UK Series From Cunk to Ann Droid via Mandy: the world(s) of Diane Morgan

[Mel O'Drama]

Philomena Cunk is a name that has cropped up in my YouTube suggestions numerous times. The algorithms clearly think she's my cup of tea. For whatever reason, I've never felt compelled to click in.

Then, just this week, someone proposed watching Mandy. Knowing not a single thing about this series beyond the title (I'd never even heard of it), I reluctantly agreed to watch the first episode, fully expecting that episode might be be my one and only.

A few days later, I'm at the latter part of Series Two (of three, so far), having flown through them laughing louder and harder than I have in a long time.

I was going to post about Mandy in the British sitcom thread, but off the back of it, I've peeked at snippets of Diane Morgan's other work: a stand-up piece, a section of an interview where she talks about Mandy, and - finally - clips from Cunk On... where she gives her "insight" into Jesus. Now I've very quickly added Cunk On Britain, Cunk On Earth and Cunk On Shakespeare to my iPlayer viewing list, along with a couple of other oddities, so I thought why not have a place to discuss them all.

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I start this whole journey not knowing quite what's in store for me, so if anyone wants to educate me on what I've been missing, I'm all ears.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

There's a whole lot to love about Mandy.

For a starter, the opening credits are accompanied by Barry Manilow. Not an instrumental or a cover, mind you. Actual Manilow.

The revolving door of guests has been hugely impressive, including Maxine Peake; Johnny Vegas; Deborah 'Dragon' Meaden (playing herself); Kate Robbins; Sean Locke and Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder, among others. EastEnders' Natalie Cassidy was one of my favourites, delightfully foul-mouthed as a Dolly Rawlins type strong-arming Mandy to be lookout for her latest job (and inevitably wishing she hadn't). I've missed the Pilot, so will go back to watch that after Series Three, but I understand Carol Decker is in that one.

The scenarios are quite out there. Approaching them as a series of 15 minute sketches allows each episode to be quite different in tone, and to really push the boundaries. The 15 minute running time, by the way, is brilliant. It makes it so easy to digest, and there's no room for any filler. The situation is quickly set up, and stuff happens and... that's it.

Diane talks about the concept of and influences on the series here, which is well worth a look:

This was the first time I've seen her out of character and she's very likeable. She's rather like a Mancunian Pam Ayres.

Every line in Mandy is a gem. The delivery is wonderful. And some of the scrapes in which Mandy ends up are hilarious.

It were like this when I come in.

I think the "Fish" episode has been my favourite so far, but there's been nothing that hasn't made me laugh.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Well, that didn't take long.

Last night I wrapped up Mandy with the end of Series Three (which was released just a couple of weeks ago so I'm as current as can be). It's a definite example of me wishing there were more episodes to watch as it's been far too easy to just devour all of them.

I've loved the numerous pop culture references... many of which are from the Eighties. And those outside of this were brilliant. The take-off of The Birds was hilarious and perfectly done. Likewise, the choice of guest-appearances continued to be surprising and fun.

It's apparent the budget got a bit bigger with each new series, and this was reinforced by watching the pilot episode immediately afterwards, showing a more "bare-bones" version of what we'd get in the series. Very interesting, though, and still very funny.

While the ending kind of suggests it's wrapping up, I can't help feeling there'll be more. But I'm sure many felt that way when Fawlty Towers finished its second series.

 

[Banana Hammock]

I've seen the first two series of Mandy, a couple of years ago. It took a while to get used to the Dame Edna style twisty mouth thing, she does as that character. Definitely worth watching again, it's so funny.
I've got rid of Sky so haven't seen Series Three.

Cunk On Britain was recommended on Youtube. I like to watch Youtube when having lunch but can't watch her while eating 'cause she makes me laugh too much. The experts are wonderful, especially the angry looking hot guy that loves ABBA.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

It took a while to get used to the Dame Edna style twisty mouth thing, she does as that character.

Yes - it took a few episodes for that to click with me, but now it really makes me smile. Diane Morgan said it was just to look as though she's chewing her lip.

I've got rid of Sky so haven't seen Series Three.

I hope you get to see it eventually. It's all on iPlayer in Britain, so I was fortunate enough to be able to binge the entire thing.

Cunk On Britain was recommended on Youtube. I like to watch Youtube when having lunch but can't watch her while eating 'cause she makes me laugh too much.

I haven't posted much about Cunk On Britain and Cunk On Earth, but both series have been absolutely brilliant. Like you, I was sometimes watching it while eating (dinner in my case), but it wasn't just the laughing that was the problem but also the fact that iPlayer keeps crashing on the TV in the kitchen/diner. I still have a couple of episodes left to watch, so I'll have to do that sometime soon.

The experts are wonderful, especially the angry looking hot guy that loves ABBA.

Their reactions are priceless. Because of the way it's filmed I can't tell how much they are "in" on the joke - especially in early episodes.

The questions she deadpans to them are hilarious. One that's kept popping into my head was when she asked an expert:

If gravity is real, as you seem to be suggesting, how come it doesn't work on kites?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Last night I dived into Philomena's latest: Cunk On Life.

As always it was greatly enjoyable. It was also a treat to have a seventy minute instalment for a change. It's the usual formula, which is no bad thing, though there were a couple of divergences that felt almost Pythonesque, such as the suicide of the boom operator, or the church choir singing "arseholes, arseholes".

The latter was part of a nice recurring gag throughout involving the term "our souls" and its (British) homophone:

When we look into our souls, what do we find there?

Well, it depends how far we're prepared to look into it.

We paint our souls.

Why do we paint our souls?

And of course the big questions are answered. From quantum (mc)physics to"is there a God"?:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

a nice recurring gag throughout involving the term "our souls" and its (British) homophone

Which has now been made into this handy compilation of every occurrence:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Series Four of Mandy is an absolute riot. It's up there with the best of the series, I'd say.


A couple of highlights:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Last night I dived into the latest Diane Morgan created sitcom: Ann Droid...

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Any new series featuring either Diane or Sue Johnston would pique my interest. A series starring both is a no-brainer.

Like Ghosts, the premise feels familiar to any Gen X Brit. This feels like the kind of sitcom that would have aired on CBBC or CITV (Luna springs to mind, but I'm sure there are other, even more similar examples).

An initial disappointment: the series is not as riotously hilarious as Mandy. There wasn't a single belly laugh in these first two episodes and for a good proportion of the time I barely cracked a smile.

But this was balanced by the biggest surprise of the series: the underlying themes of grief, ageing and isolation. The titular AI character is purchased to as company for Sue (played by Sue), struggling to adjust to living alone after being widowed eighteen months earlier. As eccentric as the "very near future" premise may seem (the series is set in 2029), Sue's initial battle to keep her independence and her resistance to having a robot companion feels very real thanks to Sue Johnston's portrayal. A far cry this may be from the rape of Sheila Grant, but she hasn't lost it and you know she's going to find the truth in the script. I expected a fairly undemanding watch, and was surprised at the emotion coming from its rich undertones.

It's good to see Lola from Mandy in a recurring role as a nurse. Red Dwarf's Cat is here as well, and I really like Sue's friend who runs the charity shop.

The jury's out on the sub-plot with Sue's cuckolded son, his toxic wife and the arrogant swagger of her aggressively Type-A lover who flaunts the affair to the injured party's face. Perhaps it just feels too real and ugly, but I hope it goes somewhere quickly. Of course, I want the latter two to get some kind of comeuppance but this isn't Hollywood, so who knows.

After a day heavily-playing Alison Moyet, I couldn't help feeling the score sounded very Eighties and reminiscent of Yazoo's Only You. And then they played it!

 

[Julia's Gun]

I have a soft spot for Diane Morgan too. Her deadpan delivery really works for me.
I only saw bits of the first episode so far. Like you, whilst it isn't laugh-out-loud funny, I picked up on those same things too - grief, ageing and isolation. The ending where she plants the rose in the garden was surprisingly touching. I just noticed the whole series is up on iplayer, so i'll give the rest of it a go having seen this thread!

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I have a soft spot for Diane Morgan too. Her deadpan delivery really works for me.

Same here. Her almost monotone delivery really makes it. I've noticed she (or a very close soundalike) also narrates adverts (Zoopla, I think, is one) and I'm not surprised because it's instantly recognisable and accessible. And funny without trying.

The ending where she plants the rose in the garden was surprisingly touching.

Yes, it was lovely. I did see it coming a little way ahead of time, but it was still effective.

I just noticed the whole series is up on iplayer, so i'll give the rest of it a go having seen this thread!

Oh great. Enjoy. I'm sure I'll be watching the remaining four through this week, so it'll be great to have someone to talk it over with. I'd love to know your thoughts on the series.