Black Mirror Trivia | 55 facts about the popular series

It was recently revealed that “Black Mirror” is preparing a new season for Netflix. The hit sci-fi series will be returning for its sixth series.

Let’s find out some trivia and facts about the series.

1. Black Mirror is a British anthology television series
2. It is created by Charlie Brooker
3. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres
4. But most are set in near-future dystopias utilising a science fiction technology—a type of speculative fiction
5. The series is based on The Twilight Zone
6. It uses technology to comment on contemporary social issues
7. Most episodes are written by Brooker
8. With heavy involvement by the executive producer Annabel Jones
9. There are 22 episodes across five series and one special
10. In addition to the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
11. The first two series aired on the British network Channel 4 in 2011 and 2013
12. As did the 2014 special “White Christmas”
13. The programme then moved to Netflix
14. There three further series aired in 2016, 2017 and 2019
15. A sixth series on Netflix has been greenlit
16. Two related webisode series were produced by Netflix
17. And a companion book to the first four series, Inside Black Mirror, was published in 2018
18. Soundtracks to many episodes have been released as albums
19. The series has received critical acclaim
20. It is considered by many reviewers to be one of the best television series of the 2010s
21. With “San Junipero”, “USS Callister” and Bandersnatch, the programme won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie
22. This happened three times consecutively
23. However, some critics consider the morality of the series obvious or cite declining quality over time
24. Black Mirror, along with American Horror Story, has been credited with repopularising the anthology television format
25. A number of episodes have been seen by reviewers as prescient
26. The series was originally commissioned by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and premiered in December 2011
27. A second series ran during February 2013
28. In September 2015, Netflix purchased the programme, commissioning a series of 12 episodes
29. It was later divided into two series of six episodes
30. The first six episodes were released simultaneously on Netflix worldwide as the overall third series on 21 October 2016
31. The fourth series of six episodes was released on 29 December 2017
32. A fifth series consisting of three episodes was released on 5 June 2019
33. The first four series, as well as the special “White Christmas”, have been released on DVD
34. The series was created by Brooker, who was previously known as a comedy writer
35. He wrote video game reviews for PC Zone in the late 1990s
36. He began writing television reviews for The Guardian and making television in the 2000s
37. Brooker had completed production of Dead Set (2008), a zombie-based drama series, and while working on Newswipe (2009–2010) and other programmes
38. He decided to make an anthology drama series
39. It was modelled in the style of The Twilight Zone (1959–1964), Tales of the Unexpected (1979–1988) and Hammer House of Horror (1980)
40. Brooker recognised that Rod Serling had based The Twilight Zone on contemporary issues, often controversial ones such as racism, but placed them in fictional settings to get around television censors at the time
41. Brooker realised he could commentate similarly on modern issues, specifically focusing on technology, a topic he explored in producing the series How TV Ruined Your Life (2011)
42. He aimed to explore “the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time”
43. Brooker wanted to keep the anthology approach, using new stories, settings, characters, and actors for each episode
44. As he felt this was a key element of enjoying series like The Twilight Zone
45. This approach would allow Black Mirror to contrast with current dramas and serials that had a standard recurring cast
46. According to Brooker, the production team considered giving the series a linking theme or presenter, but ultimately decided not to
47. Black Mirror has been met with critical acclaim
48. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first series received a 98% rating
49. The second received an 87% rating
50. And “White Christmas” received an 89% rating
51. Series three received an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 82 on Metacritic
52. Series four received an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 72 on Metacritic
53. Bandersnatch holds a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 61 on Metacritic
54. And series five holds a rating of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 65 on Metacritic
55. According to Víctor Cerdán Martínez of Vivat Academia in 2018, Black Mirror was one of China’s five most-watched Western television series