The BBC has launched a YouTube spin-off of its comedy Smoggie Queens, titled The Dickie Show, as part of its ongoing push into digital-first commissioning.
Produced by Hat Trick Productions, the eight-part series (8 x 15 minutes) centres on the character Dickie, played by Phil Dunning. Framed as a lo-fi chat show set in a makeshift studio in a garage, the format sees Dickie interviewing celebrity guests alongside returning characters from the original series.
The ensemble cast includes Mam (Mark Benton), Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell), Sal (Patsy Lowe) and Stewart (Elijah Young). The series retains the tone of Smoggie Queens, with a focus on improvised chaos and character-driven humour.
Guest line-up across the run includes Rylan Clark, Siobhan McSweeney, Dr Ranj Singh, James Acaster, Vanessa Feltz, Steph McGovern and Russell T Davies.
Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC, said the project forms part of the broadcaster’s experimentation with platform-native comedy: “As we continue to experiment with comedy on YouTube, we’re sending Dickie off to show Claudia Winkleman exactly how not to do it in The Dickie Show. The real test of a great comedy character is whether you can throw them into a completely new world and they still make you laugh. That’s exactly what happens here, with The Dickie Show taking the Smoggie Queens characters and finding even more fun with them.”
Dunning added: “Giving Dickie his own chat show is crazy behaviour from the BBC. Apologies in advance to all the celebrities he will inevitably offend.”
Chris Jones, series producer at Hat Trick, said the spin-off expands the show’s universe: “We’re thrilled that we get a chance to expand the Smoggie-verse wider for the BBC with a YouTube chat show that Dickie has of course roped Mam, Lucinda, Stewart and Sal into basically organising for him. It feels very on brand.”
Episode one, featuring Rylan, is available on the BBC’s YouTube channel and iPlayer, with subsequent episodes rolling out weekly. A second batch of episodes is scheduled for release from the end of May.
