“Was early man similar to us. I mean, was he made out of the same sort of meat that we are? Did he have a brand name like ‘beef’ or ‘pork’?” This is one of the first questions our guide to human civilization, Philomena Cunk, poses to a rolling cast of hapless experts. In this case, her target is an archaeologist, author of “The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art,” who takes it in stride: “All we have is bones, of course, and they’re exactly the same as our bones,” he replies, going on from there. It’s a flabbergasting scene, sheer idiocy played with a straight face.
It’s also the opening salvo of the one mockumetary to rule them all: “Cunk on Earth,” a five-episode BBC production created by Charlie Brooker (perhaps in recompense for his execrable “Twilight Zone”-wannabe series “Black Mirror”) that recently made its way to Netflix.
Miss Cunk is a character portrayed by English actress Diane Morgan for more than a decade now, sure of herself and ignorant of just about everything. With supreme self-confidence, she takes her audience, episode by episode, through the defining moments of civilization, from the invention of writing to the moon landing, all the while displaying a brash certitude that doesn’t bother about such trifles as facts. Philomena Cunk single-handedly slays the urgency of fighting a culture war by demonstrating that there is no common culture. And she’s hilarious.
There have been great send-ups of American and British cultures before: Think
