Black Mirror

Black Mirror
Created by	Charlie Brooker
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	3 (list of episodes)
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	4 December 2011 – present
Related
Dead Set Screenwipe

Black Mirror is a British television drama series created by Charlie Brooker. The series is produced by Zeppotron for Endemol. Regarding the programme's content and structure, Brooker noted, "each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy."

An Endemol press release describes the series as "a hybrid of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world", with the stories having a "techno-paranoia" feel. Channel 4 describes the first episode as "a twisted parable for the Twitter age". Black Mirror was released on DVD on 27 February 2012.

It was announced on 12 July 2012 that a second series has been commissioned.

In November 2012 Black Mirror won the Best TV movie/mini-series award at the International Emmys.

Title

Charlie Brooker explained the series' title to The Guardian, noting: "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The "black mirror" of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone."

Episode list

1. "The National Anthem"

The opening programme to the series is a 44 minute long political thriller in which fictional Prime Minister Michael Callow faces a huge and shocking dilemma when fictional Princess Susannah, a much-loved member of the Royal Family, is kidnapped. For her safe return, the Prime Minister must have sexual intercourse with a pig on national television. Callow adamantly opposes the demand and does all possible to catch the kidnapper before the deadline. Callow also demands that the news not reach the public, but the ransom video was posted on YouTube and, despite having only been up for nine minutes, has already been viewed and downloaded by many members of the British public. Although the UK's media initially agrees not to report the story it soon reaches foreign news networks, which immediately begin reporting. After this, the UK media follow suit.

When the video was first received by the British government, one of the PM's aides began faking footage to broadcast. The kidnapper discovers the ploy and sends Princess Susannah's finger to a UK news station as a response. The story is outed and public opinion turns sharply against Callow. This drives Callow to order an immediate rescue operation on the building where they believe Susannah is being held, forgoing the recommended observation period. The building is revealed to be a decoy and a reporter is injured during the operation. Callow loses even more support.

After being informed that neither he nor his family will have protection from repercussions if he refuses, Callow is forced to perform the indecent act in front of a live global audience. The princess is discovered unharmed in the streets, the finger having belonged to the kidnapper. It is revealed that she was released before the deadline, but went unnoticed as everyone was distracted by the broadcast. It emerges that the events were planned by Turner Prize winner Carlton Bloom, who intended to make an artistic point by showing that events of significance had slipped under the noses of the public and the government as they were "elsewhere, watching screens" and not paying attention to the real world. Bloom commits suicide as the broadcast airs.

A year after the broadcast, Callow's political image has remained intact and he has gained greater public approval due to his willingness to sacrifice his dignity. Princess Susannah has recovered from the kidnapping and is expecting a child, while the public at large knows of Bloom's organising of the affair. His early release of the princess was kept a secret, in order to retain the significance of Callow's actions. While Callow's reputation has been raised in the eyes of the public, it is implied that his marriage has not survived the ordeal.

Written by Charlie Brooker.

Directed by Otto Bathurst.

Cast includes Rory Kinnear, Lindsay Duncan, Tom Goodman-Hill, Donald Sumpter, Lydia Wilson, Allen Leech and Anna Wilson-Jones.

2. "15 Million Merits"

A satire on entertainment shows and our insatiable thirst for distraction set in a sarcastic version of a future reality. In this world, everyone must cycle on exercise bikes, arranged in cells, in order to power their surroundings and generate currency for themselves called Merits. Everyone is dressed in a grey tracksuit and has a "doppel", a virtual avatar that people can customise with clothes, for a fee of merits. Everyday activities are constantly interrupted by advertisements that cannot be skipped or ignored without financial penalty. Obese people are considered to be second-class citizens, and work either as cleaners around the machines (where they receive verbal abuse) or are humiliated on game shows.

Bingham "Bing" Madsen is a citizen of the facility who has inherited over 15,000,000 merits and has the luxury of skipping advertisements. In the toilet he overhears Abi, a woman whose voice he finds beautiful, singing a song from before the facility. He encourages her to enter into the X-Factor style game show Hot Shots, which offers a chance for people to get out of the slave-like world around them. Abi however does not wish to do this as she hasn't enough merits and feels she would be unable to perform under the pressure. Bing persuades her and, feeling there is nothing "real" worth buying, purchases the ticket for her, which had been raised from 12 to 15 million merits.

When she enters the competition, the judges and the crowd enjoy her singing, but they state there is no room for an 'Above Average Singer' and instead give her the chance to become an adult actress on the pornographic TV Show 'Wraith Babes', or else return to the bike machines. After goading from the judges and the crowd, and drugged on a substance called "Cuppliance" (compliance in a cup), Abi reluctantly agrees and Bing is heartbroken.

Bing returns to his cell without Abi and without any merits. When a showing for Wraith Babes appears on the screen, he is unable to skip it as he doesn't have enough merits and is forced to watch Abi perform a sexual act. He desperately tries to escape his cell, ramming the door until the glass breaks. He hides a shard of glass under his bed and starts to earn another 15,000,000 merits to enter the competition. He stops buying food (eating the leftovers the other citizens leave behind) and pedals for months until he has enough to buy another ticket. He stands in the Hot Shots waiting room every day without any expression until he's eventually called to compete.

As he approaches the stage he is required to take a dosage of Cuppliance, as Abi did, but he then presents the empty carton he preserved from Abi's performance, avoiding taking the drug. When he is put on the stage he begins to dance but interrupts his performance, draws the shard of glass and threatens to kill himself live on the show. He tearfully rants about how unfair the system is and expresses his anger for how the judges took away the only thing he found in the facility that felt real. The judges, instead of taking his words into consideration, are impressed by his 'performance' and offer him his own show, where he can rant about the system all he likes.

Under a similar pressure as the one placed on Abi earlier, he accepts, and he is shown finishing one of his streams in his penthouse, putting his shard away in a silk box. Bing stands staring at an enormous glass panel wall, beyond which is a green forest stretching to the horizon. The audience is left wondering whether he is looking through a window or at another computer generated display. Has he simply been upgraded to a larger cell?

Written by Charlie Brooker and Konnie Huq.

Directed by Euros Lyn.

Cast includes Daniel Kaluuya, Jessica Brown Findlay, Paul Popplewell, Rupert Everett, Julia Davis and Ashley Thomas.

3. "The Entire History of You"

Set in an alternative reality where most people have a 'grain' implanted behind their ear which records everything they do, see or hear. This allows memories to be played back either in front of the person's eyes or on a screen, a process known as a 're-do'.

Liam Foxwell, a young lawyer, attends a work appraisal which he feels did not go well. After leaving the meeting he replays his memory of it and dwells on a seemingly insincere phrase used by his employer. He arrives at a dinner party hosted by some of his wife's friends, and sees his wife Ffion talking to a man he doesn't recognise, whom she introduces as Jonas. Some of Ffion's friends ask how the appraisal went and suggest replaying it as a 're-do' so they can all give their opinions on it, but Jonas steps in to save Liam from the embarrassment.

At dinner, Jonas speaks increasingly frankly about his personal life, and talks about masturbating to re-dos of sex from his earlier relationships. Throughout the meal, Liam becomes suspicious of how fondly Ffion seems to be looking at Jonas, and he is especially suspicious when she laughs at Jonas's bad joke.

When Liam and Ffion return home, it transpires that Ffion had had a previous relationship with Jonas many years ago which she hadn't told Liam about. She initially says it lasted a week, then a month, and then admits it was six months. These initial lies make Liam even more paranoid and he insists on replaying footage from the evening and demanding explanations for why Ffion said and did the things she did. Ffion becomes increasingly uncomfortable with his relentless questioning and the conversation turns into a row. Liam apologises and they have sex, but they are both watching re-dos of more passionate sex from earlier in their relationship. After they finish, Liam goes back downstairs and watches re-dos of Jonas' frank confessions from the dinner party, whilst drinking excessively. He continues this all night, and the next morning argues with Ffion about her laughing at Jonas' joke. She goes back to bed and he drunkenly drives to Jonas' house, where he confronts him about his relationship with Ffion, and threatens to cut Jonas' grain out of his neck if he doesn't delete all the footage of her stored on it. Jonas complies, and Liam drives away, crashes his car into a tree and passes out.

When he wakes up, he replays his latest memories with increasing horror, and walks home to confront Ffion - as Jonas projected his footage of Ffion onto the wall screen before deleting it, Liam noticed that there was a file proving Jonas and Ffion last had sex eighteen months ago, around the time their daughter Jodie was conceived. Ffion admits to cheating on Liam, saying that it was when Liam had temporarily walked out after a row, but insists that she and Jonas did use a condom and that Liam is the baby's father. Liam refuses to take her word for this and demands that she replay the re-do of it to prove it. She tries to erase the memory but he stops her, and she plays the footage whilst sobbing and unable to look at the screen. It is unclear whether the video proves or disproves Liam's suspicions, although it is heavily hinted that they were correct.

In the closing scenes, Liam is shown wandering through the house, which is now untidy and half-empty, and Fion and Jodie are gone. Happy memories of his wife and daughter appear as he walks through each room, until, tormented by these re-dos, he messily cuts his grain out of his neck with a razor.

Written by Jesse Armstrong.

Directed by Brian Welsh.

Cast includes Toby Kebbell, Jodie Whittaker, Tom Cullen and Jimi Mistry.

Viewing figures

The first episode had 2.07 million viewers and the second episode had 1.52 million viewers.

External links

• Black Mirror at IMDb