BBC kicks off a bunch of nonsense movie history! We’ll look into the future of CGI and AI, while the screenwriter viciously roasts Sora self-destructing

BBC comedy drama 《Cunk on Cinema》 announced that filming is underway! The screenwriter delivers humorous satire, because Sora AI has already ruined Hollywood—and ruined itself—making now an excellent time to revisit film history. The show will examine the development from cameras to AI, continuing the classic style of nonstop comedy.

Award-caliber 《Cunk on Cinema》 announces it’s in production, with only 37 years having passed since the release of the Belgian dance hit “Pump Up The Jam.”

BBC mockumentary Cunk on Cinema gets underway!

International outlet Variety and the BBC both confirmed that the well-received BBC comedy mockumentary series 《Cunk XX History》 is entering a new chapter. The new work, 《Cunk on Cinema》, is now in the production stage, with a total of three-episode mini-series, each episode 30 minutes. It will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two, and will be rolled out globally to audiences via Netflix.

In 《Cunk on Cinema》, Diane Morgan continues to portray a fictional host, Philomena Cunk, who is completely serious yet has no common sense.

She will guide viewers as they explore humanity’s love for film, covering everything from the invention of the camera to the French New Wave of the 1960s, and continuing through to the birth of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and the future development of artificial intelligence (AI).

She’ll also sit in a bumpy seat, eating stale popcorn, in an attempt to unravel cinematic mysteries:

“When film depicts the human condition, it contributes a lot of profound moments—for example, the shower scene in Psycho, the image of Death playing chess in that Swedish movie, and Tom Selleck’s shining mustache in Three Men and a Baby.” She also notes that the show can’t avoid black-and-white visuals, but the team will do its best to keep them to a minimum.

The opportunity that gave birth to Cunk on Cinema: Sora App ruined Hollywood—and ruined itself

As a work that revisits film history, Cunk on Cinema’s creative motivation is closely tied to recent tech news events.

Screenwriter and executive producer Charlie Brooker reveals that, because AI video generation tool Sora App has ruined Hollywood and ruined itself, this is now the perfect time to look back at 200 years of film history.

Brooker’s humorous remarks respond to the recent event in which OpenAI shut down Sora App.

Six months after its launch, Sora App quietly ended operations due to issues including slower-than-expected user growth, skyrocketing computing costs, intense competition from rivals, and copyright disputes.

Sora drew fierce backlash from the American actors’ union and Hollywood film companies because of its realistic generation capabilities. Disney (Disney), which had originally agreed with Sora to allow use of its copyrighted material, has recently also withdrawn an investment of as much as $1 billion.

Image source: Sora 2 official website Cunk on Cinema: The opportunity that gave birth to Sora App ruined Hollywood—and ruined itself

Jon Petrie, director of BBC Comedy, says he is very much looking forward to 《Cunk on Cinema》. He quips that Philomena Cunk is BBC’s top-tier and fearless documentary director—no one is better suited to investigate the world of film—and he also believes the show has the potential to carry forward the success of the Cunk series.

Cunk XX History series explodes in popularity: the charm of taking nonsense seriously

The origin of the Cunk XX History series dates back to 《Cunk on British History》, which aired on BBC in 2018. Then came 《Cunk on World History》 in 2022, followed by 《Cunk on Shakespeare》, 《Cunk on Christmas》, and 《Cunk on Life》.

In this series, the fictional documentary host Philomena Cunk delivers nonsense in a completely straight-faced way, and uses a style that interrogates real experts with all kinds of bizarre questions—breaking the impression of traditional documentary seriousness—and it’s beloved by younger audiences. Thanks to this role, actor Diane Morgan became famous in one fell swoop, landing on Seth Meyers’ late-night show.

Image source: Netflix official images The female lead of the Cunk XX History series, Philomena Cunk, played by Diane Morgan

The series has also spawned many catchphrases. **For example, Cunk once asked, **“does King Arthur come a lot?”—in fact, she was intentionally breaking down the fictional castle of Camelot into pieces on purpose. The song “Pump Up The Jam,” which occasionally barges in, and the drama theme song 《Brush Strokes》; the close friend Paul and her ex-boyfriend Sean, who are mentioned from time to time; or when she discusses the history of abusing black enslaved people in her review of European countries, she says:

“You might think that what Rousseau said—‘humans need to get free of shackles’—is about these people (enslaved Black people), but it isn’t. Like many humanists, he found a loophole: if you don’t treat slaves as people, you can ignore whether they live or die.”

Beyond these, the Cunk XX History series has also delivered plenty of standout performances. For example, in 《Cunk on World History》, to recreate medieval castle life, Cunk performed the entire segment with no props. And in 《Cunk on Life》, to take a jab at Netflix, she created a Sesame Street–style American-language puppet animation.

In today’s media environment full of self-proclaimed experts who frequently offer meaningless statements, audiences are already tired of interviews that have no value. Even though Cunk is only a fictional character, watching her challenge authority with ignorance actually gives modern people a brief—and enjoyable—sense of release.

And this time, what kind of humorous commentary will 《Cunk on Cinema》 bring us, and what jokes will it create by riding the wave of generative AI video? Audiences can’t wait to see.