Netflix producing 12 more BLACK MIRROR episodes

Channel 4's BLACK MIRROR is returning next year, but it's now being produced for Netflix. The online streaming giant has bankrolled 12 new episodes from creator Charlie Brooker, but subscribers from the UK and Ireland won't have access. Instead, Channel 4 will likely continue to show the popular anthology series exclusively to its native audience, as they have the "first-look option" to do so.

Review: Channel 4's BLACK MIRROR – WHITE CHRISTMAS

★★★☆

It's hard to say which was the most exciting thing about this feature-length edition of Charlie Brooker's BLACK MIRROR; the fact the show's been given a Christmas special, or that its growing acclaim overseas resulted in Mad Men's Jon Hamm having an extensive role. Both were equally stimulating before a single frame of the show had been seen, but I'm pleased "White Christmas" managed the difficult trick of making an extended episode with an intertwined narrative work. It's just a shame that, if I'm completely honest, only a few elements of this special achieved the highs I expect from the show.

MAD MEN's Jon Hamm gazes into Channel 4's BLACK MIRROR

It's been announced that the ninety-minute Christmas special of Channel 4's twisted anthology drama BLACK MIRROR will star Jon Hamm (Mad Men), whose character will link three intertwined stories. He'll be joined by The Shadow Line's Rafe Spall and Game of Thrones' Oona Chaplin (great-granddaughter of silent movie legend Charlie).

Have a BLACK MIRROR Christmas

After two series, Charlie Brooker's satirical anthology drama BLACK MIRROR has been given a Christmas special by Channel 4. The show is usually comprised of three separate weekly tales, but the festive edition will weave three storylines into one feature-length episode.

My Favourite Television Shows of 2013

These days I can't write Best Of lists because it's become impossible to rank shows that have such opposing ambitions and purposes, across different genre. I also think that straightforward Top 10's can be tedious to read at this time of year, as most critics pick largely the same dozen things and only disagree over the exact ordering.

BLACK MIRROR – 'The Waldo Moment'

Interesting to note that series 2 of Black Mirror has reversed the style of series 1's episodes; beginning with the "emotive hard sci-fi" one, continuing with the "scary high-concept" one, and now ending with the "blackly satirical" one. "The Waldo Moment" was unfortunately the weakest of this year's triptych, and perhaps the worst episode of Black Mirror yet made, but that's not to say it wasn't enjoyable and though-provoking. I just think the concept wasn't presented in a manner that made it feel believable, and didn't soar high enough—ignoring the divisive end credits footage, which felt like a thin attempt to make the preceding hour feel more important in retrospect.

BLACK MIRROR – 'White Bear'

The following review contains major spoilers, so please don't read unless you've seen the episode in question, or spent 1999 screaming "Bruce Willis is a ghost!" in shopping malls...

Last week's premiere "Be Right Back", while emotionally rich, didn't take its overused sci-fi concepts anywhere new. Black Mirror's second episode, "White Bear", was also a bit of a hodgepodge of ideas, although the narrative felt more gripping and propulsive. And the trump card resolution added some deliciously dark and satirical flavours that elevated the whole episode in retrospect.

MSN TV: Channel 4's BLACK MIRROR - 'Be Right Back'

Today over at MSN: I've reviewed the first instalment of Charlie Brooker's BLACK MIRROR, which returned for a second series with a story about a widow (Hayley Atwell) who resurrects her dead boyfriend using cutting-edge technology...

Charlie Brooker's best known for his savage criticism and misanthropic analysis of junk TV and current events, but Black Mirror sees him in a more contemplative and imaginative gear. The first batch of Black Mirror episodes were of high quality, and Be Right Back, the second series opener, certainly doesn't let the standard slip. However, rather than echo series one's shocking premiere (where a prime minister was forced to have sex with a pig on live TV), this episode was comparatively sedate - perhaps intending to draw in viewers who may have been put off with last year's controversial premiere.

Continue reading at MSN TV...

Channel 4 order more BLACK MIRROR

I was beginning to think Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker's excellent three-part satire of modern society and technology) was doomed to be seen as a one-off experiment, perhaps because of the 322 complaints it received for the episode where royal kidnappers blackmailed the Prime Minister into having sex with a pig on live TV. But, thankfully, Channel 4 has finally ordered another three episodes. Series 2 of Black Mirror will actually begin filming next month.

Shane Allen, Channel 4's Head of Comedy, had this to say about his decision: 'British drama seems particularly obsessed with murder and the past, often together. Black Mirror is a rare modern look at where society and individuals could be headed, given the all-pervasive deluge of social media and technology. Charlie Brooker exudes that same pioneering spirit of Dennis Potter and Chris Morris with their daring, complex, compelling originality."

Brooker himself has commented that "Half of the things in the first run of Black Mirror seem to be on the verge of coming true. If the stories from the second run start coming true then we're really in trouble."

If you've yet to see Black Mirror, which averaged 1.5m viewers for Channel 4 earlier this year, with 2.1m views on-demand, I recommend the Region 2 DVD. You can also read my archived reviews.

BLACK MIRROR - "The Entire History of You"

The final part of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror anthology comes instead from the mind of Jesse Armstrong, one half of the writing partnership behind comedies Peep Show and Fresh Meat. This marks a change of style for Armstrong, as there wasn't much to smile about in "The Entire History Of You" (well, beyond the one cereal joke). This hour was set in a near-future, or alternate universe, where the vast majority of the population have a "grain" inserted beneath the skin behind their ear; tiny devices that record each person's memory for perfect recall later. In effect, your memories are a matter of record, like a built-in digital video recorder, and problems remembering the minutiae of any past experience is no longer an issue.

Armstrong could have chosen a variety of stories to tell with this concept underpinning things, but he opted for a domestic drama about a lawyer called Liam (Toby Kebbell) who attends a dinner party with his wife Ffion (Jodie Whittaker), only to become suspicious of her spouse's history with some of her "old friends" there—particularly confident braggart Jonas (Tom Cullen). Unfortunately for Ffion, in the world of "The Entire History Of You", little details can be picked over using mental playbacks (or redo's), and Liam starts to doubt the sincerity of his wife's excuses for various micro-expressions and out-of-earshot conversations he catches her having with a man he suspects she's been intimate with in the past.

This was easily the most relatable and human of the three Black Mirror's that have aired, as it brought a science-fiction technology into a story that most people have some experience of. It was interesting to see how a simple marital spat could escalate when each person's memories of events can be rewound and replayed on a whim, and Armstrong's script found plenty of clever ways to demonstrate the technology. I particularly enjoyed the uncomfortable moment when Liam and Ffion had mechanical and tedious sex together, while both were "redoing" a more athletic and passionate night of intercourse from a time when their marriage was happier. The creative decision to have people's eyes turn milky when they were "redoing" also worked brilliantly, as it briefly made them look like soulless zombies enslaved to this technology.

Having said that, the potential for a more exciting and thrilling story using this basic idea was definitely there, so I'm not surprised many people were disappointed that "The Entire History Of You" told such a simple, linear story that was also fairly predictable in it direction. It also didn't help that every single character was unlikeable in some way. We should have been on Liam's side because he was the person who'd been cheated on, yet he always came across as an unreasonable and obstinate pain in the neck. We can blame the technology for drawing him down this unforgiving path, because he had the ability to become a one-man detective agency (using magnified, paused, and rewound playbacks of people's memories to build his case), but there wasn't really a time when you liked Liam and were begging him to let sleeping dogs lie.

Still, the performances from Kebbell and Whittaker were very good, and Armstrong's well-balanced script built to a sorrowful moment that landed its emotional punch. It was also slick and visually interesting, with the speculative technology stirring many interesting thoughts. For instance: wouldn't everyone be excruciatingly guarded and reticent everyday, fearing that their behaviour will be scrutinised by those they come into contact with at a later date? I'm just not sure this was the absolute best story to tell using this compelling idea, as the marital breakdown could have been one element of a much bigger, deeper story. I was expecting Liam's job as a lawyer would have larger significance, actually, but instead the story focused solely on a suspicious husband's disintegrating marriage. Consequently, I thought this was a good episode that achieved what it set out to do, but it lacked the ambition of the previous two installments.

Aside

• You may recognise Toby Kebbell from RocknRolla, Prince Of Persia and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Jodie Whittaker was also in St Trinian's II and Attack The Block.

written by Jesse Armstrong / directed by Brian Welsh / 18 December 2011 / Channel 4

BLACK MIRROR - "Fifteen Million Merits"

[Warning: major spoilers]

The second installment of Black Mirror was a satirical slice of science-fiction that reminded me of George Lucas' THX-1138, only where round-the-clock entertainment, advertising, social engineering and talent shows were the targets. Set in an indeterminate near-future, "Fifteen Million Merits" introduced us to the shy Bing (The Fades' Daniel Kaluuya); one of billions whose lives are an empty husk. People live in cavernous buildings that resemble car parks full of exercise bikes, which they laboriously cycle on all day while watching ubiquitous video-screens, in-between snacking on food dispensed from vending machines, before retiring to their "cells" to play violent video-games interrupted by commercials for porn.

Every surface is an interactive conduit to a world of mindless distraction here: so you can purchase virtual accessories to clothe an avatar of yourself; watch a comedy TV show called Botherguts where fat people are sprayed with sloppy food; or dream about appearing on a Britain's Got Talent-esque show called Hot Shot, where the prize of worldwide fame is the only possible escape from interminable ennui and physical toil.

It was a remarkable world to spend time in, as a comic exaggeration of current technology and leisure pursuits. We're living in a world of flatscreen TVs, smartphones, tablet computers, reality/talent shows and interactive gaming consoles already, and this drama cleverly kept reminding us of how worryingly close we're getting to becoming lost in our own private worlds. Literally locked in the "cells" of our homes, where our lives beyond are full of monotony that's less appealing than the vibrant distraction of popular entertainment (albeit it with the cost of intrusive advertising). I don't think we'll reach a time when things are as bad as what "Fifteen Million Merits" presented us with, but dramas like this are fascinating worst-case speculations. No less relevant and worthy of discussion than George Orwell's similarly fanciful 1984, yet more plausible in some ways.

The storyline presented wasn't anything challenging or unexpected, as the arc of the narrative was very traditional. One day Bing started to notice a beautiful young woman called Abi (Jessica Brown Findlay), and a cautious friendship built on human interaction began to form, slowly developing into the beginnings of true love. As their relationship grew, so too did Bing's desire to see Abi escape her daily grind and audition for Hot Shot—using fifteen million "Merits" he recently inherited from his dead brother as her entry fee.

There were a great many moments that stuck in my mind after watching "Fifteen Million Merits". The scene that really left an impression was Abi's audition on Hot Shot—to Judge Hope (Rupert Everett), Judge Charity (Julia Davis) and Judge Wraith (Ashley Thomas)—with a haunting rendition of Irma Thomas' "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)". A wonderfully a cappella, spine-tingling performance, that earned Abi nothing but misogynistic comments about her titties and the chance to instead become a porn star for the "Wraith Babes" channel. Hers was an unfortunate fate that became the catalyst for Bing to smash the system, by saving another fifteen million merits so he could audition on Hot Shot himself, and use his own time in the spotlight to give an impassioned speech to the judges who are the figureheads of this corrupt society. Bing's fate was in some ways even more depressing than his would-be girlfriend's, as his brilliant "fake fodder" speech earned him the victory of two weekly TV appearances to the masses. A chance for Bing to broadcast his anarchic rants to the population... only it became clear that the people aren't actually hearing his message, they just feel the passion of his "performance" burning through their video-screens. Bing himself got to live in a much swankier, bigger "cell"... overlooking a real, beautiful, rainforest. Or was it still a panoramic video display of a beautiful green rainforest?

Bing's rage against the machine fell on deaf ears, but he'll perhaps never even realize it. Worse, for the privilege of being ignored he's become part of the system he despises, and remains separated from the girl he loved... who gave him, in a simply piece of origami, the only real thing he's ever owned and treasured. A trinket now replaces by his signature "shard of glass" he used to threaten his own life on TV.

Neatly directed by Euros Lyn (Doctor Who, Torchwood), "Fifteen Million Merits" wasn't saying anything very new, and it definitely went after some easy targets that are always being smeared by critics. Brooker has taken so many swipes at mass media and vacuous gameshows that you wonder if he has anything left to say now. But it was intelligently done and many of its ideas are still swirling around in my head the next day. It didn't deserve its bumper runtime of 80-minutes (including adverts), as the story wasn't unpredictable or brisk enough to stop that being a problem. Indeed, most people who appear to have taken against "Fifteen Million Merits" keep mentioning the unhurried pace, which clearly frustrated some people. I just hope those who found it rather slow were actually thinking about what it was trying to say, and not just sat back in their sofa's like one of the show's passive consumers of the idiot box. If so, I hope you were at least doing the ironing or riding your exercise bikes.

Overall, I heartily recommend "Fifteen Million Merits" to anyone who enjoys a good sci-fi tale that takes inspiration from reality, offering a contemptuous critique of western culture. The performances of Jessica Brown Findlay and Daniel Kaluuya were fantastic, with Kaluuya a particular standout. He's a young actor who doesn't always get the material he deserves, but this drama proved that his greatest strength is drawing the audience in with his large, expressive eyes. By the time his character exploded into a heartfelt diatribe about the evils of the society he lives in, with a shard of glass pressed to his throat, I was totally gripped by every word he was saying.

Clever, astute, passionate, rewarding and human. Black Mirror's two-for-two, with one more in the pipeline...

Asides

• I don't watch Downton Abbey, but Jessica Brown Findlay is apparently one of the lead actresses on that show. She's one to watch. In other words, we have a new "potential Doctor Who companion" to add to lists, folks.
• This episode was co-written by Konnie Huq (going by her real name of Kanaq), the ex-Blue Peter presenter who recently married Charlie Brooker. Huq also presented The X Factor sister show Xtra Factor for one series, until she was dismissed by Simon Cowell after failing to connect with audiences—who preferred her predecessor Holly Willoughby. I'm not sure if any of her experiences fed directly into this drama, or if her displeasure with the job just encouraged Brooker to target X Factor-style shows as the root of all evil in the modern world. Which is, of course, preposterous.
• Was it just coincidence that Bing has the same name as Microsoft's search engine?
• Did they give Abi a type of "date rape" drug before her audition, to ensure she was more malleable in front of the judges?

written by Charlie Brooker & Kanaq Huq / directed by Euros Lynn / 11 December 2011 / Channel 4

BLACK MIRROR – "The National Anthem"

The first in a trilogy of dark tales from misanthropic satirist Charlie Brooker, "The National Anthem" was a gleefully twisted and unsettling hour of comedy. A fine example of how to explore a simple idea to its full, this was an audacious attack on modern-day politics—in particular, how it increasingly allows popular opinion to lead it by the nose.

Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) is awoken in the early hours, to be given news that popular Princess Susannah (Lydia Wilson) has been kidnapped. Worse, a hostage video was briefly released on YouTube where she read out her kidnapper's bizarre demand: she'll be executed unless the PM has sex with a pig on national TV at 4 o'clock that very afternoon, broadcast across all channels. What followed was a strangely plausible hour that milked every drop from its simple and compelling concept. Can the government fake the sex act with CGI? Can they find and rescue the princess before the 4pm deadline?

"The National Anthem" was driven by the desire to see what the ending might involve, and while the plot was simplistic and (mostly) predictable, it made salient points about our social and technological landscape. The way the Internet can't be policed (being beyond the effects of a "D-Notice" that gags traditional media) was a particularly important cog in the story, and called to mind this summer's situation with "super-injunctions" stopping the press from revealing news stories that were common knowledge on Twitter and Facebook. It was also very amusing to see how the government's approach to the situation started to be led by the results of opinion polls—particularly when public outcry over the kidnapping and its repulsive ultimatum slowly gave way to a perverse demand for Callow to commit bestiality to spare an innocent woman's life.

The cast were uniformly excellent, and the decision to treat the story with such seriousness was most welcome. This could easily have been an episode of Spooks tackling a more conventional demand (like the release of a political prisoner), which only made the ludicrousness of the porcine situation all the funnier. Kinnear was exemplar; his face communicating a hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach. Humiliation (especially sexual humiliation) is a fear everyone has, so his character's dilemma was actually more knuckle-chewing than if the kidnapper had demanded he shoot his wife dead. Perhaps because you can distance yourself from deaths in a drama, but watching an authoritative character slowly realise he must be filmed having sexual intercourse with an animal gets under your skin. Perhaps because it's pushing buttons that rarely get pushed in a TV drama. And isn't that what all good satirical drama should be doing? Plus, I really loved the coda, set a year after Callow's shameful hour, where it was revealed the kidnapping was organised by a lowly performance artist trying to make a point.

Overall, "The National Anthem" was a grim but unforgettable start to Brooker's Black Mirror triptych; setting the bar very high for the remaining two episodes.

Asides

• Sterling support from Linday Duncan, Tom Goodman-Hill and Donald Sumpter. The absence of any tongues in cheeks was what really made this drama soar.
• It's a shame "The National Anthem" had to use fictional celebrities. Imagine how incendiary this would have been if the PM was a David Cameron lookalike and the princess was Kate Middleton.

written by Charlie Brooker / directed by Otto Bathurst / 4 December 2011 / Channel 4