Diane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian, television presenter, and writer. She is best known for playing Philomena Cunk on

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

's ''

Weekly Wipe ''Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe'' is a British television review programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is the most recent addition to Brooker's ''Wipe'' series, and the first to be broadcast in HD. The programme is an amalgam o ...

'' and in other

mockumentaries A mockumentary (a Blend word, blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or ...

, as Liz in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

sitcom ''

Motherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

'', and Kath in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

dark comedy series '' After Life''. She also wrote and starred in the BBC Two comedy series '' Mandy''.

Early life

Morgan was born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, on 5 October 1975, daughter of a physiotherapist and a stay-at-home mother; she has one brother. She grew up in nearby

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...

and

Kearsley Kearsley ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,212. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies northwest of Manchester, southwest of Bury and south of Bolt ...

, and attended

George Tomlinson School Kearsley Academy (formerly George Tomlinson School) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status sponsored by Northern Education Trust. It is located in Kearsley in the English county The counties of England are a ...

in Kearsley. When she was 20, she studied at the

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

. She said in a 2020 interview, "There were a few actors on

y father Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

s side of the family:

Julie Goodyear Julie Goodyear MBE (''née'' Kemp; born 29 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Bet Lynch in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She first appeared as Bet for nine episodes in 1966, before becoming ...

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...

and

Jack Wild Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at t ...

. 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."

Career

Morgan had a small part as Dawn in

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

's ''

Phoenix Nights ''Phoenix Nights'' is a British sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. The show is a spin-off from the "In the Club" episode of the spoof documentary series '' That Pet ...

'' 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. She subsequently made her first attempt at stand-up comedy. She was placed second in the

Hackney Empire New Act of the Year The NATYS: New Acts of The Year Showcase, previously known as The Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, is an annual industry showcase that promotes new waves of emerging Comedy and Variety acts. It ran at the Hackney Empire Theatre from 1988 unti ...

award in 2006 and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards. Morgan and

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programme ...

later formed a

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

duo called Two Episodes of Mash. From 2008, they performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

for three consecutive years, and in 2010, they appeared on

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

's satirical news show ''

Robert's Web ''Robert's Web'' is a topical comedy show hosted by Robert Webb, broadcast in 2010. The show looks at the latest news, happenings, videos and pictures from the Internet in the last week. Cast * Robert Webb * Diane Morgan * Ben Kewin * Joe Wilk ...

''. In 2012 the act completed its second BBC radio series (co-starring

David O'Doherty David Nicholas O'Doherty (; born 18 December 1975) is an Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright and son of renowned jazz pianist Jim Doherty. His stand-up has won many international awards including the if.comedy award in 2008 a ...

), and appeared in

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

's ''

Live at the Electric ''Live at the Electric'' is a British comedy series that aired on BBC Three from 31 May 2012 and 28 February 2014 and is hosted by Russell Kane who performed stand-up in between comedy sketches from a variety of performers such as Joe Wilkinso ...

''. In 2012, she appeared in ''

Him & Her ''Him & Her'' is a British television sitcom about a lazy twenty-something couple: Steve and Becky, who live in Walthamstow, London. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 6 September 2010. It is written by Stefan Golasz ...

'', which features Wilkinson, and in 2013, she played Nicola in the TV series '' Pat & Cabbage''. In 2014, she made an appearance in the TV series ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

'', as Tess, and in 2015, she appeared in two episodes of ''

Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. They and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's exec ...

''.

Philomena Cunk

Morgan is perhaps best 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 ''Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe'' is a British television review programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is the most recent addition to Brooker's ''Wipe'' series, and the first to be broadcast in HD. The programme is an amalgam o ...

'' (2013–2015). Cunk has since appeared in other

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

contexts. In December 2016, she presented BBC Two's ''Cunk on Christmas''. In April 2018, the five-part historical mockumentary '' Cunk on Britain'' began broadcasting on BBC Two. Also in 2018, Morgan wrote ''Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena'', published by

Two Roads Two Roads Books is an imprint of John Murray Press now a division of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Announced by its Publisher, Lisa Highton, in September 2010, Two Roads started publishing in 2011. Publishing 12-15 books a year, with ...

on 1 November. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, in May 2020. Another series, '' Cunk on Earth'', began broadcasting in September 2022. For her performance in the latter Morgan was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.

Other roles

Morgan played

David Brent David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary ''The Office'', portrayed by the show's co-creator, co-writer and co-director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of th ...

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

guru 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. In 2016, Morgan played Mandy in

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

'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 ''

''. Morgan plays Kath in the

black-comedy series '' After Life'', written by

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

. She starred in the

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

sitcom ''

The Cockfields ''The Cockfields'' is a British television sitcom created by Joe Wilkinson and David Earl, and produced by Yellow Door Productions for Gold. It aired over two series from 12 November 2019 until 12 November 2021, including a Christmas special, ...

'', again alongside Wilkinson, 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 Carol Ann Decker (born 10 September 1957) is an English singer and musician. She is the lead vocalist of the band T'Pau, which had international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although Decker is mainly associated with the group, sh ...

appeared as herself in the short. It returned in August 2020 for the full series '' Mandy'', with

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer/songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Bla ...

Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in the BBC One sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000), Veronica Ball in the hit Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'' (2004–2007), Mart ...

, and

Natalie Cassidy Natalie Ann Cassidy (born 13 May 1983) is an English actress. She has played Sonia Fowler in ''EastEnders'' since 1993, appeared in the BBC Two sitcom-horror '' Psychoville'' and was a contestant on the seventh series of ''Strictly Come Dan ...

in guest roles. A Christmas special, ''We Wish You a Mandy Christmas'', loosely based on ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'', was broadcast in December 2021. Also in 2020, Morgan played Gemma Nerrick in the British mockumentary '' Death to 2020'', created by

and Annabel Jones. She reprised the role in ''

Death to 2021 ''Death to 2021'' is a 2021 mockumentary produced by Netflix. A sequel to ''Death to 2020'', the special features a series of fictional characters discussing US news in 2021, including the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine misinformation and Big Tech. ...

''. She voiced the character 105E in the 2021 animated

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

series ''

Elliott from Earth ''Elliott from Earth'' is an animated television series created by Guillaume Cassuto, Mic Graves and Tony Hull for Cartoon Network. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, it premiered in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2021. In the United S ...

''. In April 2022, Morgan starred as Donna in the first episode of the seventh series of ''

Inside No. 9 ''Inside No. 9'' is a British black comedy anthology television programme that first aired in 2014. It is written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and produced by the BBC. Each 30-minute episode is a self-contained story with new chara ...

''. In December 2022, Morgan reprised her role as Liz on ''Motherland'' for the Christmas special.

Personal life

Morgan lives in the

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

district of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with her boyfriend, BBC comedy producer Ben Caudell.

Filmography

References

External links

Profile on agent's website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Diane 1975 births Living people 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English comedians Actresses from Greater Manchester Alumni of East 15 Acting School Comedians from Greater Manchester English film actresses English television actresses English women comedians Actors from Bolton