The Reel Review
A tight-knit community of drag queens and their friends navigate life’s daily challenges in the industrial city of Middlesbrough in Northeast England, in this campy LGBTQ+ comedy series starring its creator, comedian Phil Dunning, Mark Benton (Early Doors) as the drag queen matriarch Mam and Elijah Young as the newly-out and very virginal Stewart.
Dunning’s Dickie is a condescending, hilariously delusional, untalented drag queen with tragically askew, drawn-in eyebrows, and at first glance looks to be the star of this wonderfully daft, six-episode LGBTQ+ comedy. The series, however, is truly an ensemble effort, with charming, exceptionally cast characters, goofy storylines and fun cameos – RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage dials down her usual glamour as an office wallflower where Dickie works. The “smoggie” in Smoggie Queens is a proud reference to residents of the once smog-ridden industrial city.
Not all of the jokes land, but enough of them do to make Smoggie Queens worth the effort for those outside the U.K. to VPN into BBC iPlayer (or in the U.K., BBC Three) for a fun, quick binge of this rare LGBTQ+ comedy series that also has a tremendous heart, not being afraid to call out homophobia while also taking the piss out of the more outlandish elements of the gay community.
REEL FACTS
• Phil Dunning (Feel Good, Am I Being Unreasonable?), a fixture of solo alternative comedy shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, was born and raised in Teesside, England, just a few minutes drive from Middlesbrough.
• Mark Benton was a contestant on the 2013 season of Strictly Come Dancing,
• Smoggie Queens was filmed in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe.
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