Charlie Brooker
Netflix
When Black Mirror began in 2011, it was easy to describe: a British horror anthology series about technology. Over time, that description has become fuzzier. It no longer feels very British. It鈥檚 not always horrifying or tech-inclined. Sometimes, it鈥檚 not even TV: in 2018, an interactive film called Black Mirror: Bandersnatch let viewers control the life of troubled programmer Stefan (Fionn Whitehead).
Now in its seventh season, Black Mirror has metamorphosed again. It鈥檚 no longer a pure anthology, with two new episodes serving as sequels to Bandersnatch and season four鈥檚 USS Callister, respectively. So what is Black Mirror these days?
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Let鈥檚 talk about those sequels for a moment. The first, Plaything, is set in a near-future where Cameron Walker (Peter Capaldi) is being interrogated on suspicion of murder. While working as a writer for PC Zone in the 1990s, he visited Tuckersoft, the company at the heart of Bandersnatch, where Colin Ritman (Will Poulter) was designing a new game.
Fans of Bandersnatch seeking revelations about Stefan will be left wanting, as Plaything doesn鈥檛 overtly intersect with the film much. That said, it is pleasantly meta 鈥� Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker started out at PC Zone himself 鈥� and certain events hint that Cameron is experiencing something similar to Stefan, but here the viewer can鈥檛 influence the narrative. It鈥檚 a brilliant move, and compelling for anyone who spent hours chasing 叠补苍诲别谤蝉苍补迟肠丑鈥�s various endings, but less so for viewers coming to the episode afresh.
Into Infinity is so much fun that it makes the flaws of the rest of the season all the plainer
The other sequel is far more straightforward and satisfying. In USS Callister, Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), the disgruntled creator of an online game called Infinity, patched digital clones of his colleagues into a Star Trek-esque bubble universe where he could abuse them at will. After defeating Daly, Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) and her crew flew off into the sunset in search of their next adventure.
But when we rejoin them in USS Callister: Into Infinity, things aren鈥檛 looking so rosy. The game has become increasingly expensive to play, forcing the crew to rob players simply to keep their ship running. And while those they target can easily respawn when killed, for the clones, death in Infinity is real.
Into Infinity is a tightly plotted romp that proves Brooker was right to rip up the rulebook and write a sequel. It鈥檚 so much fun that it makes the flaws of the rest of the season all the plainer. Eulogy and Hotel Reverie are romantic instalments with plenty of heart but are ultimately forgettable. B锚te Noire is better, oozing with nastiness; Common People, meanwhile, is one of the worst instalments of Black Mirror to date.
So what does this new season tell us about Black Mirror in 2025? That despite many reinventions, it remains a mixed bag.
One early, enduring criticism of the series was that its sci-fi concepts are shallow and poorly explored 鈥� 鈥渨hat if phones, but too much?鈥�, as writer Danny Lavery once put it. This certainly remains the case for some of the weaker new episodes 鈥� but others are as thought-provoking and grimly entertaining as the show ever has been. The more things have changed, the more they have stayed the same.
Sounds like something straight out of Black Mirror.
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Charlie Brooker
BBC iPlayer/Netflix
Philomena Cunk (played by Diane Morgan) was born as a talking head in Charlie Brooker鈥檚 Weekly Wipe, and she deserves to be as immortal as Alan Partridge.
Charlie Brooker
Faber
I compulsively read this compendium of Charlie Brooker鈥檚 TV columns as a teenager, and look at me now. Let that be a warning to parents everywhere.
Bethan Ackerley is a subeditor at 91av. She loves sci-fi, sitcoms and anything spooky. Follow her聽on聽X @鈥宨nkerley
