Original series creator Charlie Brooker is not writing episodes for a new season of ‘Black Mirror’, because… we’re all basically living in one.
Speaking to Radio Times, Brooker said:
“I’ve been busy, doing things. I don’t know what I can say about what I’m doing and not doing. At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on one of those [‘Black Mirror’ episodes]. I’m sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I’ve been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh.”
Well, in all fairness, a lot of ‘Black Mirror’ episodes are pretty funny, even with all that dystopia stuff. But there may be a better time for biting political and societal satire than a time when people are literally dying by the thousands.
Actually Brooker and his producing partner, Annabel Jones, produced the first two seasons of ‘Black Mirror’ under the Zeppotron banner, under the aegis of production company Endemol Shine. Zeppotron was intended to create comedic projects. After the success of the early installments, Brooker and Jones set up their own banner, House of Tomorrow, through which they created the subsequent seasons of ‘Black Mirror’.
However, in January, Brooker and Jones left their positions at Endemol Shine and began negotiating with Netflix for their own pact. It wasn’t clear at the time whether or not Brooker and Jones would remain affiliated with ‘Black Mirror’, but it now sounds as though they are, but they are just not working on it at the time.
There have been five seasons of ‘Black Mirror’, comprised of 22 episodes– essentially separate mini-movies– which deconstruct the impact of technology on humanity. The series has won eight Emmy Awards, among the 25 various accolades it has racked up. Perhaps the two most noted episodes are ‘San Junipero’ and ‘USS Callister’, as well as the stand-alone interactive movie ‘Bandersnatch’.
Looks like we will have to wait until this real-life dystopian situation resolves itself before we’re ready to start satirizing it again.
