How Diane Morgan's Cunk on Cinema got Benedict Cumberbatch to take part – and what needed to be cut

Diane Morgan's latest mockumentary aims to take a deep dive into the world of film, and so, she's got a few major figures from the industry to answer her hard-hitting questions.

Co-written by Morgan and Charlie Brooker, Cunk on Cinema will explore the history of cinema, as host Philomena Cunk (Morgan) asks herself: "Where did cinema come from? And why? What does it want? And why can’t it tell us?"

Cunk will be interviewing a bunch of Hollywood contributors, including Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay, Sight and Sound manager editor Isabel Stevens, film critic Mark Kermode, Project Hail Mary composer Daniel Pemberton, and famous actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

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Given how many film and TV shows he has starred in, including Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game, Sherlock and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug among many others, Cumberbatch is a good choice for film industry insights, and producer Brooker revealed how they got him to star in the mockumentary.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other media, the producer said they "just approached him", adding: "We were chuffed that he did it and he was very amenable about doing it and the time."

He went on to say that the audience only see snippets from interviews which "normally last about 60 or 90 minutes".

"So what you see are snippets because we have to make them work in the context of a show that’s trying to tell you a story. We could probably cut together a half hour show that’s just Philomena and Benedict," he explained.

Brooker revealed they had to "cut around where we corpsed", adding: "You want people to be slightly flummoxed and he was genuinely flummoxed by her comments and questions. I assume he has seen the show. I assume he has.

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"Otherwise he was probably on the phone to his agent, going, ‘What the hell?’ People now have either seen the show or seen clips. He certainly got it."

Cunk on Cinema is three episodes-long and explores a series of topics, including film history and censorship, with the first episode premiering today (12 November) at 10pm on BBC Two.

It will also be available to stream on Netflix on 15 November.

Cunk on Cinema airs on BBC Two at 10pm today (12 November), and is also available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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