For those of you who don't know, Black Mirror is the latest creation of Charlie Brooker. A wonderfully twisted opinion columnist in the Guardian, and presenter of great comedy review shows like Screen Wipe, whose last dramatic TV outing was the quite enjoyable "Big Brother meets zombie apocalypse" show Dead Set.

Black Mirror is a much more ambitious project, seeking to bring back Twilight Zone style self contained episodic sci-fi to TV. It's got a miniseries of three episodes, two of which have aired (Available on 4oD for people in the UK). And so far I'd say its been top notch. Really good stories, shot really well and I'm looking forward to the third. Most importantly for a show emulating Twilight Zone feel, the premises have all been interesting.

Episodes so far:
Episode 1.
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A very NSFW premise for this episode. The Prime Minister of the UK receives a ransom demand via the internet. He must perform an *ahem* indecent act with a pig on live TV, or a princess is killed.

The premise is lifted right from one of Charlie's old columns, but the beauty in this one is really in the execution. A pretty believable exploration of the way events of that sort might transpire, that also says quite a lot about society.


Episode 2.
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Episode 2 is about a twisted future society where people are relegated to a life of toil, drudgery and constant bombardment with meaningless entertainment. Where an "X-Factor" like show is the only escape. The protagonist meets a girl who is a fabulous singer, and puts her onto the contest only to have things go dreadfully wrong.

I liked this one more than the first episode. Stronger premise, and some very nice worldbuilding. Again, the idea was lifted right from one of his old columns, but the transition from humour to drama is incredibly believable here. I really liked the episode.


Anyway, if you're not watching it and you're in the UK I'd highly recommend it. Anybody else been following it?