Doon Mackichan

Sarah Doon Mackichan (/məˈkiːxən, -ˈiːkən/; born 7 August 1962) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy-award-winning Smack the Pony. She has frequently collaborated with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan, having played multiple characters in The Day Today, Brass Eye and Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge, and has also appeared in Toast of London and Two Doors Down. Mackichan was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards for her performance in Plebs and won critical praise for her performance alongside John Malkovich in Bitter Wheat in 2019.

Quotes

• My first TV job asked me shave my legs and I refused. The cameras all zoomed in on my leg hairs and the 40-strong male crew treated me to a rendition of "Gillette, the best a man can get". I unfortunately bumped into Jim Davidson in the corridor and he shouted "Not only has she got hairy legs, she's wearing men's shoes!” as he pointed at my Doc Martens.
  • "Enough is enough: from TV's 'crime porn' to endemic violence, the assault on women has to stop", New Statesman (4 July 2014, updated 5 October 2023)
  • From a version of a talk delivered at the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival.

• I was groped by my childhood hero. I watched soap operas religiously and loved one well-known soap star, but he touched me up during my first ever rep job. He stroked my bum in the canteen queue and went, "Mmm, nice arse." The next day, I saw him in the corridor and wanted to bolt. Instead, I grabbed his crotch, and said, "Mmm, nice bollocks." He never spoke to me again. Quite awkward because we were in a play together.
  • From an interview, as cited in "Doon Mackichan: 'Before meetings I head-bang to Led Zeppelin'", The Guardian (14 October 2023)

• [I]t shot this two-day rape scene with a young actress and then they cut it. [...] I was in favour of them never having that rape scene but the fact she had to go through that and then the director went: "Actually I have decided I will cut it", as if he was the big hero.
  This kind of thing has to stop. But unfortunately you look at Netflix and you see the amount of violence against women in a lot of shows and you see we still have a long way to go.
  • From an event at the Hay festival, as cited in "Rape scenes are not to entertain us, says leading actress", The Times (27 May 2024)
  • Mackichan is referring to a deleted scene in National Treasure, National Disgrace (2022), made for the UK's Channel 5 on the crimes of Jimmy Savile.