Smoggie Queens cast on local pride, chosen family and life imitating art: ‘It almost enters into ridiculousness’

Smoggie Queens is back for a second series, with the loveable gang of Dickie, Mam, Lucinda, Stewart and Sal returning to sprinkle some glitter around Middlesbrough.

The show launched on BBC iPlayer in November 2024, and it was renewed for a second series in March last year. It has now finally been released, with all six episodes available to stream.

The last time fans saw the crew, they were rallying around Stewart (played by Elijah Young) after his coming out to his grandma didn’t go well. Dickie (Phil Dunning) was still feeling the effects from his split from Harrison (Peter McPherson), Mam (Mark Benton) was dealing with her past catching up with her, Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell) was trying to make it work with bumbling Neil (Neil Grainger), and Sal (Patsy Lowe) was coming into her own despite an emotionally abusive relationship with Danni (Charlotte Riley) and interest from Mel (Lauryn Redding).

Despite dealing with a lot of important topics plenty of queer people go through – such as coming out or breakups – Dunning, who is also the show’s writer, brings a big sense of humour to the show.

Speaking to PinkNews, Elijah Young says: “What I love about Phil’s sense of humour and how he writes comedy is that he’ll write the joke, but then he’ll take it a step further where it almost enters into ridiculousness.

“In the show, what’s so lovely is, you’re presented with an ordinary place like Middlesbrough, and presented with these really extraordinary characters.

“Phil’s writing is really clever and all of the sensitive, heartfelt moments are very quickly undercut with the gags or a moment of Dickie saying an insult to Stewart. It’s so much fun.”

The almost rivalry between Dickie and Stewart has been there since the start, when Mam introduced young Stewart to the rest of the group. The cutting way Dickie spits out “Stewart” throughout the show has become something fans hopped on – but it wasn’t intentional.

Young tells us: “When we were doing the show for series one, we would all say it like that, and we all thought it was a personal, inside joke. Then when the show came out, people started saying it. We were like, ‘Oh!'”

The show is set in the northern town of Middlesbrough, rather than London or Manchester as many queer-focused series are. Shining a light on the industrial town was important for Dunning, who was born and raised in Teesside.

He tells us: “I was in Middlesbrough every single week for gay events, going to Empire, also in Sapphires when it was called The Royal Oak. It just meant a lot to me. If I was going to write a sitcom about gays, it meant a lot to write in Teesside. It’s just that classic thing of write what you know, and I know a lot about the Teesside gays.”

Dunning says he was concerned about the reception from locals, as “we’ve been done dirty a lot in the past”.

“I was very conscious of trying to get it right and not making it an ‘it’s grim up north’ type of sitcom,” he says, “so hopefully that’s paid off.”

It certainly doesn’t suggest it’s “grim up north”. Instead, it brings fun, camp energy with plenty of lipstick and glitter when the queer community is being attacked by many loud voices around the UK.

Dunning tells us: “There was a point where we were thinking, do we go down the route of a character struggling to come out. Initially I was like, it’s a sitcom, let’s make it really funny, like queer people can have fun and not have serious issues.

“It’s really important to tell all the serious stories, and they do get told, but actually, I want it to be really light-hearted and joyous the whole way. But then, if you want people to connect to the characters, you do have to make it a bit more real.

“Even though it’s slapstick and a bit mad, at some points you have the characters based in reality, so people can connect to them.”

He says: “It was important to do a bit of both, but not make it so serious that it’s like another issue based comedy or drama.”

The first episode of series two does just that. It opens with Stewart heading to work to the soundtrack of N-Trance song “Set You Free”, as his neighbours congratulate him on coming out as gay after his grandma kicked him out.

Young, who plays Stewart, tells us: “It was really the beginning of his life being his true self, so you get to experience him experiencing the firsts and having that, what people call it for queer people, a second puberty where you’re really discovering yourself – how you dress, your interests, finding your tribe and people you don’t have to explain yourself to.”

He says: “Stewart is dressing a bit more openly queer. He also has frosted tips, which is just a milestone in any gay’s life.”

“It was really lovely coming into series two and getting to play Stewart now at the beginning of his journey of figuring out what does being openly gay look like for him,” he adds.

It’s something most queer people can relate to. And it turns out Dunning took inspiration for his writing from his own life… sort of.

His character Dickie can’t seem to escape ex-boyfriend Harrison, with series two continuing to deal with their split. Dunning laughs as he says he drew some inspiration “in the sense that I get rejected a lot”.

Speaking of what to expect in series two, he says: “There’s hints of Harrison kind of regretting what he did and leaving Dickie. I really wanted this on-off relationship with them two, because it gives the opportunity for Dickie to have a bit of a heart and to see a bit of a vulnerability, because he’s such an a*******.”

He adds: “What we found really funny when me and Chris [Jones, producer] were developing the plot lines for series two, was the fact that Middlesbrough is actually such a small place. In terms of the gay world, you do see the same people. So it was quite funny that they just keep bumping into each other.”

He says: “In terms of my relationships, I used to work with someone that I quite fancied – not to go too deep. But when they don’t fancy you, it’s really hard seeing them every single day in a workplace or all the time, so in that sense there is a connection. God, I’ve gone deep.”

It’s not just Dickie and Stewart dealing with difficulties though. In series one, viewers fell in love with Sal, who was completely under-appreciated by her girlfriend Danni. Lowe, who plays Sal, tells us: “Emotionally abusive, is what it is. It’s like she’s having to dilute her personality and her true self and she’s stifled.

“Series two really shows Sal coming into her own, because she’s always able to be herself when she’s around her chosen family and the rest of the gang.

“But to find that, potentially, in a romantic relationship, I just really want it for her. It’s just the dream for her, because Mel is absolutely gorgeous and just sees her, truly sees her.”

Lucinda, the gang’s biggest ally, is also on the quest for love, having met Neil in series one. “I think Neil needs a bit of whipping into shape,” Mardell, who plays Lucinda, tells us. “She’ll manage it.”

Her character is the only straight person in the group, showing them unquestioning support in their times of need. Mardell tells us: “I’ve got so many queer friends, so for me, playing that part didn’t feel like anything strange.

“It’s really important to be an ally in this kind of time we’re in – for gays, queers, but then also different races and things like that. There is a connection that we all have, an understanding. So we’ve just got to be there for each other.”

Smoggie Queens is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.

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