He was involved in the development of two new sets of characters, The Bugz and The Freshwater Friends, which were intended to be introduced to an American audience under the title The Wonderful World of Poddington.
Be Worth It (2003) was acclaimed by both the Royal Court and the Soho Theatre in London, but perhaps his most successful play is Ledgers (2003), a one-act comedy taking as its theme the subject of depression and suicide, which has been performed in both the UK and US.
[3] Gardner's Micro Fiction has won awards on both sides of the Atlantic, and has featured on the curriculum in a number of US high schools,[4] as well as appearing on the Contemporary English syllabus at the University of Lyon in France.
In November 2006, the Hoax-Slayer website revealed Phil Gardner to be the author of The Peter Marlin Story, an elaborate online hoax written in 2004 and purporting to be a journalist's account of his dealings with a serial killer.
[6] Gardner's personal blog, Mulled Whines, gives a humorous and ironic account of his daily life, and has been running since January 2003.