BBC nonsense film history is getting underway! We’ll explore the future of CGI and AI, as the screenwriter viciously roasts Sora for “self-destruction.”

BBC comedy series Cunk on Cinema announces it’s in production! Written with humor and sharp satire, especially now that Sora AI has ruined Hollywood—and even ruined itself—this is the perfect time to revisit film history. The show will examine the journey from cameras to AI, continuing the classic, laugh-out-loud style.

Cunk on Cinema, the film-history satire that’s set to win awards, has officially entered production—just 37 years after the release of the Belgian hit electronic dance track “Pump Up The Jam.”

BBC mockumentary film-history satire Cunk on Cinema is in production!

Trade outlet Variety and the BBC have both confirmed that the well-received BBC comedy mockumentary series Cunk XX History is getting a new chapter. The new work, Cunk on Cinema, is now in production. A total of three-episode mini-series will be released, with each episode lasting 30 minutes. It will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two, and reach global audiences via Netflix.

Cunk on Cinema still stars Diane Morgan as a rigidly serious but utterly clueless fictional presenter, Philomena Cunk.

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—working all the way through to the birth of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and the future development of artificial intelligence (AI).

She’ll also sit on uneven seats, eating popcorn that isn’t fresh, trying to solve film mysteries:

“When it comes to depicting the human condition, film has contributed many profound moments—for example, the shower scene in Psycho, that image of Death playing chess in a Swedish film, and Tom Selleck’s shining mustache in Three Men and a Baby.” She also points out that the show will inevitably include black-and-white footage, but the team will try to keep it to a minimum.

The moment that sparked 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 and events.

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

Brooker’s humorous remarks respond to OpenAI’s recent decision to shut down Sora App.

After just six months on the market, Sora App quietly came to an end due to problems including slower-than-expected user growth, soaring compute costs, intense competition from rival products, and copyright disputes.

Sora faced a strong backlash from the Screen Actors Guild and Hollywood studios in the U.S. due to its ability to generate lifelike content. Even Disney (Disney), which had previously agreed with Sora to allow its copyrighted material to be used, has recently pulled back an investment of as much as $1 billion.

Image source: Sora 2 official website The moment that sparked Cunk on Cinema: Sora App ruined Hollywood—and ruined itself

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

The Cunk XX History series explodes in popularity: the charm of talking nonsense with full seriousness

The Cunk XX History series traces back to Cunk on British History, which aired on the BBC in 2018. It was followed by Cunk on World History in 2022. Later on, more entries rolled out: Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Christmas, and Cunk on Life.

In this series, the fictional documentary host Philomena Cunk delivers nonsense in a straight-faced way, and interrogates real experts with all kinds of strange questions—breaking the traditional impression of what documentaries are supposed to be. It’s been very popular with younger audiences. Thanks to this show, actress Diane Morgan catapulted to fame and even landed 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 plenty of jokes. For instance, Cunk once asked Professor Arthur if he was Came a lot—though it was intentionally meant to break down the fictional castle of Camelot itself; the song “Pump Up The Jam,” which pops in from time to time, alongside the dramatic theme song Brush Strokes; her close friend Paul and her ex-boyfriend Sean, who are mentioned from time to time; and when she revisits the history of how European countries abused Black enslaved people, she says:

“You might think the ‘people need to be freed from chains’ that Rousseau talked about 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 human beings, then you don’t have to care what happens to them, or whether they live or die.”

Beyond all that, the Cunk XX History series has delivered many great performances. In Cunk on World History, to recreate medieval castle life, Cunk performs the entire segment without props. And in Cunk on Life, she created a Sesame Street–style American-language puppet animation to mock Netflix.

In today’s media environment packed with self-proclaimed experts who often publish meaningless commentary, audiences are already tired of interviews that offer no value. Even though Cunk is only a fictional character, watching her challenge authority with ignorance gives modern people a brief—yet enjoyable—sense of relief.

And this time, what humorous commentary will Cunk on Cinema bring us—and what punchlines will it create by riding the wave of generative AI video? Viewers can’t wait to find out.