Cunk on Cinema series hits Netflix and BBC this November

Diane Morgan reprises her role as the satirical character Philomena Cunk for a new three-part series on cinema history. The mockumentary, created by Morgan and Charlie Brooker, will be available on Netflix outside the UK and Ireland and debuts on BBC platforms in November.

This marks the fifth outing for the character. The writing team is led by Charlie Brooker and includes Ben Caudell, Erika Ehler, Eli Goldstone, Jason Hazeley, Dan Maier, Diane Morgan, Joel Morris, Michael Odewale, Kali Varghese, and Sam Ward. Previous series in the franchise include Cunk on Life, Cunk on Earth, Cunk on Shakespeare, and Cunk on Britain.

Cunk's cinematic interrogation

Philomena Cunk will interrogate 23 experts on the entire history of cinema. Her questions span from the invention of the camera to the New Wave filmmakers of the 1960s and the future of CGI and AI. She references iconic film moments like the shower scene in Psycho and Tom Selleck's moustache in Three Men And A Little Lady.

Experts facing Cunk's deadpan curiosity include director Michael Bay, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, composer Daniel Pemberton, screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, critic Mark Kermode, filmmaker Mark Cousins, and Sight and Sound editor Isabel Stevens. Also featured are Helen O'Hara, Catherine Bray, Bryony Dixon, David Rubin, Jim Dowdall, and Kaleem Aftab. Jim Al-Khalili and Ashley Jackson return from previous Cunk series.

Release and availability

The series will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Thursday, 12 November. BBC Two will broadcast the three episodes weekly at 10pm, starting on 12 November. The second episode airs on 19 November, and the third concludes the run on 26 November. All episodes will be available to stream on iPlayer from the launch date.

For international audiences, the series will be available on Netflix everywhere except the UK and Ireland. The series is produced by Pacesetter Productions for the BBC, with Al Campbell directing. Executive producers are Diane Morgan, Charlie Brooker, Jessica Rhoades, and Sam Ward. Navi Lamba is the BBC commissioning editor, with Mark Kinsella as co-executive producer for Pacesetter.

The series is billed as Cunk's most glamorous outing yet. Philomena Cunk said: "where did cinema come from? And why? What does it want? And why can't it tell us?" She also promised the series would have minimal black-and-white footage. The series concludes its broadcast on BBC Two on 26 November.