Diane Morgan: I had to go to 'robot school'
Comedian on preparing for her new role in Ann Droid
Diane Morgan went to ‘robot school’ to prepare for her role in new comedy Ann Droid.
In the series, which she wrote with Sarah Kendall, the Philomena Cunk star plays a care robot looking after a widow, played by Sue Johnson.
But at a preview screening for the comedy, which starts next week, Morgan explains that to get into the physicality of the role ‘I had to go to robot school.
‘The man who did Humans, that programme, he taught all those robots. It’s so embarrassing! I’m 50 now. I didn't realise how hard it was going to be.’
‘I developed an ulcer in my eye from not blinking. My back at the end of filming was killing me.’
Explaining the origin of the show, Morgan added: ‘I read this article people how, in the future, people who don’t have kids will need a robot carer to look after them and I was like "Oh my god, that's going to be me! I’m going to have to have a robot looking after me."
‘I told my friend Pippa [Brown] who’s a producer about it, and she said "Do you mind if I pitch that idea to the BBC?" and I thought, "Yeah, go ahead, they’re never going to go for it." And then they went for it.
‘Then it was, "Oh no, I’ve got to play a robot!"’
• Ann Droid airs on July 17 at 9.30pm on BBC One.
Published: 8 Jul 2026
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Agent
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