User reviews

Charlie Brooker and Diane Morgan's horrendous, wonderful creation Philomena Cunk returns for another outing in this series. Cunk is amazing: stupid, credulous, only superficially interested in anything other than herself, with the ability to draw the wrong inference from just about everything. The writing is brilliant, a clever parody of mainstream "quality" television as well as an airing for the character; but Morgan plays the part so well its hard to believe she is acting. Surely her interviewees know what is coming; nonetheless, they do their best to take her as seriously as possible. It's great.

Irreverent, downright funny. It's a mockumentary after all. It's the whole of human history in 5 short episodes. It's a refreshing tack on our story through the millennia. What a story. Better still, what a storyteller Diane Morgan is.

There's not a frame where I was either smiling or laughing. Her delivery, thanks to the guy or gal who made the script, is so amazingly funny. You learn a bit more of history while she entertains you with her quips and utterly nonsensical questions.

I bet she's the first one to get away with it. Yet, the viewer should thank her and the production staff, especially the writer, for bringing to our living room this lively seminar on our history. Truly, as Philomena Cunk, points out in the end: humankind is on a crossroads. Still, pump up the jam!

First off, Diane is brilliant.

Second, whoever wrote this is a bloody genius.

Third, there's so much going on and being said that you MUST watch it over and over (and LYAO every time you do) as there's are so many underlining statements, stuff Philomena says en passant, that make this show even more amazing.

Four, Ali G (Sacha Baron Cohen) started the fake interview stint done by a supposedly dimwit guy, but Philomena takes it to the next level. Ali G's guests didn't have a clue who he was and were genuinely stunned by his questions, but most, if not all of Philomena's guests are willing participants, contributing to the hillariousness of the show.

All in all, this is great fun for the years to come, and whilst it may not be in the same league as Monty Python (nothing is) it certainly is closer to it than many.

I am not a fan of comedies, because, ironically, I generally do not find them funny, so I almost bypassed this Netflix series, until I realised it was British, and seriously, who are funnier than the Brits?

I'm so glad I clicked on Cunk. The deadpanned delivery, and the almost naive earnestness with which the questions are delivered to the experts is absolutely genius and hilarious. The experts are probably the stars of this series, vacillating between near hysteria to incredulity.

Only complaint I have about this series is that there are only five episodes, although I don't know if my heart could handle any more than that.

I can watch the same episode like 20 times and still laugh to death. The script and dialogues are so brilliant. Each statement about human evolution contains a jewel in word playing- It is a pure Groucho Marx adaptation of Planet Earth. And Diane is just AMAZING. I don't even know how she does it to hold her face straight during some of the interviews... I had seen her in After Life and others and you notice right away how funny she can get. She deserves a price for this one and Cunk on Britain. It doesn't matter if they talk about dogs, discovering fire or cave paintings, there is always a brilliant sentence for each... A must see if you want to have some great laughs. So brilliant and funny.

How I'd missed good satire. It's becoming increasingly harder to write nowadays when the world is more surreal, but this is satirical commentary at it's finest.

Fan-favourite character, Philomena Cunk, is back to navigate the documentary series tropes expertly, with Dianne Morgan adding her usual comedic blend of dry satire, irony and faux stupidity - so well, in fact, that people such as 'b4blue' appear to have completely mistaken exactly what it is that the show pokes fun at alongside being surreally funny (spoiler, it's not solely 'experts that think they're always right').

Brilliant, top-form writing from Hazeley that's on par with his plethora of previous work. The usual contributors combined with a laugh-out-loud performance from Morgan make for a wonderful satire.

"Insanity has limits but stupidity has none", Elbert Hubbard

My favourite Open Univeristy educational presenter brings us more wisdom from the ages. More of the great programming coming from the UK's BBC, which means good writing, production, and expertly delivered by one of my favourite performers, Diane Morgan. She such a distinguished dead pan delivery that i believe is now cornerstone of her acting skillset. And some of the contributors and experts leave me in stitches, especially the ones who don't really know or heard of Cunk, but the longer Cunk is on the prowl, the more awareness of the parody become clear. Most of the experts know what is going on by now. And fair play to the writers and shows creator Charlie Brooker for still surprising the experts with their intriguing questions.

If you have only come across this show, and get a giggle from this type of humour, I highly recommend going and watching the other TV shows "Cunk On ...".

A look at human history through the eyes and by guided tour of the main character, Philomena Cunk. This irreverent and ambitious comedic docu-series is actually very funny. Diane Morgan, who plays the lead character with precision and acuity, is channelling Sasha Baron Cohen's, Ali G, as she interviews real historical scholars and puts on her best game face. Many of these scenes are actually painful and cringeworthy, in the Ali G style, and very funny. I do like the fact that Cunk does actually use real history and scenic, historic places to tell the story. I love how the scholars, who take themselves very seriously, are trying to figure out what is going on and still get their points across in an intelligible fashion. I have to imagine there was a ton of footage that is unusable due to people marching off and refusing permission to use the clips. Worth watching. Very digestible in the 30 minute segments.

The ostensible joke is on the academics, but one of Charlie Brooker's older characters was called ''opinion-haver''; that is a nobody without education whose committed views only skewered themselves, not they knew it. Morgan/Cunk plays this trope brilliantly while the clever talking heads who signed up to this series would be in on the joke.

That leaves the object of the series the unwitting viewer, the person who is not well educated, lacks curiosity and lives in narrow, parochial world, also without of any historical sense so they see everything anachronistically - they judge everything by current mores and is therefore ignorance incarnate. The butt of the joke are the opinion-havers, of social media, of tabloid TV and talk back radio, who last read a book at school - and cribbed it - whose cultural compass is set by pabulum and pop music awards.

The early episodes are best while into the modern era it races through and lacks enough good material to keep the level of jokes going. The anachronistic conceit also plays better with the distant past too as references to technology are more absurd and highlight the ignorance being ridiculed.

It's the first time I watch a mockumentary, and the first time I see the character of Philomena Cunk. I love sarcasm and it's been a while since I've seen something this funny!

Within the first minute of the first episode, her humour sets the tone brilliantly! You obviously have to play the game with unexpected questions and far-off conclusions. Yet, in all the fakeness, you can find a gem of satire on all topics.

Although you won't learn much, as some would use that to undermine the series, I think that's the point of a mock...

Some have said it's meaningless, so If I would ask myself why this piece of work exist, beyond just jokes, i think the art of satire and the absurdity genre are great ways to bring important questions about our current world. I think That's why many people have enjoyed this show, and sarcasm in general. All this grand talk about civilization was brought in a mockery to reflect on our current era and the relevance of history.

This series had great lines overall, even if I found a few just weird.

Some experts reacted brilliantly as well. They had to take the host as seriously as possible.

What could have been better: I wish there were more episodes, and I would have hoped for a less western-centered focus... although they do criticize this themeselves.

I wish the experts had time to talk a bit more , but it showed that it was really not the point of series !

I do agree with another reviewer that this is somewhat of a Baron-Cohen ripoff (minus the misogynst rant about female comics) in that the interviewer feigns ignorance of the subject to get unusual responses and reactions from the "experts." However, if you like history or historical documentaries, but hate the pretentiousness of some of those shows, you will likely enjoy this. I chuckled quite a bit and found the series an enjoyable way to pass some time. No you won't really learn anything new, this is pretty much History 101, and yes, it's not a particularly original comedic set up but it is enjoyable and worth the watch. The humor is silly and at times crudely funny, but it is funny.

I'm normally a fan of dry humour (Nathan for You, the Office, Parks and Recs) but found this to be long-winded and repetitive. Oh, and did I mention repetitive? Cause that's how many times she makes the same type of jokes. The first episode was fine but after that once you've seen the first episode, you've pretty much seen it all cause the humour is all the same. The same blank stares, the same awkward silences and reactions from the experts, the same random word vomit stories that she makes about her friend "Paul", and even her questions are all quite similar. I wouldn't call this intelligent. Wish they stuck to facts as well, cause learning a thing or two from this show would've helped balance out the terrible jokes.

What an incredible series. I have not laughed like this watching a comedy show in a long time. Bwhaha...if you are a fan of history and have any clue as to the subjects Cunk is talking about, you will bust a gut laughing so hard. And even if you don't, it's still fun. Cunk is incredibly adept and professional...her deadpan schtick is spot on. And what's even better are her chosen interviewees who are either the most incredible experts become actors I've ever seen or seriously unaware of how ridiculous she actually is. Some of their expressions had me rolling on the floor with laughter. This is fantastic. I love it. I quite literally laughed out loud so many times throughout the series. Give me more! Definitely a worthy watch!

As a mockumentary series about human civilization, it's very funny, even if it's quite one-note. It reminds me "Idiot Abroad" for some reason very much.

Using humor quite similar to "Borat" movies, it tells condensed version of human history and main laugh is putting various experts into uncomfortable situation where they have to answer stupid questions about history.

Diane Morgan is very good, too, multiplying comedy with her facial expressions and always having something surprising ready around the corner.

I quite enjoyed it, although given how little average people actually know or have interest in humanity's tale, it's a bit cringey to reduce much-needed education to such a circus.

The comedy method this show did can be highly hit or miss, and for most episodes, they did hit. So worth a watch.

This show doesn't treat the audience like idiots, it establishes that most of what she says isn't true and then continues on with the comedic filler in between genuine facts.

Even if the facts are delivered in ironically or are just straight up wrong you quickly learn understand that most obvious yes or no remarks are the opposite of what she confidently states as fact due to being downright ludicrous.

They question genuine professors and with increasingly bizarre questions and face them against insane conspiracy theories supported by straight up lies which one can clearly see their insanity through the blank confused expression of the professors unsure how to respond.

The only gripe I had with the show was the constantly running Danish Pop song joke, it wasn't funny the first time and it was far far less funny by the sixth episode. Genuinely made me sigh with frustration every time that it came up, it turned a 10star show into a begrudging nine star.

Although I would definitely recommend this, it's hilarious and somehow informative even at a very basic level. But prepare to skip the hit Danish song every single episode, honestly the only major gripe I have with this show.

I appreciate what the series has tried to do. In some ways, it succeeds. In others, it falls uncomfortably flat.

The historical narratives are the best part of the series by far, and there were some very amusing lines poking fun our species' self-destructive tendencies. I especially loved the spot-on comments about America.

But the interviews of "experts" were cringeworthy and painful. Frankly, I was impressed at how well the interviewees handled the attempts to humiliate them, presuming the interviews weren't scripted. They didn't seem to be. Cruk's questions and comments were so inane and juvenile, the guests couldn't respond in any humorous or meaningful way, squandering opportunities for humorous interplay. What was left were one-sided displays of indulgent self-centeredness by Cunk. Had they minimized these painful interludes, I would have given the series a much higher score. If the group behind this project reunites in the future, they need to reduce or eliminate the interviews all together, or better yet, clever up the writing so the interviewees can actually participate in the fun.

Diane Morgan is amazing in this satirical mocumentary. It presents human history through lenses of brutal humor and irony.

Diane interviewd multiple expert on topics of human history sometimes making fun of the topic, many times actually stating the obvious (such as the episode about Jesus).

The show is brilliant, there are many extremely funny catchphrases and sentences.

I admire the seriousness with which the experts have responded and their dedication to the subject.

What I didn't ike as much is the forces humor that was sometimes not necessary in certain situations and was there as a filler. I would rather it to be left educational, with humor then to be total parody.

Still a great show that I have enjoyed watching!

The first two episodes or so are funny, refreshingly so. It's completely off-beat and fairly hilarious. By the time you get to the third episode, it's just getting tiresome and the remaining episodes are really rather dreary. It really just amounts to the same joke or kind of joke over and over. Clever at first, and then insanely tiresome and boring. It's a great idea but too played out by the end of the series. Shorten it even more to two or three episodes and you might have a winner. Acting stupid is only funny for so long. This series does not manage to sustain and you end up thinking she is really rather dumb.

Not my humor. Too much of trying to be funny. I get what they wanted to achieve with the series and once in a while a joke or sarcasme is ok but this was an overkill of predictable jokes. The interviews with the experts were ridiculous. The experts play along which is a pity and a pure waiste of their time ( though probably got enough money for it, I hope for them atleast) Each episode gets worse. And to be honest I learned nothing. Their is no depth, so setting the bad jokes aside, all the topics and information any civilized human being will already know this.

How on earth the reviews are so high beats me.

This show is hilarious. You might learn something about history but the true quality comes from showing how little, the "experts" know about life today. How can someone make assumptions about humans that lived 2000 years ago, when they can't answer simple questions with current references. All the jokes, cultural references fly over their heads. This is exactly why there are so many articles coming from so called experts that sound completely ridiculous. You could easily say that Diane plays a stupid person, but her questions are legitimate. The way the other person answers them, shows how much they can relate to common language and simple questions. It is just brilliant.

This is absolutely brilliant. The underplayed yet overexaggerated satire is on point.

And there is actual history in this (if you know your basics).

And this is not some "gotcha" interviews. She has been doing Cunk for years, so the experts know exactly what this is, which somehow makes it even funnier. How the experts are able to both play along, while still being startled is comedic gold.

I think maybe this type of satire is harder to laugh at or really appreciate if you are from a culture or part of the world where satire is more (or too much) overdone and flamboyant, rather than this type of subtle-yet-not form. Brilliant.