Landmark documentary-maker Philomena Cunk is back to tackle the really big questions in Cunk on Life

Diane Morgan has a very impressive CV. She wrote, directed and starred in her own comedy, Mandy, regularly stole scenes as straight-talking Liz in Motherland, and won plaudits for her role as Kath in After Life.

You may have even heard her on Christmas Day, lending her voice to Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

But no matter what else she might do, to some viewers she will always be spoof documentary-maker Philomena Cunk.

The character was created by Charlie Brooker for his satirical show Weekly Wipe, but it was Bolton-born Morgan who brought her to life. She told The Independent: “They were going to have a posh Philomena Cunk. She was an idiot, but she was posh, hence Philomena.

“So I went in, did my best posh, but said: ‘Can I also try it in my own accent because I think it’ll be funnier?’ And they let me.”

In fact, Philomena proved to be so funny, she soon took a life on her own, hosting documentaries including Cunk on Shakespeare, Cunk on Christmas, Cunk on Britain and, most recently, Cunk on Earth.

The last one was such a success, she’s now back to tackle the really big questions in Cunk on Life.

It finds her exploring subjects from the big bang to biology, morals to meditation and art to artificial intelligence in her quest to uncover the meaning of life. Along the way, she’ll try to baffle some academics with her own unique take on philosophy, and reflect on the work of some of humanity’s foremost thinkers, including Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche and whoever first came up with ‘Live Laugh Love’.

Philomena says: “To be honest I thought we could cover the meaning of life in a 30-minute episode, but the producers said we might need a bit longer and that I could probably go to America if we did a special. I’m very excited to be going to America for free.”

Perhaps going to the US will also answer one of the viewers’ questions – if Diane becomes too famous, will it be harder to find experts who aren’t already in on the joke? Luckily, her previous specials have shown that even the people she’s interviewing may know it’s a spoof, they can still be totally thrown by her off-the-wall questions.

Here, she’ll be meeting leading experts and academics and asking them such posers as: what is life, what’s the point of life, why are we bothering to find out and when’s lunch.

As Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy Commissioning says: “Cunk has become a global phenomenon, so it’s fitting that she is travelling further than before to ask some of the brightest people on earth some serious questions. Hopefully, she was clever enough to remember to renew her passport.”

Diane Morgan and Charlie Brooker are the dream team, and I’m so glad they’ve teamed up again for more Cunk on the BBC.”