Legendary comedy set for epic reboot 24 years on from TV debut

CULT British comedy Smack the Pony could be making a comeback, two decades since its last series.

Lead star Fiona Allen has revealed filming is underway, but remained tight-lipped in regards to where the sitcom will eventually air.

Speaking exclusively, she said: “Wouldn’t it be great to see another one?

“We’re kind of filming, talking, that would be something fun.”

Fiona is adamant Smack the Pony, which briefly returned for a Comic Relief skit in 2017, will still appeal to audiences, saying: “It was fun and a lot of silliness, which I love, that was just our style I guess, and it worked really well and it cut across lots of different age groups. 

“And we genuinely enjoyed it, we used to be in trouble a lot for laughing. 

“It gets shown all the time, it’s always showing up somewhere. So that’s quite nice.”

Fiona hit the big time in 1999 with Smack The Pony, alongside co-writers and stars Sally Phillips and Doon Mackichan.

The comedy followed the three female comics as they dealt with a wide variety of topics, from irritating flatmates to workplace issues, and proved to be a hit, with a regular audience of around 2.5million viewers.

The series ran on Channel 4 until 2002, concluding with a special in January 2003.

In both 1999 and 2000, Smack The Pony won Best Popular Arts Show at the Emmy Awards.

Co-star Sally Phillips revealed in April last year that a new series of the sketch show has been pitched to various networks over the last few years.

She said: “We go through phases of pitching it to people.

“Fiona Allen really is the engine behind that so she’s always seeing if anyone wants it and we have gone through periods of pitching it to the channels and being very optimistic.”

And Doon Mackichan has said: “So much has happened to us all, as mothers and women, there’s a lot that is funny about where we are now.

“There are years of pain to draw on.”

“We will have to wait and see what happens and whether they will want to bring it out of the stable. But we would love to get the old nag out again."