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DIANE MORGAN’S dim-witted presenter philomena cunk gives her take on British history
IT’S HISTORY LIKE you’ve never seen it before. Spoof interviewer Philomena Cunk, played by Motherland’s Diane Morgan, presents a history of Britain in her own inimitable style this week in BBC2’S new series Cunk on Britain.
Dim-witted Philomena was first seen in Charlie Brooker’s satirical series Weekly Wipe and then went on to present two TV specials – on Christmas and Shakespeare.
Here, the confidently clueless presenter leaves real-life history experts, including Neil Oliver and Kate Williams, baffled by her ludicrous questions such as, ‘How does the Domesday Book compare to The Runaway by Martina Cole?’ and ‘How long would you have had off work if you had the Black Death?’
We asked Morgan, 42, to give us the lowdown on the new series, which is again co-written
by Brooker…
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE SERIES? The history of Britain from the Big Bang to the present day, like Simon Schama has finally made something half-decent.
DOES PHILOMENA THINK SHE HAS A GOOD GRASP ON HISTORY? She thinks she’s Lucy Worsley.
HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE CHARACTER OF PHILOMENA? There’s a sort of switch I throw in my head. In a way, I become the real me.
WHO INSPIRED YOUR PORTRAYAL OF PHILOMENA? There’s a touch of Stan Laurel, but I’d say she’s probably like me aged 11.
DO THE HISTORY EXPERTS KNOW THAT PHILOMENA IS A SPOOF CHARACTER? Some experts know more than others. Some will have seen her on TV and others will be completely oblivious. Either way, they still don’t know what I’m going to ask them.
DID YOU HAVE TROUBLE KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE? I try not to laugh, but there have been a couple of times where I’ve lost it.