Morgana Robinson (born 7 May 1982) is an Australian-born English impressionist, comedian, writer and actress, who is best known for her comedy sketch programme The Morgana Show, Morgana Robinson's The Agency, appearances on The TNT Show, House of Fools and Very Important People.[2]
Morgana Robinson | |
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Born | 7 May 1982 (age 40 years) Shepparton, Victoria, Australia[1] |
Nationality | British |
Years active | 2007–present |
Relative(s) | Brody Dalle (half-sister) |
Robinson was born in Shepparton, Victoria, in Australia. Her family moved to England when she was three. She was educated at Benenden School in Kent.[1]
On her father's side, Robinson has four elder half-siblings, one of whom is Brody Dalle (born Bree Joanna Alice Robinson) of the punk rock band the Distillers and alternative rock band Spinnerette. They first met as adults, backstage at one of Dalle's 2004 concerts at the Brixton Academy.[3][4]
Robinson's television debut came in 2007, as she played an Eastern European internet bride in BBC One's comedy The Green Green Grass.[5] She then starred in the TV pilot Eight Steps to Enlightenment and a Nervous Breakdown, an improvised mockumentary, playing Rachel, a self-obsessed glamour model, trying to rid herself of cellulite. In 2009, she appeared as Anna in the BBC One comedy My Family in the episode "It's Training Men".
In 2009, she appeared in a running sketch segment (Gilbert's Special Report) in The TNT Show as Gilbert, a teenage 'special needs' boy who interviews celebrities, alongside his disabled crew members.
In 2010, Channel 4 commissioned a five-part comedy sketch show – The Morgana Show. Channel 4's head of comedy, Shane Allen, said: "Discovering, supporting and nurturing new talent is at the heart of Channel 4 comedy’s remit, and in Morgana we really feel we’ve found a fresh performer with a huge amount of potential."[6] Her stand-out characters being giant-glasses wearing Gilbert ("Grandad!") making TV shows from his bedroom and her impressions of Fern Cotton and mockumentary of Natalie Cassidy "Sonia off Eastenders"
In 2012, Robinson starred in the Channel 4 sketch show Very Important People also starring Terry Mynott. In the show, she impersonates a variety of performers, including Frankie Boyle, Danny Dyer, Amy Childs, and Adele.
In 2014 to 2015, she appeared as sexy nymphomaniac cafe-owner Julie in Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's 2-series surreal BBC Two television comedy sitcom House of Fools in which her scene-stealing appearances include an obsessive attraction to Vic's character "Vic Reeves".
In 2016, she appeared as Pippa Middleton in The Windsors, a comedy parody of the British Royal Family in which she uses her sexiness to try to ensnare her sister's brother-in-law Prince Harry.
In 2018, she appeared with Richard Ayoade in Travel Man, visiting Milan.
In 2021, Robinson played Hilary Bowden in series 2, episode 4 of Intelligence.[7] That same year, she participated in the 10 episode, 12th series of Channel 4 comedy game show Taskmaster and won the series.
In March 2022, Robinson appeared as Maxine in Gold comedy Newark, Newark. Also in 2022, Robinson co-starred with Dylan Moran in the BBC Two sitcom Stuck.[8]
At the 2012 British Comedy Awards, she won in the Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist category.[9]
In 2018, she won the BAFTA Award in the Best Short Form Programme category for Morgana Robinson's Summer.[10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | The Witches | Mrs Jenkins | First appearance in a major film |
TBA | A Bird Flew In | In post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | The Green Green Grass | Katia | Series 3, Episode 7: "Lust in Translation" |
2008 | Eight Steps to Enlightenment and a Nervous Breakdown | Rachel | Short pilot |
2009 | My Family | Anna | Series 9, Episode 7: "It's Training Men" |
2009 | The TNT Show | Gilbert | Appeared in a running sketch segment "Gilbert's Special Report". The character was later used in Robinson's own sketch show |
2010 | MovieMash | Unknown | TV film |
2010 | The Morgana Show | Various | Star, writer and creator |
2011 | The Hunt for Tony Blair | Carole Caplin | A one-off episode of The Comic Strip Presents... |
2012 | Very Important People | Various | Star, writer and creator |
2012 | Them from That Thing[11] | Various | Two-part sketch show with Kayvan Novak, Sally Phillips and Blake Harrison produced for Channel 4's Comedy Fortnight |
2013 | Toast of London[12] | Jemima Gina | Sitcom with Matt Berry |
2014–15 | House of Fools | Julie | BBC2 comedy series written by Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves |
2014 | Chanel M | Various | BBC iPlayer content part of the Original Comedy Shorts series.[13] |
2014 | Big School | Fenella Forbes | Series 2, Episode 1 |
2014 | Drifters | Rebecca | Series 2, Episode 6 |
2014 | Toast of London[12] | Lorna Wynde | Series 2, Episode 6 |
2015 | Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe[14] | Various | Series 3 |
2015 | SunTrap | Janice / Susan | Series 1, Episode 3 |
2015 | Toast of London[15] | Emma | Series 3, Episode 2 |
2015 | Crackanory | Storyteller | Series 3, Episode 5 |
2015–2016 | Walliams & Friend[16] | Various / Carla | Series 1 |
2016–2020 | The Windsors | Pippa Middleton | Main role |
2016 | Morgana Robinson's The Agency[17] | Various | BBC 2 mockumentary |
2016 | Hey Duggee | Peggee / Buggy / Katarina the Flamingo | Season 2 |
2017 | Inside No. 9 | Carrie | "Private View" |
2018–22 | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown | Natalie Cassidy / Annabel | Series 16, Episode 1 (as Natalie Cassidy); Series 18, Episode 2 (as Natalie Cassidy); Series 23, Episode 4 (as Annabel) |
2018 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Sally Balthasar | "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" |
2019 | Island Of Dreams | Adele | Pilot episode |
2020 | Truth Seekers | Janey Feathers | Season 1, Episode 3 |
2021 | Intelligence | Hilary Bowden | Season 2, Episode 4 |
2021 | Taskmaster | Herself | Series 12 |
2021 | How We Forgot to Save the Planet[18] | Various | Mockumentary, part of Channel 4's programming highlighting environmental concerns in the build-up to the COP26 conference on climate change |
2022 | Toast of Tinseltown | Wildcat Lil | 1 episode |
2022 | Newark, Newark | Maxine | Lead role, Gold original comedy |
2022 | Stuck[19] | Carla | Lead role, BBC original comedy |