‘The Earth according to Philomena Cunk’, the viral comedy on TikTok from the creator of ‘Black Mirror’

“Why do the pyramids have that shape? Is it to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them?” Asks the presenter of ‘The Earth According to Philomena Cunk’ to an expert on the matter who gets out of trouble until she is assaulted for an even more idiotic question: “How did the Egyptians build the pyramids, did they start at the top and go down or did they start at the bottom and go up?”. as you can imagine, It is not a rigorous BBC documentary, although it may seem so visually, but rather a fun comedy show that plays with the codes of the genre to create hilarious situations. Since the beginning of the month it can be seen in Spain through Netflix, but, in addition, it has caused a sensation on TikTok.

The aforementioned fragment about the pyramids belongs to the first episode, dedicated to the world’s first civilizations, but its TikTok version published on the official BBC account accumulates 12.7 million views. Another on the law that allows the use of weapons in the United States reaches 33.2 million views, which proves the virality that these comedy excerpts have achieved on the short video platform. TikTok gives us another fact that is spectacular: the hashtag #CunkOnEarthtitle of the program in its original version, has 263 million views gathering all videos with this tag. So if you’re on TikTok (or on Instagram and watching Reels) chances are you’ve come across this quirky red-haired reporter who’s a bit cheeky and ignorant.

Its creator is Charlie Brooker, whom the average viewer may know best for the dystopian stories of ‘Black Mirror’, but who has also played with humor throughout his career. In fact, the character of Philomena Cunk is not new, but was born as part of a sketch show called ‘Weekly Wipe’, from 2013, the work of Brooker and where it was already played by the same comedian, Diane Morgan, whom she also we have seen in ‘Motherland’ or ‘After Life’. The grace of the character is that she acts like a serial journalist who tells things on camera and interviews experts, but she really has no idea you’re welcome, playing with expectations and giving rise to very funny moments. Her popularity within ‘Weekly Wipe’ was so great that she became independent in her own mockumentary-style programs, such as ‘Cunk on Christmas’ or ‘Cunk on Britain’, although it has been her gaze on planet Earth that has made her a global viral star.

“Jesus was killed because people didn’t like what he was saying. So could you say he’s the first celebrity victim of cancel culture?” or “Which was more culturally significant, the revival or Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’?” are two other amusing approaches that Philomena Cunk throws at the experts she interviews. But, Are these real interviews or, like the presenter, are they all actors? Well, it turns out that they are real experts. “They’re just told they’re being interviewed for a BBC history documentary. They’re quite flattered and willing to explain their area of ​​expertise. We’re not trying to push their noses, but it’s good to see them struggling and having to recalibrate their minds. Diane Morgan explained to Standard.

This is how they achieve that point of spontaneity that suits ‘The Earth According to Philomena Cunk’ so well, thanks to the answers from the experts who don’t quite understand what is happening and to the improvisation of the actress. But that is not all. In addition to the interviews, this mockumentary comically uses all the classic resources of the great BBC documentaries, imitating camera shots, walks around the world and bombastic locutions on camera, in addition to music; everything is arranged to make him look as serious as anyone else, only he’s not. And without sparing a penny: the production travels from one side of the world to the other in favor of laughter.

In this way a great joke of five episodes is articulated that may seem to some viewers a blunder, but whoever enters his sense of humor, between the absurd and the intelligent, will laugh out loud, in addition to learning some interesting facts about History arranged among others totally inaccurate. Long live Philomena Cunk.