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  26. Everett, Lucinda (8 October 2010). "Virgin Media Shorts: director Jonathan van Tulleken on his short film The Boot Sale". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  27. "Secrets of Success: The Boot Sale". virginmediashorts.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  28. "IMDB – Funny Cow (2017)". IMDB. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  29. "2013 looks to be a busy year for funny girl Diane". The Bolton News. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  30. "Diane Morgan – Writer & Performer". unitedagents.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  31. Aitkenhead, Decca (28 October 2017). "Diane Morgan: 'I want to play weirdos'". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
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