New BBC comedy show Smoggie Queens confirms release date with first mini trailer
Phil Dunning is Dickie in the BBC’s new queer comedy Smoggie Queens. (BBC)
The BBC has confirmed the release date of its new queer drag comedy Smoggie Queens and alongside a first-look teaser trailer.
Created by and starring comedian and Feel Good actor Phil Dunning, Smoggie Queens follows a gang of queer misfit friends living in Middlesborough, in England’s North East.
The BBC has now confirmed that Smoggie Queens will land on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer at 10:10pm GMT on 28 November, following the Drag Race UK season six finale.
The sitcom sees the group of friends “navigate life, love and wigs,” in the town’s small, tightly-knit LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s essentially an out-and-out slapstick sitcom with a big old gay heart,” said Dunning of the new series, in which he stars as Dickie, the show’s leading lady, hilarious narcissist, and ultimate drag diva.
Waterloo Road star Mark Benton is Mam, the group’s older but not always wiser mother, self-styled hun Lucinda (Coronation Street’s Alexandra Mardell), and “woman of few words” Sal (Vera’s Patsy Lowe).
Despite Dickie’s reservations, the group is also joined by drag newcomer and Dickie’s personal punching bag (quite literally) Stewart (Elijah Young).
There’s also a lip-sync cameo from a little-known RuPaul’s Drag Race judge who goes by the name of Michelle Visage, playing Elaine.
Ted Lasso star Bill Fellows, Steph’s Packed Lunch host Steph McGovern, and Peaky Blinders actress Charlotte Riley also make appearances.
In the very brief, 25-second teaser trailer, Smoggie Queens promises death drops, wild Pride shenanigans, fairytale scenes, screams, and plenty of queens.
Speaking about what makes a “Smoggie Queen”, Dunning said: “A Smoggie Queen is somebody who is a bit of a weirdo. Someone who doesn’t conform to the status quo. An outsider and ideally somebody who’s from Teesside but that’s not a prerequisite. We’re very inclusive.”
He continued by saying that he hopes audiences get a sense of “joy and elation” from watching the brand new comedy.
“It’d be lovely for an audience to feel like they want to hang out with the queens. Each of the gang is so different and they all have their own individual quirks and characteristics. Hopefully an audience would relate to at least one of them. Just like the Spice Girls.”
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