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Mackichan, Doon (1962-)
 

Actor, Performer, Writer

Main image of Mackichan, Doon (1962-)

Doon Mackichan claims she never saw herself as a comedienne, but as a performer who can "tell stories and pull a few faces", attributes that brought her to the fore as one third of the team in the double Emmy-award-winning sketch show, Smack the Pony (Channel 4, 1999-2003).

Her family moved when she was nine from Surrey to Fife, where at the drama club she survived by playing 'posh bitches'. Leaving Manchester University with a drama degree, she performed stand-up comedy and formed a double-act with Anne Rabbitt as slapstick hosts of children's programme Wake Up London (ITV, 1985).

Following fleeting cameos in the likes of Harry Enfield's Television Programme (BBC, 1990-92), her comedy breakthrough came as part of the writer-performer team of Radio 4's spoof news programme, On the Hour, which transferred to television as The Day Today (BBC, 1994). She subsequently made appearances alongside former co-stars Steve Coogan and Chris Morris on, respectively, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (BBC, 1994) and the controversial Brass Eye (Channel 4, 1997-2001), before grabbing a bigger share of the spotlight alongside Fiona Allen and Sally Phillips on Smack the Pony.

In between have come appearances in more conventional sitcoms - Agony Again (BBC, 1995), Beast (BBC, 2000-01) and Bed Time (BBC, 2001-03) - while she has lent her voice to documentaries and to animated characters in Bob and Margaret (Channel 4, 1998-99) and Stressed Eric (BBC, 1998-2000).

'Straighter' roles have seen her as the manipulative Sophronia Lammle in Our Mutual Friend (BBC, 1998), as Cherie Blair in A Very Social Secretary (Channel 4, 2005) and as a BBC producer in Taking the Flak (BBC, 2009). Still combining theatre and television careers, in 2010 she revived her one-woman stage show, Primadoona.

Graham Rinaldi

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FILM & TV CREDITS

From the BFI's filmographic database

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Selected credits

Thumbnail image of Brass Eye (1997, 2001)Brass Eye (1997, 2001)

Controversial blurring of drama and documentary, devised by Chris Morris

Thumbnail image of Day Today, The (1994)Day Today, The (1994)

Highly influential spoof news/current affairs programme

Thumbnail image of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994-95)Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994-95)

The hapless sports reporter's disastrous chat-show debut

Thumbnail image of Smack the Pony (1999-2002)Smack the Pony (1999-2002)

Female sketch trio/quartet with a distinctive take on sexual politics

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Related people and organisations

Thumbnail image of Alexander, Sarah (1971-)Alexander, Sarah (1971-)

Actor

Thumbnail image of Phillips, Sally (1970-)Phillips, Sally (1970-)

Actor, Performer, Writer