British comedian Diane Morgan is returning as mockumentarian Philomena Cunk — and this time, she is turning her attention to the silver screen.
On Monday, the BBC unveiled the first look at Morgan and Charlie Brooker’s latest faux documentary, “Cunk on Cinema.” Touted as Cunk’s “most glamorous series to date,” the new three-part doc will follow Morgan’s obtuse interviewer as she investigates global culture’s “love affair with movies” by speaking with a wide array of contemporary filmmaking voices.
Among the Hollywood figures featured in “Cunk on Cinema” are Michael Bay (“Transformers”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“Doctor Strange”), composer Daniel Pemberton (“Project Hail Mary”), “Die Hard” screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”), film critic Mark Kermode and former Academy president David Rubin. Morgan’s conversations with her interviewees will reportedly cover everything from the invention of the camera to the French New Wave and a look toward how AI and CGI may continue to upset the filmmaking landscape in the future.
Morgan and Brooker lead the “Cunk on Cinema” writing team, which also includes Ben Caudell, Erika Ehler, Eli Goldstone, Jason Hazeley, Dan Maier, Joel Morris, Michael Odewale, Kali Varghese and Sam Ward. Al Campbell (“Cunk on Life”) directs.
“Cunk on Cinema” will mark Morgan’s first reprisal of her most famous role since the 2024 one-off “Cunk on Life.” That special saw Morgan take on life’s most profound questions, including the circumstances surrounding the Big Bang and the future that AI may help shape, with the same deadpan, wry humor that has long defined her Philomena Cunk adventures.
Morgan earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for “Cunk on Life.” Before that 2024 special, she starred as Cunk in the five-part 2022 faux docuseries “Cunk on Earth,” in which she explored the origins of some of humanity’s greatest inventions and looked toward the future once again.
“Cunk on Cinema” will debut in the U.S. on Netflix.
