Was Jesus the first celebrity victim of cancel culture? And do we know if China has a roof? Is there a Great Roof of China?
These are the hard-hitting questions that intrepid BBC presenter Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) seeks to uncover as she investigates the highs and lows of earth’s storied history. Cunk on Earth is as much a parody of (now) old-school BBC documentaries and is happy to mock all of its distinctive tropes.
Fictional presenter Cunk is a product of Diane Morgan’s deadpan absurdity with a dash of Karl Pilkington’s disarmingly oddball perspective–kind of like a low-key Ali G, where she puts leading subject matter experts of their respective fields in awkward spots in her idiosyncratic way.
The character Cunk first appeared in Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe, and managed two specials–Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Britain–in the same mockumentary format. But for the wider world at least, Cunk on Earth is the first time Morgan’s iconic character will appear on a global platform.
If you’ve ever squirmed at Sasha Baron Cohen’s disaffecting interviews and found them a tad too edgy, you might find Cunk on Earth a little more palatable. Cunk presents herself as a more light-hearted alternative that still manages to capture the spirit of the absurdist interview.

The look of a typical guest as Cunk drops another ridiculous question. | Screencap: Netflix
While Cohen’s parodies are often built on a foundation of social issues, Morgan is happy to simply play the buffoon with a deep-seated insecurity to disarm her unwitting interview subjects. The reactions appear genuine enough that it’s unlikely that the interviews were scripted, though the production team has stated in interviews that the experts do know that it is a comedy show but they do not know what will be asked of them. It’s to Morgan’s credit that she’s able to herd her subjects into intellectual and social corners and blindside them with sidesplittingly surreal questions. While they don’t always work, they’re well worth the wait when they land.
As parodies go, Cunk on Earth is decidedly mild, and the mockery never gets out of hand or comes across as disrespectful. Some of Morgan’s probing is surprisingly insightful in spite of the silliness, and you can visibly see professors trying to give the question its due merit despite knowing that it is complete horsesh*t.
As they say, it takes intelligence to act the fool and Morgan’s astuteness is what makes Cunk work. But in the event you’re worried that this format might get a little stale after an hour or two, the good news is that there are only five half-hour episodes for the first season of Cunk on Earth, so the humour never overstays its welcome.
- Cunk on Earth - 7.5/107.5/10
Cunk on Earth
Cunk on Earth is required watching if you love mockumentaries. Diane Morgan is by now more Philomena Cunk than Diane Morgan.