Cunk on Earth

Last updated

Cunk on Earth
Genre Mockumentary
Created by Charlie Brooker
Written by
Directed byChristian Watt
Starring Diane Morgan
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes5
Production
Producers Charlie Brooker, Sam Ward
Running time28–29 minutes
Original release
Network BBC Two
Release19 September 2022 (2022-09-19)

Cunk on Earth is a British mockumentary television series produced by Charlie Brooker. The series stars Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk, an ill-informed investigative reporter, a character who previously starred on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe and Cunk on Britain . [1] The series was acclaimed by critics, with many praising Morgan's deadpan delivery. It premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 19 September 2022, and was released in the United States on Netflix on 31 January 2023. [2]

Contents

For her performance in the series, Morgan was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance. [3]

Premise

Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) travels around the world, interviewing (real-world) experts such as Paul Bahn, Martin Kemp, Nigel Spivey, and Shirley Thompson about world history. [4] The series introduces subjects such as the development of agriculture and early civilisation, the rise of Christianity and Islam, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War and the Space Race. With an eye to the future, Cunk concludes the series with a speculative comment on the possibility of AI takeover. [5]

Episodes

List of Cunk on Earth episodes
No.TitleDirected byOriginal release date
1"In the Beginnings"Christian Watt19 September 2022 (2022-09-19)
2"Faith/Off"Christian Watt20 September 2022 (2022-09-20)
3"The Renaissance Will Not Be Televised"Christian Watt20 September 2022 (2022-09-20)
4"Rise of the Machines"Christian Watt20 September 2022 (2022-09-20)
5"War(s) of the World(s)?"Christian Watt20 September 2022 (2022-09-20)

Experts

Throughout the series, Diane Morgan in character as Philomena Cunk poses absurdist questions to real-life historians, archaeologists, theologians, composers, and other subject-area experts in one-on-one interviews. The experts include: [6]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 100% based on 23 reviews and an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Diane Morgan feigns dopiness with ingenious comedic timing in Cunk on Earth, a gut-busting sendup of anthropological documentaries." [7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 82 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [2]

David Bianculli of NPR gave the series a positive review, stating that it has "cult classic potential". [1] The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg called it a "consistently droll, frequently delightful series that mixes high and low comedy at a breakneck pace." [8] Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian praised Morgan's performance, calling her character "so well-written it's easy to forget she's not real." [9] Michael Idato of The Sydney Morning Herald described the show as "magnificent, brutal, and absurd". [10]

Awards and nominations

At the 2023 British Academy Television Awards, Diane Morgan was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance for her performance as Philomena Cunk. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Brooks</span> American actor

Albert Brooks is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film Broadcast News and was widely praised for his performance in the 2011 action drama film Drive. Brooks has also acted in films such as Taxi Driver (1976), Private Benjamin (1980), Unfaithfully Yours (1984), and My First Mister (2001). He has written, directed, and starred in several comedy films, such as Modern Romance (1981), Lost in America (1985), and Defending Your Life (1991). He is also the author of 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America (2011).

A mockumentary is one type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a documentary which in itself is a subset of a faux-documentary style of film-making.

<i>The Office</i> International series of mockumentary sitcoms

The Office is the title of a number of mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as The Office in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as the boss and main character of the show. The two seasons were broadcast on BBC Two in 2001 and 2002, totalling 12 episodes, with two special episodes in 2003, and an extra short spectacular ten years later. Versions of the original were subsequently made in Germany, the United States, and many other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Brooker</span> English writer, television presenter, and producer

Charlton Brooker is an English writer, television presenter, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series Black Mirror, and has written for comedy series such as Brass Eye, The 11 O'Clock Show, and Nathan Barley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Chandler</span> American actor (born 1965)

Kyle Martin Chandler is an American actor. Chandler received widespread critical acclaim for his performance as Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights (2006–2011); he received numerous award nominations for his portrayal of the character and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 for his performance in the show's final season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Lilley (comedian)</span> Australian comedian

Christopher Daniel Lilley is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, director, and producer. He is known for his creation and portrayal of several fictional characters in the mockumentary television series We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year (2005), Summer Heights High (2007), Angry Boys (2011), Ja'mie: Private School Girl (2013), Jonah from Tonga (2014), and the web series Lunatics (2019). He is a two-time winner of the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Spivey</span> British academic (born 1958)

Nigel Jonathan Spivey is a British classicist and academic, specialising in classical art and archaeology. He is a senior lecturer in classics at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Emmanuel College. He studied at Cambridge, the British School at Rome, and the University of Pisa.

Andrew James Watson FRS is a British marine and atmospheric scientist and an expert in processes affecting atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations. He was formerly a Professor of biogeochemistry in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, in 2013 he moved to a position as Professor at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Exeter.

Diane Morgan is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has portrayed Philomena Cunk on the review programme Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2020) and in the mockumentary series Cunk on Britain (2018) and Cunk on Earth (2022). She also played Liz on the BBC Two sitcom Motherland (2016–2022) and Kath in the Netflix dark comedy series After Life (2019–2022), as well as writing and starring in the BBC Two comedy series Mandy (2019–present).

<i>Black Mirror</i> British anthology television series

Black Mirror is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series is inspired by The Twilight Zone and uses the themes of technology and media to comment on contemporary social issues. Most episodes are written by Brooker with heavy involvement by the executive producer Annabel Jones.

Derek is a British comedy-drama television series starring, written by and directed by Ricky Gervais. The pilot was produced by Derek Productions Ltd. for Channel 4 and aired on 12 April 2012. Channel 4 describes the show as "A bittersweet comedy drama about a group of outsiders living on society's margins".

<i>Charlie Brookers Weekly Wipe</i> British television programme

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe is a British television review programme created and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is the most recent addition to Brooker's Wipe series, and the first to be broadcast in HD. The programme is an amalgam of the earlier Wipe series, with reviews of current television programmes, news events, games, and films.

Kae Kurd is a British-Kurdish stand-up comedian and writer. He performed his show Kurd Your Enthusiasm at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017. He has featured as a guest on the BBC Asian Network and has written for the i and Total Politics. As of 2017, he is the UK's only professional standup comedian from a Kurdish background.

Asim Chaudhry is a British comedian, writer, director and actor best known for playing Chabuddy G in the BBC mockumentary series People Just Do Nothing, which he co-created. For this role, he won a Royal Television Society Award and was nominated for two British Academy Television Awards.

Cunk on Britain is a British mockumentary television series created by Charlie Brooker starring Diane Morgan as the title character Philomena Cunk, an ill-informed investigative reporter, who originated on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe including the 2016 specials Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Christmas. It premiered on BBC Two on 3 April 2018, and concluded on 1 May 2018, after one season of five episodes. It was followed up in 2022 by a similar series, Cunk on Earth.

<i>Lunatics</i> (TV series) 2019 Australian comedy mockumentary web television series

Lunatics is an Australian mockumentary comedy television series that premiered on Netflix on 19 April 2019. The ten-part series, written by and starring Chris Lilley, continues the mockumentary style of his previous series.

<i>Death to 2020</i> Netflix mockumentary by Charlie Brooker

Death to 2020 is a 2020 mockumentary by Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones under their Broke and Bones production company as a Netflix original production. The special features a series of fictional characters discussing US and UK events of 2020 including the COVID-19 pandemic and US presidential election. It was released on Netflix on 27 December 2020. The mockumentary received mostly negative critical reception, with reviewers criticising the jokes as obvious, though some of the cast performances were praised. A sequel special, Death to 2021, was released on December 27, 2021.

<i>Death to 2021</i> Netflix mockumentary

Death to 2021 is a 2021 mockumentary produced by Netflix. A sequel to Death to 2020, the special features a series of fictional characters discussing US news in 2021, including the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine misinformation and Big Tech.

References

  1. 1 2 Bianculli, David (3 February 2023). "Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential". NPR . Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Cunk on Earth: Season 1". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "BAFTA Television 2023: The Nominations". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  4. ↑ Ibekwe, Desiree (2 February 2023). "Philomena Cunk Is Weird Enough to Take on the World". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Cunk on Earth. 2022.
  6. ↑ "Cunk on Earth". IMDb. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Cunk on Earth". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  8. ↑ Fienberg, Daniel (31 January 2023). "'Cunk on Earth' Review: Charlie Brooker's Netflix Mockumentary Is a Droll Delight". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Nicholson, Rebecca (20 September 2022). "Cunk on Earth review – Diane Morgan's character is so well-written it's easy to forget she's not real". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Idato, Michael (8 February 2023). "Magnificent, brutal and absurd: Is Cunk on Earth the funniest show on TV?". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Bafta TV awards 2023: full list of nominations". The Guardian . 22 March 2023. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 13 April 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.