Philomena Cunk asks Benedict Cumberbatch the chickpea question

BBC Comedy's Cunk on Cinema clip turns a celebrity interview into a supermarket interrogation, drawing an unusually fast audience.

Channel: BBC Comedy Story of November 13, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 162,695 views a day, 12 times a normal first day on this channel (13,706).

Philomena Cunk doesn't recognise Benedict Cumberbatch

Next story: Philomena Cunk places Benedict Cumberbatch in Tesco, not Doctor Strange

One more story on Cunk on Cinema ›

Doctor Strange, The Imitation Game and The Power of the Dog all fail to jog Philomena Cunk's memory. Benedict Cumberbatch keeps offering film titles; she has a rather less glamorous sighting in mind.

In the Cunk on Cinema sketch, Diane Morgan's mock-documentary interviewer decides she recognises the actor from a Tesco Express, where he was apparently examining chickpeas. This is Cunk's supposed recollection, not an anecdote from Cumberbatch's shopping history.

The Short has drawn about 135,000 views in 16 hours, already far beyond BBC Comedy's usual first-day audience for the format. Its comment section is also more than ten times as busy as a typical first day.

Cunk follows her supermarket lead with the question cinema history has somehow neglected: "Do all actors like chickpeas?" Cumberbatch, having acknowledged a liking for hummus, declines to represent his entire profession.

Viewers are extending the joke into an imaginary hummus conspiracy, while others picture Cunk as Watson opposite his Sherlock. The clip's title, "Philomena Cunk doesn't recognise Benedict Cumberbatch", promises a failure of recognition. What follows is an interview in which an impressive filmography proves less useful than a tin of pulses.

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More from BBC ComedyVideo taking off 22x its usual first dayMiranda Hart meets the "Mr Darcy" who missed her crushBBC Comedy's Big Show clip turns a recognition game into a confession about a school-age crush.Channel: BBC Comedy · Story of October 21, 2026 Also in TV networks and streaming servicesVideo surging 19x the video's usual paceTom Hanks' Mr. Rogers turns a subway ride into a singalongPeacock's film clip has adults recalling the songs they still know by heart, decades after watching the children's show.Channel: Peacock · Story of November 13, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo taking off 23x its usual first dayJimmy Kimmel sets Trump's Triumphal Arch against veterans' budget cutsWith veterans in the audience, his Veterans Day monologue also revisits the Arlington guard's rebuke and closes on a parody doll commercial.Channel: Jimmy Kimmel Live · Story of November 13, 2026

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Philomena Cunk asks Benedict Cumberbatch the chickpea question The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/bbccomedy-35447/

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The numbers

This Short has already comfortably exceeded BBC Comedy's usual first-day views, with its first full day still unfinished.

the video's first day

usual first day here

13,706

this video

162,695

subscribers

130,000

▲ 4,000 in the last 7 days

total views

55,984,031

views per day

629,342

typical day: 714,039

the video

views

134,916

likes

4,917

comments

79

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

Gilmore Girls

136,000

BBC Casualty

133,000

The Mindy Project

133,000

BBC Comedy

130,000

BUZZR

125,000

NCIS

121,000

As of November 13, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.