Smack The Pony: Amanda Holden was first choice for show
The groundbreaking female-led sketch show Smack the Pony burst onto screens exactly 20 years ago.
"Come the series, Amanda dropped out and Doon Mackichan joined the gang, with Sarah Alexander as our 'regular guest'." Pile explains how her show came about:"It was actually Caroline Leddy [then commissioning editor at Channel 4] and Peter Fincham [then head of production company Talkback] who realised that it was time for an all-girl sketch show.
"It was a very fruitful way of accessing characters and ideas, which we could write up as sketches later."Allen, Mackichan and Phillips in 2006But the show finished after just three series and two specials,Perhaps because it didn't include topical humour, the show has hardly dated, and is finding a new generation of fans on Channel 4's streaming service All 4.
The first sketch, which saw Mackichan laboriously limbering up by a swimming pool and then doing a belly-flop, set the tone for a show that would defy expectations. "Victoria Pile had a such a confidence and freedom which I really responded to and the talent of the female leads was stellar. It was an incredibly satisfying rollercoaster to hitch a ride on."Allen's favourite sketch is about a cross-species romance between a matador and a bull.
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