Philomena Cunk, first appeared on our screens as part of Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe show. Over the next few years her oeuvre of absurdist, irreverent humour, punctuated with fleeting moments of profundity recalled edgy shows from the 90’s such as The Day Today, The 11 o’clock Show and Brass Eye.
Since then Cunk has appeared in various shows, including Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Shakespeare and Cunk on Britain. Her wide-eyes insouciance has won her much acclaim and her ability to agitate and disarm experts has been a joy to watch. Now, actress Diane Morgan, who has played Cunk for the past few years, has co-authored a book with the help of Brooker and the author team behind the Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups series, Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley. Cunk On Everything is Morgan’s take on the encyclopaedia but with a leaf taken from Michael Gove in that “people in this country have had enough of experts,” so listen to the idiots instead.
Cunk On Everything is the world according to Philomena Cunk… it’s wonderful and weird!
Over the course of the alphabet we learn about Archie Medes (the cleanest philosopher), the xylophone (the sound of skeletons dancing) and the Taj Mahal (made out of ice cream).
I listened to the audiobook and over the course of just over 5 and a half hours found myself laughing away. The audiobook is delivered by Morgan with her usual deadpan wit and does not take itself too seriously, whilst genuinely getting you thinking about some things you never would have thought of.
This audiobook is exactly what fans of the character were looking for and I for one give it a thumbs up!