Underplayed Gems

Black Mirror (2011)

Black Mirror poster
Directed by
Bryn Higgins, Colm McCarthy, Carl Tibbetts, Owen Harris
Genre
anthology series, drama television series, thriller television series, satirical television series, science fiction television series, dystopian television series
Country
United Kingdom
Length
7 seasons, 34 episodes
Rated
TV-MA
Rating
8.3 of 10 from 6,308 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Each episode tells a standalone story set in a near-future world where new technology often leads to disturbing outcomes. The show uses science fiction to critique modern society and media.

unsettlingthought-provokingbleaksatiricaltensedystopianspeculativecerebral

What happens

Black Mirror is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are speculative fiction, set in near-future dystopias containing sci-fi technology. The series is inspired by The Twilight Zone and uses the themes of technology and media to comment on contemporary social issues. Most episodes are written by Brooker with involvement by the executive producer Annabel Jones. There are 33 episodes in seven series and one special, in addition to the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018). The first two series aired on the British network Channel 4 in 2011 and 2013, as did the 2014 special "White Christmas". The programme then moved to Netflix, where five further series aired in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2023, and 2025. An eighth series is in development. Two related webisode series were produced by Netflix, and a companion book to the first four series, Inside Black Mirror, was published in 2018. Soundtracks to many episodes have been released as albums. Black Mirror is considered by some reviewers to be one of the best television series of the 2010s, while some critics have found the formulaic morality themes of the series obvious or have cited declining quality. The programme won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie three times consecutively for "San Junipero", "USS Callister" and Bandersnatch. Black Mirror, along with American Horror Story and Inside No. 9, has been credited with reviving the anthology television format and a number of episodes have been deemed prescient by the media. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.