109 Fun Facts About Fleabag

What does the audience never learn about Fleabag's title character in either series?

Her real name is never spoken: Waller-Bridge wanted her to feel like an everywoman, and said a name such as Sarah would have tied her to one particular person.

Where did Phoebe Waller-Bridge get the title Fleabag?

Her own family nickname: Waller-Bridge's relatives call her Flea, which she admits does not help her argue that the show is not autobiographical.

In series one of Fleabag, what is odd about Claire's surprise birthday party?

She organises it herself: wrongly believing Fleabag and Martin are planning one, Claire takes over the arrangements and the food, and promises to act surprised.

Fleabag's 2019 lead-actress Emmy win denied which favourite, who had won for all six earlier seasons of her sitcom?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus had won the award for each of Veep's six earlier seasons and was the hot favourite to do it again for the last.

In the series-two confessional scene of Fleabag, what one-word order does the Priest give her?

Kneel, he says three times, then kisses her, until a painting falls off the church wall and he has second thoughts.

What kind of religious gathering does the Priest take Fleabag along to in series two?

A Quaker meeting, where nobody speaks unless moved to: Fleabag stands up and announces that she might not be such a feminist if she had a bigger bust.

What weekly event has turned Fleabag's café into a busy success by series two?

Chatty Wednesday means anyone who buys something has to chat to a stranger; Fleabag sums up the idea to an astonished Claire as 'loneliness pays'.

Before Fleabag, the actor who plays the Priest was best known as which TV villain?

Jim Moriarty, his Sherlock villain, made him an overnight star after some 15 years of quieter stage and screen work, and won him the 2012 BAFTA for best supporting actor.

The actor who plays the Priest in Fleabag was born in which city?

Dublin: he turned down an art-school bursary to study drama at Trinity College there, then walked out after six months to learn on the job at the Abbey Theatre.

What does Claire's husband Martin do for a living in Fleabag?

Art dealer: Fleabag asks him to sell something she has stolen, and he hands it to Claire as a birthday present instead.

What is the profession of Fleabag's godmother?

Artist: series one ends at the Godmother's 'Sexhibition', where Fleabag finds she has been invited only to work as a waitress.

Who plays Fleabag and Claire's father?

Bill Paterson plays Dad, who vanishes just before his own wedding in the finale; Fleabag finds him in the attic with his foot stuck.

Which American actor plays Martin, Claire's aggressive alcoholic husband?

Brett Gelman plays Martin, whose marriage finally ends at the series-two finale wedding, when Claire begs him to leave her.

What is the name of Fleabag's late best friend, her business partner in the café?

Boo is played by Jenny Rainsford, who was seven months pregnant when the pilot was filmed and had to hide her bump.

Which comedian, later the creator of Stath Lets Flats, plays Bus Rodent?

Jamie Demetriou plays Bus Rodent, the stranger Fleabag picks up on a bus in the first episode and later brings along to Claire's birthday party.

Which Outnumbered star plays the Bank Manager Fleabag asks for a loan?

Hugh Dennis plays the Bank Manager, who orders Fleabag out of his office in the first episode but restarts her loan interview in her café in the series-one finale.

Which actor plays Harry, Fleabag's on-off boyfriend?

Hugh Skinner plays Harry, Fleabag's on-off boyfriend, who walks out for good early in series one and has a new girlfriend by its finale.

Which actress plays Fleabag's counsellor in series two, earning an Emmy nomination?

Fiona Shaw plays the counsellor, who needs barely five minutes to get Fleabag to blurt out that she wants to sleep with a priest.

Which actress plays Belinda, who gives Fleabag a monologue about menopause in a bar?

Kristin Scott Thomas plays Belinda, who tells Fleabag the menopause is horrendous but then magnificent because it sets women free, and then gently turns down her pass.

What is the name of the Finnish colleague Fleabag's sister falls for in series two?

Klare is the Finnish colleague whose name is almost Claire's own; Fleabag spots the crush at a work awards night in series two.

Which recurring character does Fleabag unexpectedly run into at the silent retreat?

The Bank Manager is on a workshop next door, sent there after a sexual-harassment case at work; in the finale he gives Fleabag a second loan interview in her café.

What kind of café does Fleabag run?

A guinea-pig café: her best friend took Fleabag's birthday gift of a guinea pig so seriously that soon everything in the place was themed around them.

Which animal is the Priest afraid of, turning up repeatedly through series two?

Foxes have been after him for years, the Priest insists; in the finale one turns up at the bus stop after he has gone, and Fleabag points it his way.

At the bus stop, what two-word answer does the Priest give when Fleabag repeats that she loves him?

'It'll pass,' he says, having first begged her not to say it; then, before he walks away, he tells her that he loves her too.

At the feminist lecture, what would Fleabag and Claire trade five years of their lives for?

The perfect body: Fleabag and Claire are the only two in the lecture hall to raise their hands, and Fleabag whispers to her that they are bad feminists.

Isobel Waller-Bridge, who wrote Fleabag's music, went on to co-compose the score for which 2020 Jane Austen film?

Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, was scored with David Schweitzer a year after she swapped Fleabag's metal-inspired theme for the church-style choral music of series two.

Which director helmed both series of Fleabag?

Harry Bradbeer took over after Tim Kirkby's pilot and directed every other episode, winning the 2019 comedy-directing Emmy for the series-two opener.

Which production company made Fleabag?

Two Brothers Pictures was founded by the screenwriting brothers Harry and Jack Williams; within a year of Fleabag's debut, the production group All3Media bought the company.

Who directed the original 2013 stage production of Fleabag?

Vicky Jones directed the first run; by Waller-Bridge's account it was Jones who made sure her early short pieces, a ten-minute Fleabag among them, were performed at all.

Which band's song This Feeling plays over the final scene of Fleabag?

Alabama Shakes' This Feeling takes over as the ominous choral chants of series two fall away and Fleabag is left alone at the bus stop.

What was the French remake of Fleabag, starring Camille Cottin, called?

Mouche is French for 'fly', so the remake traded the flea for a different insect; Camille Cottin starred, and Canal+ began showing it in June 2019.

What made Fleabag, a British series, eligible to compete at the 2019 Primetime Emmys?

An American co-producer: the Emmy rules bar a foreign series unless a US partner helped to fund and shape it before filming began, so a purely British production could not have entered.

Which former US president named series two of Fleabag among his favourite TV of 2019?

Barack Obama put series two on his list of TV 'as powerful as movies', even though series one has Fleabag getting aroused in bed by a video of one of his speeches.

What are the first words Fleabag says to camera in the series-two premiere?

"This is a love story." is her first line to camera in series two, delivered while she wipes blood from her nose in a restaurant toilet.

At the family dinner that opens Fleabag's second series, whose miscarriage does Fleabag falsely claim as her own?

It was her sister's: Claire miscarries in the restaurant bathroom and Fleabag claims it to cover for her; the two had not spoken for a year.

What belated birthday gift does Fleabag's father give her at the engagement dinner?

A therapy voucher, good for one counselling session: Fleabag turns up meaning only to swap it for the money, and ends up staying.

At the series-two dinner in Fleabag, what job does the family discover Claire actually has?

Claire works in finance; the joke at the engagement dinner is that her whole family had assumed she was a lawyer.

Where do Fleabag and Claire finally reconcile at the end of the series-two premiere?

Fleabag and Claire reconcile in a taxi to the hospital after the dinner, bonding over their agreement that the Priest is attractive.

Fleabag's creator grew up in which west London suburb, also known for its film studios?

Ealing: after an unhappy year at boarding school she came back to school there, at St Augustine's Priory, where she says classmates found her too posh to understand.

From which London drama school did Fleabag's creator graduate?

RADA is where Waller-Bridge met Sian Clifford, her future Fleabag co-star; she says its famously tough training simply left her in pieces.

Which spy thriller did Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag's creator, write for its first series after Fleabag's stage success?

Killing Eve came to Waller-Bridge on the strength of Fleabag's stage run; after one series she handed the head-writer job to Emerald Fennell.

Which droid did Fleabag's creator play in Solo: A Star Wars Story?

L3-37, Lando's droid navigator, campaigns for droid rights and starts a revolt in the Kessel mines; when she is destroyed, her data is uploaded into the Millennium Falcon.

Which James Bond film did Fleabag's creator co-write?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge shares the screenplay credit on No Time to Die (2021), brought in to sharpen the film's humour and dialogue.

What was the name of Fleabag's creator's 2016 Channel 4 comedy set in an abandoned hospital?

Crashing grew out of a pair of Waller-Bridge's short plays; its twenty-somethings are property guardians, minding a disused hospital in return for cheap rent.

Which playwright and film director was Fleabag's creator first romantically linked with in 2017?

Martin McDonagh wrote The Pillowman, which Waller-Bridge saw long before they got together and calls the first play that made her think theatre could be really exciting.

Which theatre company did Fleabag's creator co-found with the director of the Fleabag stage show?

DryWrite began by staging nights of new writing, each built around a question such as how to make an audience fall in love with a character.

Sian Clifford won a BAFTA TV Award for playing Claire in which category?

Best Female Comedy Performance went to Sian Clifford in 2020 over Waller-Bridge herself, who was nominated beside her and had won it for series one.

Sian Clifford played Diana Ingram in which ITV drama about the Millionaire coughing scandal?

Quiz dramatises how Major Charles Ingram was convicted of cheating his way to the show's top prize with the help of coded coughs; Sian Clifford plays his wife, Diana.

Andrew Scott played a rideshare driver in which Black Mirror episode?

Andrew Scott plays Chris, a rideshare driver who takes a tech-company employee hostage, in Smithereens (2019); he later played Tom Ripley in Netflix's Ripley.

Which instrument does Claire's teenage stepson play in series two of Fleabag?

The bassoon: when Fleabag is left holding it for him, his father greets her with 'Is that a bassoon in your hand or are you just pleased to see me?'

In the final shot of Fleabag, what does she do to the camera that has followed her throughout?

Waves it goodbye: once the Priest has gone, Fleabag gives the camera a last wave, walks off alone and leaves behind the audience she has confided in for two series.

What does Claire say she looks like after her disastrous series-two haircut?

A pencil is Claire's verdict on her new haircut; Fleabag marches her back to the salon to complain, where the stylist shows it is exactly what she asked for.

What accolade did the one-woman Fleabag play win at Edinburgh in 2013?

A Fringe First Award went to the one-woman Fleabag in 2013, along with a solo-performer prize from The Stage; the show then transferred to London's Soho Theatre.

What does Fleabag steal from her Godmother in the first episode?

A small sculpture of a woman's torso goes home with Fleabag from her Godmother's house; it changes hands again and again before she hands it back in the final episode.

Which of Fleabag's love interests is played by Ben Aldridge?

Arsehole Guy, played by Ben Aldridge, ends things in the series-one finale by announcing that he has fallen in love with another woman.

Who plays Pam, who works at the Priest's church in series two?

Jo Martin plays Pam at the Priest's church; a year later Doctor Who revealed her character Ruth Clayton to be a hidden incarnation of the Doctor.

Which character is Fleabag's lawyer and one of her love interests in series two?

Hot Misogynist is the lawyer Claire quietly hires to scare Martin off after he threatens to press assault charges over the punch at the engagement dinner.

What is the name of Claire's teenage stepson in series two?

Jake is fixated on Fleabag but loathes his own father, whispering to her that she should tell Claire to leave him.

At the Women in Business awards night in series two of Fleabag, what does she accidentally smash?

The winner's trophy is one casualty of the night Claire hires her to serve canapés; she also feeds shellfish to an allergic colleague before rescuing the evening.

Which UK channel showed series two of Fleabag weekly in 2019?

BBC One showed series two on Monday nights from March 2019; the BBC chose weekly episodes over releasing the whole series at once as a boxset.

Which family member tells Fleabag she knows 'how to love better than any of us'?

Dad says it to her in the attic shortly before his wedding ceremony, adding 'that's why you find it all so painful'.

When the engagement dinner in Fleabag's series-two premiere becomes a brawl, who else gets hit?

The Priest and the waitress both catch stray blows once Fleabag lashes out at her brother-in-law; back in the bathroom, she mops her own bloodied nose and hands the waitress a towel.

What does the Priest ask when he catches Fleabag glancing at the camera?

'Where did you just go?' is the first sign that anyone can see her asides: until the Priest asks it in series two, no other character had ever noticed them.

What drink does the Priest offer Fleabag on her first visit to his church?

Gin and tonic in a can turns her first visit to his church into drinks; an episode later she arrives at his door with a bag of canned G&Ts herself.

To which church does the Priest belong?

The Priest is a Roman Catholic, bound by a vow of celibacy, which is what makes his attraction to Fleabag the central conflict of series two.

What does Fleabag wear to the engagement dinner that opens series two?

A black jumpsuit is what she wears in the opening shot, wiping blood from her nose in the restaurant toilet, before the episode rewinds to show how the dinner got there.

In his speech in Fleabag's finale, what does the Priest say love is?

'Love is awful,' the Priest begins his finale speech, calling it painful and frightening before arguing that it is still worth the trouble.

Why is the Priest a guest at the family dinner that opens series two of Fleabag?

He will officiate the wedding of her father and godmother; four episodes later he tells the family he can no longer do it and asks Fleabag to stay away from his church.

In series two of Fleabag, she volunteers to help the Priest at what kind of event?

A church fête: straight after her counsellor tells her 'You already know what you're going to do', Fleabag is at the Priest's side helping out.

In a series-two flashback to a funeral, what is Fleabag's embarrassing problem?

She looks far too good: on a day of grief Fleabag cannot help looking gorgeous, and one mourner after another compliments her on it.

Claire tells Fleabag she is the only person she'd run through which place for?

An airport: Claire says it in the finale, then walks out of the wedding to go after the colleague she loves before his flight leaves.

What does Fleabag say she wants in her confession to the Priest?

Someone to tell her what to do: in the confessional she lists what to wear, what to eat and what to believe in, 'because so far I think I've been getting it wrong'.

Months after the TV series ended, Waller-Bridge returned to Fleabag in August 2019 in what form?

A final run of the stage show: she took the one-woman play to London's West End, where National Theatre Live filmed a performance and broadcast it to cinemas.

Which two Golden Globes did Fleabag win in 2020?

Best Television Series and Best Actress both went to Fleabag at the 2020 Golden Globes, where Waller-Bridge beat Rachel Brosnahan, who had taken the actress award for the two years before.

Which relative of Fleabag's died before the series begins?

Her mother died before the series begins; her father has since taken up with her godmother, a relationship that needles both sisters throughout.

Fleabag's four wins topped the 2019 Emmys' main night, beating which best-drama winner?

Game of Thrones took best drama for its final season and led the year with twelve Emmys once the craft awards were counted, but on the main night Fleabag's four beat it.

Which comedy was the biggest winner at the 2018 Emmys, the year before Fleabag's own sweep?

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel led the 2018 ceremony with five wins; a year later its star Rachel Brosnahan was among the nominees Waller-Bridge beat for lead actress.

At the 2020 Golden Globes, Fleabag tied for most TV wins with Succession and which HBO miniseries?

Chernobyl also cost Fleabag a clean sweep that night: its Stellan Skarsgård beat Andrew Scott to the supporting-actor award.

In 2021 Waller-Bridge became the first-ever President of which organisation?

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society created the honorary role for her in February 2021, as the festival fought to return after the pandemic cancelled its 2020 edition.

Which Sky1 sitcom was Waller-Bridge a regular in from 2011 to 2013?

The Café, written by its stars Ralf Little and Michelle Terry, is set around a Weston-super-Mare seafront café, years before Waller-Bridge wrote a café of her own into Fleabag.

In September 2019, Waller-Bridge signed a three-year overall deal with which studio?

Amazon Studios announced the three-year deal within days of her multiple Emmy wins, signing her to create new television for the company.

Which video-game heroine leads the TV series that Waller-Bridge was hired to write, ordered in 2024?

Lara Croft leads the Tomb Raider series, for which Waller-Bridge writes the scripts; when it was ordered in 2024 she had no plans to play the role herself.

In which ITV crime drama did Waller-Bridge play a junior barrister in 2015?

Broadchurch cast Waller-Bridge as Abby Thompson in its second series, the junior barrister helping to defend Joe Miller at his murder trial.

Sian Clifford played Martha Crawley in which 2018 ITV period adaptation?

Vanity Fair cast Sian Clifford as Martha Crawley, a schemer the screenwriter moved from her place in the novel to become the wife of Rawdon's pious brother.

In which 2014 film did Andrew Scott play the Welsh activist Gethin Roberts?

Pride cast Andrew Scott as Gethin Roberts, whose London bookshop, Gay's the Word, becomes the headquarters of activists raising money for striking Welsh miners.

Andrew Scott won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for which Noël Coward revival?

Present Laughter won Andrew Scott the 2020 Olivier for playing Garry Essendine, a vain star actor whom Noël Coward admitted was a caricature of himself.

Andrew Scott earned a Golden Globe nomination for which 2023 film opposite Paul Mescal?

All of Us Strangers brought Andrew Scott the nomination; director Andrew Haigh shot the scenes with the character's parents inside his own childhood home.

Andrew Scott's 2024 series Ripley was filmed almost entirely in what?

Black and white runs through all eight episodes, which writer-director Steven Zaillian breaks only once, for a cat's paw prints in blood red.

Olivia Colman played Sophie in which Channel 4 sitcom?

Peep Show put her opposite David Mitchell and Robert Webb, whom she met at Cambridge after auditioning for the Footlights comedy club by mistake, thinking it staged serious drama.

Olivia Colman won her Academy Award for playing which monarch in The Favourite?

Queen Anne in The Favourite won Olivia Colman the 2019 Best Actress Oscar, beating Glenn Close, who had been widely expected to win for The Wife.

Bill Paterson played Lord Lyman Beesbury, the aged Master of Coin, in which fantasy series?

House of the Dragon cast Bill Paterson as the old Master of Coin, who is killed for objecting to the small council's plot to crown Aegon in place of Rhaenyra.

Brett Gelman plays the conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman in which Netflix series?

Stranger Things introduces Murray Bauman as an ex-journalist hired to find the vanished Barb Holland; he then helps Nancy and Jonathan expose Hawkins Lab.

Hugh Skinner played inept intern Will Humphries in which BBC comedy?

W1A cast Hugh Skinner as the hapless intern Will Humphries in a comedy the BBC made about itself, filmed inside its own Broadcasting House headquarters.

Ben Aldridge played Captain James in which BBC military drama?

Our Girl brought Ben Aldridge in as Captain James, the officer caught in a love triangle with army medic Molly Dawes and Private 'Smurf' Smith.

Fiona Shaw played which character in the Harry Potter films?

Petunia Dursley, played by Fiona Shaw, is the aunt who grudgingly takes Harry in and keeps him in the cupboard under the stairs.

Kristin Scott Thomas was Oscar-nominated for Best Actress for which film?

The English Patient won nine Oscars including Best Picture, but Kristin Scott Thomas's nomination was not among them: Frances McDormand took Best Actress for Fargo.

Ray Fearon, who plays Fleabag's lawyer in series two, played a garage mechanic in which soap?

Coronation Street kept Ray Fearon under the bonnet until 2006; that autumn he swapped the cobbles for the ballroom as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Hugh Dennis appeared on every episode of the original run of which panel show?

Mock the Week kept Hugh Dennis on its panel for every episode of its BBC Two run from 2005 to 2022; after the BBC dropped it, the show was revived on TLC in 2026.

Vicky Jones created which 2020 HBO series starring Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson?

Run follows two exes who drop everything to meet when they text each other that one word; Waller-Bridge was an executive producer and played a guest role.

Harry Bradbeer went on to direct which Netflix film starring Millie Bobby Brown?

Enola Holmes drew a lawsuit from the Conan Doyle estate, which claimed its warmer, more emotional Sherlock was still under copyright; the case was dismissed.

The sibling screenwriters whose company made Fleabag wrote which BBC thriller starring James Nesbitt?

The Missing cast James Nesbitt as a father hunting for his vanished son; its writers later gave its French detective, Julien Baptiste, a spin-off of his own.

Which Downton Abbey star married Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brother, Jasper, in 2023?

Michelle Dockery and Jasper Waller-Bridge, introduced by mutual friends in 2019, announced their engagement with a notice in The Times before marrying in 2023.

Waller-Bridge's spy thriller about the assassin Villanelle is based on novels by which author?

Luke Jennings, a dance critic, first released the Villanelle stories as four Kindle novellas from 2014, collected in 2017 as the novel Codename Villanelle.

Which Bridgerton star appeared alongside Waller-Bridge in her 2016 Channel 4 sitcom?

Jonathan Bailey played Sam in Waller-Bridge's 2016 sitcom, a sex-obsessed loudmouth whose bravado gives way as he grows closer to his housemate Fred.

At whose request was Waller-Bridge brought in to polish a James Bond script in 2019?

Daniel Craig, a fan of Fleabag, asked for Waller-Bridge to bring her wit to the script; she ended up sharing the screenplay credit with three other writers.

In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, what is Waller-Bridge's Helena Shaw to Indy?

His goddaughter: Helena Shaw is the daughter of his old friend Basil Shaw and drags him into the hunt for Archimedes' Dial.

Olivia Colman won a BAFTA TV Award in 2013 for which mockumentary series?

Twenty Twelve won her a comedy acting BAFTA in May 2013 as the lovelorn assistant Sally, and the same night she took a second for the drama Accused.

Olivia Colman was born in which East Anglian city?

Norwich-born Sarah Colman took the name Olivia because the actors' union Equity already had a Sarah Colman on its books.

In 2023 Andrew Scott played every role himself in a one-man version of which Chekhov play?

Uncle Vanya became simply Vanya, moved to a modern setting by Simon Stephens, with Andrew Scott alone on stage as every man and woman in it.