Cunk on Britain

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.^[1] 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.

Cunk on Britain
Genre	Comedy Mockumentary
Created by	Charlie Brooker
Written by	Charlie Brooker Jason Hazeley Joel Morris Ben Caudell
Directed by	Lorry Powles
Starring	Diane Morgan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Annabel Jones Alex Moody Charlie Brooker
Producer	Matt Hulme
Cinematography	Jon Kassell
Editor	Damon Tai
Production company	House of Tomorrow
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	3 April (2018-04-03) – 1 May 2018 (2018-05-01)

Plot

Philomena Cunk, an ill-informed investigative reporter, retells British history through a series of montages and interviews with experts which feature odd or ridiculous questions. The show featured guest appearances from real-life experts, including Robert Peston, Neil Oliver, Howard Goodall, Tom Holland and Ronald Hutton.

Episodes

No.	Title	Original release date
1	"Beginnings"	3 April 2018 (2018-04-03)
2	"The Empire Strikes Back"	10 April 2018 (2018-04-10)
3	"The Third Episode"	17 April 2018 (2018-04-17)
4	"Twentieth Century Shocks"	24 April 2018 (2018-04-24)
5	"The Arse End of History"	1 May 2018 (2018-05-01)

Cast and characters

Main

• Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk

Filming

Filming took place in September and October 2017 in Britain and began airing on 3 April 2018.

Reception

The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson notes, "It’s Cunk’s interviewing style that is the highlight and potentially one of its weaknesses. Chucking questions that make no sense at experts was a success on Screenwipe, and it works particularly well with British history academics, whose politeness and patience only exacerbates the absurdity."^[2] New Statesman's Anna Leszkiewicz states, "The success of Cunk as a character is not thanks to her general persona as an ill-informed pundit, but her bizarre turns of phrase."^[3]