Actress, writer and comedian Diane Morgan was awarded an honorary degree by her home town university on the final day of graduation ceremonies.Bolton-born Diane, famous for her TV character Philomena Cunk and appearances in shows such as Motherland and After Life, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Arts for her outstanding contribution to television and comedy.She told the audience at the Albert Halls in Bolton Town Hall: “Ladies and gentlemen, I should not be here today. I shouldn’t. There’s been a dreadful mistake. I got a G in maths. A G!“But I thank you for your generosity. Thirty years ago just outside this building I bumped into Maxine Peake who is also a Boltonian and we had met two weeks earlier when we were both auditioning to get into Manchester Polytechnic for the acting course. Neither of us got in.“It took us three long years to get into drama school and during that time I had various jobs – packing worming tablets, selling fish and chips and I was also an Avon Lady.“Most of these jobs I’d been sacked from. I was fired from the Last Drop Village tea rooms in Bolton for not knowing what a cream tea is. I thought it was a tea with cream in it. But now I have an honorary doctorate! Unbelievable.“I am here to tell you that anything is possible. If you’ve got passion and you work hard, you can do absolutely anything, because everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it as an actress, that it was an impossible dream, that you’d need maths! You don’t need maths! You don’t need maths for anything! Take that Rishi Sunak!”She added: “This is such an honour. I am so proud, thank you so much.”
Bafta-nominated Diane, who is from Farnworth and attended George Tomlinson School, Kearsley, now Kearsley Academy, where she set her sights on a career in comedy from the age of 15.In her early twenties, Diane studied at drama school, before working in a succession of jobs – from potato peeler to dental assistant – before embarking on her remarkable career in comedy.
She subsequently made her first attempt at stand-up comedy. She was placed second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year award in 2006, and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards.
Diane is probably best known for her portrayal of Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer and commentator on current affairs, who first appeared in a regular segment on Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe TV show.
The character has since appeared in other ‘mockumentaries’. For her performance in Cunk on Earth, broadcast in 2022 she was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.
