Cunk on Britain (2016–2018) User Reviews

Really Educatory

[revpetebrazier · 8/10 · 8 April 2018]

Philomena Cunk is really good at telling us what history is in the past behind us and all that so that we know what past things have past us by. Cunk is usually great and this series is no inception. I now know all about the Iron man the Vikings and Norman the Conqueror. Looking forward to more episodes so I can learn when the Star Wars happened and perhaps why foreign things are foreign.

P.S. Charlie Brooker should do a review of this on one of his screen wipe shows, I bet he thinks it was rubbish!

Cleverly stupid

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 11 May 2018]

Diane Morgan's hilarious Charlie Brooker-scripted alter ego gets a series all to herself, as she narrates her own very personal history of Britain. 'Cunk on Britain' follows in the traditions of 'Brass Eye' is skewering television conventions, and of 'Ali G.' in positing the existence of a most unlikely presenter and interviewer (though in this case, one strongly suspects the interviewees are in on the joke). What makes this unique, however, is the degree of Cunk's stupidity, anchored in the silliest of wordplay but all uttered with a stright face. Does it really merit five episodes? Possibly the appeal palls a little by the end, but there are few other comedies that make have made me smile with the same frequency.

A wonderfully funny series.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 24 September 2022]

Philomena Cunk looks at the history of British culture, giving her own unique spin on the history.

It's a wonderfully funny, smart and imaginative series, it's rips the educational, but often sober historical documentaries that have been the staple of The BBC for many years, expect many laughs, sarcasm, and just a refreshingly different brand of humour.

Diane Morgan, it doesn't matter what she does, she is an absolute joy, and incredibly talented. For me, she's one of the best on TV, I love her versatility and variety, she's so good at whatever she does.

It's the look on the faces of the special guests and interviewees that I most enjoyed, the looks of shock, disbelief and astonishment, it's all cleverly put together.

Some amazing location work here, she truly did get to some surprising locations, Italy in particular looked awesome.

9/10.

I learned a lot

[shanayneigh · 10/10 · 27 November 2022]

I watched this show not knowing much about the show or the character of Philomena Cunk which apparently had appeared in sketches on other shows. I had just seen a clip of the now famous (or perhaps infamous) interview about King Arthur and Camelot and managed to find the full episodes online. Oh man am I glad I watched the whole thing.

The writing is absolutely flawless. This show has the highest jokes per minute ratio of anything I've seen in recent memory. The send up of BBC historical documentaries is perfectly executed, and what a performance by Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk. It's perfection. Countless times I had to pause and rewind because I missed jokes due to laughing too hars.

I like that the interviewees were trying their best to keep a straight face, although I'll never understand how they weren't roaring with laughter. I would love to see the outtakes.

Brilliant

[matukonyc1 · 10/10 · 1 February 2022]

Diane Morgan is possibly the funniest actor alive right now. She's brilliant in this series, a parody of the self-important BBC history documentary. Well worth your time.

I love this show

[Mblake-82-777067 · 10/10 · 3 October 2018]

I wish there was a Cunk on Europe as well. I absolutely love this show. More more more

Standing at a fork in our crossroads...

[dmann-62849 · 9/10 · 5 May 2018]

A clever satire on all those BBC and Channel 4 historical documentaries that we Canadians get to watch on public networks like TVO. I kept thinking, "this sure looks like a bad Neil Oliver doc", when lo and behold, Neil Oliver shows up answering Cunk's questions with a deadpan face. I swear that the steam train shots were taken from that show where the hosts try to live like Victorian farmers. Taking the piss in the nicest way.

fine spoof

[myriamlenys · 9/10 · 16 July 2023]

A sober-looking presenter visits iconic landscapes and buildings while discussing the historical events that took place there. She also interviews specialists about topics such as the black plague or Charles Darwin's discoveries. All of which sounds pretty normal, until you realize that you're watching a clever spoof that pokes fun at history series, at historical figures and at various national characteristics. Comedian Diane Morgan keeps an admirably straight face while spouting puns, one-liners and non sequiturs that seem especially designed to give experts a heart attack. The result is a wealth of quotable quotes.

So how does one liberate the imprisoned souls captured in the nefarious Doomsday Book ? Why did the Tudor police fail to capture Henry VIII ? Why do so little modern pubs organize singalongs on an anti-Hitler theme ? Watch "Cunk on Britain" and find out !

At this point I'd like to mention that as a young woman I was bitten viciously in the belly by Margaret Thatcher, the pet cat of an Antwerp colleague of mine. Named after the Iron Lady, the Antwerp Thatcher lived a long and aggressive life before dying, rather spectacularly, by drowning/suffocating in a tub of strawberries in syrup prepared for a christening dinner.

A guilty pleasure...

[businesss · 8/10 · 17 June 2019]

In fairness, it is laugh out loud funny albeit a very guilty pleasure! Am not so sure I agree with other reviewers about the 'gotcha' interview comparisons with (the also wonderful) 'Brass Eye', 'The Day Today' et al. A sweeping generalisation I know, I'd wager virtually all the prominent figures interviewed would be entirely familiar with "1066 and all that" and I suspect they would have quickly cottoned on to what was happening - so fair play to all involved!

Less sensibly, the only negative is that there was no interview with Lance Armstrong - the first man to play trumpet on the moon for a 'Nescafé Advert' in 1995 (the first two words became half of what NASA is now named even to this day) - just four years after the last episode of Brush Strokes aired on UK TV.

A truly comedic informative historic masterpiece

[jamesd1312 · 10/10 · 12 November 2019]

Brilliant way of keeping viewers entertained especially those ignorant to history. I would love to see more "cunk " on other documentaries. Only 6 episodes strong but not a dull moment when re-watching them a 3rd time. True british humour.

A poor attempt at satire

[tkdaniel-47702 · 2/10 · 4 March 2019]

The pleasant, fast paced dialogue is the only positive thing about this show. Deliberate, unfunny and barely touching upon anything more than common knowledge, and not actually explaining anything that isn't. Diane Morgan does seem very positive and capable, however the content is lacking.

fantastic

[angelorwez · 9/10 · 3 November 2022]

I was debating with myself whether to lower my rating for this to an 8...because Cunk is telling a story that is already familiar...we've heard about it a million times...it's not innovative...

it's just the same thing with just a little dose of comedy...but even horrible histories did that already too...that's another PHENOMENAL show people should check out...also British...

but Cunk really owns this...she makes it her own...she gives it her identity...her cold almost detached persona is fantastic...

yes some of the comedy is a little stale and lacks flavour...which is probably why am not giving this a 10...

the good Jokes land very very well...the mood and tone around this whole thing is consistent through out...which is a factor some shows fail in...

the intro is very good...why doesn't she change clothes though...i know that shallow and petty but come on...it's tv...make it interesting...even the small details matter...

the intricate jokes though are what won me over...and the documentary mockumentary style interviews was a genius idea...it's a reversal of expectations done so nicely...adds to the comedic element...

Awesome

[ralf-habich · 10/10 · 14 May 2018]

Very good and very awesome I really liked it and hope my review is no longer to short.

Spears her targets every time

[PipAndSqueak · 9/10 · 28 April 2018]

Cunk, smart arse that she is, nevertheless learns along with us the real meanings of some of those mysterious places and events littering our history books. Asking facile questions of real historians is very revealing. We discover some who not only know their stuff but are also amused by Cunk's novel approach. More often than not though, we see some stuffed shirts getting quietly shirty over the lines of inquiry taken. We're sniggering in the back row over this skewering. Love it and Diane Morgan's portrayal of the ubiqitous walking talking history head we know from tv history progs.

Pete Brazier - "Really Educatory" eh?

[Mandatory-Field · 8/10 · 19 April 2018]

Pete, you certainly could do with some Educatoring! "past us by", "is no inception", and who is Norman the Conqueror? Weren't paying much attention, were you?

But I do agree with you, it is worth watching

Shouting at helicopters...

[TimeFox881 · 8/10 · 3 June 2021]

Diane Morgan could make me laugh reading the dictionary. But she has better material here than that, British historical documentaries.

She nails all the peculiarities therein, walking towards the camera while forming a triangle with your fingers, voice-overs and confidently stating complete mistruths as fact.

Starts very strong, though does begin to run out of steam in the later episodes where it devolves into standard political ranting from a liberal perspective.

History Revision for Imbeciles

[steveljub · 1/10 · 24 April 2018]

Gutter television from the BBC sadly, failing in both the spirit and essence of parody. Attempting to fall between an "idiots " and a "comedic" perspective both comedy and perspective are lost. Garbage.