If Black Mirror Is Getting You Down Too Much, Why Not Try Electric Dreams Instead?

Channel 4's sci-fi show adapted from the works of the great Philip K. Dick is not AS bleak as Black Mirror, and it has some pretty big names

Black Mirror is pretty relentlessly bleak. Apart from a few (all too fleeting) happy endings, the viewer is usually left with a feeling of uneasiness and fear for a world that becomes more and more like an episode of Black Mirror every day.

In fact, that's kind of the point. Creator Charlie Brooker has explained on a couple of occasions how the show came by its name.

"What I took it to mean was when a screen is off - when a screen is off it looks like a black mirror," Brooker told Channel 4.

"Because any TV, any LCD, any iPhone, any iPad - something like that - if you just stare at it, it looks like a black mirror, and there's something cold and horrifying about that.

"I quite like the fact that people are watching it on their TV or on their laptop, or their smartphone or whatever, and then as the end credits start running and the screen cuts to black, they see themselves reflected."

Netflix

So where are you supposed to turn if you are struggling with the strain of Brooker's all-too-real science fiction universe?

Well one show you could watch is Electric Dreams. Based upon the short stories of sci-fi writing legend Philip K. Dick (Who wrote Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, and Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep? - from which Blade Runner was made).

The show is made up of 10 standalone episodes told across a load of different favourite topics for science fiction such as dystopian futures, technological advancement, and artificial intelligence.

Channel 4

It's still pretty bleak - the show's creators Ronald D. Moore and Michael Dinner are pretty downbeat about technology, too; they are just more optimistic about human nature.

Whereas Black Mirror tends to portray human nature as the thing that when combined with technology creates the problem, Electric Dreams allows the human characters to be a bit nicer to each other (not difficult).

It premiered in the UK last September on Channel 4, but all of the episodes are also available on Amazon Prime to watch whenever you like.

There are some pretty big stars in the show, too. Timothy Spall, Anna Paquin, Bryan Cranston, and Steve Buscemi feature throughout the series.

Channel 4 recently announced that four new episodes are being made and will most likely air at some point in early 2018, so you haven't got long to wait if you decide to watch.

Perhaps you could alternate one episode each of Electric Dreams and Black Mirror - although I'm not sure how good that would be for your brain.

Topics: black mirror, TV and Film, UK Entertainment, Netflix, Channel 4

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a freelance journalist and LADbible contributor. He graduated from University of London with a BA in Philosophy before studying for a Masters in Journalism at the University of Salford. He has previously written for the M.E.N Group as well as working for several top professional sports clubs. Contact him on [email protected]

@TPWagwim