Chat show for Smoggie Queen Dickie

James Acaster among the guests on YouTube series

The BBC has announced a YouTube spin-off series of Smoggie Queens called The Dickie Show.

It stars Phil Dunning in the guise of drag queen Dickie interviewing celebrity guests in a makeshift studio in the back of Mam’s (Mark Benton’s) garage. He’s joined by his friends from the sitcom: Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell), Sal (Patsy Lowe) and Stewart (Elijah Young).

Producers Hat Trick say: ‘As always, chaos and mischief are close at hand, with the gang causing trouble rather than helping, while Dickie, somewhat reluctantly, enjoys a brief moment out of the spotlight as he interviews his nearest and queerest companions.’

Celebrity guests over the eight 15-minute episodes include Rylan, Siobhan McSweeney, Dr Ranj, Mark Benton, James Acaster, Vanessa Feltz, Steph McGovern and Russell T Davies.

Jon Petrie, the BBC’s director of comedy, said: ‘As we continue to experiment with comedy on YouTube, we’re sending Dickie off to show Claudia Winkleman exactly how not to do it…

‘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 brilliant Smoggie Queens characters and finding even more fun with them.’

Dunning, who also wrote and created Smoggie Queens, added: ‘Giving Dickie his own chat show is crazy behaviour from the BBC. Apologies in advance to all the celebrities he will inevitably offend.’

Episode 1, featuring Rylan was released yesterday. The first half of the series will then be available weekly, with the second half continuing at the end of May.