For a comedy that initially felt like it might become a cult favourite for a very specific audience, Smoggie Queens has quickly grown into one of BBC Three’s most beloved comedy success stories.
Created by and starring Phil Dunning, the Middlesbrough-set comedy returns for a second series on Friday 15 May, with all episodes available on BBC iPlayer. The first two episodes will also air on BBC Three that night, with episodes following weekly. Dickie (Dunning), Mam (Mark Benton), Lucinda (Alexandra Mardell), Sal (Patsy Lowe) and Stewart (Elijah Young) are all back for another round of chaos, heartbreak, outrageous costumes and deeply specific North East humour.
Smoggie Queens is made by Hat Trick Productions for BBC Three and iPlayer, with Chris Jones returning as producer for the second series. Tom Marshall directs, with Gregor Sharp serving as the BBC commissioning editor.
“Smoggie”, for those unfamiliar with Teesside slang, is a nickname for people who come from Middlesbrough, and the series wears that identity proudly. What started as a queer comedy rooted in Teesside life has become something much bigger. Series one drew around 600,000 viewers per episode, strong numbers for BBC Three, before the acclaim followed shortly after.
Dunning received three BAFTA nominations in 2025 for his work on the first series, including Male Performance in a Comedy Programme, Writer: Comedy and Emerging Talent: Fiction at the BAFTA TV Craft Awards. Earlier this year, he also picked up Best Comedy and Best Newcomer at the RTS North East Awards. Not bad for a first-time writer-performer from Teesside.
Season two sees Dickie still navigating messy feelings about his ex Harrison while desperately searching for love, Mam confronting figures from her past, Sal caught between Danni and Mel, Lucinda dealing with relationship drama of her own, and Stewart fully stepping into his confidence after coming out at the end of series one.
According to the cast, the new episodes go even further with the show’s surreal humour and camp energy. There are football matches, noir-inspired episodes, beauty pageants, Wizard of Oz costumes and at one point a Spanish football manager storyline involving Alexandra Mardell playing a male footballer called Pablo Corzello. Which honestly feels very Smoggie Queens.
Dunning said returning for series two felt easier creatively because the cast already fully understood the tone and rhythm of the characters. That familiarity seems to have given the writers room to push the comedy further, with the new season leaning even more confidently into absurdity without losing the warmth that made people connect with the first series.
Mark Benton returns as Mam, one of the shows funniest and most glorious characters. Season two digs further into Mam’s past, following last series’ reveal that she has a son she never told the gang about. This time, another figure from her old life arrives in the Boro: her ex-wife, played by Monica Dolan, which should bring a little more emotional edge to Mam’s unual madness.
Benton described filming with Dolan as a joy, describing her as a close friend as well as “one of the best actors in the world,” while also teasing some particularly ridiculous scenes involving football management and a detective called Inspector Voluptuous.
Lucinda also looks set for a bigger role within the group, still serving as everyone’s loudest cheerleader while facing a few bumps of her own. Alexandra Mardell says Lucinda and Dickie have some “sibling” squabbles this series, while her relationship with Neil hits problems when his friends prove less supportive than hers.
Sal’s story also looks set to get messier this time around, as she tries to balance her relationship with Danni while keeping a friendship with Mel. Patsy Lowe teases that things get “a bit spicy”, which feels about right for a character who remains wonderfully weird but seems to be growing in confidence too. Her continued bond with Lucinda also sounds like one of the sweeter threads of the new series, especially as Lowe describes Lucinda as someone who “speaks fluent Sal”.
Stewart’s journey continues in a more emotional direction, with Elijah Young describing the character as entering the “second puberty” many queer people experience after finally becoming comfortable in themselves. He is beginning to experiment and find his place within this chosen family. It is that blend of silliness and sincerity that gives Smoggie Queens its heart.
The cast repeatedly describe the set as chaotic, joyful and constantly on the verge of collapsing into laughter, which probably explains why the chemistry feels so natural onscreen.
For CultureCues, one of the best things about Smoggie Queens is how unapologetically itself it remains. The show never feels like it is trying to tone down its regional identity or queer humour to reach a wider audience. Instead, it leans into both with complete confidence, and that is exactly why it works. There is something genuinely refreshing about a comedy where characters can move from heartfelt conversations about identity and belonging to dressing as horny Wizard of Oz characters within the same episode.
The second series looks bigger and more ambitious, but it still seems rooted in the warmth and chosen-family feeling that made the first season connect so strongly. It is proudly Teesside and proudly queer. Most importantly, it still feels completely itself.
Smoggie Queens returns Friday 15 May, with all episodes on BBC iPlayer and the first two airing on BBC Three.
More Smoggie Queens: Read our CultureCues review of season one here.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.