Cunk On...

Cunk on Shakespeare was gloriously funny

It takes intelligence to act this stupid. The script was stuffed with malapropisms and witty wordplay. Cunk's implacable idiocy was thrillingly iconoclastic. Mainly, though, it was very silly and gloriously funny.

"Four hundred years ago this year the world-famous playwrighter William Shakespeare stopped happening ..." The Great Philomena (comedian Diane Morgan) brings all her wisdom and sensitivity to bear in her sublime exploration of the "King of the Bards", observing that Titus Andronicus is "a posh Friday The 13th"; pondering what Hamlet is all about ("about four hours long"); and noting that Shakespeare had an easy time at school "as he didn't have to study Shakespeare"

Cunk On Shakespeare preview

This may be the first full-length outing for Cunk, but it surely won't be the last.

Cunk on Shakespeare, BBC Two, review

Diane Morgan offers a more complete performance than Sacha Baron Cohen. Ali G's interview sketches were often smash n' grab comedy, but with Cunk we get a satirical dissection of the whole genre. At their best, her jokes unfurled with mille-feuille Alice-In-Wonderland absurdity, the writing, direction and acting lining up perfectly together.

14 of the best gags from Cunk on Shakespeare

It was only 30 minutes long but it was jam-packed with jokes and had many clamoruing for her to be given her own series.

Diane Morgan: meet the performer behind Philomena Cunk (Link expired)

Acclaimed actress and character-comedian Diane Morgan is back with a Philomena Cunk special this week, as well as starring in two high-profile new sitcoms, and the David Brent movie. She spoke to Jay Richardson about her increasingly in-demand career.

Preview: Cunk on Shakespeare

The writing here is genuinely delicious.

Philomena Cunk: Shakespeare has more Henrys than Hoover

On Shakespeare's 400th anniversary, who better to cut the bard's best-known works down to size than Weekly Wipe's noted cultural commentator?

Preview, Cunk On Shakespeare, BBC2

The technique of interviewing experts while knowing less than nothing about the subject is hardly new - Ali G does casts a shadow over her straight-faced encounters - but Cunk (alias comedian Diane Morgan) is so committed to her character it is impossible not to laugh at her antics. In one memorable scene she starts playing with a banana while Simon Russell Beale delivers Hamlet's To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy a few inches away.

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