The Last One Laughing UK (LOL) returned this week to the delight of fans the whole world over.
This devilishly delightful TV show pits a group of comedians against each other as they try to make each other laugh.
The winner then is the last one to laugh (the clue was in the name, really wasn’t it?) and Jimmy Carr and Roisin Conaty serve as referees, ensuring none of the comics let out a sneaky snigger.
The new season sees David Mitchell, Diane Morgan, Romesh Ranganathan, Amy Gledhill, Maisie Adam, Mel Giedroyc, Alan Carr, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Sam Campbell enter the LOL bunker but they’ll be facing stiff competition.
Bob Mortimer, who won the 2025 edition, will also be taking part, and he’s already proved to be a contender.
Still, we think Diane Morgan might be the one to bring Mortimer (yeah, we’re using his second name for emphasis) down a peg or two. But who is Diane? Well, I’m glad you asked…
Who is Diane Morgan?
Morgan, 50, is an actress and comedian from Bolton who forged a successful career in stand-up before making the move into TV.
She got her start as one half of the comedy duo Two Episodes Of Mash alongside comic Joe Wilkinson, and made a few small appearances on shows like Phoenix Nights and the film Mr Right.
In 2011, she appeared in 12 episodes of Mount Pleasant before getting her big break in 2013 when she appeared on Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe as a character called Philomena Cunk, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Who is Philomena Cunk?
Philomena is a character created by comedian Diane Morgan, who initially showed up as a supporting role in the Charlie Brooker show Weekly Wipe.
The deadpan character won fans over with her particular brand of dim-witted antics and ridiculously overblown remarks.
Since her initial appearances on the Wipe shows, she’s gone on to star in several Cunk spin-offs where the oblivious interviewer has investigated Shakespeare, Christmas, Britain and more.
Philomena Cunk's best quotes
The character has come out with some classic quotes in her time on TV, although these are some of the most memorable:
‘Money. People fight for it. Die for it. And put it in China pigs.’
‘One in 20 people have been a victim of crime, which means that 19 out of 20 people are criminals. No wonder we need police.’
‘When you store time on a clock, how do you get it back out again? Because when I was winding my watch up I accidentally put it forward, so I’d got two hours more in my clock. But then I put it back. Is it still in there? Is the time still in the clock?’
‘Charles Darwin was one of the most famous men of his age. Like Paddy McGuinness is now.’
‘Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well was one of the first ever examples of the spoiler.’
‘Why do we cry when it’s the onions that are getting hurt?’
Morgan describes the character as ‘an idiot’, but as she told the Radio Times: ‘occasionally she’ll get things so right you think maybe she isn’t an idiot. Maybe she’s a genius! The best thing about her is that she doesn’t care. Cunk is who I’d love to be if I had the balls.’
What Philomena Cunk series are there?
There have been four Philomena Cunk television series and one special (which got Diane an Emmy nomination).
They include:
- Cunk on Shakespeare (2016)
- Cunk on Britain (2018)
- Cunk & Other Humans on 2019 (2019)
- Cunk on Earth (2022–2023)
- Cunk on Life (2024)
What other movies and TV shows has Diane Morgan done?
As well as her regular appearances alongside Charlie Brooker, Morgan has also been seen in the TV shows Utopia, Drunk History, Sky One’s Rovers and sitcom Mount Pleasant, among others.
Notable series she’s appeared in include Phoenix Nights (2002),
Inside No. 9 (2022), The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (2024) and most notably Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024).
Why can Diane Morgan bring down Bob Mortimer?
Our Deputy TV Editor, Tom Percival, shares his thoughts on LOL season 2…
Diane Morgan is well known for her incredibly deadpan delivery, which I think will prove Bob’s downfall. He came close to cracking last series when up against a Richard Ayoade (who’s also known for being similarly straight-faced).
I think, though, Diane, with her Northern charm and silly sense of humour, will push Bob to his breaking point. His absurdist humour, meanwhile, will bounce off her like bullets pinging off Superman’s chest.
After all, Diane’s managed to sit through some truly absurd interviews without breaking… basically, she’s been training for this her whole career.
She is due to appear in the upcoming Marvel series VisionQuest alongside Paul Bettany and has a role in Duncan Jones’ animated movie Rogue Trooper.
Arguably, her greatest achievement, outside of creating Cunk, is creating Mandy. This show follows the titular Mandy (Diane Morgan) a slightly hapless woman, as she bumbles her way through life. The show has run for four seasons, from 2019-present.
The Last One Laughing UK season 2 is available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.
This article was originally published on April 17, 2018.
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