Phoenix Nights was a legendary series on Channel 4

Channel 4 Phoenix Nights cast now from bitter feud with Peter Kay to BBC success

Phoenix Nights was essential viewing for those who lived in Lancashire - but what have its cast been up to since the show came to an end 22 years ago

by · The Mirror

The Channel 4 classic Phoenix Nights has been absent from our screens for 22 years, with its cast members moving on huge success and cult status

The much-loved sitcom, created by Peter Kay, chronicled the adventures of club owner Brian Potter and a vibrant ensemble of characters at the fictitious Phoenix Club in Farnworth.

Despite only running for two series, Phoenix Nights successfully captured the essence of life in the area, becoming must-watch TV for Lancashire residents. A third series was written by Peter Kay but has yet to be further developed.

The show propelled Peter Kay's career forward, with its cast members achieving additional TV success, one instigating a prolonged feud with Peter Kay, and another leading a peaceful life.

We're taking a peek at the Phoenix Nights cast and exploring their lives since the show ended in 2002, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Peter Kay - Brian Potter, Max, Keith Winston Lard

Comedian Peter Kay has made a stand up comeback( Image: GETTY)

Peter Kay was the driving force behind Phoenix Nights, co-creating and writing the show with David Starkey and Dave Spikey while portraying three of the main characters, including club regular Brian Potter.

From his award-winning sitcom Car Share to his highly successful stand-up shows and beyond, Kay's career has flourished since Phoenix Nights' final episode.

He even starred in a spin-off sitcom based on the two bouncers from Phoenix Nights with Paddy McGuinness - Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere - and has consistently contributed to Comic Relief and Children in Need campaigns.

Peter Kay made a triumphant return to the stage in 2021, participating in a Q&A at Manchester Apollo to support Laura Nuttall, a student fighting an aggressive brain tumour and undergoing experimental treatment in Germany.

The comedy legend is currently on a stand-up tour set to run until 2025.

Paddy McGuiness - Paddy

Actor and presenter Paddy McGuinness( Image: Getty Images for Paramount Pictures UK)

Paddy McGuinness teamed up with Kay once more in the Phoenix Nights spin-off Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, and again for Max and Paddy's The Power of Two in 2005.

Paddy's star soared as he charmed the nation hosting the hit dating show Take Me Out, where his catchphrases like "No Likey, No Lighty" and "Let The Thing See The Thing" became iconic.

He went on to pay homage to classic films in The Keith And Paddy Picture Show, celebrated music acts in Even Better Than The Real Thing, and judged on I Can See Your Voice. The Lancashire-born presenter also took the wheel as the new face of Top Gear alongside Freddie Flintoff and Chris Harris, leading many successful series.

However, in 2023, Top Gear came to an abrupt stop after co-host Freddie Flintoff was involved in a serious accident during filming.

Paddy McGuinness had a short run as the host of Question of Sport from 2021 to 2023 and also fronted the Channel 4 gameshow Tempting Fortune.

he popular presenter has featured in celebrity specials like Don't Look Down and has been a regular face on Comic Relief's Red Nose Day events, The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer, and has shown his football skills in Soccer Aid.

Dave Spikey - Jerry St Clair

Peter Kay and Dave Spikey healed the rift( Image: The People)

Dave Spikey, known for his role as Jerry St Clair in Phoenix Nights, which he co-wrote with Peter Kay, has opened up about feeling overshadowed by Kay's fame. Despite playing Brian Potter's beleaguered partner at the Phoenix Club on-screen, Spikey experienced similar frustrations off-screen due to recognition issues.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News back in 2010, Spikey recalled a bitter moment: "He rang me and Neil Fitzmaurice, the other writer on Phoenix Nights, and said we'd been nominated for a Writers Guild Of Great Britain award," only to find out that it was actually just Peter who had been nominated.

"We thought it was fantastic, only for it to go away and for us to discover that actually we hadn't been nominated, it was only Peter. And you think, 'well, he's probably not going to accept that because of all the work we did'.

"There were three writers. If you're talking about the person who sat down at the end and collated everything and wrote it, then that was Peter. If that's how you qualify, by putting the words on the paper, then so be it."

The rift between the co-writers eventually mended when Peter Kay approached Dave Spikey with plans for live Phoenix Nights shows for Comic Relief in 2015.

Dave confessed that it was a "little awkward" initially, but it turned into the "best two weeks of his life", reviving their close bond.

"Peter's call came like a bolt from the blue. It really knocked me sideways," he revealed.

"We hadn't spoken for over ten years and it had been 12 years since we filmed the last Phoenix Nights. Life had moved on. I always hoped we'd get back together but the longer things went on, the less likely it was."

He added: "It was nice to hear from Peter. We'd obviously grown apart but within a few moments in the rehearsal room in Wakefield the years just faded away and it was like we'd never been away."

After the show concluded in 2002, Spikey would continue to write many more highly-rated sitcoms, such as ITV comedy drama Dead Man Weds featuring Johnny Vegas.

He later took on the role of host in a poorly received reboot of Bullseye in 2006, before transitioning to 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Celebrity Mastermind. He continued his career as a stand up comedian and was voted as one of the 100 Greatest Stand Ups by the British public in 2010.

Spikey marked 30 years in stand up with a new retrospective, Juggling on a Motorbike, which started touring in 2017. The show was largely autobiographical and traces his performances over the past 30 years of stand up.

Neil FitzMaurice - Ray Von

Neil FitzMaurice has been a regular face on British TV( Image: BBC/Wall To Wall/Rope Ladder Fiction/Vishal Sharma)

Ray Von was famed for his catchphrase "Shabba" and worked as the DJ and handyman at the Phoenix Club. He was portrayed by Fitzmaurice who later became widely known as Channel Four as Mark Corrigan's nemesis Jeff in the smash-hit Peep Show.

Following that success, he's been featured in Sky's popular series Brassic, sharing the screen with Joseph Gilgun and Michelle Keegan, tickled funny bones on BBC Three's The First Team, marched down the halls of Waterloo Road, and ITV's Benidorm.

He also recently appeared on Martin Freeman's gritty drama 'The Responder'.

Justin Moorhouse - Young Kenny

Actor and comedian Justin Moorhouse( Image: Daisybeck Studios Ltd)

Justin Moorhouse spent the second season of Phoenix Nights covered in tiger face paint as Young Kenny after a mishap.

But he managed to find steady work since the show ended and appeared in the acclaimed film Looking For Eric with football legend Eric Cantona.

Between 2010-2011, Moosehouse lit up the stage in Harold Brighouse's play 'Zack' at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, and later joined the cast of Coronation Street as Dean Upton from 2014-2015.

He's since made a name for himself as the go-to compere for the Heatons' Comedy Evening at the Heatons' Sports Club in Stockport every first Sunday of the month.

You can catch his thoughts and chuckles on his own podcast, Justin Moorhouse About 30 Minutes No More Than 45.

Archie Kelly - Kenny Senior

Phoenix Nights star Archie Kelly, aka Kenny Senior, who will be appearing at a comedy night at Everton FC( Image: Publicity Picture)

Archie Kelly has gone back to his roots in stand-up comedy post-Phoenix Nights. A regular on the comedy club circuit in the north west and showcasing his vocal talents as a singer for Corporate Entertainers, Kelly continues to entertain audiences with his comedian and impressionist skills.

Nowadays, he spends his time tweeting about Manchester City and in 2021, he toured with two of his Phoenix Nights co-stars.

In recent times, Kelly, Janice Connolly and Neil FitzMaurice have performed across northern clubs as The Phoenix Club: Pack of Three.

Janice Connolly - Holy Mary

Barbara Nice, aka Janice Connolly( Image: Birmimgham Mail)

Connolly, who typically takes to the stage as her alter ego, Birmingham housewife Barbara Nice, continued to collaborate with Kay and Spikey post-Phoenix Nights.

She featured in Spikey's Dead Man Weds before taking on the role of Dolly Gartside in Coronation Street. She later established her own theatre group, Women and Theatre, where she remains the artistic director.

The group aims to amplify the voices of those often overlooked. Connolly also spearheaded the 'Laughing for a Change' project, encouraging comedians and audiences to discuss mental health.

In 2017, she was awarded a British Empire Medal after featuring in the New Years Honours list for her work with Women and Theatre. In 2022, she started appearing in the BBC soap opera Doctors as Rosie Colton.

Toby Foster - Les Campbell

Actor and radio presenter Toby Foster( Image: Adrian Richardson)

Foster continued to collaborate with Kay on projects following Phoenix Nights, including That Peter Kay Thing and Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere.

The comedian has made several cameo appearances over the years, starring in Ricky Gervais' Extra.

Since 2019, he has provided the narration for the show Bangers and Cash, which follows a family-run classic car auction in North Yorkshire.

He continues to host his own breakfast show on BBC Sheffield and has bagged several Radio Academy Awards since 2010.

Foster is a regular face at the Last Laugh Comedy Club in Sheffield.

Steve Edge - Alan Johnson

Steve Edge recently starred in the sitcom Scarborough( Image: 2007 Getty Images)

Alan Johnson was part of the club's resident band Les Alanos. Alan ditched his wife after discovering she was having an affair with Paddy and several other men.

The ex-stand-up comedian featured in two episodes of Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere post Phoenix Nights.

Steve Edge is also renowned for his brief but iconic role as Daryl in Peep Show, a racist who strikes up a friendship with main character Mark Corrigan.

Edge has penned the Sky1 comedy show Starlings and appeared in a slew of hit features on the big screen, including Mike Bassett: England Manager, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Paddington, Happy Valley and Plebs.

Ted Robbins - Den Perry

One of the best-loved and hardest working comic actors in Britain, Ted Robbins( Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Den Perry was the baddie of Phoenix Nights who ran his own club and torched Phoenix Nights for revenge.

Having previously performed at the Preston Charter Theatre as Cinderella, and as a fan of Rossendale Rugby Club (where his son plays prop) Ted has strong ties to Lancashire.

He has landed roles in some of Britain's top sitcoms since Phoenix Nights, playing Victor in 2012's Benidorm and starring in Birds of a Feather, The League of Gentlemen and CBBC series The Slammer.

In 2015, he suffered a heart attack on stage while touring with Phoenix Nights, but has since made a recovery. A house fire at his Crawshawbooth home in 2019 resulted in him needing oxygen after inhaling smoke.

Enid Dunn - Joyce

Antony Cotton’s mum, Enid Dunn giving him a good telling off when he gets the giggles on set( Image: Plusnet/Youtube)

Enid continued to work with Kay on Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere. From 2003 to 2005, she played Mrs Betty Pargetter in Cutting It, marking the last time Dunn was seen in a regular TV role.

The actress battled breast cancer and now dedicates her time to charities assisting women who have had mastectomies. Her son, Anthony Cotton, is a star of Coronation Street.

Daniel Kitson - Spencer

Phoenix Nights' Daniel Kitson now( Image: Channel 4/PA)

Spencer was the slow-witted barman at the club and got involved in some of the club's schemes.

Kitson is primarily a stand-up comedian who tours extensively and performs at festivals and theatres. His only real TV venture was Phoenix Nights, and he has since become a favourite at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Throughout 2020, he performed live screenings of his shows The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church and Dot. Dot. Dot, which were highly praised.

He also hosts a breakfast show on Resonance FM in London, and this year, he released an exclusive live show on LP, CD and cassette tape titled Shenanigan.