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Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has portrayed Philomena Cunk on the review programme Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2020) and in the mockumentary series Cunk on Britain (2018) and Cunk on Earth (2022). She also played Liz on the BBC Two sitcom Motherland (2016–2022) and Kath in the Netflix dark comedy series After Life (2019–2022), as well as writing and starring in the BBC Two comedy series Mandy (2019–present).
Diane Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 October 1975 Bolton, Greater Manchester, England |
| Alma mater | East 15 Acting School |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Partner | Ben Caudell |
Morgan was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester,[1] on 5 October 1975,[2][3] the daughter of a physiotherapist and a stay-at-home mother; she has one brother.[4] She grew up in nearby Farnworth and Kearsley and attended George Tomlinson School in Kearsley.[5][6] When she was 20, she studied at the East 15 Acting School in Loughton.[7] She said in a 2020 interview: "There were a few actors on [my father]'s 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."[8]
Morgan had a small part as Dawn in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights before a spell working various jobs, including as a dental assistant, a telemarketer, a potato peeler at a chip shop, selling Avon, and boxing up worming tablets in a factory.[7] She subsequently made her first attempt at stand-up comedy at age 30.[7] She was placed second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year award in 2006, and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards.[9]
Morgan and Joe Wilkinson later formed a sketch comedy duo called Two Episodes of Mash.[10] From 2008, they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for three consecutive years,[11][12][13] and in 2010, they appeared on Robert Webb's satirical news show Robert's Web.[14] In 2012, the act completed its second BBC radio series[15] (co-starring David O'Doherty), and appeared in BBC Three's Live at the Electric.[16] In the same year, she appeared in Him & Her, which featured Wilkinson, and in 2013, she played Nicola in the TV series Pat & Cabbage.[17] In 2014, she made an appearance in the Channel 4 TV series Utopia, as Tess,[18] and in 2015, she appeared in two episodes of Drunk History.[19]
Philomena Cunk
Morgan is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Philomena Cunk, a dim-witted, ill-informed, yet earnest interviewer and commentator on history, culture and current affairs. The character first appeared on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2015), including as the presenter of a regular segment titled "Moments of Wonder".[18] Cunk has since appeared in other mockumentary contexts. In December 2016, she presented BBC Two's Cunk on Christmas.[20] In April 2018, the five-part historical mockumentary Cunk on Britain began broadcasting on BBC Two.[21][22] 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", about the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020.[23] Another series, Cunk on Earth, began broadcasting in September 2022.[24] For her performance in the latter, Morgan was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.[25] In 2024, the BBC announced that Morgan will be appearing as Cunk in the one-off extended special Cunk on Life in December 2024.[26][27]
Other roles
Morgan played David Brent's public relations expert in the film David Brent: Life on the Road (2016). She has appeared in several short films, including The Boot Sale, which was shortlisted in the Virgin Media Shorts film competition 2010.[28][29]
In 2016, Morgan played Mandy in Sky One's comedy Rovers, appearing in all six episodes of the first series. She appeared in the pilot for the BBC2 comedy We the Jury as Olivia.[30] She also plays receptionist Talia in Sky's comedy drama Mount Pleasant and Liz in the BBC2 sitcom Motherland.[31]
Morgan plays Kath in the Netflix black-comedy series After Life, written by Ricky Gervais.[32] She starred in the Gold sitcom The Cockfields, again alongside Wilkinson,[33] 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. The character returned in August 2020 for the full series Mandy, with Shaun Ryder, Maxine Peake, and Natalie Cassidy in guest roles. A Christmas special, We Wish You a Mandy Christmas, loosely based on A Christmas Carol, was broadcast in December 2021.[34]
Also in 2020, Morgan played Gemma Nerrick in the British mockumentary Death to 2020, created by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones.[35] She reprised the role in Death to 2021. She voiced the character 105E in the 2021 animated Cartoon Network series Elliott from Earth.
In April 2022, Morgan starred as Donna in the first episode of the seventh series of Inside No. 9.[36] In December 2022, Morgan reprised her role as Liz on Motherland for the Christmas special.[37][38]
In 2023, Morgan appeared in a radio advertisement for Pot Noodle Lost the Pot Chicken-flavour noodles as a woman zealously defending the product's status as "champion" against the witless "Julia".
In 2024, Morgan starred in the music video for Paul Heaton's "Fish 'N' Chip Supper".[39] In December 2024, Morgan will star in the Aardman Animations production, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl as Onya Doorstep.[40]
Morgan lives in the Bloomsbury district of London with her boyfriend, BBC comedy producer Ben Caudell.[4]
Interviewed by Stuart Jeffries for The Guardian in 2016, she said: "I've always wanted to make people laugh. It's been my only ambition, ever since my dad introduced me to the genius of the great comedians: Tony Hancock, Woody Allen, people like that. While other kids were into New Kids on the Block, I was into Harold Lloyd and Stan Laurel. I'm still like that. I don't have any hobbies."[7]
In July 2023, Morgan was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bolton for her contribution to television and comedy.[41][42]
She is "mostly" vegetarian[43] and an animal rights activist.[44][45] A rescue dog owned by Morgan, credited as Robert "Bovril" Morgan, appeared in a Mandy Christmas special in 2021.[46]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Phoenix Nights | Dawn | Episode: "Stars in their Eyes"; uncredited |
| 2003 | La jalousie | Sally | Short film |
| 2010 | The Boot Sale | Diane | |
| Robert's Web | Various | 4 episodes | |
| 2011–2012 | Mount Pleasant | Talia | 12 episodes |
| 2012 | The Royal Bodyguard | Sharon | Episode: "Bullets over Broad Street" |
| Games On | Elaine Price | Episode: "XXXL" | |
| Get Lucky | Betting Shop Keeper | Short film | |
| The Work Experience | Susan Butler | 6 episodes | |
| Him & Her | Gina | 3 episodes | |
| Complaints | Video short | ||
| 2012–2014 | Live at the Electric | Diane | 24 episodes, as Two Episodes of Mash |
| 2013 | Cheese by Mouth | Val | Short film |
| Pat & Cabbage | Nicola | 6 episodes | |
| Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa | Girl in crowd | ||
| Freshers | Narrator | ||
| 2013–2020 | Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe | Philomena Cunk | 18 episodes, 6 specials |
| 2014 | Utopia | Tess | 2 episodes |
| The Mimic | Psychoanalyst | Series 2: Episode 3 | |
| Roisin Conaty: Onwards and Onwards | Book Group Organiser | Episode 3: "Promises" | |
| Paradise Males | Pam | Short film | |
| What's Wrong? | Woman | ||
| 2015 | Baguettes | Woman on bench | |
| Uncle | Suzan | Series 2: Episode 5 | |
| So Awkward | Mrs Lazarus | Series 1: Episode 9 | |
| Three Kinds of Stupid | Mittens | ||
| 2016 | Cunk on Shakespeare | Philomena Cunk | |
| Me Before You | Sharon | ||
| Rovers | Mandy | 6 episodes | |
| David Brent: Life on the Road | Briony Jones | ||
| We the Jury | Olivia | Pilot episode | |
| Damned | Phoebe Ravenscroft | Series 1: Episode 4 | |
| Cunk on Christmas | Philomena Cunk | ||
| 2018 | Cunk on Britain | Philomena Cunk | 5 episodes |
| 2016–2022 | Motherland | Liz | 20 episodes |
| 2017 | Funny Cow | Margaret | |
| 2018 | Chris P. Duck | Tracey | 6 episodes |
| Thawed | Diane | Short film; also writer | |
| 2018–2019 | The Archiveologists | Voice only; 6 episodes; also writer | |
| 2019 | The Cockfields | Donna | 3 episodes |
| Cunk & Other Humans on 2019 | Philomena Cunk | 6 five minute episodes | |
| 2019–2021 | Frayed | Fiona | 12 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | After Life | Kath | All 18 episodes |
| 2019–present | Mandy | Mandy Carter | 14 episodes; also writer, director and creator |
| 2020 | Death to 2020 | Gemma Nerrick | |
| 2021 | Elliott from Earth | 105E | Voice only; 2 episodes |
| Intelligence | Charlotte | 3 episodes | |
| Death to 2021 | Gemma Nerrick | ||
| 2022 | Inside No. 9 | Donna | Series 7: Episode 1[36] |
| The Sandman | Gryphon | Voice only; Episode: "Dream of a Thousand Cats" | |
| Cunk on Earth | Philomena Cunk | [47] | |
| Our Boarding School | Narrator | ||
| 2024 | The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin | Maureen | Episode 4: "Curse of the Reddlehag" |
| The Underdog: Josh Must Win | Narrator | ||
| Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl | Onya Doorstep | Voice only; Post-production | |
| Cunk on Life | Philomena Cunk | One-off extended special[48] | |
| 2025 | Rogue Trooper | Post-production |
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