Main content

3. Sally Phillips & Victoria Pile on Smack The Pony

Sally Phillips and Victoria Pile share how the award-winning show came to TV with Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman. From 2021.

Sally Phillips and Victoria Pile variously created, wrote, and starred in Channel 4's award-winning sketch show Smack The Pony.

The duo share the inside story with TV veterans Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman.

When Smack The Pony debuted in 1999, the critics talked about it being a 鈥渇emale鈥 sketch show. Which was right in as much as it starred and was run by women, and it pushed back against the male gaze which had so dominated the world of British comedy for so long.

But of course, it also rather missed the point 鈥 it wasn鈥檛 a female sketch show. It was a brilliant, edgy, silly, and gloriously funny sketch show.

Victoria and Sally discuss the challenges the show faced on its journey from a small idea pitched (by a man!) at a fancy Park Lane supper, to its BAFTA and Emmy success.

They chat through some of their favourite sketches and reveal how they created their vast array of characters. And they talk about the possibility of more episodes of Smack The Pony ever finding their way on to our TV screens.

Producer: Owen Braben

Made for 主播大秀 Radio 4 Extra by Expectation Productions, and first broadcast in September 2021.

Available now

1 hour

Broadcasts

  • Wed 6 Oct 2021 11:30
  • Thu 7 Oct 2021 22:30
  • Fri 18 Aug 2023 21:00
  • Fri 18 Aug 2023 23:30

Hello Bolly: What鈥檚 So Funny About Absolutely Fabulous?

Hello Bolly: What鈥檚 So Funny About Absolutely Fabulous?

Uncovering some of the show鈥檚 secret with creator and star Jennifer Saunders.

Hysterical Clericals: What鈥檚 So Funny About The Vicar of Dibley?

Hysterical Clericals: What鈥檚 So Funny About The Vicar of Dibley?

Exploring the show's magic formula with actor Dawn French and creator Richard Curtis.

The Office at 20 鈥 10 things we learned from Ricky Gervais

The Office at 20 鈥 10 things we learned from Ricky Gervais

Ricky reveals some remarkable facts, secrets and behind-the-scenes gossip about the show.