Reviews of Cunk on Earth (2022) and related work
- Sequel: Cunk on Life (2024)
Cunk on Earth (2022
)
Seen in 2023.
Ambitious but incompetent TV personality Philomena Cunk interviews experts on world history.
Charlie Brooker, who produced this series, wrote the 2001 episode of Brass Eye (1997/2001). The pointed viciousness of that episode is absent here. There is an element of media satire, but Cunk is primarily a character in her own right, not a parody of a real presenter. Her ignorance is a genericized comedic flaw and its premises vary from scene to scene, but it’s not there to provide a Daily Show-like spice to historical truth; you won’t learn anything from Cunk. It’s a gentle mockumentary patterned after Da Ali G Show (2000). Irving Finkel and Ashley Jackson are especially funny as experts doing their best to educate under less-than-ideal circumstances, though Brooker has said that the experts did at least know they were doing a comedy show.
moving picture non-fiction fiction series
‣ Cunk on Life (2024)
Seen in 2025.
An acknowledged and satisfying waste of Brian Cox’s time.