Charlie Brooker Opens Up About The Making Of 'Black Mirror'

So, are you caught up to date on Black Mirror season 4 yet? If you aren't - go and watch it, then come back and read this, because there might be some mild spoilers ahead.

Weeks after the release of season 4 on Netflix, and after a load of great reviews, action-packed episodes, and collective bemusement on Twitter, a short featurette video about the making of the latest season has been released.

The video shows Charlie Brooker (the show's creator), producer Annabel Jones, and celebrity director of one episode ('Arkangel', since you've asked) Jodie Foster.

In the clip the three discuss how the show came about, why they think it is important, and the challenges that they faced when making it - including why it is done in episodic format for TV rather than following one storyline.

Brooker explains the show's creation like this: "Black Mirror came about because at the time I felt one-off ideas-based stories weren't really being told on television.

"The trend was for long, five-season story arcs about a troubled yet fascinating man. Many of which I was a huge fan of, but what I felt was lacking was those one-off shows you can catch late at night and go, 'What the hell was that?'

"The show does reflect a kind of gnawing sense unease at the march of technology."

Never were truer words spoken, Charlie.

After achieving critical acclaim with the first few seasons the show has grown and grown in popularity and was picked up by Netflix after two seasons.

This opened up a bigger budget for the show and allowed the team behind it to be more expansive, as well as fulfilling ambitions to try different styles.

Jones, who has produced the show from the beginning, explains: "This season has lots of firsts for Black Mirror, so you know, we're doing our first black and white film, we're doing our first American indie set in working class East Coast America, directed by Jodie Foster.

"It allows us to do lots of different genres, lots of different tones, and lots of different worlds."

Foster continues: "I really believe in short story form, some things have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and I feel like that's the voice that I'm happiest with."

Perhaps the most interesting revelation in the video is when Brooker admits that, despite his best efforts, it now seems as if all of the stories take place in the same universe, creating room to explore potential crossovers.

"People used to say to me, 'Are these all set in one shared universe?' and I'd say 'Absolutely not.' And now for the first time I think one of our stories starts referring to things that happened in other episodes."

Creepy, but exciting. With rumours circulating of a 'USS Callister' (series 4, episode 1) spin-off show, anything is possible now in the Black Mirror universe.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Charlie Brooker, black mirror, TV and Film, UK Entertainment, US Entertainment

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