Cunk on Earth
{{short description|2022 British mockumentary television series starring Diane Morgan}}
{{use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox television
| genre = Mockumentary
| creator = Charlie Brooker
| director = Christian Watt
| writer = {{Plainlist|
- Charlie Brooker
- Ben Caudell
- Michael Odewale
- Eli Goldstone
- Joel Morris
- Diane Morgan
- Jason Hazeley
- Sam Ward
- Tom Baker
}}
| starring = Diane Morgan
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 5
| producer = Charlie Brooker, Sam Ward
| runtime = 28–29 minutes
| network = BBC Two
| released = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
}}
Cunk on Earth is a British mockumentary television series produced by Charlie Brooker for the BBC and Netflix. 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.{{Cite web |last=Bianculli |first=David |author-link=David Bianculli |date=3 February 2023 |title=Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153800012/cunk-on-earth-review-diane-morgan-black-mirror-charlie-brooker |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=NPR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216080722/https://www.npr.org/2023/02/03/1153800012/cunk-on-earth-review-diane-morgan-black-mirror-charlie-brooker |archive-date=2023-02-16 |url-status=live}} The series was acclaimed by critics, with many praising Morgan's deadpan delivery. It premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 20 September 2022, and was released in the United States on Netflix on 31 January 2023.
For her performance in the series, Morgan was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.{{cite web |title=BAFTA Television 2023: The Nominations |url=https://www.bafta.org/television/awards/bafta-television-2023-nominations |website=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |date=16 March 2023 |access-date=22 March 2023}}
Premise
Philomena Cunk ({{IPAc-en|,|f|i:|l|@|,|m|i:|n|@|_|'|k|V|N|k}};{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByCxxZOwQUI|date=17 December 2024|title=Cunk on Life – Trailer - BBC|website=YouTube|publisher=The BBC}} Diane Morgan) travels around the world, interviewing (real-world) experts such as Paul Bahn, Martin Kemp, Nigel Spivey, and Shirley Thompson about world history.{{Cite news |last=Ibekwe |first=Desiree |date=2023-02-02 |title=Philomena Cunk Is Weird Enough to Take on the World |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/arts/television/cunk-on-earth.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210233720/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/arts/television/cunk-on-earth.html |archive-date=2023-02-10 |url-status=live}} The series introduces subjects such as the development of agriculture and early civilization, 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.{{Cite AV media |title=Cunk on Earth |year=2022}}
Episodes
{{Episode table |caption=List of Cunk on Earth episodes |total_width= |background=#A30C40 |overall= |title= |director= |airdate= |country=United Kingdom |episodes={{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 1
|Title = In the Beginnings
|DirectedBy = Christian Watt
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 030C40
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 2
|Title = Faith/Off
|DirectedBy = Christian Watt
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 030C40
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 3
|Title = The Renaissance Will Not Be Televised
|DirectedBy = Christian Watt
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 030C40
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 4
|Title = Rise of the Machines
|DirectedBy = Christian Watt
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 030C40
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 5
|Title = War(s) of the World(s)?
|DirectedBy = Christian Watt
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2022|09|20|df=y}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor = 030C40
}}
}}
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:{{cite web |title=Cunk on Earth |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16867040/ |website=IMDb |access-date=26 January 2024 |date=31 January 2023}}
- Brian Cox
- Jim Al-Khalili
- Laura Ashe
- Paul Bahn
- Kathleen Burk
- Gus Casely-Hayford
- Kate Cooper
- Patricia Fara
- Jonathan Ferguson
- Irving Finkel
- Myrto Hatzimichali
- Ashley Jackson
- Martin Kemp
- Brian Klaas
- Aleksander Kolkowski
- John Man
- Anu Ojha
- Eleanor Robson
- Catriona Seth
- Rupert Sheldrake
- Nigel Spivey
- Shirley J. Thompson
- Joyce Tyldesley
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."{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes|id=Cunk_on_Earth|type=tv|access-date=5 March 2023}} Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 82 out of 100 based on 8 critics.{{Cite Metacritic|id=cunk-on-earth|title=Cunk on Earth|type=tv|season=1|access-date=5 March 2023}}
David Bianculli of NPR gave the series a positive review, stating that it has "cult classic potential". The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg called it a "consistently droll, frequently delightful series that mixes high and low comedy at a breakneck pace."{{Cite web |last=Fienberg |first=Daniel |date=2023-01-31 |title='Cunk on Earth' Review: Charlie Brooker's Netflix Mockumentary Is a Droll Delight |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/cunk-on-earth-charlie-brookers-netflix-mockumentary-is-a-droll-delight-1235312929/ |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210131248/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/cunk-on-earth-charlie-brookers-netflix-mockumentary-is-a-droll-delight-1235312929/ |archive-date=2023-02-10 |url-status=live}} Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian praised Morgan's performance, calling her character "so well-written it's easy to forget she's not real."{{Cite news |last=Nicholson |first=Rebecca |date=2022-09-20 |title=Cunk on Earth review – Diane Morgan's character is so well-written it's easy to forget she's not real |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/20/cunk-on-earth-review-diane-morgans-character-is-so-well-written-its-easy-to-forget-shes-not-real |access-date=2023-02-04 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209060928/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/20/cunk-on-earth-review-diane-morgans-character-is-so-well-written-its-easy-to-forget-shes-not-real |archive-date=2023-02-09 |url-status=live}} Michael Idato of The Sydney Morning Herald described the show as "magnificent, brutal, and absurd".{{Cite web |last=Idato |first=Michael |date=2023-02-08 |title=Magnificent, brutal and absurd: Is Cunk on Earth the funniest show on TV? |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/magnificent-brutal-and-absurd-is-cunk-on-earth-the-funniest-show-on-tv-20230207-p5cihi.html |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212073426/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/magnificent-brutal-and-absurd-is-cunk-on-earth-the-funniest-show-on-tv-20230207-p5cihi.html |archive-date=2023-02-12 |url-status=live}}
Filming
Filming took place in late 2021. {{Cn|date=January 2025}}
Release
Cunk on Earth aired on 20 September 2022 in the UK (BBC Two), and was released internationally on Netflix on 31 January 2023.{{Cn|date=January 2025}}{{Cite web |last=Romero |first=Ariana |date=20 October 2023 |title=What on Earth Is ‘Cunk on Earth’?
|work=Tudum by Netflix
|url=https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/what-is-cunk-on-earth-explained |url-status=live
|access-date=13 February 2025}}
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.{{Cite news |date=2023-03-22 |title=Bafta TV awards 2023: full list of nominations |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/mar/22/bafta-tv-awards-2023-full-list-of-nominations |access-date=2023-04-13 |issn=0261-3077}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{BBC Programme|m001cbmv}}
- {{Netflix title}}
- {{IMDb title}}
{{Charlie Brooker}}
Category:2022 British television series debuts
Category:2022 British television series endings
Category:2020s British comedy television series
Category:British mockumentary television series
Category:British surreal comedy television series
Category:BBC Two original programming
Category:BBC television comedy
Category:Television series created by Charlie Brooker