# Black Mirror - Charlie Brooker



## ebay sex moomin (Nov 16, 2011)

Black Mirror- three new films; two written by Charlie Brooker, and one by Jesse Armstrong. Coming 'soon'.

Trailer here.

Charlie Brooker interview/chat here.

Must say, I'm really looking forward to these.


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## teuchter (Nov 16, 2011)

ebay sex moomin said:


> Charlie Brooker interview/chat here.



He seems to have a new trendy haircut.


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## Wookey (Nov 16, 2011)

Cannot wait!


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## Picadilly Commando (Nov 16, 2011)

I don't really like Brooker on TV. But! He is a good writer and Dead Set was great so I'll look forward to this.


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## Cid (Nov 16, 2011)

teuchter said:


> He seems to have a new trendy haircut.



Except that unfortunately the it makes him look a bit like he's channeling Richard Madeley.


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## killer b (Nov 16, 2011)

sweet jesus. i thought the last haircut was rank. what's huq done to him?


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## Picadilly Commando (Nov 16, 2011)

Obviously fucked his brains out, lucky bastard that he is.


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## DexterTCN (Nov 16, 2011)

Konnie Huq.   Sigh.    http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ko...&ei=g_jDTsSTDM218QOZ-7y0Cw&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QsAQ

The only slightly disappointing thing from Brooker was that live politics thingy, this if not great, will surely be watchable and interesting.


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## DrRingDing (Nov 16, 2011)

.....and he has the temerity to bang on people being obsessed with appearance. Pfft.


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## Picadilly Commando (Nov 16, 2011)

Are you an idiot?

"Oh I will think I ignore this beautiful woman who loves me, even if I am an ugly cunt, because DrRingDing will think I am being hypocritical. Damn it! Why can't I fall in love with someone as ugly as me."


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## DexterTCN (Nov 16, 2011)

Won't someone think of the children?   Imagine....an ugly mum.


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## Divisive Cotton (Nov 16, 2011)

that was a great trailer


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## William of Walworth (Nov 17, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> Are you an idiot?
> 
> "Oh I will think I ignore this beautiful woman who loves me, even if I am an ugly cunt, because DrRingDing will think I am being hypocritical. Damn it! Why can't I fall in love with someone as ugly as me."


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## Maggot (Nov 17, 2011)

When does this start?


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## Orang Utan (Nov 17, 2011)

soon


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## elbows (Nov 17, 2011)

Its already generated one headline that I enjoyed.

edited as I've decided this stuff may be a bit of a spoiler.


Spoiler






> Charlie Brooker satire Black Mirror to show prime minister pig sex dilemma



http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/881068-ch...-to-feature-prime-minister-in-pig-sex-dilemma


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## DrRingDing (Nov 18, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> Are you an idiot?



It's called jealousy.

BUT

Have you heard his rants regardingn appearance? It all sounds rather hollow and icky considering he's bagged the most attractive woman I can think of.


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## gabi (Nov 18, 2011)

He lost my respect when he hooked up with this cunt..







He's a fucking hypocrite. But I can almost forgive him. Purely for Nathan Barley. Almost.


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## Maggot (Nov 18, 2011)

DrRingDing said:


> It's called jealousy.
> 
> BUT
> 
> Have you heard his rants regardingn appearance? It all sounds rather hollow and icky considering he's bagged the most attractive woman I can think of.


No it doesn't.

You can rant against people who are obsessed with appearance. It doesn't mean you have to look like a tramp and only go out with unattractive people.

I enjoyed Dead Set, and hope this is as good.


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## DrRingDing (Nov 18, 2011)

Maggot said:


> You can rant against people who are obsessed with appearance. It doesn't mean you have to look like a tramp and only go out with unattractive people.



Don't get me wrong I love his work. But his latest bits I've seen stink of his insecurities with the Huqster.


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## Picadilly Commando (Nov 18, 2011)

Time for pop psychology, it appears to me DrRingDing is projecting. Did you once make love to a beautiful woman only for her to call you an idiot and never speak to you again? Get over it. We've all been there, most of us grow out of it by the time puberty finishes.


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## Orang Utan (Nov 18, 2011)

can't believe people are angry with brooker for having a totally normal haircut.


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## Jeff Robinson (Nov 18, 2011)

One of the most compelling trailers I've ever seen...


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## ebay sex moomin (Nov 19, 2011)

Maggot said:


> When does this start?


December the 4th, which is a Sunday.


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## killer b (Nov 19, 2011)

Picadilly Commando said:


> Time for pop psychology, it appears to me DrRingDing is projecting. Did you once make love to a beautiful woman only for her to call you an idiot and never speak to you again? Get over it. We've all been there, most of us grow out of it by the time puberty finishes.


i reckon it happened just like that. apart from the making love to a beautiful woman bit.


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## Maggot (Nov 19, 2011)

ebay sex moomin said:


> December the 4th, which is a Sunday.


Thanks.


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## Picadilly Commando (Nov 26, 2011)

killer b said:


> i reckon it happened just like that. apart from the making love to a beautiful woman bit.


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## Reno (Nov 26, 2011)

Loved Dead Set, think Brooker is a good writer and I'm not celebrity obsessed enough to give a shit about his hair style or his wife, so I'm looking forward to this.


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## ebay sex moomin (Dec 4, 2011)

Bump- tonight at 9.00!

Oh, might as well mention Brooker is also doing a '2011 Wipe' show, which is on... *googles*... BBC4 on Tuesday 20 December at 10pm.


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## isvicthere? (Dec 4, 2011)

On tonight!


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## Divisive Cotton (Dec 4, 2011)

toss up tonight between south park and charlie broker but I think the latter may win my attention


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## Jon-of-arc (Dec 4, 2011)

Seen the trailer for the first show - not sure it really looks that impressive or interesting, and brookers been mediocre of late in the guardian, but it would be nice to have my expectations dashed.


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## susie12 (Dec 4, 2011)

His wife is credited as a co-writer.  Which puts me off, tbh.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

not this one, next week's
i want to watch this on +1 - can i do that online anyone?


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## killer b (Dec 4, 2011)

I'd have though so.

It's not brilliant so far.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

found it: http://www.tvcatchup.com/watch.html?c=20


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## Termite Man (Dec 4, 2011)

ebay sex moomin said:


> Bump- tonight at 9.00!
> 
> Oh, might as well mention Brooker is also doing a '2011 Wipe' show, which is on... *googles*... BBC4 on Tuesday 20 December at 10pm.



what channel?


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## xenon (Dec 4, 2011)

Sounds interesting. But I think this twitteratti, short attention span adiction to social media stuff is overplayed myself. I don't find it all that compelling. The signal to noise ratio agrovates. But then, I'm on here. Mind you that's in lu of being down the pub TBH. </sad>


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## xenon (Dec 4, 2011)

Oh it's on tonight, right now. Fuck can I be arsed putting the telly on. (nope.)


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

it's a bit late, it's been on 40 minutes - watch it on C4+1 if you have it.


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## Termite Man (Dec 4, 2011)

I'll 4OD it tomorrow.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

shame 4OD is so shit


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## xenon (Dec 4, 2011)

Prob try catch it on 4OD. I'm sorta trying to listen to a book, typing on here. Throwing TV into the mix might not be good. hmm. Maybe Charlie Brooker's got a point.


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## OneStrike (Dec 4, 2011)

i think its brilliant!  I won't elaborate as many will watch later.


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## starfish (Dec 4, 2011)

It was ok.


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## Greebo (Dec 4, 2011)

Meh.


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## editor (Dec 4, 2011)

I thought it was utter shite from start to finish. It was like one of his mildly amusing newspaper rants pointlessly padded out into an overlong half-baked piece of drama.


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## killer b (Dec 4, 2011)

i found the newsroom dialogue in particular was appalling.


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## yardbird (Dec 4, 2011)

Not impressed.


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2011)

I liked it. 

A bit like TV plays of yore. But up to date.


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## zenie (Dec 4, 2011)

Absolute load of tosh, embarrassing in fact.


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## big eejit (Dec 4, 2011)

I thought it was funny. What's not funny about a prime minister being blackmailed to fuck a sheep live on tv?


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## OneStrike (Dec 4, 2011)

big eejit said:


> I thought it was funny. What's not funny about a prime minister being blackmailed to fuck a sheep live on tv?


 
When the sheep is forced into a pig costume causing the animal distress?


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## Spymaster (Dec 4, 2011)

big eejit said:


> I thought it was funny. What's not funny about a prime minister being blackmailed to fuck a sheep live on tv?



It was a pig. Better still!


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## poului (Dec 4, 2011)

lots of observation, no overall point. I thought dead set was rubbish and this is too. he's not good with drama.


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## Greebo (Dec 4, 2011)

ska invita said:


> A bit like TV plays of yore.


What, you mean the ones where I sat there waiting for something to happen or for it to get interesting and it never did?  IMHO it wasn't quite that bad.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

how did he get it up?


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## editor (Dec 4, 2011)

It was like something a very average foundation year film student might produce if rich daddy were willing to fund it.


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## belboid (Dec 4, 2011)

load of shit. It probly sounded like a good idea after five pints. But it turned out to be a shite idea


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> how did he get it up?


took viagra on the way in


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

it was a distracting bit of fluff


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

ska invita said:


> took viagra on the way in


does it give you a boner whether you want one or not then?


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> does it give you a boner whether you want one or not then?


i think so. some times have to wait for it go away. can take a while.


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> it was a distracting bit of fluff


yeah exactly, and a good one at that. at least it relates to the real world as it is today unlike most things on tv.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

he should have got rebecca loos to fluff him first


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## ska invita (Dec 4, 2011)

Greebo said:


> What, you mean the ones where I sat there waiting for something to happen or for it to get interesting and it never did? IMHO it wasn't quite that bad.


point taken, old tv plays could be boring, i just meant that it was in that tradition of a one-off one hour piece, with an agenda beyond usual drama shock horror thrills - it was trying to say something, not just entertain - but also be entertaining. i was entertained.


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## Greebo (Dec 4, 2011)

ska invita said:


> i think so. some times have to wait for it go away. can take a while.


Viagra has no effect (unless you include red face, headache and increased risk of heart attack) unless there's some stimulation as well to get the increased blood flow started. And how long it lasts can be well over an hour, even after coming.

How do I know?  because it's something prescribed for somebody I know.  And I don't mean VP.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

as someone said on twitter:
i bet nick clegg would do it


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## quimcunx (Dec 4, 2011)

There was some porn playing on screens in the room.

I found it quite amusing.


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## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 4, 2011)

Hmmm. I expected it to be better so I was ever so slightly disappointed but it was still better than most Sunday night offerings.
It left me with the question: would anybody fuck a pig to save my life?
I fear the answer is no


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## Maidmarian (Dec 4, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Hmmm. I expected it to be better so I was ever so slightly disappointed but it was still better than most Sunday night offerings.
> It left me with the question: would anybody fuck a pig to save my life?
> I fear the answer is no


 
Ach well, we've all been there !


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## Spymaster (Dec 4, 2011)

I don't get why he was fucking the pig for over an hour.

Wouldn't a quick in and out "whoops I've shot my load" have sufficed?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

didn't he have to come?


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## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 4, 2011)

Where is my virile knight in shining armour to ride upon his trusty steed, and violate a swine to save my soul?
Gone, gone is chivalry I tell you!


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## Spymaster (Dec 4, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> didn't he have to come?



Was that specified?

Wouldn't most folk fake it anyway?


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## quimcunx (Dec 4, 2011)

yes. it was specified.


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## Greebo (Dec 4, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> I don't get why he was fucking the pig for over an hour.
> 
> Wouldn't a quick in and out "whoops I've shot my load" have sufficed?


Apart from anything else, viagra doesn't let you deflate so easily. So faking an orgasm and pulling out while the cameras were still rolling (and filming from the required angles) wouldn't have met the requirements.  And it would have been visibly obvious that he hadn't.


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## quimcunx (Dec 4, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Where is my virile knight in shining armour to ride upon his trusty steed, and violate a swine to save my soul?
> Gone, gone is chivalry I tell you!



I thought the wife was a bit mean but 5t3IIa said she wouldn't let him afterwards either.


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## Maidmarian (Dec 4, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Where is my virile knight in shining armour to ride upon his trusty steed, and violate a swine to save my soul?
> Gone, gone is chivalry I tell you!


 
Oh yes , that went out with trilbys----circa 1956 iirc.


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## Spymaster (Dec 4, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> yes. it was specified.



So how would anyone have known if he faked it? A few grunts, couple of funny faces, and light up a fag.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 4, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> So how would anyone have known if he faked it? A few grunts, couple of funny faces, and light up a fag.


money shot


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> money shot



So he had to pull out and come over the pigs arse?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

can't wait for PMQT this week


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## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> So he had to pull out and come over the pigs arse?


i would imagine so, but i'd rather not


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## andy2002 (Dec 5, 2011)

I'd like to see David Cameron fuck a pig live on TV. Anyone up for kidnapping Kate Middleton?


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## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

All I could think about was if he was wearing a condom...


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## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 5, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I'd like to see David Cameron fuck a pig live on TV. Anyone up for kidnapping Kate Middleton?


Surely it would be Cameron and Clegg spitroasting the swine

But leave Kate alone, go for Thatcher instead


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## marty21 (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> as someone said on twitter:
> i bet nick clegg would do it


I was thinking that as he was pig fucking


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## Iguana (Dec 5, 2011)

editor said:


> It was like something a very average foundation year film student might produce if rich daddy were willing to fund it.



That's _exactly_ what it was like.  It was a very disappointing piece of television, if there were good themes to be found in the plot Brooker completely failed to find them.  It was utter wank.

(Or udder wank, I guess.)


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

girasol said:


> All I could think about was if he was wearing a condom...



Surely any self respecting pig-fuck blackmailer would insist on bareback.


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

I thought it was ace.

i liked the part where he fucked the pig.


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

B0B2oo9 said:


> i liked the part where he fucked the pig.



How many tissues did you use?


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

7 or 8 ?


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## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

I thought it was good. Very entertaining - what else did it have to be?


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## editor (Dec 5, 2011)

magneze said:


> I thought it was good. Very entertaining - what else did it have to be?


Enjoy the rest of the series then. I'm not watching it again.


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

I'm sure there will be something better on, like X factor or im a twat etc.


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## Santino (Dec 5, 2011)

I thought it was slight, but quite well done. I liked the way that in the end, it wasn't the end of the world. People were disgusted (with themselves, presumably), but only for a while. And the PM got a slight popularity boost, but not much. That's how these things go, they seem all-important at the time but we assimilate them very quickly.


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## editor (Dec 5, 2011)

B0B2oo9 said:


> I'm sure there will be something better on, like X factor or im a twat etc.


You like that kind of shite too?

Ah, OK, That explains it.


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

No for you to watch instead 



editor said:


> You like that kind of shite too?
> 
> Ah, OK, That explains it.


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## editor (Dec 5, 2011)

B0B2oo9 said:


> No for you to watch instead


Why would I want to watch that kind of shit?


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

Becuase you wont be watching this kind of shit?


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## editor (Dec 5, 2011)

B0B2oo9 said:


> Becuase you wont be watching this kind of shit?


Remarkable though it may appear to you, it my world there's always the option to turn the TV off and do something more interesting. That way I don't have to watch any kind of shite.


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

yeah im the same with football


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## Santino (Dec 5, 2011)

Coo, this is like Newsnight Review.


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## story (Dec 5, 2011)

Santino said:


> I thought it was slight, but quite well done. I liked the way that in the end, it wasn't the end of the world. People were disgusted (with themselves, presumably), but only for a while. And the PM got a slight popularity boost, but not much. That's how these things go, they seem all-important at the time but we assimilate them very quickly.


 
That's what I liked about it as well.

It was watchable, entertaining, non-taxing, and like everything else these days, it made no waves; but nor was it boring or trite. I've never watched Heartbeat or whatever takes its place these days, but I'd probably tune in to something like this on a winter Sunday evening

And behind the OMG! stuff was the discussion about how technology is changing the way we live, and how sleb-power is more potent than politico-power, and about craven self-serving career politicians and wives etc. and how ultimately everything washes away in the novelty of the present. Nothing new, and nothing startling, but worth saying.

I imagine it will/has started conversations all over the place, about all sorts of things, not only "Would you fuck a pig if..."


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## story (Dec 5, 2011)

Santino said:


> Coo, this is like Newsnight Review.


 
I've just had my agent on the phone, as it happens.


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## Chz (Dec 5, 2011)

It was okay. Just okay. There's far worse on telly and Sunday night's a bit of a black hole where you don't really want to *do* anything anyhow, so I suppose I'll watch the next one.


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## andy2002 (Dec 5, 2011)

I think it should have had a twist where the PM secretly enjoyed shagging the pig and kept it in the back garden of No.10 so he could pop by to renew their acquaintance every now and again.


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## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I think it should have had a twist where the PM secretly enjoyed shagging the pig and kept it in the back garden of No.10 so he could pop by to renew their acquaintance every now and again.



I was thinking something along the lines of that he could only ever get off by watching the video from that day forward.


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## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I think it should have had a twist where the PM secretly enjoyed shagging the pig and kept it in the back garden of No.10 so he could pop by to renew their acquaintance every now and again.



that would explain why his wife was so pissed off with him a year later.   I really didn't get that.  Also - why the fuck did she watch her husband get amorous with a pig?  I wouldn't!


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## Lord Camomile (Dec 5, 2011)

girasol said:


> Also - why the fuck did she watch her husband get amorous with a pig? I wouldn't!


I wasn't sure she did. There was that shot of her in the bedroom looking offscreen ahead of her, at which point I made pretty much the same point you did, but then I thought I saw a screen in the background, to her right, that wasn't switched on, so I thought maybe the point was she _didn't_ watch it.

I did think she was a bit unfair on him too.


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## ska invita (Dec 5, 2011)

girasol said:


> that would explain why his wife was so pissed off with him a year later. I really didn't get that. Also - why the fuck did she watch her husband get amorous with a pig? I wouldn't!


Supposedly he fucked the pig for 1hr (someone mentions 'its been on for an hour now') - suggesting he did get into it!
 also she didnt watch him - I think she was curled up on the bed during it...


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## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

yeah, maybe she didn't. She was also holding the baby, and I thought, 'is she really watching it while holding the baby?" Imagine the vibes it would be getting off its mum (I say 'its' because it was just a doll  )

although it is possible to watch tv from the bed you know?   but yeah, thinking about it it would only make sense for her *not* to be watching it.


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## belboid (Dec 5, 2011)

After he'd put his cock in a sow, would anyone really want it put into them?  Bit of a romance killer, really.


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## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

If he was fucking the pig for an hour, surely that means he wasn't into it?


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## Lord Camomile (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> If he was fucking the pig for an hour, surely that means he wasn't into it?


Yeah, that was rather my thinking too.

Also, aside from having to fuck a pig, having sex on live TV as the nation watches, knowing that a princess's life depends on you... I'm pretty sure pressure is one of the main causes of poor sexual performance


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## quimcunx (Dec 5, 2011)

I saw no evidence that the wife watched it, only that she didn't. 



Orang Utan said:


> If he was fucking the pig for an hour, surely that means he wasn't into it?



Before he went into the studio the woman said psychologists had advised that getting it over with too quickly would look like he enjoyed it.


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

quimcunx said:


> Before he went into the studio the woman said psychologists had advised that getting it over with too quickly would look like he enjoyed it.



Yeah, but an hour?

The optimum length of time to fuck a pig on national TV is probably subjective anyway.


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## quimcunx (Dec 5, 2011)

I thought that bit was for comedic effect.


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

I thought the whole thing was was comedic. The premise is utterly ludicrous and doesn't work as drama, or hold up to the slightest inspection.

I missed a bit too. To begin with the PM was saying that there was no way he'd do it. Then he did it. How was he made to do it?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> I thought the whole thing was was comedic. The premise is utterly ludicrous and doesn't work as drama, or hold up to the slightest inspection.
> 
> I missed a bit too. To begin with the PM was saying that there was no way he'd do it. Then he did it. How was he made to do it?


he didn't want the poor pwincess to die


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## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

It would have been very easy to get cheap laughs out of this, but it never did. The whole thing was quite unnerving and any laughs were uncomfortable.


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## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

belboid said:


> After he'd put his cock in a sow, would anyone really want it put into them? Bit of a romance killer, really.



yeah, big romance killer, but surely wife could forgive him and at least be kind to him - the minute they walked in the house she just gave him the look of death.

She clearly didn't love her husband in the first place, otherwise she'd be more understanding, but then again who on earth would love Cameron?


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## Ae589 (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> he didn't want the poor pwincess to die


IF he didn't, he would lose the support of his party and the public.  He chose his position over his wife - that's how I saw it.


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## ska invita (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> I thought the whole thing was was comedic. The premise is utterly ludicrous and doesn't work as drama, or hold up to the slightest inspection.
> 
> I missed a bit too. To begin with the PM was saying that there was no way he'd do it. Then he did it. How was he made to do it?


The polls turned, his advisors pushed him, threats made against family security, his good name, etc. ... that was the weakest link, but like you say it was absurdist really


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## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

His lust for power was more than his disgust at bestiality.


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

magneze said:


> It would have been very easy to get cheap laughs out of this, but it never did. The whole thing was quite unnerving and any laughs were uncomfortable.



I thought it was hysterical. The fact that he chose to wear a suit and tie to roger the animal, I found particularly amusing.


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## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

Ae589 said:


> IF he didn't, he would lose the support of his party and the public. He chose his position over his wife - that's how I saw it.



There were 'threats' of his and his family's safety not being guaranteed if he didn't go ahead...

But now that I see it from that view point I can see why his wife would be upset, but there really was a feeling that he literally had no choice, i.e. from the safety aspect.


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## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> I thought it was hysterical. The fact that he chose to wear a suit and tie to roger the animal, I found particularly amusing.


What did you expect? A pig suit?


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## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> I thought it was hysterical. The fact that he chose to wear a suit and tie to roger the animal, I found particularly amusing.


what else would he wear? a tracksuit? a double denim linedancing outfit?


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## andy2002 (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> what else would he wear? a tracksuit? a double denim linedancing outfit?



He should have tried to woo the animal in a smoking jacket and cravat.


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## quimcunx (Dec 5, 2011)

Perhaps there should have been a wardrobe assistant on standby whose job was to choose the most sartorially sensible outfit for a PM to fuck a pig in case of just such a situation arising.


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## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

girasol said:


> There were 'threats' of his and his family's safety not being guaranteed if he didn't go ahead...
> 
> But now that I see it from that view point I can see why his wife would be upset, but there really was a feeling that he literally had no choice, i.e. from the safety aspect.



If someone threatened my family with harm unless I biffed a pig on national TV, I'm not sure I'd feel assured that the threat would subside after the act.

You just can't trust these pig-fuck extortionists.


----------



## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> If someone threatened my family with harm unless I biffed a pig on national TV, I'm not sure I'd feel assured that the threat would subside after the act.
> 
> You just can't trust these pig-fuck extortionists.



The 'threats' came from his advisor.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 5, 2011)

I think it was more that their safety from the _public_ couldn't be assured.


----------



## girasol (Dec 5, 2011)

Lord Camomile said:


> I think it was more that their safety from the _public_ couldn't be assured.



yep, I didn't mean she was going to lamp him and his wife, more that his safety couldn't be guaranteed. Still a massive threat!

That was probably the most intriguing aspect of this episode, which decision to make?


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 5, 2011)

Sorry, yeah, that was more a response to the speculation above, we posted at the same time


----------



## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

Lord Camomile said:


> I think it was more that their safety from the _public_ couldn't be assured.



So we're invited to extend our incredulity further, to believing that the public would pose a safety threat to the Prime Minister and his family, if he refused to publicly fuck a pig to save a royal? 

Bonkers!


----------



## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

It wasn't a documentary.


----------



## Greebo (Dec 5, 2011)

magneze said:


> It wasn't a documentary.


Nice twist though that the chopped off finger turned out to have come from a man and the princess was released unharmed before the act had been gone through with (although the Prime Minister only found that out afterwards).


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Dec 5, 2011)

Yeah this was brilliant actually - really looking forward to the other parts now


----------



## zenie (Dec 5, 2011)

Greebo said:


> Nice twist though that the chopped off finger turned out to have come from a man and the princess was released unharmed before the act had been gone through with (although the Prime Minister only found that out afterwards).



He never found out...


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2011)

except, you would have tought they'd be able to tell the difference between the finger of a forty year old bloke and a finger from a 20summat woman without having to do DNA tests


----------



## Spymaster (Dec 5, 2011)

magneze said:


> It wasn't a documentary.



It wasn't clear what it was.

It wasn't particularly thought provoking or harrowing because questions posed were childishly laughable, and it was funny where it probably wasn't supposed to be.

"Would you fuck a pig for xxxxxx?" and "what would be the consequences of doing so?" is playground stuff. I reckon Brooker was pissed when he thought this up.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> It wasn't clear what it was.


it was pretty clear it was a comedy, though not particularly a good one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

porno thieving gypsy said:


> Yeah this was brilliant actually - really looking forward to the other parts now


there are no more parts - that was it. there are two other films with different stories


----------



## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

Spymaster said:


> It wasn't clear what it was.
> 
> It wasn't particularly thought provoking or harrowing because questions posed were childishly laughable, and it was funny where it probably wasn't supposed to be.
> 
> "Would you fuck a pig for xxxxxx?" and "what would be the consequences of doing so?" is playground stuff. I reckon Brooker was pissed when he thought this up.


Was it meant to be any of these things? Did it have to provoke thought or questions?

Maybe the point was to make something entertaining? Nothing more, nothing less.

I wonder what Brian Sewell made of it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

so, has anyone asked the PM if he'd fuck a pig yet?


----------



## porno thieving gypsy (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> there are no more parts



Er, but It's a 3 part series? So I'll be watching the other 2 parts...


----------



## belboid (Dec 5, 2011)

it's a series cos all the parts have connecting themes (the modern world & technology). But they're all free standing stories


----------



## quimcunx (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> so, has anyone asked the PM if he'd fuck a pig yet?



I imagine there is a cunning scheme being sketched out in green crayon right now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

porno thieving gypsy said:


> Er, but It's a 3 part series? So I'll be watching the other 2 parts...


right, as long as you're not expecting a continuation of the story.


----------



## quimcunx (Dec 5, 2011)

We need the story of the pig.  Maybe that'll be part two.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

The next one is a satire on talent shows, so maybe!


----------



## susie12 (Dec 5, 2011)

Well, yeh.  It was entertaining but very clunky I thought, and the use of actors from The Thick of It was obv to make us think it was as good as The Thick of It, which it really wasn't.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

trailer for next week's:


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

susie12 said:


> Well, yeh. It was entertaining but very clunky I thought, and the use of actors from The Thick of It was obv to make us think it was as good as The Thick of It, which it really wasn't.


who was from the thick of it?


----------



## susie12 (Dec 5, 2011)

Justin Edwards and the older guy who I think was called Julian.


----------



## g force (Dec 5, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> The next one is a satire on talent shows, so maybe!



Wow breaking new ground then...Peter Kay did that FFS.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

it's written with konnie huq.
the one after that looks a bit crap too.


----------



## magneze (Dec 5, 2011)

g force said:


> Wow breaking new ground then...Peter Kay did that FFS.


Lets face it, it can't be worse than Peter Kay's attempt. That was dire.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 5, 2011)

g force said:


> Wow breaking new ground then...Peter Kay did that FFS.



I don't think it's as simple as that – the talent show aspect is, apparently, only a small part of it. The episode centres on some new device that basically allows you to "Sky+ your life" playing back bits that you and others have said and done. With hilariously bleak consequences!


----------



## William of Walworth (Dec 5, 2011)

From page  4 ...




			
				Santino said:
			
		

> I thought it was slight, but quite well done. I liked the way that in the end, it wasn't the end of the world. People were disgusted (with themselves, presumably), but only for a while. And the PM got a slight popularity boost, but not much. That's how these things go, they seem all-important at the time but we assimilate them very quickly.





story said:


> That's what I liked about it as well.
> 
> It was watchable, entertaining, non-taxing, and like everything else these days, it made no waves; but nor was it boring or trite.
> 
> And behind the OMG! stuff was the discussion about how technology is changing the way we live, and how sleb-power is more potent than politico-power, and about craven self-serving career politicians and wives etc. and how ultimately everything washes away in the novelty of the present. Nothing new, and nothing startling, but worth saying.



Those reactions are around where I was at after watching it as well. I didn't think it was complete shite by any means, but I'm hoping the next two srories are better.


----------



## ska invita (Dec 5, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I don't think it's as simple as that – the talent show aspect is, apparently, only a small part of it. The episode centres on some new device that basically allows you to "Sky+ your life" playing back bits that you and others have said and done. With hilariously bleak consequences!


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 5, 2011)

I've never seen Click – mainly because it has Adam Sandler in it. Any good?


----------



## skyscraper101 (Dec 5, 2011)

Based on the reception it's gotten on here I'll give it a miss. I thought Dead Set was truly shite. Brooker should stick to Newswipe and the Guardian.


----------



## ska invita (Dec 5, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> I've never seen Click – mainly because it has Adam Sandler in it. Any good?


it was on tv on sunday. ermmm.... if you're feeling ill and cant move off the sofa on a sunday its gentle enough. Dont expect to laugh.

ETA: Let me rephrase that: it's shite


----------



## Brainaddict (Dec 5, 2011)

Mmm, I suppose this was commenting on the dynamics of reality tv shows and politics and the overlap between the two. I was entertained, particularly cos the PM was obviously meant to be Cameron and I'd like to see him forced to fuck a pig, but it was, as people say, a bit slight.


----------



## susie12 (Dec 5, 2011)

I've been trying to think of things that would have been worse than shag a pig.  For Urbz, obviously kill a kitten.  Shag the Chancellor?  Shag Cherie Blair (she'd have to consent, obv, but if the cheque was big enough that shouldn't be a problem) Tell the truth about the Iraq war and David Kelly?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

shagging cherie blair wouldn't be worse than shagging a pig!


----------



## susie12 (Dec 5, 2011)

> shagging cherie blair wouldn't be worse than shagging a pig!


----------



## ska invita (Dec 5, 2011)

skyscraper101 said:


> Based on the reception it's gotten on here I'll give it a miss. I thought Dead Set was truly shite. Brooker should stick to Newswipe and the Guardian.


Never trust anyone's judgement. The only really shit records i have at home are ones that got five star reviews in the press, or someone else ranted and raved how good it was so I bought it blind. 


I didnt really  like Dead Set either, but I thought Shaun of the Dead was a waste of time and everyone seemed to love that. Zombies just don't do it for me... The bit with Davina was good though


----------



## RaverDrew (Dec 5, 2011)

I normally can't stand Brooker at all, but I really quite enjoyed the first episode of Black Mirror. Best thing he's done yet imo.


----------



## Termite Man (Dec 5, 2011)

I didn't mind that. I wont bother with the other episodes but I can think of worse things to spend 45 minutes doing (like 3/4 fucking a pig)


----------



## fogbat (Dec 5, 2011)

I really enjoyed it. Definitely going to watch the other two.

Also, should I somehow come into the possession of millions of pounds sometime over the next few years, I intend to make it happen for real.


----------



## Termite Man (Dec 5, 2011)

fogbat said:


> I really enjoyed it. Definitely going to watch the other two.
> 
> Also, should I somehow come into the possession of millions of pounds sometime over the next few years, I intend to make it happen for real.


why would you need millions of pounds?


----------



## fogbat (Dec 5, 2011)

Termite Man said:


> why would you need millions of pounds?



To ensure I get away with it.


----------



## Santino (Dec 5, 2011)

Termite Man said:


> why would you need millions of pounds?


First he needs to become Prime Minister.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

fogbat said:


> Also, should I somehow come into the possession of millions of pounds sometime over the next few years, I intend to make it happen for real.


you don't need that much money, fogbat. You just need to find a pig - go to any farm at night. You just need a mate with a smartphone


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 5, 2011)

Santino said:


> First he needs to become Prime Minister.


You don't need to be prime minister to fuck a pig


----------



## skyscraper101 (Dec 5, 2011)

ska invita said:


> I didnt really like Dead Set either, but I thought Shaun of the Dead was a waste of time and everyone seemed to love that. Zombies just don't do it for me... The bit with Davina was good though



Shain of the Dead was funny for the first half, when it went all zombies and lame it got drastically less funny.


----------



## joustmaster (Dec 5, 2011)

I enjoyed it.
I think a lot of people are expecting too much from a tv program


----------



## Ranbay (Dec 5, 2011)

I would like to know from all the people who think this was shit, shaun of the dead was shit and dead set was shit.... what is good?


----------



## killer b (Dec 5, 2011)

joustmaster said:


> I enjoyed it.
> I think a lot of people are expecting too much from a tv program



don't be ridiculous. tv programmes are totally capable of not being a bit shit.


----------



## joustmaster (Dec 5, 2011)

killer b said:


> don't be ridiculous. tv programmes are totally capable of not being a bit shit.


I bet you don't even laugh at you've been framed


----------



## Greebo (Dec 6, 2011)

joustmaster said:


> I bet you don't even laugh at you've been framed


What's that got to do with anything?  IMHO that really is a shit programme.


----------



## Scaggs (Dec 6, 2011)

Thought it was quite good. It got me wondering though if the entire population of the UK (and much of the world) would really be so keen to watch Cameron fucking a pig on live telly. The popularity of the royal wedding confused me too though.


----------



## Reno (Dec 6, 2011)

I just watched it. Once you know the premise, it has nowhere to go. Disappointing. Next weeks episode doesn't look that great either.


----------



## quimcunx (Dec 6, 2011)

like this.


----------



## paolo (Dec 7, 2011)

killer b said:


> don't be ridiculous. tv programmes are totally capable of not being a bit shit.



Yes. This was very poor compared with Frozen Planet.


----------



## barney_pig (Dec 7, 2011)

Finally finished watching last night.
Meh.
That is all.


----------



## krtek a houby (Dec 7, 2011)

We watched this last night, hilarious in a truly uncomfortable way.


----------



## El Sueno (Dec 7, 2011)

Shit.

But I'll watch next week's, cos I usually quite like Brooker's stuff.


----------



## sleaterkinney (Dec 11, 2011)

Boring


----------



## D'wards (Dec 11, 2011)

Well boring


----------



## FabricLiveBaby! (Dec 11, 2011)

susie12 said:


> His wife is credited as a co-writer. Which puts me off, tbh.



This also put me off.  I can't stand Connie Huq.

Havn't seen much of it yet. So I'll give it a go on catch up cos MrLiveBaby! wants to give it a go.

Not holding out much hope I have to say.


----------



## killer b (Dec 11, 2011)

it's better than last week. pretty grim tbh.


----------



## Iguana (Dec 11, 2011)

Might be interesting if it was half an hour long but this is just dragging.  It's not atmospheric, it's dull.


----------



## Dooby (Dec 11, 2011)

It's vaguely interesting but I appear to be neither shocked, horrified, amused nor disturbed. Don't wanna just add a meh here but yeah. Meh. Giving it a go still.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 11, 2011)

This is a little heavy handed...


----------



## TruXta (Dec 11, 2011)

Not a patch on Dead Set.


----------



## Iguana (Dec 11, 2011)

Lord Camomile said:


> This is a little heavy handed...



What was that you were saying about a little?


----------



## D'wards (Dec 11, 2011)

Well, that was a pointless waste of time and effort. This time last year they showed Any Human Heart, and that was excellent.

Channel 4 can do great drama, Brooker can't.

He can never go back to critiquing shit telly now that he makes it.


----------



## girasol (Dec 11, 2011)

Tonight's made me feel very sad...  Very good but so desperately sad


----------



## revol68 (Dec 11, 2011)

it was heavy handed as fuck but he retrieved it a bit with a large dose of self awareness at the end.


----------



## killer b (Dec 11, 2011)

clunkiness aside, i enjoyed that a lot more than i expected. what was the song?


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 11, 2011)

Lord Camomile said:


> This is a little heavy handed...


Yes, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I found it jarring; was it too didactic, not drmatic or supriseing enough, not complex or layered enough... It boils down to the same thing though, heavy handedness.

I thought the acting from the lead was very good and I did like the concept.
Not the biggest waste of time but I wouldnt sit around watching it unless i was actively avoiding doing something else  *eyes philiosophy book*


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 11, 2011)

killer b said:


> clunkiness aside, i enjoyed that a lot more than i expected. what was the song?


Irma something, Thomas  I think. Irma Thomas.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 11, 2011)

D'wards said:


> He can never go back to critiquing shit telly now that he makes it.


That's it! He's not commenting on technology, the whole thing is a meta-commentary on bad television!

Don't worry everyone, Charlie Brooker is still a genius!

Phew.


----------



## killer b (Dec 11, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Irma something, Thomas I think. Irma Thomas.


ah yes. lovely stuff.


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 11, 2011)

That's a beautiful song


----------



## poului (Dec 11, 2011)

much better this week.


----------



## killer b (Dec 12, 2011)

i presume connie never got a second series of the xtra factor?


----------



## gosub (Dec 12, 2011)

D'wards said:


> He can never go back to critiquing shit telly now that he makes it.


A A Gill made a similar point in today's Sunday Times, odd thing to do given Brooker just spent 1hour twenty of prime time saying the same thing


----------



## PlaidDragon (Dec 12, 2011)

I enjoyed it. Seems to me that some people would be saying it was shit regardless of the quality, just because it's Brooker. The concept was good, the acting was good, the story was good. It's a hell of a lot better than some of the other shit that passes for drama these days.


----------



## killer b (Dec 12, 2011)

seems to me some people said it was shit because they thought it was shit. ffs.


----------



## PlaidDragon (Dec 12, 2011)

killer b said:


> seems to me some people said it was shit because they thought it was shit. ffs.



I was talking more generally, people like Gill and the bloke who slagged it in the Mail last week.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

It was good, not at all what I expected. Dystopian and, again, uncomfortable viewing. The first part was a little laboured but it did build up a picture of the situation. The ending - was it a victory? Of sorts. Ambigious.


----------



## Santino (Dec 12, 2011)

magneze said:


> The ending - was it a victory? Of sorts. Ambigious.


"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"


----------



## killer b (Dec 12, 2011)

Not a victory at all - he ends up coopted by the forces he railed against, and still alone.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

killer b said:


> Not a victory at all - he ends up coopted by the forces he railed against, and still alone.


Well, he got to say his bit and got it broadcast widely twice a week.

In terms of the other options - killing himself and going back to the bike, it seems like more of a slight victory.


----------



## susie12 (Dec 12, 2011)

It was very 1984- true love in dystopia - but Brooker is no George Orwell, though he obviously thinks he is.


----------



## no-no (Dec 12, 2011)

a slight victory in that he can afford not to watch his love on the porn channel maybe, his final rant seemed to be received by the plebs on the bikes as a bit of a laugh rather than something with any real meaning.

Utter failure and he knew it.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

Yes, the was the problem. He got his platform, but he was treated as a joke.


----------



## girasol (Dec 12, 2011)

magneze said:


> It was good, not at all what I expected. Dystopian and, again, uncomfortable viewing. The first part was a little laboured but it did build up a picture of the situation. The ending - was it a victory? Of sorts. Ambigious.



It was no victory, it was very depressing. The only way it's a victory is if something amazing happened to him in future, staying alive always carries that hope. I was really hoping he would refuse and stay on the bike, thus keeping his dignity. But then, how many of us would?

the other character, girl with the virtual violin who fancied him, in the end I understood some implication that she was on her way to audition too? Althought still struggling to see what purpose her character served...


----------



## Maggot (Dec 12, 2011)

I enjoyed it. I thought he was gonna kill one of the judges. Didn't expect him to become part of the system.


----------



## Scaggs (Dec 12, 2011)

I liked it. Wish he'd stabbed the bloke with the beard in the neck with the glass though.


----------



## ohmyliver (Dec 12, 2011)

I thought the main character was a bit how Brooker sees himself (bar the alone thing).


----------



## killer b (Dec 12, 2011)

no wai.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 12, 2011)

ohmyliver said:


> I thought the main character was a bit how Brooker sees himself (bar the alone thing).



That's one of the things I really liked about it. Brooker's missus (Konnie Huq) wrote it with him and, let's face it, they both have blood on their hands when it comes to peddling reality show shite. She's a failed Xtra Factor presenter and he's one of the founders of TV production company Zeppotron (which is owned by Endemol).


----------



## gosub (Dec 12, 2011)

ohmyliver said:


> I thought the main character was a bit how Brooker sees himself (bar the alone thing).


Do you reckon konnie huq perceives herself as a drug addled media whore?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 12, 2011)

his company did that programme in which they fooled a bunch of idiots into thinking they were going to space


----------



## Santino (Dec 12, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> his company did that programme in which they fooled a bunch of idiots into thinking they were going to space


I liked that.

The most interesting bit was when the mole said he thought that every contestant KNEW on some level that it was a hoax, but couldn't bring themselves to articulate it.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> That's one of the things I really liked about it. Brooker's missus (Konnie Huq) wrote it with him and, let's face it, they both have blood on their hands when it comes to peddling reality show shite. She's a failed Xtra Factor presenter and he's one of the founders of TV production company Zeppotron (which is owned by Endemol).


That's hardly fair. Endemol bought Zeppotron.


----------



## ohmyliver (Dec 12, 2011)

gosub said:


> Do you reckon konnie huq perceives herself as a drug addled media whore?


probably not, but I do note that she's not fronted any tv programs for about 2 years.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 12, 2011)

magneze said:


> That's hardly fair. Endemol bought Zeppotron.



Are you suggesting Brooker, a founder and owner of Zeppotron, would have had no say in the sale?

And let's not forget that Zeppotron themselves have been responsible for some terrible old shit, including Space Cadets and Celeb Air.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> Are you suggesting Brooker, a founder and owner of Zeppotron, would have had no say in the sale?
> 
> And let's not forget that Zeppotron themselves have been responsible for some terrible old shit, including Space Cadets and Celeb Air.


Of course he did. But are you saying that he therefore has any say over what Endemol produce?


----------



## ohmyliver (Dec 12, 2011)

and also lets not forget that Zeppotron is not just Brooker. Wiki says "it was formed in 2000 from several of the writers of Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show: Charlie Brooker, Ben Caudell, Peter Holmes, Neil Webster."


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 12, 2011)

magneze said:


> Of course he did. But are you saying that he therefore has any say over what Endemol produce?



At the end of the day he has a business relationship with Endemol - a company whose shows he has lambasted and appeared to hold in contempt. To avoid charges of hypocrisy, he could have sold his share in Zeppotron (I'm sure he'd have had plenty of takers). His own company have also made shitty shows. I'm not saying I'd have acted any differently to him (life is full of difficult compromises), just pointing out his record in TV is far from spotless when it comes to producing quality shows. I don't think that undermines the good stuff he's been involved with (the various Wipe programmes, Dead Set or Black Mirror) especially when it's something he is clearly aware of himself.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

andy2002 said:


> At the end of the day he has a business relationship with Endemol - a company whose shows he has lambasted and appeared to hold in contempt. To avoid charges of hypocrisy, he could have sold his share in Zeppotron (I'm sure he'd have had plenty of takers). His own company have also made shitty shows. I'm not saying I'd have acted any differently to him (life is full of difficult compromises), just pointing out his record in TV is far from spotless when it comes to producing quality shows. I don't think that undermines the good stuff he's been involved with (the various Wipe programmes, Dead Set or Black Mirror) especially when it's something he is clearly aware of himself.


So? Endemol are the parent company. There's a reason they're called the parent company. They generally call the shots, not the other way around.


----------



## andy2002 (Dec 12, 2011)

magneze said:


> So? Endemol are the parent company. There's a reason they're called the parent company. They generally call the shots, not the other way around.




Then don't sell your company to Endemol then. Or, if you are out-voted, at least sell your share to someone else so you don't have to deal with them. I don't understand this need to defend Brooker when he's perfectly aware of his own contradictions and compromises. As evidenced by that episode of Black Mirror, he knows he's become a cog in the machine. It's one of the reasons he stopped doing his Guardian TV column because his elevated status meant he kept running into people who he'd slagged off and it made him uncomfortable. Having a direct business relationship with a company who churn out shite doesn't affect Brooker's ability to create interesting work - it does, however, undermine his ability to rail against terrible TV shows.


----------



## magneze (Dec 12, 2011)

I don't think it does.


----------



## mhwfc (Dec 12, 2011)

Santino said:


> "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"


Too much sex and violence. Too shocking, even for Channel 4 :-D


----------



## ska invita (Dec 12, 2011)

ShiftyBagLady said:


> Yes, I couldn't quite put my finger on why I found it jarring; was it too didactic, not drmatic or supriseing enough, not complex or layered enough... It boils down to the same thing though, heavy handedness.


I had that experience too - bludgeoned over the head with it, but still found it unnerving and claustrophobic despite (or because of its) blatancy.



susie12 said:


> It was very 1984- true love in dystopia - but Brooker is no George Orwell, though he obviously thinks he is.


Reminded me of Brave New World. I think the different classes of people had to wear different coloured suits in that too. Drinking 'compliancy' was a bit like Soma etc.

Whatever the faults I can't think of anything as ambitious as this (in terms of drama) on tv in years.


----------



## susie12 (Dec 12, 2011)

Yes you're right, it is more like Brave New World.  He's not Huxley either!  He is very entertaining - but it is clunky as said above, there is  a crudity about his work - but yes, it's good to see some innovative drama esp on a Sunday night in the usual snore spot -


----------



## ska invita (Dec 12, 2011)

susie12 said:


> Yes you're right, it is more like Brave New World. He's not Huxley either! He is very entertaining - but it is clunky as said above, there is a crudity about his work - but yes, it's good to see some innovative drama esp on a Sunday night in the usual snore spot -


yeah what is it with Sundays? BBC is the worst: one man and his dog, snooker, songs of praise, antiques roadshow... are they worried about tv adrenalin kicking in and not being able to get a good nights sleep for work on Monday?


----------



## chazegee (Dec 12, 2011)

Quite good. A bit silly.
He's like one of those Victorian cartoon satirists.
(Just in case noone noticed.  )


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 13, 2011)

susie12 said:


> Yes you're right, it is more like Brave New World. He's not Huxley either! He is very entertaining - but it is clunky as said above, there is a crudity about his work - but yes, it's good to see some innovative drama esp on a Sunday night in the usual snore spot -


yes, the orwell/huxley thing was a bit heavy handed but i thought it was alright tbh. don't enjoy much tv but there was a good demented air to this.


----------



## sim667 (Dec 13, 2011)

I really liked this, it was mental....

It was quite accessible and a bit more up to date compared to the 1984 comparison lots of you are making.


----------



## Santino (Dec 13, 2011)

ska invita said:


> yeah what is it with Sundays? BBC is the worst: one man and his dog, snooker, songs of praise, antiques roadshow... are they worried about tv adrenalin kicking in and not being able to get a good nights sleep for work on Monday?


Because for many people The Fear sets in on a Sunday evening, it's hard to appreciate anything too challenging.


----------



## London_Calling (Dec 13, 2011)

Songs of Praise on A SUNDAY !!1!
Snooker LIVE !!1!


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 13, 2011)

Episode 2 - great concept but what the hell was up with the graphics/ animation - very poor. Execution was saved by excellent performance and direction.

Both episodes are like The Outer Limits mixed with Tales of the Unexpected.


----------



## ska invita (Dec 13, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Episode 2 - great concept but what the hell was up with the graphics/ animation - very poor.









I thought the production was really good - the 'dopples' I think they were called looked just like Mii's from the Wii. The whole thing had a style to it


----------



## ska invita (Dec 13, 2011)

Santino said:


> Because for many people The Fear sets in on a Sunday evening, it's hard to appreciate anything too challenging.


All the more reason to get distracted with some good TV. I remember Cheers being on at 9pm on a Sunday and watching that, and also Spitting Image at 10pm, and Im pretty sure Moviedrome films were on a Sunday night at 9pm too.


----------



## sim667 (Dec 13, 2011)

ska invita said:


> I thought the production was really good - the 'dopples' I think they were called looked just like Mii's from the Wii. The whole thing had a style to it



They also look very similar to the avatars on xbox.


----------



## catinthehat (Dec 13, 2011)

It was a bit like he had given himself a project 'Imagine Brave New World, but written by Douglas Coupland cheered on Adorno and Marcuse'.  I enjoyed it but perhaps that is due to the fact that 99% of what is on TV is drivel so this stands up in comparison - in the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man being king.  He is still critiquing mainstream media just using a different format to the sofa rant.


----------



## la ressistance (Dec 13, 2011)

who does the "i need your lovin" version on the new advert ?


----------



## kavenism (Dec 13, 2011)

I’d like to think that Huq’s contribution was the very sweet and very Blue Peter origami penguin.

Only watched it today on 4OD. I enjoyed it, the Orwell/Huxley pastiche was obvious and the whole thing heavily didactic. But I don't think that necessarily equates to chunkiness. Perhaps it's giving Brooker too much credit but I thought there was a certain Brechtian quality to it. Almost as if the obviously didactic form was meant to be saying "yes it is obvious, reality TV, Big Brother, mass media it really is like 1984, so why are you still gobbling it up?”.

I think the ending is self referential but also quite depressing, as if the best we can hope for is enough money to allow us to forget the times that we felt most alive. The last shot is of expensive china rendering of a penguin which the main character stares at; the material value obscuring and sanitizing the memory of the painfully simple authenticity of the paper gift he received. Or perhaps, on a more positive reading, the persistence of the memory suggests that there is always something that resists even the most pernicious commodification, something that can’t be subjected and sanitized.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 13, 2011)

la ressistance said:


> who does the "i need your lovin" version on the new advert ?


Pretty sure it's Beck, as featured on the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack.


----------



## Picadilly Commando (Dec 14, 2011)

I was high as fuck when I watched it. I fear I may have had it forever etched on my unconsciousness.


----------



## mrsfran (Dec 14, 2011)

kavenism said:


> I’d like to think that Huq’s contribution was the very sweet and very Blue Peter origami penguin.
> 
> Only watched it today on 4OD. I enjoyed it, the Orwell/Huxley pastiche was obvious and the whole thing heavily didactic. But I don't think that necessarily equates to chunkiness. Perhaps it's giving Brooker too much credit but I thought there was a certain Brechtian quality to it. Almost as if the obviously didactic form was meant to be saying "yes it is obvious, reality TV, Big Brother, mass media it really is like 1984, so why are you still gobbling it up?”.
> 
> I think the ending is self referential but also quite depressing, as if the best we can hope for is enough money to allow us to forget the times that we felt most alive. The last shot is of expensive china rendering of a penguin which the main character stares at; the material value obscuring and sanitizing the memory of the painfully simple authenticity of the paper gift he received. Or perhaps, on a more positive reading, the persistence of the memory suggests that there is always something that resists even the most pernicious commodification, something that can’t be subjected and sanitized.


Are you an A Level English Lit student?


----------



## RaverDrew (Dec 14, 2011)

I've watched the 2nd episode three times now and still can't quite decide whether it's crap/not crap.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 14, 2011)

You've watched it three times


----------



## RaverDrew (Dec 14, 2011)

Yep, was a bit distracted the first time I watched it, wasn't following it too well, and after the first half thought it was utter toss, caught the end though and thought that maybe I should give it another chance. Watched it again on 4od and it did seem a lot better on the 2nd viewing. Then noticed my sister watching it last night so joined her, and it seemed a bit pony, the acting especially seemed awful by the 3rd viewing.


----------



## Ranbay (Dec 15, 2011)

Just watched it, Loved it


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 15, 2011)

I thought that was great, in a different league to the first episode. Touching and distressing.


----------



## Divisive Cotton (Dec 15, 2011)

That was fantastic drama 

Really creepy and unsettling


----------



## Dr Dolittle (Dec 15, 2011)

Reading this and other reviews of the programme, I can tell now there are lots of little details I missed - like the on-screen message 'People who bought an apple also bought a banana'. That was probably the funniest line in the whole programme, and I had it going through my head in the supermarket the next day, and bought both - but only because the bananas were cut price and I always buy apples. I feel I should watch it again for the bits I missed, but that would mean having to watch all those adverts again as well, and I can't stand adverts. ("How do you survive then," I hear you cry.) The adverts seemed to be part of the programme - putting you in the position of Bing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 16, 2011)

you don't have to watch the adverts though, unlike the world in 15 million merits.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 16, 2011)

if you watch it on catch-up, they mostly don't show the adverts thank fuck (and if they do, you can mute and ff )


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 16, 2011)

aye, and if you're one of those old-fashioned people who watches live tv, you can always do something else while the ads are on.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 16, 2011)

quick grief wank?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 16, 2011)

er, no. i tend to talk to people or read a book or look at tinternet til they're over.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 16, 2011)

up to you innit?


----------



## magneze (Dec 16, 2011)

4OD adverts make it actually worse than live TV. There are more of them for a start and you can't fast forward through them.


----------



## TopCat (Dec 16, 2011)

Worth downloading just to neatly miss the ads.


----------



## TopCat (Dec 16, 2011)

BTW I thought the first BM was depraved and the second boring.


----------



## rover07 (Dec 16, 2011)

Dr Dolittle said:


> Reading this and other reviews of the programme, I can tell now there are lots of little details I missed - like the on-screen message 'People who bought an apple also bought a banana'. That was probably the funniest line in the whole programme, and I had it going through my head in the supermarket the next day, and bought both - but only because the bananas were cut price and I always buy apples. I feel I should watch it again for the bits I missed, but that would mean having to watch all those adverts again as well, and I can't stand adverts. ("How do you survive then," I hear you cry.) The adverts seemed to be part of the programme - putting you in the position of Bing.



Yeah the adverts were all for consoles/computer games/iPad etc.


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 16, 2011)

Haven't read this thread yet, but just been catching up on this as I love Brooker. The first episode was great, the second was awful! Interesting concept (though hardly original) but the dialogue was cringe-wrothy. Also it was far too slow-paced and the 'message' was so obvious they may as well have just hit us over the head with a hammer. What happened? I blame Huq!


----------



## killer b (Dec 16, 2011)

you have it the wrong way round. the first ep was a bit rubbish, the second much better.


----------



## Riklet (Dec 16, 2011)

apparently the Huq-ster is a co-writer? ​
downloadin the first one now, 4od wont work here, although it's unbearably gash and ad filled nowadays anyway.​


----------



## friedaweed (Dec 16, 2011)

Shite imho


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 16, 2011)

killer b said:


> you have it the wrong way round. the first ep was a bit rubbish, the second much better.



No way, it was so unsubtle, cheesy and...well, boring.

The last one is written by Jesse Armstrong - from Peep Show so am looking forward to that  Also - don't think the Huq-ster had anything to do with it


----------



## Riklet (Dec 16, 2011)

better than his new haircut?


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Dec 16, 2011)

so should I watch it?  The first one was not nearly as bad as I feared it might be.  A perfectly reasonable hour of diversion, actually.  Only annoyance was it's pretension to "making a statement" about modern technology.

Though nowhere near as entertaining as deadset.


----------



## friedaweed (Dec 16, 2011)

Jon-of-arc said:


> *so should I watch it? * The first one was not nearly as bad as I feared it might be. A perfectly reasonable hour of diversion, actually. Only annoyance was it's pretension to "making a statement" about modern technology.
> 
> Though nowhere near as entertaining as deadset.



One man's shit is another man's art and all that. It's got a point and it's clever but to be honest it ain't that clever. My eldest is enjoying the series though but as has been said I've found it painfully slow getting to a point that is a bit obvs long before it gets there.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Dec 18, 2011)

friedaweed said:


> One man's shit is another man's art and all that. It's got a point and it's clever but to be honest it ain't that clever. My eldest is enjoying the series though but as has been said I've found it painfully slow getting to a point that is a bit obvs long before it gets there.



Just watched this - it had a point?  Other than to be monumentally depressing?  Preferred the national anthem, tbh.

I suspect that the one tonight, written by peep show/the thick of it blokey (someone who knows how to write tv...) might be a whole lot better.

When's the xmas screenwipe on, anyone?


----------



## friedaweed (Dec 18, 2011)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Just watched this - it had a point? Other than to be monumentally depressing? Preferred the national anthem, tbh.
> 
> I suspect that the one tonight, written by peep show/the thick of it blokey (someone who knows how to write tv...) might be a whole lot better.
> 
> When's the xmas screenwipe on, anyone?


I was trying my best to be kind to it  Let us know if tonight's is worth a gander, i've got dvd's to watch


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Dec 18, 2011)

friedaweed said:


> I was trying my best to be kind to it  Let us know if tonight's is worth a gander, i've got dvd's to watch



Gonna be hard - stuck a day behind everyone else, with internet catch-up only.  I'm sure this thread will inform you by...midnight at the latest.


----------



## Augie March (Dec 18, 2011)

I  quite liked the first two, but this one is painfully tedious. Strange Days did the same idea much better about 15 years ago.


----------



## killer b (Dec 18, 2011)

i thought it was brilliant tbh.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 18, 2011)

Disappointing. sub Philip K Dick bollocks really. 
Only liked the first one really and even that was only mildly diverting.


----------



## poului (Dec 18, 2011)

this was the best one yet. unlike strange days or any similar themed offering by philip k dick this show focused on how unhealthy and life-destroying the whole notion of "memory hoarding" is to relationships. it's facebook taken to its revolting conclusion.


----------



## Termite Man (Dec 18, 2011)

I wasn't going to bother with the second two  but my eyes needed a rest from skyrim last night so I watched the 2nd one and thought it was quite good, although it was a bit Dr Who for my liking.


----------



## OneStrike (Dec 18, 2011)

I found tonight's really slow up until when Jonas got pissed and angry, then it was worth watching for the last 20 odd minutes.  Toby Kebbell was good, i had to look it up and check that he was also the younger brother in Dead Mans Shoes.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 18, 2011)

meh!


----------



## rover07 (Dec 18, 2011)

That was brilliant!


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 18, 2011)

Just catching up on the last one. This is great so far..


----------



## 8ball (Dec 18, 2011)

Oversimplified question for those who've seen all three - if the first one was perhaps chiefly about twitter mobs and the second chiefly about reality TV self-validation (I know there are more themes going on than this), what was the third one about?


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 18, 2011)

Facebook timeline


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 19, 2011)

Last one was brilliant


----------



## janeb (Dec 19, 2011)

Because I couldn't bring myself to give a fuck about any of the characters I thought it was awful.  Ended up just admiring their houses


----------



## 8ball (Dec 19, 2011)

janeb said:


> Because I couldn't bring myself to give a fuck about any of the characters I thought it was awful. Ended up just admiring their houses



I don't know about those houses.  I do think they're nice, but another part of me thinks I just think they're nice because of all the media messages saying those kinds of houses are something to aspire to.


----------



## Santino (Dec 19, 2011)

Was the point that they were all eco-houses? Because it was the future and that.


----------



## FabricLiveBaby! (Dec 19, 2011)

magneze said:


> 4OD adverts make it actually worse than live TV. There are more of them for a start and you can't fast forward through them.


 
Yes you can.  You just need to use firefox with ad-block plus.  No more adverts.  EVER.


----------



## 8ball (Dec 19, 2011)

Santino said:


> Was the point that they were all eco-houses? Because it was the future and that.



They didn't look very eco to me.  And the cars definitely weren't.


----------



## 8ball (Dec 19, 2011)

FabricLiveBaby! said:


> Yes you can. You just need to use firefox with ad-block plus. No more adverts. EVER.



What happens then - do the ads just vanish with no delay to the programme?


----------



## Sigmund Fraud (Dec 19, 2011)

I thought ep3 was the best hour of drama this year.  The tension built brilliantly and the script was tight as a drum. If you are like me old enough to remember it it reminded me of a Play for Today.  What the fuck are people moaning about?  It was original, gripping British drama and a comment on our time.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 19, 2011)

That was classic, true 'mundane' sci fi. Change one element of reality- explore the implications. Very well observed. Reminded me of Egans shorts about humans who wore the Jewel and PK Dicks with the Penfield Mood Organ. What changes the nature of human perception, makes it more, less, what?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

So many likers of episode 3!
I'm a reader of sci-fi stuff and thought it was pretty lame, one dimensional in fact.
There was so much potential in the story yet they focused on the guy's paranoia coming true. I was expecting a twist like the previous 2 episodes (episode 2 rocked for me).
It's that cliche, some things are best left unknown.

Looking forward for episode 4.


----------



## 8ball (Dec 20, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> Looking forward for episode 4.



I imagine it has a good chance of getting re-commissioned.

Guess it depends on Brooker's workloads, though as the third instalment proved, he doesn't have to write them.


----------



## killer b (Dec 20, 2011)

you may be looking forward to it for some time...


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Dec 20, 2011)

janeb said:


> Because I couldn't bring myself to give a fuck about any of the characters I thought it was awful. Ended up just admiring their houses



Heh I did that. That episode was shite.


----------



## janeb (Dec 20, 2011)

Sigmund Fraud said:


> I thought ep3 was the best hour of drama this year. The tension built brilliantly and the script was tight as a drum. If you are like me old enough to remember it it reminded me of a Play for Today. What the fuck are people moaning about? It was original, gripping British drama and a comment on our time.



Well, horses for courses as my nan would say, I could see the 'twist' coming from the beginning and I thought it was a 2nd rate Tales of the Unexpected.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> So many likers of episode 3!
> I'm a reader of sci-fi stuff and thought it was pretty lame, one dimensional in fact.
> There was so much potential in the story yet they focused on the guy's paranoia coming true. I was expecting a twist like the previous 2 episodes (episode 2 rocked for me).
> It's that cliche, some things are best left unknown.
> ...


 
well if it had been Dicks it would have turned out that the recorded life was a fake version and he is living in a drug coma on mars. That would have been a twist.


----------



## magneze (Dec 20, 2011)

Well, I enjoyed watching all three. They all worked well as individual dramas and as commentary on various aspects of modern life when taken to the extreme.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> well if it had been Dicks it would have turned out that the recorded life was a fake version and he is living in a drug coma on mars. That would have been a twist.



that would had been a million times better.


----------



## Maggot (Dec 20, 2011)

fakeplasticgirl said:


> Haven't read this thread yet, but just been catching up on this as I love Brooker. The first episode was great, the second was awful! Interesting concept (though hardly original) but the dialogue was cringe-wrothy. Also it was far too slow-paced and the 'message' was so obvious they may as well have just hit us over the head with a hammer. What happened? I blame Huq!


The message may have been obvious, but the outcome wasn't. I really didn't expect him to be co-opted after his rant.  Did you see that coming?


----------



## magneze (Dec 20, 2011)

100% masahiko said:


> that would had been a million times better.


That would have been utter shit.


----------



## Scaggs (Dec 20, 2011)

magneze said:


> Well, I enjoyed watching all three. They all worked well as individual dramas and as commentary on various aspects of modern life when taken to the extreme.


Me too, although I'd have liked to have seen a bit of the humour from the first two in the third.


----------



## Santino (Dec 20, 2011)

It would have been better if he had woken up on a spaceship piloted by Major Tom, who was also his dad, going to Mars to look for a cure for cancer and his dream machine had malfunctioned.


----------



## debaser (Dec 20, 2011)

I thought the 3rd episode was really good! Great script, well acted and exploring a pretty basic but interesting idea quite effectively for a TV drama. Better than the previous 2.

Can't see there being any more black mirror :S I wouldn't mind seeing more a long these lines from Jesse Armstrong though.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 20, 2011)

Episode three was really decent, though I still think the second was my favourate.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 20, 2011)

I think all of them were interesting ideas (of varying degree...), not very well executed. Ep 3 I found quite dull, didn't care about any of the characters. There wasn't one likeable character among them, which is fine, you don't have to like characters, but if they're not likeable then they should at least be interesting. They weren't. It was just, y'know, dull.

Perhaps I'm judging them on something they weren't intending, and they were more like 'morality plays' or what-have-you, and exploring an idea rather than being good bits of drama. Having said that, even if that were the case, I don't think they did a great job of that either.

Meh.


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

magneze said:


> That would have been utter shit.



at least it wouldn't had been predictable.

The first two had unexpected twists.
This one was like waiting for the bus to come.

Surprised Brooker wrote that.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 20, 2011)

He didn't.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2011)

it was an observation piece, anyone with half a braincell could see the 'twist' coming, so the commentary was not so much tales of the unexpected but consider implications. As I said, mundane sci fi. And what mundane sci fi does (when written well) is observation. Not crash bang shock horror.

Also: i'm sure the credited writer was jesse armstrong?


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

my bad, it wasn't brooker.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Dec 20, 2011)

I sort of enjoyed it.  Tension did indeed build well, though it started out slowly, simply because of the boringness of the characters (as someone else pointed out).  The main actor was good though, and as I wasn't looking out for plot twists, I didnt see the ending coming at all.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2011)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I sort of enjoyed it. Tension did indeed build well, though it started out slowly, simply because of the boringness of the characters (as someone else pointed out). The main actor was good though, and as I wasn't looking out for plot twists, I didnt see the ending coming at all.


 
if a story involves total recording ability, down to the T, you can bet on one of three options. A cheater exposed, a murderer exposed, or a whistleblowers secret info exposed.

I did like how drunk angry cuckold threatened to 'gouge you right now'

gouge isn't a word that gets used often enough.

One of the reasons I call it mundane sf (its a sub genre label) is because the wider implications of grain tech are not explored- just a fairly intense look at what that sort of tech could do in interpersonal settings. You'd want redline stuff. At some points you do redline encryption and the only people who can break that encryption would be OB if you are on a murder charge or the person named in your will.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 20, 2011)

There wasn't a twist, was there?


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 20, 2011)

only that the grain exposed the truth of his suspicions. And this was so obvious from the start people who were expecting something more fiendish felt short changed. Odd.


----------



## Termite Man (Dec 20, 2011)

I got bored and gave up on the last one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 20, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> only that the grain exposed the truth of his suspicions. And this was so obvious from the start people who were expecting something more fiendish felt short changed. Odd.


That's not a twist, it's an inevitable outcome! 
As someone on Twitter said, the programme is only impressive if you're illiterate


----------



## Sigmund Fraud (Dec 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> As someone on Twitter said, the programme is only impressive if you're illiterate



Oh shit, really? I best rush off and change my opinion based on the musings of some 140 character cunt.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 21, 2011)

Who's asking you to do that?


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Dec 21, 2011)

Orang Utan said:


> That's not a twist, it's an inevitable outcome!
> As someone on Twitter said, the programme is only impressive if you're illiterate



Brooker is overrated, as someone else put brilliantly his work is preaching to the choir with a plot attached...


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2011)

brooker didn't write the episode in question


----------



## paolo (Dec 21, 2011)

Struggled with no.3 and didn't finish it.

But I think - imho - there's something to be said for boundary pushing drama. Some will miss, sure, but I'd rather someone have an attempt. Where else do we go? Downton? Towie? Only fools and packets of summer wine?


----------



## ebay sex moomin (Dec 21, 2011)

15 Million Merits was my favourite. Love that one.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 21, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> brooker didn't write the episode in question


i thought he wrote all 3, the last 2 in conjunction with his missus and someone else.


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Maggot said:


> The message may have been obvious, but the outcome wasn't. I really didn't expect him to be co-opted after his rant. Did you see that coming?


I have to be 100% honest I switched off before the end because I thought it was so awful so I didn't see that part


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2011)

when the credits rolled there was one name for writer- jesse armstrong iirc


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 21, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> when the credits rolled there was one name for writer- jesse armstrong iirc


co-writer i thought.


----------



## RaverDrew (Dec 21, 2011)

The last episode was utter shite, high point of the series so far is a guy fucking a pig, says it all really.


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2011)

imdb gives him sole credit


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Dec 21, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> imdb gives him sole credit


i think you're right. seem's he's the "executive producer" so the advertising has seriously over-egged the pudding as to his involvement.


----------



## Lord Camomile (Dec 21, 2011)

I think the whole "Black Mirror" concept was his brainchild. He was like the curator or something. Who also wrote two of the three pieces


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Dec 21, 2011)

Lord Camomile said:


> I think the whole "Black Mirror" concept was his brainchild. He was like the curator or something. Who also wrote two of the three pieces


One of them with Huq


----------



## paolo (Dec 21, 2011)

RaverDrew said:


> The last episode was utter shite, high point of the series so far is a guy fucking a pig, says it all really.



About the viewers


----------



## DotCommunist (Dec 21, 2011)

good pedigree on jesse armstrong though (thick of it and other bits).


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Dec 21, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> when the credits rolled there was one name for writer- jesse armstrong iirc



S/he may have provided the words but as exec producer Brooker's finger prints would've been all over the script...


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 21, 2011)

She? Who's she?


----------



## magneze (Dec 21, 2011)

the cats mother


----------



## 100% masahiko (Dec 21, 2011)

DotCommunist said:


> I did like how drunk angry cuckold threatened to 'gouge you right now'
> 
> gouge isn't a word that gets used often enough.



Nor cuckold.
Episode 3 should had been about getting purely pissed, cuckolding and eye gouging.
Oh, and grain tech.

Going out with a bang like.


----------



## Augie March (Dec 21, 2011)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I sort of enjoyed it. Tension did indeed build well, though it started out slowly, simply because of the boringness of the characters (as someone else pointed out). The main actor was good though, and as I wasn't looking out for plot twists, I didnt see the ending coming at all.



For me it wasn't that the characters were boring that let the episode down, it's that were all so utterly unlikeable. I think that's a trait of what Armstrong does as a writer but it seems to work better with characters in comedy, than with ones in a drama like this.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Dec 21, 2011)

Augie March said:


> For me it wasn't that the characters were boring that let the episode down, it's that were all so utterly unlikeable. I think that's a trait of what Armstrong does as a writer but it seems to work better with characters in comedy, than with ones in a drama like this.



Yeah, you can see the "flawed character" aspect of his work coming through very clearly in the peep show & the thick of it.  But it wasn't just the lack of humour - in this show, all the main players seemed very one dimensional, their motivations almost entirely plot driven.  Almost no semblance at all that they were rounded "people" with back stories.  Just "stressed husband", "lying wife" and "smarmy ex".

Shame though, as the plot was quite good.


----------



## Iguana (Dec 21, 2011)

It seemed like a second draft in some ways.  Good story, polished in places but overall it felt like the script needed at least one more run through in order to make actual people out of the characters.  That said it was the best of the three, imo, by a very wide margin.  The others were _way_ too on the nose.  This one wasn't a masterpiece in subtlety by any means but it was better than the first two.  A lot of credit has to be given to the lead actor for that though, as he outclassed all of the others in the series.

Favourite scene was the one where he dragged the babysitter into his paranoia.


----------



## ska invita (Dec 24, 2011)

Santino said:


> Was the point that they were all eco-houses? Because it was the future and that.


I thought it was to show the kind of people the characters were - rich young dinner party elite - which also tied in with the use of a new technology likes this - probably an expensive thing not available to everyone. The vintage cars the two men had fed into this too.

I liked the bit with the awkward man hugs - I think Charlie Brooker wrote a column about how he hates hugging (I know he didnt write this episode, but that little bit had him all over it). I dont mind the odd hug with friends I havent seen in a long while, but I imagine in media land it happens a lot more, and in a fake way. Anyway, good series I thought.


----------



## fakeplasticgirl (Jan 2, 2012)

Did anybody watch the latest screenwipe? Brooker's new haircut makes him look like Nathan Barley!


----------



## smmudge (Jan 2, 2012)

I just watched all 3 of these yesterday and today. Alright. Nothing mind blowing. I appreciated a couple of the subtler nuances although they were few and far between.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 2, 2012)

I was talking with my sister in law about this and was surprised by her reaction to the pigfucking one. She was really upset and disturbed by it, whilst I thought the concept puerile, absurd and hilarious. Either I'm cynical and jaded and my sensitivities are blunted, or she is a big sissy. Probably both.
But I felt the concept so absurd, that it was hard to be disgusted or upset at such a ridiculous premise.
She is the sort that leaps on tables and screams of she sees a mouse mind.


----------



## 8ball (Jan 2, 2012)

I thought the pig fucking one was the best, largely due to the way it was played so straight and acted so well.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 11, 2013)

New series starting tonight. Good mate of mine has directed one of them. I should really get round to watching the first series, too.


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 11, 2013)

I enjoyed that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 11, 2013)

If I'd have been that bloke I'd have come back as a monster


----------



## TruXta (Feb 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> If I'd have been that bloke I'd have come back as a monster


I thought that was you for a sec. Then I remembered you're an ape.

But yeah, pretty good that.


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 11, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> If I'd have been that bloke I'd have come back as a monster


I'm not sure what that says about you.. 
I am leaning on the side of awesome


----------



## Ponyutd (Feb 12, 2013)

I sat through it all which considering how easily distracted I am say's something.


----------



## 8ball (Feb 12, 2013)

Thought it was ok but I didn't really get the ending.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2013)

8ball said:


> Thought it was ok but I didn't really get the ending.


I suppose it was about the power of habit, and how bad things tend to linger.


----------



## 8ball (Feb 12, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I suppose it was about the power of habit, and how bad things tend to linger.


 
Dunno.

I was half-expecting that once he got access to all the private emails and personal information that he would break up with her, maybe reveal he was shagging her mate.


----------



## Ponyutd (Feb 12, 2013)

Or she just enjoyed the shagging.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 12, 2013)

i thought it was lovely but painful. her grief was very believable, and it made me quite panic-y about grinder dying.. to the extent that i was momentarily a bit worried that i don't have any videos of him so i'd never hear his voice.  

i do know it's not real.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 12, 2013)

Very good that. Similar in style to the third of the last series, but miles better. Obviously some _AI_ influence as well.

I think she kept it around because she couldn't force it to jump when it was pleading with her.  Perhaps when she's feeling really down she indulges herself a bit, but otherwise wishes it wasn't there.  You could see in her face that she didn't want to go up and face it.

Grim.


----------



## lizzieloo (Feb 12, 2013)

I enjoyed it and found her plod up the ladder at the end quite...idonthavetherightword....y


----------



## sim667 (Feb 12, 2013)

I thought that was quite good....... story seemed a bit empty as a whole though. Man dies, woman greives, replaces him with a secret fake him, has baby.


----------



## RaverDrew (Feb 12, 2013)

That was the most dull, tedious, cliched, predictable piece of television I've seen in ages. Just dire. Very dissapointing, and the acting and dialogue were painful to watch. Shame, because I really enjoyed at least one episode from the last series.


----------



## mr steev (Feb 12, 2013)

I found it a bit meh. It reminded me of Tales of the Unexpected/Glaringly Obvious. There was plenty of opportunity for it to go deeper and darker, but the ending was just silly


----------



## Remus Harbank (Feb 12, 2013)

Middle class woman with too much money yet no job buys a three bedroom cottage, loses her boyfriend, watches Caprica and gets an Avatar delivered to her door, just like the one Zoe Graystone was in but a proper skinjob. They both do a bit of shagging but posh actor playing middle class woman in a future where everything is very clean kind of realises he's not really the real thing. Brooker gets an even fluffier hairdo and a contract for a third disconnected series as a reward for 'writing' one of the most context lacking dramas ever created and everyone who’s on an intellectual equivalent with The Herbs is happy.


----------



## Moronik (Feb 12, 2013)

I think it could have been better...... bringing him back in automation form was a mistake i thought.

It would have been better if he remained as simply a voice on the end of an earpiece. It could have explored how having him there seemed to improve her life, as she could share her failures and triumphs with him and grow old with him still there.
But the sting in the story could have been that keeping him 'there' prevented her from finding true happiness with someone else, and she was never able to deal with her grief.


Or another alternate ending: the company that she is signed up to introduces a huge monthly subscription charge for keeping him there, meaning she lives in a state of perpetual poverty, so that she can keep her husband 'alive'. Very dystopian and very brooker imo.

I'm surprised he chose the direction he did.


----------



## zoooo (Feb 12, 2013)

Remus Harbank said:


> Middle class woman with too much money yet no job


She did have a job.


----------



## Remus Harbank (Feb 12, 2013)

zoooo said:


> She did have a job.


Oh I forgot, when she wasn't taking time off walking round the hills chatting mindlessly to some simulation programme she was arranging pretty pictures on her flexible display, which as we know not just pays the bills in dystopian (actually current) Britain but also affords you your own house, a car and androids. Her job was as realistic as Sarah Jessica Parker's in Sex in The City, where her freelance writing not just paid for a massive Manhattan apartment but also all the Jimmy Choo shoes she would have every wanted.

Speaking of Jimmy Choo – I found the advert breaks way more dystopian and telling than the disconnected drama without hands or feet Brooker created.


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 12, 2013)

Remus Harbank said:


> Oh I forgot, when she wasn't taking time off walking round the hills chatting mindlessly to some simulation programme she was arranging pretty pictures on her flexible display, which as we know not just pays the bills in dystopian (actually current) Britain but also affords you your own house, a car and androids. Her job was as realistic as Sarah Jessica Parker's in Sex in The City, where her freelance writing not just paid for a massive Manhattan apartment but also all the Jimmy Choo shoes she would have every wanted.
> 
> Speaking of Jimmy Choo – I found the advert breaks way more dystopian and telling than the disconnected drama without hands or feet Brooker created.


She was up working through the night to reach a dead line, just a short time after her partner died..


----------



## Remus Harbank (Feb 12, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> She was up working through the night to reach a dead line, just a short time after her partner died..


Most of the time she was philandering. Look, what I'm trying to say is: Brooker writes his character to make her appear as ‘one of us’, ie a perceived C4 ABC1 audience. However, as happens often with those that have lost touch, he has no idea what’s going on in the real world. It’s the successful writer’s curse and only a few truly genial people have managed to evade this. He is not one of them.

‘Normal’ people, consumer types as targeted by the media buyers, are massively struggling all across the West at the moment. Yes, they are finding solace in their little magic mirrors, and there is a whole load of dystopian potential. Brooker has not managed to exploit that potential. He wrote a middle of the road story that borders on plagiarisation of previous shows (Caprica being the prime example – he's basically lifted that show's premise wholesale). The casting was a fail, with some posh overacting central casting actor playing one of the norms; but worst of all dystopian stories need a solid setting written in for them to be credible. Black Mirror does not feature this – there is no context. On the other hand, to compare it to another current C4 show, Utopia does.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Feb 12, 2013)

8ball said:


> Thought it was ok but I didn't really get the ending.


 
It was a call back to the start of the show where the character who died complained of his dad moving all photos of dead relatives up to the attic. Presumably like the photos the reconstructed character represented both a source of comfort as fond memories and as the painful realisation of loss. Hence he was preserved as an artifact to be occasionally used as a source of reminiscence whilst being kept at enough arms length distance so that his incompleteness did not overwhelm the experience.

Thought it was pretty good, though I'm hoping it was the warm up. The 'x factor' one from last year set the gold standard for the series imo.


----------



## King Biscuit Time (Feb 12, 2013)

I'm not going to get dragged into Remus's class rant, but she did have a job, and if you actually paid any attention to the story you would have noticed that the house was the dead guy's childhood home, and they were moving to it after his mother had died. It was also clear from the first ten minutes that he was the last remaining member of his family. The theme of representations of dead things (be they childhood photos, or the near-future equivalent, an android) being packed away into the attic because they're ultimately too painful to have around was introduced right at the beginning and echoed at the end. In the same attic.

There is definitely scope for some debate on the over-representation of middle/upper class types on film and TV (when was the last time you saw a character in a Romcom with a job that anyone you know has ever done?) - but I fear that someone who can't even concentrate on a TV programme long enough to work out what is happening before the red class mist descends probably isn't going to have much sensible to contribute.


----------



## Remus Harbank (Feb 12, 2013)

King Biscuit Time said:


> I'm not going to get dragged into Remus's class rant, but she did have a job, and if you actually paid any attention to the story you would have noticed that the house was the dead guy's childhood home, and they were moving to it after his mother had died. It was also clear from the first ten minutes that he was the last remaining member of his family. The theme of representations of dead things (be they childhood photos, or the near-future equivalent, an android) being packed away into the attic because they're ultimately too painful to have around was introduced right at the beginning and echoed at the end. In the same attic.





King Biscuit Time said:


> There is definitely scope for some debate on the over-representation of middle/upper class types on film and TV (when was the last time you saw a character in a Romcom with a job that anyone you know has ever done?) - but I fear that someone who can't even concentrate on a TV programme long enough to work out what is happening before the red class mist descends probably isn't going to have much sensible to contribute.




My critique is of course not about swirling red mists of caste consciousness, but about the lameness of this drama, the crap acting/miscasting and the general contrivance of this production. The whole setup, including the line where the girl tells the boy that he will run into danger of ‘vanishing’ into cyberspace three minutes in, only serves to set the whole thing up in an over-explanatory way for the perceived consumer idiot that C4 sees its mission to entertain these days. 

The perfunctory background plotpoints – her ‘job’, Boy being ‘the last remaining member of his family’ etc are purely written to somehow support the creaking main premise, so it wouldn't fall apart completely half way down the line.

The worst thing about the script is that the theme (ie what happens when dead characters live on in virtual space) has been done before, and much better. The story was not just borrowed, but taken, raped and vandalised.


----------



## King Biscuit Time (Feb 12, 2013)

The defence rests.


----------



## 8ball (Feb 12, 2013)

King Biscuit Time said:


> There is definitely scope for some debate on the over-representation of middle/upper class types on film and TV* (when was the last time you saw a character in a Romcom with a job that anyone you know has ever done?)* - but I fear that someone who can't even concentrate on a TV programme long enough to work out what is happening before the red class mist descends probably isn't going to have much sensible to contribute.


 
_Office Space_ - waitress and Millennium Bug grunt.  I do know a lawyer - you seem to get a lot of those in rom coms.  Take your point, though.

And thanks to you and Jeff Robinson for clearing up the ending - which was more obvious and less satisfying than I expected - was obv having the dumbz last night.


----------



## youngian (Feb 12, 2013)

mr steev said:


> I found it a bit meh. It reminded me of Tales of the Unexpected/Glaringly Obvious. There was plenty of opportunity for it to go deeper and darker, but the ending was just silly


 
If it was Tales of the Unexpected, the replicant would of been caught having an affair with the woman who suggested the technology in the first place (after accessing Ash's dirty emails). And that's where he was the night of his death, with her!


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 12, 2013)

Just watched it. Less Tales of the Unexpected, more Lame and Underwhelming. If not complete garbage. Hope next week's is better.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 12, 2013)

Remus Harbank said:


> Middle class woman with too much money yet no job buys a three bedroom cottage, loses her boyfriend, watches Caprica and gets an Avatar delivered to her door, just like the one Zoe Graystone was in but a proper skinjob. They both do a bit of shagging but posh actor playing middle class woman in a future where everything is very clean kind of realises he's not really the real thing. Brooker gets an even fluffier hairdo and a contract for a third disconnected series as a reward for 'writing' one of the most context lacking dramas ever created and everyone who’s on an intellectual equivalent with The Herbs is happy.


I'm pretty sure it was very much a point that she was of the leisurely classes.


----------



## Firky (Feb 12, 2013)

RaverDrew said:


> That was the most dull, tedious, cliched, predictable piece of television I've seen in ages. Just dire. Very dissapointing, and the acting and dialogue were painful to watch. Shame, because I really enjoyed at least one episode from the last series.


 
I didn't watch it because I find CB exactly what you describe. He can be very funny and I did like his article on Banksy and Jade Goody but apart from that he's everything I don't like about the Guardian.

Someone said on here said Jonathon Meades is the man Charlie Brooker wishes he was.


----------



## belboid (Feb 13, 2013)

Looked very much to me like Brooker was trying to show how 'mature' he was, no more pig fucking, but a bit of proper grief and plain old misery. Did it _quite_ well until the final part, which still had its moments, but just lacked all the killer thoughts and insights that would have made it actually _good._


----------



## Moronik (Feb 13, 2013)

its to be turned into a film apparently
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/12/robert-downey-jr-black-mirror


----------



## Firky (Feb 13, 2013)

> Downey Jr is not yet attached to star in the film and there are no further casting details.
> 
> All three episodes of the new series are written by Brooker, a columnist for the Guardian.


 
all gone max gogarty


----------



## RubyBlue (Feb 15, 2013)

Is black mirror series 2 of that one that had the prime minister fuck a pig??


----------



## gosub (Feb 15, 2013)

RubyBlue said:


> Is black mirror series 2 of that one that had the prime minister fuck a pig??


yep


----------



## colacubes (Feb 15, 2013)

It was alright I spose.  I thought the first half was good but the ending left me feeling a bit meh.  Found it all a bit predictable.  I also found the bloke really fucking annoying but I found her quite sympathetic and believable. But then I didn't like all of the last series so I'll carry on watching as I'm sure at least one of the others will be good.


----------



## susie12 (Feb 15, 2013)

It's Truly Madly Deeply.  Much loved lover comes back from dead but isn't quite himself and ends up being ditched.


----------



## isvicthere? (Feb 15, 2013)

I enjoyed the first series, but I turned this one off. Once she'd overcome her initial misgivings and was "talking" to her dead partner, I wasn't interested enough to wonder where it was going.


----------



## zoooo (Feb 16, 2013)

Next week's looks a bit more eventful.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 18, 2013)

zoooo said:


> Next week's looks a bit more eventful.


 
Yep, it's a bit faster paced, so I've been told.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 18, 2013)

Topical, too. White Bear Justice Park indeed.


----------



## Bungle73 (Feb 18, 2013)

I've never watched this programme before, but I just watched tonight's. I liked it.  I think I night go and download the rest from 4oD.


goldenecitrone said:


> Topical, too. White Bear Justice Park indeed.


I don't get it.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 18, 2013)

Bungle73 said:


> I've never watched this programme before, but I just watched tonight's. I liked it. I think I night go and download the rest from 4oD.
> 
> I don't get it.


 
http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...ebles-bulger-killer-poster-on-twitter.306359/


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 18, 2013)

hmm - conceptually interesting, but irritating to watch. leonora critchlow panting and screeching got annoying after ten mins.  by the end, i wanted them to put her out of her misery if only because i was getting a headache.


----------



## zoooo (Feb 19, 2013)

When she was in the chair at the end they let the crying go on so long it got annoying, but in the rest I thought she was brilliant.
Great episode!


----------



## belboid (Feb 19, 2013)

slow starting, was beginning to think it was bollocks when suddenly it all made sense.  not bad at all, and the weak point from Being Human really showeed she can be a c cracking actress.

Shame the other woman was called 'Tuppence'


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 19, 2013)

belboid said:


> slow starting, was beginning to think it was bollocks when suddenly it all made sense. not bad at all, and the weak point from Being Human really showeed she can be a c cracking actress.
> 
> Shame the other woman was called 'Tuppence'


 
Tuppence Middleton to be precise.


----------



## Firky (Feb 20, 2013)

belboid said:


> slow starting, was beginning to think it was bollocks when suddenly it all made sense. not bad at all, and the weak point from Being Human really showeed she can be a c cracking actress.
> 
> Shame the other woman was called 'Tuppence'


 

Did you notice she was wearing more or less the same clothes as in Being Human? Grey knitted jumper and grey leggings. In BH she's forever confined to those clothes - just like she was in Black Mirror. Day after day. I wondered if it was coincidence or deliberate 

Thought it was better than last weeks. You can tell he loves computer games!

Also thought the same thing as golden - dylans probably came twice.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 20, 2013)

firky said:


> Did you notice she was wearing more or less the same clothes as in Being Human? Grey knitted jumper and grey leggings. In BH she's forever confined to those clothes - just like she was in Black Mirror. Day after day, I wondered if it was coincidence or deliberate
> 
> Thought it was better than last weeks. You can tell he loves computer games!
> 
> Thought the same thing as golden - dylans probably came twice.


 
Yep, the Bulger thread definitely came to mind when I was watching this!

Not sure this was better than last week's though.  I felt the same as belboid: not convinced at all then suddenly, "ahhhh, that's not bad actually".

Last week's was all good I thought.

I've got to say, Brooker's doing a good job keeping these interesting and making statements on the modern world. I thought by limiting himself to technology he'd run out of decent ideas, but so far...not bad! Surprised they chose the one from last series to make into a film, though, as that's been the worst one so far.

Typical Hollywood


----------



## SarahCordell (Feb 20, 2013)

That's nights were such an unsuspected ending. It were great


----------



## ymu (Feb 20, 2013)

It was excellent. Apart from it being the female accomplice being demonised whilst the perpetrator is virtually ignored, as per bloody usual. Weak women who let it happen are soooo much worse than the sadistic men who actually do it.

Brooker's a bit of a tired old media meme himself these days. Meh.


----------



## mrsfran (Feb 20, 2013)

I totally called the ending. Proud.


----------



## belboid (Feb 20, 2013)

ymu said:


> It was excellent. Apart from it being the female accomplice being demonised whilst the perpetrator is virtually ignored, as per bloody usual. Weak women who let it happen are soooo much worse than the sadistic men who actually do it.
> 
> Brooker's a bit of a tired old media meme himself these days. Meh.


he'd topped himself hadn't he?


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 20, 2013)

mrsfran said:


> I totally called the ending. Proud.


There was something about the way the other woman was encouraging her along. Made me think of that derren brown apocalypse thing. 
But I didn't predict the ending.


----------



## mrsfran (Feb 20, 2013)

joustmaster said:


> There was something about the way the other woman was encouraging her along. Made me think of that derren brown apocalypse thing.
> But I didn't predict the ending.


 
I thought of Apocalypse too. Then for some reason, as soon as I saw the flashback clip where she told the girl to hide in the backseat like it was a game, I knew she'd killed her. I said before the final ad break "She's killed that girl and this is her punishment". I don't usually get twist endings so I was proud of myself


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 20, 2013)

mrsfran said:


> I thought of Apocalypse too. Then for some reason, as soon as I saw the flashback clip where she told the girl to hide in the backseat like it was a game, I knew she'd killed her. I said before the final ad break "She's killed that girl and this is her punishment". I don't usually get twist endings so I was proud of myself


Spoiled it for your partner.


----------



## ymu (Feb 20, 2013)

belboid said:


> he'd topped himself hadn't he?


No (dramatic) reason she couldn't have topped herself so that the main, male perpetrator could be the one to get demonised for a change, was my point.

(He was actually killed in custody. Not that it makes any difference.)


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 20, 2013)

ymu said:


> No (dramatic) reason she couldn't have topped herself so that the main, male perpetrator could be the one to get demonised for a change, was my point.


I assumed that was one of the main things he was trying to comment upon.  The Rose West / Myra Hindley parallels were pretty heavy-handed.


----------



## belboid (Feb 20, 2013)

spanglechick said:


> I assumed that was one of the main things he was trying to comment upon. The Rose West / Myra Hindley parallels were pretty heavy-handed.


maybe - there is also the fact that dramatically it works better that way - our suspicions would be raised quicker and more if it were a bloke in the same situation. Sad but true.


----------



## 8115 (Feb 20, 2013)

I thought it was pretty realistic.

Also extremely frightening.  I think this series is better than the first one.


----------



## ymu (Feb 20, 2013)

spanglechick said:


> I assumed that was one of the main things he was trying to comment upon. The Rose West / Myra Hindley parallels were pretty heavy-handed.


I did consider whether it might be that. But West and Hindley were both extra-demonised while the male protagonist was still alive, and at one point in BM someone says "he got off lightly". If he'd been making the Hindley/West/Carr point, he wouldn't have killed off the bloke (because that point cannot be made if the bloke is dead and not available for potentially equal torment).

(I include Carr because, despite being not at all involved, she got the same treatment for a long time.)


----------



## mrsfran (Feb 21, 2013)

Black Mirror ideas: https://twitter.com/IdeasBlack



> Boy finds an old analogue TV set that still works in his attic. Is his dead father trying to communicate with him via a Ceefax sports page?


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 21, 2013)

mrsfran said:


> Black Mirror ideas: https://twitter.com/IdeasBlack


 
Love it.



> A boy is born with a USB stick for a penis after a man ejaculates onto a computer whilst watching porn impregnating a porn star.


----------



## zoooo (Feb 21, 2013)

firky said:


> Did you notice she was wearing more or less the same clothes as in Being Human? Grey knitted jumper and grey leggings. In BH she's forever confined to those clothes - just like she was in Black Mirror. Day after day. I wondered if it was coincidence or deliberate


Ha, yep! I'm sure it was just a coincidence, but I did find it funny.


----------



## Hellsbells (Feb 23, 2013)

wow - just watched this and was totally freaked out. It really scared me. The twist was brilliant.

Although do agree the constant crying and wailing got a bit irritating.

A million times better than last weeks one.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2013)

The Simpsons did satire way better than this.
The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochy show iirc

Worst episode ever.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

Tonight's seems very topical again. Bozier and Eastleigh come to mind.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2013)

Who?

Is the main guy that loser chap/potential serial killer from the BT ad?


----------



## mrsfran (Feb 25, 2013)

*stage whisper* _It's not very good this week._



Shame. And yes, it's the bloke from the BT ads.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

Bozier was the wannabe paedo politician who sent young lasses messages on Twitter and got hacked.

This episode isn't very good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2013)

mrsfran said:


> *stage whisper* _It's not very good this week._
> 
> 
> 
> Shame. And yes, it's the bloke from the BT ads.


Well at least he finally got a shag


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

Is the woman the cop out of The Shadow Line? She looks familiar, but not sure it's her...


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Bozier was the wannabe paedo politician who sent young lasses messages on Twitter and got hacked.
> 
> This episode isn't very good.


Just looked up both. I need to start reading the news again. :I
Bozier and Eastleigh sound like posh solicitors


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

Absolute. Fucking. Shite.


----------



## mrsfran (Feb 25, 2013)

Wow, that was _rubbish_. Very disappointing.


----------



## spanglechick (Feb 25, 2013)

Daniel Rigby played Eric Morcombe in the early years drama from a couple of years ago. It's a remarkable performance and he's a great actor (saw him at the National the year before last too - he's great.)


----------



## TruXta (Feb 25, 2013)

Was entertained until the end when it turned shite. Decent start, good middle, poor ending.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

TruXta said:


> Was entertained until the end when it turned shite. Decent start, good middle, poor ending.


 
I thought the complete opposite. Shite start, shite middle, ending had potential. The meeting the CIA guy should have happened much earlier.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 25, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> I thought the complete opposite. Shite start, shite middle, ending had potential. The meeting the CIA guy should have happened much earlier.


I meant the very end with the view into the Waldofied future. Heavy-handed and utterly unimaginative. The CIA stuff was a good idea, but again crude and a bit pointless all considering.


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Feb 25, 2013)

From (sort of) watching all of them so far they've all been a bit patchy. There's good ideas here and there but he's not really a good enough writer to make them work. Or perhaps if he just picked one and did it properly he could pull it off.


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 25, 2013)

TruXta said:


> I meant the very end with the view into the Waldofied future. Heavy-handed and utterly unimaginative. The CIA stuff was a good idea, but again crude and a bit pointless all considering.


 
Oh, then I agree, yeah.

Worst episode of the 6 by a country mile.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 25, 2013)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> From (sort of) watching all of them so far they've all been a bit patchy. There's good ideas here and there but he's not really a good enough writer to make them work. Or perhaps if he just picked one and did it properly he could pull it off.


He managed a whole top-quality mini-series in Dead Set, I'd say this is a step down in quality from that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 25, 2013)

They might have worked better as half hour episodes. 
Twilight Zone > The Outer Limits


----------



## youngian (Feb 25, 2013)

Liked the idea of anti-politics being the target and a dig at complete twats who vote for Boris 'cause he's a laugh.


----------



## Firky (Feb 25, 2013)

I blame Konni.


----------



## Remus Harbank (Feb 26, 2013)

The best thing about that ‘thought provoking’ story was the advertising breaks.


----------



## girasol (Feb 26, 2013)

Last night's 'The Waldo Moment' surely inspired by Beppe Grillo from Italy, I realised that listening to the news this morning: he has been around for years and has taken a 1/4 of the vote!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21576869


----------



## RaverDrew (Feb 26, 2013)

firky said:


> I blame Konni.


STOP KONNI


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Feb 26, 2013)

TruXta said:


> He managed a whole top-quality mini-series in Dead Set, I'd say this is a step down in quality from that.


 
I'd forgotten about that one. I wouldn't say top quality quite but it was definitely a lot better and more consistent than Black Mirror. Maybe a proper focus on a single idea is what he needs to aim at then.


----------



## TruXta (Feb 26, 2013)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> I'd forgotten about that one. I wouldn't say top quality quite but it was definitely a lot better and more consistent than Black Mirror. Maybe a proper focus on a single idea is what he needs to aim at then.


I'm a zombie film fan, so my standards might have been lowered (cue cries of IMPOSSIBUL).


----------



## magneze (Feb 26, 2013)

It was bad. Probably the worst of the whole two series. Can't think of a positive.


----------



## Orang Utan (Feb 26, 2013)

Did you see how it was based on a canned idea for Nathan Barley?


----------



## magneze (Feb 26, 2013)

Orang Utan said:


> Did you see how it was based on a canned idea for Nathan Barley?


Yep, I saw that. Can of shit.


----------



## poului (Feb 26, 2013)

Must have been watching a different show. That was easily the best one of the whole lot.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 26, 2013)

I just watched the white bear one. 
It was shit.
Shit on toast.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 26, 2013)

girasol said:


> Last night's 'The Waldo Moment' surely inspired by Beppe Grillo from Italy, I realised that listening to the news this morning: he has been around for years and has taken a 1/4 of the vote!
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21576869


 
I was hoping it would be a warning about Boris Johnson


----------



## sim667 (Feb 27, 2013)

The waldo one was shit too.

Am disappoint.


----------



## belboid (Feb 27, 2013)

Saw the Waldo one last night.  I perfectly reasonable premise, that didn't seem to be too well carried out at first, but hardly as bad as everyone was saying.  And then it just got fucking silly. Having a TV screen in a sixth form college debate is just about plausible, but on the frigging stage for the count?  Don't be silly.  The crap actor would have made a humungous fuss had he announced he was withdrawing his candidacy, so the whole schtick of the producer just wouldn't work.  And then there was the ending.  Jesus Christ....


----------



## Fez909 (Feb 27, 2013)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> Maybe a proper focus on a single idea is what he needs to aim at then.



Couldn't disagree with this more. 

The single idea IS to have a different subject each week, all based on exploring how technology is unintentionally affecting our lives negatively. 

By keeping the episodes stand-alone he's made it possible to have proper duff episodes like this one without ruining the entire show. There's also no pressure to keep a plot consistent or phasing out characters who've become stale.

He's made it an ideas programme, which is exactly what was intended. Let's hope he's got some more good ones left for the next series!


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Feb 27, 2013)

Fez909 said:


> Couldn't disagree with this more.
> 
> The single idea IS to have a different subject each week, all based on exploring how technology is unintentionally affecting our lives negatively.
> 
> ...



I appreciate that's the idea, I just don't think he's done it very well myself. In any of the episodes, not just the most recent. The exploration of the initial idea hasn't been done well enough to really make them work.


----------



## nogojones (Feb 27, 2013)

The last one was a bit meh, but I might have a jaundiced view because of the BT whore who was starring in it


----------



## goldenecitrone (Feb 27, 2013)

First one was mediocre, second one was alright, last one was a bit shit, although I didn't see the end. Could do better Brooker. Mohammed the Musical beckons.


----------



## sim667 (Feb 28, 2013)

I've been watching weekly wipe and thats not as good as it used to be either


----------



## Virtual Blue (Feb 28, 2013)

I saw it.
Fucking load of shit.
Amateurish, like an A-Level project on a shit budget.

Season 2 was like Season 1.
Starts off okay then gradually drowns in it's own shit.
Shit.


----------



## Utopia (Feb 28, 2013)

sim667 said:


> I've been watching weekly wipe and thats not as good as it used to be either


 
Its been alright.....loved the 'review' of that Brian Cox's world of wonder cockfest.


----------



## joustmaster (Feb 28, 2013)

Utopia said:


> Its been alright.....loved the 'review' of that Brian Cox's world of wonder cockfest.


 That was excellent.


----------



## spacemonkey (Mar 14, 2013)

mrsfran said:


> Black Mirror ideas: https://twitter.com/IdeasBlack


 
That's like an entry from TVGoHome. Brilliant.


----------



## Firky (Mar 14, 2013)

Brooker reads out stuff people posted on the internet from all over the place and rather suspiciously has commented on things that are very familiar to some of the things posted to urban. However he's never televised any of the things where people call him a massive fucking prick.

(Yeah I do think he has nicked the content of people's posts off here and used it as his own material. The Guardian have a habit of doing that).


----------



## Treacle Toes (May 11, 2014)

BUMPTASTIC! 

Seeing as though this passed me by not having a tv or owt I watched seasion 2 over last nght and this morning after someone recommended to me following a meaningful convo regarding technology and it's impact on our lives and relationships with self/others.

I think they are fairly well done and I have been entertained. All 3 episodes i've watched have been good enough to make their point about how we compartmentalise and distort our relationship with technology, using it in ways that ultimately distances us from some of the fundamentally important (IMO) parts of what it is to be human, our connection to the world around us and others.

Ben Elton's *Dead Famous* made similar points back in 2001. Heavy allusion/play on real life news stories etc, however cheap has purpose for this kind of production. There are many documentaries on the same subject too, exploratory, thought provoking etc. *We live in Public* and *All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace *are the first two that spring to mind*. *


However much fun this is, however much I am in awe and enjoy technology, living _this_ way full time is truly the stuff of nightmares for me also:




I say this and I know things have changed/are changing constantly and with that I/we  need to embrace, examine and understand our relationship/use of technology...what I do admit to though is a deep desire to hold on to an initimacy that doesn't involve a machine as the _Black Mirror, filter, barrier_....Ironically, here I am on the internet, writing this on a forum... These contradictions exist. I enjoy thinking about them. 

PS: I just picked up my guitar for the first time in ages and played two songs I wrote myself a few years back. Sometimes you forget you can and like doing other things; simple, personal, fulfilling, creative. Those things that i admit to above, having _a deep desire to hold on to an initimacy_ _that doesn't involve a machine as the Black Mirror, filter, barrier.'_ This reaction in me today, to this series, is priceless IMO. I'll take it. Not new or life changing relevations no, useful reminders/reflections though.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Dec 4, 2014)

BUMPTASTIC 2

Back on Tuesday 16th December.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...ck-mirror-christmas-special-starring-jon-hamm


----------



## Maggot (Dec 16, 2014)

Starts tonight at 9.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Dec 16, 2014)

Maggot said:


> Starts tonight at 9.



Apparently the director makes a cameo appearance. Can you spot him? Delusions of Hitchcock or what.


----------



## belboid (Dec 16, 2014)

goldenecitrone said:


> Apparently the director makes a cameo appearance. Can you spot him? Delusions of Hitchcock or what.


it's not that weird or egotistical, lots of directors do it - have done since well before Hitchcock


----------



## goldenecitrone (Dec 16, 2014)

belboid said:


> it's not that weird or egotistical, lots of directors do it - have done since well before Hitchcock



Just kidding. Did you spot him yet? On the Hamm's computer screen.


----------



## belboid (Dec 16, 2014)

Not watching it yet - mrs b is out, so I'm having to save it


----------



## goldenecitrone (Dec 16, 2014)

Pretty enjoyable all in all. Nice ending. A Merry Christmas to you all indeed.


----------



## T & P (Dec 16, 2014)

Dark and thought-provoking, but enjoyable all the same.


----------



## Maggot (Dec 17, 2014)

Very good. Didn't see that ending coming.


----------



## ShiftyBagLady (Dec 17, 2014)

I fell asleep


----------



## joevsimp (Dec 17, 2014)

I feel slightly icky after that, best one so far I think, apart from maybe The Entire History of You, but it has bits of that in it too


----------



## mrsfran (Dec 17, 2014)

It reminded me a little of an episode of The Outer Limits starring a young David Hyde-Pierce (Niles off Frasier): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentence_(The_Outer_Limits) - that plot is a man who builds a device whereby guilty prisoners experience a lifetime's incarceration in what is really a matter of minutes - and the length of incarceration depends on the prisoners own sense of guilt. The inventor then has to go into the device himself and experiences a lifetime of incarceration due to his guilt about creating the machine. Quite a few similarities.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Dec 17, 2014)

Theft is all part of making good art.


----------



## mrsfran (Dec 17, 2014)

It's different enough that it could simply be listed as an "influence", and there's nothing about clones or brain chips in the Outer Limits ep. It was a great ep though, my favourite Outer Limits.


----------



## Santino (Dec 17, 2014)

In Deep Space Nine Chief O'Brien had to do a twenty stretch in his own mind too. He ended up murdering his cell-mate.


----------



## Santino (Dec 17, 2014)

Also Chief O'Brien once discovered that he was a fake Chief O'Brien and not the real Chief O'Brien.

He had a rough time sometimes. Bit of PTS from the Cardassian War too.


----------



## danny la rouge (Dec 17, 2014)

I didn't like it and gave up.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 17, 2014)

Really enjoyed that. Lots of twists and turns and you really didn't know where it was going. 

One thing that i think Black Mirror has often done well is convey terror without any physical violence or even the threat of it.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 17, 2014)

danny la rouge said:


> I didn't like it and gave up.



I've noticed over the years that your seal of disapproval is almost a guarantee that I'll like something.


----------



## danny la rouge (Dec 17, 2014)

You'd love Doctors, then.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 17, 2014)

danny la rouge said:


> You'd love Doctors, then.



I said _almost_.


----------



## danny la rouge (Dec 17, 2014)

I might start a thread and just list all the stuff I hate.


----------



## May Kasahara (Dec 19, 2014)

mrsfran said:


> It reminded me a little of an episode of The Outer Limits starring a young David Hyde-Pierce (Niles off Frasier): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentence_(The_Outer_Limits) - that plot is a man who builds a device whereby guilty prisoners experience a lifetime's incarceration in what is really a matter of minutes - and the length of incarceration depends on the prisoners own sense of guilt. The inventor then has to go into the device himself and experiences a lifetime of incarceration due to his guilt about creating the machine. Quite a few similarities.



It also reminded me of a well written short story I read years ago in a now defunct magazine called Fear, that used exactly the same idea. 

Excellent Christmas special, and I agree with whoever said about the terror.


----------



## Mrs Miggins (Jan 3, 2015)

Bumping because I watched the second series whilst unable to sleep on new year's day (self inflicted!) and I found the White Bear episode utterly terrifying. OK it was a bit clunky in places but the premise scared the shit out of me and I liked the way the story unfolded and your sympathies with the main character were questioned.


----------



## madamv (Jan 3, 2015)

Anyone see White Christmas?


----------



## Mrs Miggins (Jan 3, 2015)

madamv said:


> Anyone see White Christmas?


Yes - already discussed a bit on this thread earlier but I really liked it. He seems to have a good knack of slowly revealing a story...although I did guess about the child.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 3, 2015)

Just watched.  I liked it.  Doesn't Jon Hamm have much acting range, or was this performance deliberately close to Don Draper?


----------



## Lord Camomile (Jan 3, 2015)

I thought the reference to the clock tipped their hand fairly early on, and it didn't take too long after that to get the general idea of what was going on.

I somehow missed the second series entirely (will eventually catch up with that via Netflix...), but I found the first series tended to have an interesting central conceit but was handled somewhat heavy-handedly with writing that was a bit sketchy. White Christmas was better in that regard, though still had its flaws.


----------



## Mrs Miggins (Jan 3, 2015)

Johnny Vodka said:


> Just watched.  I liked it.  Doesn't Jon Hamm have much acting range, or was this performance deliberately close to Don Draper?



I'd say deliberately close to Don Draper. There was a line after all when the other guy had to guess his job and one of the guesses was "marketing man".
I do love Rafe Spall


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Jan 3, 2015)

Mrs Miggins said:


> I'd say deliberately close to Don Draper. There was a line after all when the other guy had to guess his job and one of the guesses was "marketing man".
> I do love Rafe Spall



Yeah, I caught that.  Just never watched Hamm in anything else.  I fucking love Mad Men, though, so it didn't bother me that the characters were close.


----------



## madamv (Jan 4, 2015)

He's wonderful in A Young Doctor's Notebook too.  

Really enjoyed these stories and will revisit the first series asap


----------



## belboid (Jan 9, 2015)

Finally watched this last night, Brooker has definitely improved his story construction vastly. A well told tale, cleverly done. Although the idea of blocking people wholesale like that makes no real sense, and would be a gift to abusers and all kinds of miscreants.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jan 9, 2015)

Santino said:


> In Deep Space Nine Chief O'Brien had to do a twenty stretch in his own mind too. He ended up murdering his cell-mate.



That was really fucking dark that episode.


----------



## rutabowa (Jan 12, 2015)

Definitely pretty freaky that christmas episode/


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 26, 2015)

Over to Netflix for season 3. Gonna be 12 episodes!


----------



## isvicthere? (Sep 26, 2015)

Call me a cynic, but when I noticed this thread had been bumped, I automatically assumed it would be because of piggate.

@self.


----------



## BoxRoom (Sep 26, 2015)

isvicthere? said:


> Call me a cynic, but when I noticed this thread had been bumped, I automatically assumed it would be because of piggate.
> 
> @self.


Me too!


----------



## DrRingDing (Sep 26, 2015)

Me three.


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 11, 2016)

Info about the first batch of S3 episodes here: 'Black Mirror' creator breaks silence on season 3 episodes

Seems a lot less tech and a lot more satire from the descriptions, but hard to tell from the limited info. Looking forward to them anyway


----------



## stdP (Sep 12, 2016)

Resisting the temptation to read about the episodes, but very much looking forward to these. Hopefully they'll retain the quality of the C4 productions.


----------



## Reno (Sep 12, 2016)

I worked on one of the episodes, however they are treating the futuristic menace I animated like its a state secret in the press release, so I'll better not blab about it.


----------



## Santino (Sep 13, 2016)

Killer robot bees powered by Twitter.


----------



## Reno (Sep 13, 2016)

Santino said:


> Killer robot bees powered by Twitter.


Did you read that somewhere or was it a very, very lucky guess ?


----------



## Santino (Sep 13, 2016)

Reno said:


> Did you read that somewhere or was it a very, very lucky guess ?


An educated guess.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 13, 2016)

Santino said:


> An educated guess.


I bet you get to watch the GoT episodes before everyone else as well. Obama.


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 13, 2016)




----------



## Jeff Robinson (Oct 10, 2016)

First 6 episodes of 12 will be streaming on Netflix on 21st October.

Season trailer:


----------



## zoooo (Oct 10, 2016)

Will it ever end up on normal telly?


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Oct 10, 2016)

zoooo said:


> Will it ever end up on normal telly?



Afraid not. It's a netflix production. You can sign up for a month's free trial then unsub before the trial ends if you wanna see it for free


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Oct 10, 2016)

Jeff Robinson said:


> First 6 episodes of 12 will be streaming on Netflix on 21st October.
> 
> Season trailer:




It's _that _trailer format again. Really doesn't match the tone of the series, imo.

"This is EPIC" trailers


----------



## zoooo (Oct 10, 2016)

Jeff Robinson said:


> Afraid not. It's a netflix production. You can sign up for a month's free trial then unsub before the trial ends if you wanna see it for free


Dammit!
Might have to.


----------



## keybored (Oct 22, 2016)

zoooo said:


> Dammit!
> Might have to.


There are torrents aplenty already.

Has anyone watched any S3 episodes yet? Thoughts?

I have a friend who has never heard of Black Mirror, if S3 is decent I'll start her on those so we can watch some new episodes together. If it's disappointing I'll re-watch a couple of old ones with her and lend her the rest if she likes it.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 22, 2016)

Watched the first one just now. Probably the worst one yet, despite having a good concept and some very on the nose satire.

Disappointed.


----------



## stdP (Oct 22, 2016)

Gone through all six now; there's a definite upwards progression in quality IMHO. Nosedive is a bit too obvious and a bit too simplistically one-note. Fun, arch, but not especially biting.

Hated in the Nation is easily the best in the current crop and a real return to form in the style of David Cameron John Actor fucking a pig. Horrific satire, solid (and pretty tense) non-bumbling detective procedural gubbins and a worrisome understanding of exactly how one might go about assassination via technology.

(And Kelly MacDonald needs more roles; she's great in this. Ably assisted by That Northern Lass Wot I've Seen In Stuff as that rarest of portrayals as a realistic [female] forensic techie)


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 22, 2016)

MacDonald is quite a busy actor though. She's been in loads of decent stuff.


----------



## teuchter (Oct 22, 2016)

Fez909 said:


> Watched the first one just now. Probably the worst one yet, despite having a good concept and some very on the nose satire.
> 
> Disappointed.


I thought it was unoriginal cheesy rubbish.


----------



## teuchter (Oct 22, 2016)

Has it been dumbed down for American telly or something?


----------



## Reno (Oct 23, 2016)

teuchter said:


> Has it been dumbed down for American telly or something?


I don't think so and as Neflix isn't American telly, it is a subscription service and it isn't under the commercial pressures of US Network TV. Subscription services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon now make some of the most cutting edge TV out there.

I always felt Black Mirror is stronger on ideas than on drama. It often doesn't manage to translate it's great concepts into compelling drama and the resolution to episodes still sometimes feels rushed, though I realise I'm in a minority of people who were never that blown away with it. There were a few episodes I though were fantastic though.


----------



## spanglechick (Oct 23, 2016)

Episode 3, Now Dance for Me, is the first stand-out.  So, so dark.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> I don't think so and as Neflix isn't American telly, it is a subscription service and it isn't under the commercial pressures of US Network TV. Subscription services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon now make some of the most cutting edge TV out there.
> 
> I always felt Black Mirror is stronger on ideas than on drama. It often doesn't manage to translate it's great concepts into compelling drama and the resolution to episodes still sometimes feels rushed, though I realise I'm in a minority of people who were never that blown away with it. There were a few episodes I though were fantastic though.


Was it EP2 you were involved in?


----------



## Reno (Oct 23, 2016)

Fez909 said:


> Was it EP2 you were involved in?


I animated RoboBees for Hated in the Nation, which is the last one.


----------



## Fez909 (Oct 23, 2016)

Reno said:


> I animated RoboBees for Hated in the Nation, which is the last one.


Ah, cool. I'll keep an eye out for it


----------



## stdP (Oct 24, 2016)

Fez909 said:


> Ah, cool. I'll keep an eye out for it



Hopefully you're not a rapper admonishing the dancing skills of one of your fans...


----------



## Artaxerxes (Oct 27, 2016)

Started watching last night, if episode 1 is anything to go by I'm in for a treat for the next week or so.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Oct 27, 2016)

Apart from the first one, which I thought felt a bit weak, with endless repetitions of numbers between 1 and 5, and a bit of a non- ending, I mostly enjoyed it. Most of the endings felt a bit flat, with San Juniwhatsit (loved the 80s club scene!) and Hated by the nation being the exceptions and real standouts. Play test didn't seem to want to decide which ending to go with (could have been any of four). Still, as is often the cases, it's the getting there that counts, not the arriving. Bit depressing in points to bingewatch, although bingewatch I did.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Oct 27, 2016)

I liked the first one better than the second one, the facebook/instagram satire was so spot on. 

I'm not a fan of horror at all, and felt very uneasy at the end of episode 2


----------



## mystic pyjamas (Oct 27, 2016)

"Shut up and dance" was one of the grimmest things I've seen on TV.


----------



## pengaleng (Oct 27, 2016)

the second one was amazing


----------



## mystic pyjamas (Oct 27, 2016)

mystic pyjamas said:


> "Shut up and dance" was one of the grimmest things I've seen on TV.


Correction, I've just watched "TWD" S7 EP 1.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Oct 27, 2016)

pengaleng said:


> the second one was amazing




AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Oct 28, 2016)

Watched the first three - each being better than the last. "Shut up and dance" was truly excellent T.V. Brilliant performance from the guy playing the main kid too.


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 1, 2016)

bah I left the last 2 in the season for halloween, but it turned out they were my 2 least favourite. 2-4 are all great, 1 is pretty good, 5 was lame, 6 was just ok... they should have made it an hour long, it was a bit tortuous.


----------



## rutabowa (Nov 1, 2016)

Would still rather have this programme made than 99% of stuff though.


----------



## magneze (Nov 1, 2016)

They were all good. He really benefits from a bigger budget. The previous series weren't quite there, but this one hits the mark almost every time. For me anyway, I know others didn't like some episodes.


----------



## Reno (Nov 14, 2016)

Finished season 3 last night and thought it was mostly great, far more consistent than the previous run where I thought about half of the episodes were poor. Maybe it's the increase in budget, but these worked better as dramas than just as ideas for me. The one about 80s nostalgia, San Junipero was brilliant. Next to Be Right Back from season 2 by far the best thing Black Mirror has done (they do love stories rather well!). I also really liked Nosedive with it's pastel nightmare of a social media dystopia. Bryce Dallas Howard's psychotically perky performance is what really made the episode. The last one was good too, I'd only seen the sequences I'd worked on, but it may have been better at regular episode length rather than at feature film length.


----------



## Spod (Nov 14, 2016)

Only just seen the first one. Was dissapointed initially as seemed like same-old commentary on social media on a bigger budget set in US. But the end hook was amazing. Genuinely felt like they had tapped into human needs that we are losing with social media.


----------



## Lucy Fur (Nov 30, 2016)

Shut Up Dance a thing in echoed real life:
'Sextortion' suspects deny involvement in Daniel Perry case - BBC News


----------



## teuchter (Dec 1, 2016)

Every Episode of  Black Mirror


----------



## stdP (Dec 1, 2016)

I preferred this one


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 1, 2016)

Black Mirror Ideas (@IdeasBlack) | Twitter


----------



## sojourner (Dec 1, 2016)

I thought the third one was the absolute stand out one.


----------



## keybored (Dec 10, 2016)

stdP said:


> I preferred this one



Hated by The Nation: Look at her screen at 06:03...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Dec 10, 2016)

keybored said:


> Hated by The Nation: Look at her screen at 06:03...
> 
> View attachment 96894


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 22, 2016)

Finally got around to watching the third series.
It was better than I expected. Loved San Junipero - such a sweet love story.
They can be a bit trite, but they are generally well directed and very well directed.
I thought that the American back packer in the deadly horror video game one was great and he reminded me of a young Kurt Russell - looked him up and Wyatt Russell is indeed his son!


----------



## DaveCinzano (Feb 10, 2017)

New CB side project in Syria?







A sarcastic response to Syria's militants - BBC News


----------



## keybored (Dec 24, 2017)

Here we go again. S4 up on the 29th.



Nice to spot Meth Damon


----------



## donkyboy (Dec 25, 2017)

why does the thread title need to have 'charlie Brooker' tagged on? we dont have doctor who 'steven moffat' or game of thrones 'g r r r r martin' thread titles


----------



## keybored (Dec 30, 2017)

_USS Callister_ was the business  I loved the castings, Plemons is as expected (brilliant, but I expected him from the trailer) Michaela Cole returns (she was the perfectly irritating airline service desk attendant in _Nosedive_) and we also get another _Fargo_ refugee, Cristin Milioti.

I found myself thinking "I fucking love all these actors who played characters in my favourite shows all coming together here, but why doesn't 



Spoiler



No, fuck you. You'll just have to watch it 


from 



Spoiler






 _ever_ get cast in anything else? Did he die?"

Then near the end this stereotypical obnoxious gamer comes on over the intercom and I lost it.


----------



## donkyboy (Dec 30, 2017)

well finally got round to watching this show. finished the first episode of season 4. this was my first intro into the world of black mirror and i'm left thinking, is that it? 

this is the shit people are raving about?  this all supposed to tie in about modern technology shit?


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 31, 2017)

Just watched s4 e1.... what a great start to the series! 



Spoiler



genuine suspense throughout too - given how evil so many episodes of BM have been you genuinely didn’t know if they were gonna make it out


----------



## donkyboy (Dec 31, 2017)

ok....


----------



## ruffneck23 (Dec 31, 2017)

Watched ep1 of season 4 yesterday , really enjoyed it , wasn't what I was expecting , now to watch episode 2


----------



## Ranu (Jan 1, 2018)

My favourite of this season has been Hang the DJ.



Spoiler



The pay-off at the end is wonderfully done


----------



## Dragnet (Jan 1, 2018)

Liked series 4, but for me it lacked a highlight like "Shut Up and Dance" from S3. 



Spoiler: Crocodile



Crocodile was looking good until that ending. Wasn't it already established that the subject had to be 'induced' into 'seeing' the memory?


----------



## Chz (Jan 1, 2018)

Yeah, I'm fine with believing whatever they come up with, but it has to be consistent. And given that they already talked about the personal bias that all memories have, is a GP's memory even admissible in court?


----------



## Badgers (Jan 1, 2018)

It was okay. The weakest series imo but still stuck with all four.


----------



## Crispy (Jan 1, 2018)

2 down 4 to go
*Callister *was weak as hell. Plot so full of holes it destroyed the tension. "Why don't they/he/she just XYZ?" every 5 minutes. "But that's physically impossible" every 10 (probably because the "how" of the technology played an important part in the story)
*Arkangel *was superb. Really well acted, and the story got its fingers in you from multiple directions. (The "how" is completely unexplained, but its effect is crystal clear, which is all the story needs. It could be a magic spell and work just as well.)


----------



## T & P (Jan 1, 2018)

Could someone cleverer than me explain what the background story of the woman being chased by the robotic dog might be?. Her struggle against the four legged terror was compelling enough, but I'm still at a loss as to wtf was going on...


----------



## DaveCinzano (Jan 1, 2018)

keybored said:


> Meth Damon


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 2, 2018)

Spoiler: Arkangel











and


Spoiler: Arkangel


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Jan 4, 2018)

T & P said:


> Could someone cleverer than me explain what the background story of the woman being chased by the robotic dog might be?. Her struggle against the four legged terror was compelling enough, but I'm still at a loss as to wtf was going on...





Spoiler



From what I could gather, the episode was set in a terminator-style future where the 'robots have taken over' - it seems that these robot dogs were originally manufactured to act as guard dogs but they have since turned on the humans. The woman and her accomplices were trying to get a replacement teddy bear from the abandoned warehouse for a dying child.


----------



## Sea Star (Jan 4, 2018)

on a side note - that rather fab looking vintage car in the final episode - Black Museum - was recently purchased by a friend of mine. I don't think he was expecting to see it turn up in Black Mirror. well, at least he knows who the former owner was


----------



## T & P (Jan 4, 2018)

Jeff Robinson said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> From what I could gather, the episode was set in a terminator-style future where the 'robots have taken over' - it seems that these robot dogs were originally manufactured to act as guard dogs but they have since turned on the humans. The woman and her accomplices were trying to get a replacement teddy bear from the abandoned warehouse for a dying child.


That makes sense. Cheers!


----------



## joustmaster (Jan 4, 2018)

T & P said:


> Could someone cleverer than me explain what the background story of the woman being chased by the robotic dog might be?. Her struggle against the four legged terror was compelling enough, but I'm still at a loss as to wtf was going on...





Jeff Robinson said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> From what I could gather, the episode was set in a terminator-style future where the 'robots have taken over' - it seems that these robot dogs were originally manufactured to act as guard dogs but they have since turned on the humans. The woman and her accomplices were trying to get a replacement teddy bear from the abandoned warehouse for a dying child.





Spoiler



And based on the roboto dogs that Boston Dynamics has been building for the US military


----------



## T & P (Jan 4, 2018)

joustmaster said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> And based on the roboto dogs that Boston Dynamics has been building for the US military



I was remarking to Ms T & P how realistic the contraption looked. Very impressive indeed, and while I suspected it was CGI I found it impossible to tell solely from the images.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 4, 2018)

I really enjoyed this series. Highlights were Meph Damon's spot-on Kirk impression at the very start, the dogs one was brilliantly bleak, Arkangel was thought provoking.

The last one was a bit too meta, and the couples one was too obviously going for the San Junipero vibe, but nowhere near as good.

Good stuff!


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 4, 2018)

Just watching now.
First one was ok, but how the hell did the get all the memories and everything from some DNA in spit?
Bit cheesy, especially when the other crew member came back even though she wasn't on the ship.

Just tried watching arkangel. Disappointed. Got immediately bored but stuck with it until half way, just couldn't bear it anymore. Any others worth watching?


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 5, 2018)

mwgdrwg said:


> the couples one was too obviously going for the San Junipero vibe, but nowhere near as good.
> 
> Good stuff!


The romantic in me loved this one, though it was hard, too (recent break up).

Have you ever done online dating? I have and I think that helped me enjoy it more as well.

Great episode for me. One of the best yet.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jan 5, 2018)

Fez909 said:


> The romantic in me loved this one, though it was hard, too (recent break up).
> 
> Have you ever done online dating? I have and I think that helped me enjoy it more as well.
> 
> Great episode for me. One of the best yet.



Never done online dating, have been in a 25 year relationship...so romance is a fading memory


----------



## D'wards (Dec 28, 2018)

Just watched new episode Bandersnatch. 

Whilst it's truly ground-breaking in its execution, I think it should have stuck to its guns and not shown you all the different outcomes at the end.


----------



## 74drew (Dec 28, 2018)

D'wards said:


> Just watched new episode Bandersnatch.
> 
> Whilst it's truly ground-breaking in its execution, I think it should have stuck to its guns and not shown you all the different outcomes at the end.


Did it, I didn't get that. What were your choices?


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 28, 2018)

D'wards said:


> Just watched new episode Bandersnatch.
> 
> Whilst it's truly ground-breaking in its execution, I think it should have stuck to its guns and not shown you all the different outcomes at the end.



I liked it.  I really have no idea what difference the decisions make in the end and have no time to test it.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 28, 2018)

74drew said:


> Did it, I didn't get that. What were your choices?


Well i chose to chop up dad. Then it came to an ending, and the credits came up, but it still gave the option to choose to bury him etc and showed you how it would have been different


----------



## 74drew (Dec 28, 2018)

D'wards said:


> Well i chose to chop up dad. Then it came to an ending, and the credits came up, but it still gave the option to choose to bury him etc and showed you how it would have been different



I went different and got him [how do you use spoiler code?]


----------



## 74drew (Dec 28, 2018)

Having said that, in terms of an artistic representation of someone developing a delusional system and psychosis. I'd imagine that was quite artful.


----------



## Grandma Death (Dec 28, 2018)

OK so I've watched it 3 times in total today and managed to get three different endings (I believe there are 5 in total with 'millions' of permutations according to the BBC website).

Firstly I think overall its a polished piece of film making which was made, as I understand it, in a very relative short period of time. I love the fact you can't rewind or go forward preventing you from exploring and changing the different options you've selected. You literally have to watch it all over again. I adored its sense of parody. Breaking through that third wall. And the set pieces and score add to the impending sense of doom I felt was present throughout.

Overall I think it's one of the best black mirror episodes I've seen. The fact I've sat down and watched it three times illustrates to me how fascinating the episode was and how sucked in by it I was.

Im a massive fan boy of Brooker and his work and I think black mirror is ahead of its time. I think his work challenges you on multiple levels. And this was no exception. I personally can't wait for the next season. 

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 28, 2018)

Have to say that, from the position of being aware of interactive fiction over the last few decades, it sounds like some really basic shit.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 28, 2018)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Have to say that, from the position of being aware of interactive fiction over the last few decades, it sounds like some really basic shit.



The interactivity isn't there as a novelty..


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 28, 2018)

Johnny Vodka said:


> The interactivity isn't there as a novelty..


Seems like it is to me. I like the 80s references but I'm bored already. No I don't want to go back and pick another choice.

This is badly-designed interactive fiction - probably seems novel if you've been asleep since the 80s.


----------



## drew74 (Dec 28, 2018)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Seems like it is to me. I like the 80s references but I'm bored already. No I don't want to go back and pick another choice.
> 
> This is badly-designed interactive fiction - probably seems novel if you've been asleep since the 80s.



I thought the content was quite good, rather than the form, which i hadn't seen done like that on my telly previously.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 28, 2018)

Only on Netflix right?
When is the Croydon one out?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 28, 2018)

drew74 said:


> I thought the content was quite good, rather than the form, which i hadn't seen done like that on my telly previously.


A big problem with IF (which everyone has been aware of for a long time) is that your content can be top notch but it's irrelevant if nobody ever gets to it due to the structure. One does not excuse the other. And you have to think about why people might take choices and what they might get out of it, how they react to the choice system and engage with the plot.

This is just badly done amateur bullshit as far as I'm concerned, and bullshit that will get loads of attention for doing things that people were doing better twenty years ago, because cunts in the Guardian don't know any better.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Dec 28, 2018)

They replaced any form of a plot with a naff gimmick, and chucked in some stoner philosophy and 80's references. Really wasn't all that.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Dec 28, 2018)

I bet it's named after the 80s vapour ware game for the spectrum and not because of the Lewis Carroll creature.


----------



## D'wards (Dec 28, 2018)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Only on Netflix right?
> When is the Croydon one out?


Tis the Croydon one. 
Thrupney Bit in all its concrete glory


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 28, 2018)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Seems like it is to me. I like the 80s references but I'm bored already. No I don't want to go back and pick another choice.
> 
> This is badly-designed interactive fiction - probably seems novel if you've been asleep since the 80s.



No, the interactivity is there because it is a story about interactivity.  I think most people who watch this will have played a computer game, or read a choose your own adventure book..  It's not really being used as 'hey, this is novel'.


----------



## Gromit (Dec 28, 2018)

I liked it.

It's a trope black mirror love to drag out...



Spoiler



"but what if we're all just characters in someone else's thing?"

This time *you* are the someone else (squeezing a bit of life into the tired old trope) and to get to the um "happy ending" the choices you make are possibly the nastiest (make of that what you will).

I loved the oh so self aware Colin bits.
The obvious nod to Fighting Fantasy books.
Hidden little nuggets of black humour (does anyone know how many parts Dad ends up in?).
The fact that if you do go back to do stuff it references your pre-knowledge. It's the tech version of fingers in the pages (which Stephan actually demonstrates at the start).

There is kinda more than 5 endings despite what Googling says. e.g I'm counting 3 variations on one ending where it's practically the same ending but with different people dead.


----------



## drew74 (Dec 28, 2018)

FridgeMagnet said:


> A big problem with IF (which everyone has been aware of for a long time) is that your content can be top notch but it's irrelevant if nobody ever gets to it due to the structure. One does not excuse the other. And you have to think about why people might take choices and what they might get out of it, how they react to the choice system and engage with the plot.
> 
> This is just badly done amateur bullshit as far as I'm concerned, and bullshit that will get loads of attention for doing things that people were doing better twenty years ago, because cunts in the Guardian don't know any better.



I didn't hear about it in The Guardian but I thought it was quite well done. I don't think Brooker meant it to be an academic paper either and he may be an amateur but many may have been introduced to a new perspective by it. on that basis, i was fairly good for a prime time tv show.


----------



## Johnny Vodka (Dec 28, 2018)

drew74 said:


> I didn't hear about it in The Guardian but I thought it was quite well done. I don't think Brooker meant it to be an academic paper either and he may be an amateur but many may have been introduced to a new perspective by it. on that basis, i was fairly good for a prime time tv show.



I think people who watch Black Mirror are going to be fairly technology (?) literate.


----------



## Gromit (Dec 28, 2018)

I'm re-watching White Bear. Totally random choice, or so I thought. The symbol makes at appearance at the start. Spooky.


----------



## drew74 (Dec 28, 2018)

wasn't particulary talking about technology, anyhoo, he is more mainstream after his last series on Netflix. My favourite? or at least more interesting trope in the thing was the development of a mental health problem.


----------



## mojo pixy (Dec 29, 2018)

Grandma Death said:


> Breaking through that third wall.



Fourth wall.

I'll get me coat...


----------



## T & P (Dec 29, 2018)

It’s not the best of Black Mirrors but still pretty decent, and the interactivity is not just gimmicks but adds depth to the overall story, as well as an extra layer of fun. Pretty satisfying imo.

Hell, my 82-year-old mum-in-law is staying with us and got engrossed in it, even though an ordinary Black Mirror wouldn’t be of any interest to her. And every other fucker I know is talking about it on FB or whatsapp right now. As entertainment goes, mission accomplished.


----------



## girasol (Dec 29, 2018)

Oh, so there is more than one ending?  I thought there was always going to be just one ending, no matter what path was taken, especially after the bit where he simplifies the game and explains how/why.  To me the point was that you'd always get to the same ending just via different routes to give impression of choice where really there wasn't any?  I really don't feel like watching it again just to check what the other endings are...

edit: But I might have to because thinking back I can't even remember which was really an ending and which one was a dream :/


----------



## Thora (Dec 29, 2018)

I just kept going back whenever it gave me the option - 4 or 5 times? - until it got to a definite end.
I enjoyed it.


----------



## girasol (Dec 29, 2018)

oh, nice... The Reddit detectives have decoded Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.  As suspected, at least some of the choices serve no purpose, other than give us something to chose.



Spoiler












According to that, we saw most of the endings anyway.


----------



## Grandma Death (Dec 29, 2018)

girasol said:


> oh, nice... The Reddit detectives have decoded Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.  As suspected, at least some of the choices serve no purpose, other than give us something to chose.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I can't even read that. My mum was right. I should've listened to her all those years ago. 

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 29, 2018)

You know what, I've been watching/playing this more today and it's smarter than I thought it was.


----------



## Thora (Dec 29, 2018)

I've played/watched a couple of times now and think I've seen all (most?) of the endings


Spoiler



Stefan writes the game in the office and it's shit, throws himself off the balcony, kills his dad and goes to prison, realises he's in an experiment, realises he's an actor, goes back in time and dies with his mum, Pearl Ritman recreates the game


I can't be bothered to watch through again but I wondered if someone can tell me what happens if he doesn't do the acid with Colin?


----------



## mrsfran (Dec 29, 2018)

Thora said:


> I've played/watched a couple of times now and think I've seen all (most?) of the endings
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


Colin doses him anyway by putting it in his tea.


----------



## Sapphireblue (Dec 29, 2018)

i initially loved it with all references but in the end got sick of it. i found it fairly unresponsive (in a few circumstances selected  a response but it didn't seem to work) and got very very sick of the fact you had to rewatch 30+ mins just to see a different ending.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Dec 30, 2018)

Not on Amazon Fire. Cunts.


----------



## Saffy (Dec 30, 2018)

What happens if I chose Frosties?


----------



## beesonthewhatnow (Dec 30, 2018)

I barely have time to watch programs once, never mind multiple times just to see it all, so this bollocks can fuck right off


----------



## girasol (Dec 30, 2018)

Saffy said:


> What happens if I chose Frosties?


Makes no difference


----------



## Steel Icarus (Dec 30, 2018)

So is it basically a nastier Stanley Parable?


----------



## Sapphireblue (Dec 30, 2018)

girasol said:


> Makes no difference



makes a fuck-ton of difference, whole different branch of possibilities (sugar-puffs is better)


----------



## xenon (Dec 30, 2018)

edited. Just read how. Interesting, didn't know the app had that capability. I just let it run. ha.


----------



## girasol (Dec 30, 2018)

Sapphireblue said:


> makes a fuck-ton of difference, whole different branch of possibilities (sugar-puffs is better)



Not according to the diagram I posted before (I didn't actually go back to select a different cereal, and we did select sugar puffs ) -> either cereal ends up with him on the bus.

Here it is again


Spoiler


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 30, 2018)

Is the picture supposed to be really low res, like an overplayed Blockbuster VHS, or is there summat wrong with my Netflix?
(also, one for nitpickers' corner - i seriously doubt WH Smith had an electronic music section in 1984)


----------



## Sapphireblue (Dec 30, 2018)

girasol said:


> Not according to the diagram I posted before (I didn't actually go back to select a different cereal, and we did select sugar puffs ) -> either cereal ends up with him on the bus.



hmm, my husband was studying a breakdown like that and told me it made loads of difference, now wondering if he had a different plan or if he read it wrong....


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 30, 2018)

And what's with the clock on the top left of the screen? Is it really 5 hours long?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 30, 2018)

Orang Utan said:


> Is the picture supposed to be really low res, like an overplayed Blockbuster VHS, or is there summat wrong with my Netflix?
> (also, one for nitpickers' corner - i seriously doubt WH Smith had an electronic music section in 1984)


Something wrong with your setup, it’s all generally very sharp.

Smiths used to actually have a proper music section - I bought lots of electronic music there when I was a kid, though admittedly not in 1984, few years later. A small one like that might be pushing it though.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 30, 2018)

I’ve decided that my opinion is now between finding it annoying and finding it clever. It’s well done but in the end it’s a pretty linear story with the choices as a plot device (and to me a bit of a distasteful one - I’m tired of mental illness and paranoid delusions being treated as a “shocking” theme, it’s not big or clever). Like a lot of Netflix black mirror the production values are really good - I think it’s really nicely shot - and the acting is decent as well, which made me more impressed than I otherwise would have been based on the actual content.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Dec 31, 2018)

Spoiler



there’s no way to save the Mum is there


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 2, 2019)

It was a pretty cool show.  Not the most amazing Black Mirror, but still an enjoyable watch.  I wish there was a "proper" ending, though. 



Spoiler: cerial



It makes no difference.


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 3, 2019)

Just watched it. Meh.


----------



## keybored (Jan 3, 2019)

Fez909 said:


> Just watched it. Meh.


I just spent hours on it and gave up, thinking there must be loads more to it I'm missing. Just checked the flow-chart above and looks like I did the lot. Cobblers.


----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

FridgeMagnet said:


> I’ve decided that my opinion is now between finding it annoying and finding it clever. It’s well done but in the end it’s a pretty linear story with the choices as a plot device (and to me a bit of a distasteful one - I’m tired of mental illness and paranoid delusions being treated as a “shocking” theme, it’s not big or clever). Like a lot of Netflix black mirror the production values are really good - I think it’s really nicely shot - and the acting is decent as well, which made me more impressed than I otherwise would have been based on the actual content.


Are you suggesting they limited the interactivity so that there is only the illusion of choice?


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

I suspect it would be very, very difficult to do a choose your own adventure and deliver a satisfying story.  By its nature, it's kind of glib and the various options have to have different outcomes.  If you're writing something and you're not invested in a particular outcome, but rather lots of different possibilities, how can you throw your passion into it?  

It's a cool idea, and executed as well as it could be, but I've never heard of a "choose your own adventure" book that's considered a classic...


----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I suspect it would be very, very difficult to do a choose your own adventure and deliver a satisfying story.  By its nature, it's kind of glib and the various options have to have different outcomes.  If you're writing something and you're not invested in a particular outcome, but rather lots of different possibilities, how can you throw your passion into it?
> 
> It's a cool idea, and executed as well as it could be, but I've never heard of a "choose your own adventure" book that's considered a classic...


Warlock of Firetop Mountain
Forest of Doom

Those are classics.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Gromit said:


> Warlock of Firetop Mountain
> Forest of Doom
> 
> Those are classics.



Yet no one has ever heard of them.


----------



## keybored (Jan 3, 2019)

Just realised the crazy author who murdered his wife is played by 80s gamer legend Jeff Minter. Nice touch.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Yet no one has ever heard of them.


You haven't


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> You haven't



But that's what I'm getting at.  There's no absolute classic choose your own advebture book that has sold in its millions and can be considered the defining one that you should read.  I'm sure there are some decent attempts at it, but not one defining moment in the genre that anyone can call a classic.  

Because, if you've got an amazing story to tell, you wouldn't do it as a choose your own adventure.  It's a novelty, that's all it could ever be.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 3, 2019)

Gromit said:


> Warlock of Firetop Mountain
> Forest of Doom
> 
> Those are classics.


citadel of chaos, was excellent too , I had loads of them, loved them


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Yet no one has ever heard of them.


I've heard of them.... game changers they were when I was a kid


----------



## discobastard (Jan 3, 2019)

ruffneck23 said:


> citadel of chaos, was excellent too , I had loads of them, loved them


Deathtrap Dungeon!


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 3, 2019)

There is masses of good interactive fiction, sometimes explicitly choice-based and sometimes on the basis of the plot structure (big famous titles like Skyrim, Fallout, RDR have plot paths just like Fighting Fantasy books). It’s pretty much always on computer nowadays of course.

Twine is one of the tools that made it easy for non programmers to write choice based IF recently - twinery.org - but there are many others of varying levels of complexity.

And yes it is hard to write good IF but then it’s hard to write anything good.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

The original Fighting Fantasy books have just been relaunched. Charlie Higson has written the first one


----------



## souljacker (Jan 3, 2019)

FridgeMagnet said:


> There is masses of good interactive fiction, sometimes explicitly choice-based and sometimes on the basis of the plot structure (big famous titles like Skyrim, Fallout, RDR have plot paths just like Fighting Fantasy books). It’s pretty much always on computer nowadays of course.
> 
> Twine is one of the tools that made it easy for non programmers to write choice based IF recently - twinery.org - but there are many others of varying levels of complexity.
> 
> And yes it is hard to write good IF but then it’s hard to write anything good.



Apparently, Brooker wrote a lot of this using Twine.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 3, 2019)

souljacker said:


> Apparently, Brooker wrote a lot of this using Twine.


Seems fair - it would help to lay out the plot, and you could playtest it with people too.


----------



## Sapphireblue (Jan 3, 2019)

i initially loved the whole thing and all the self-referential / meta stuff but then got stuck in what seemed to be the same loop and convinced there must be a whole section i hadn't seen. 

on reviewing the map thingy i realised that i'd been through most of it. bit disappointing that the 'big reveal' part of the plot was so limited, i thought there would be more to it and there must be a path where the dad didn't get killed / got killed later and you got more answers.


----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

discobastard said:


> Deathtrap Dungeon!


Oh shit! How did I not say Deathtrap Dungeon?!!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> But that's what I'm getting at.  There's no absolute classic choose your own advebture book that has sold in its millions and can be considered the defining one that you should read.  I'm sure there are some decent attempts at it, but not one defining moment in the genre that anyone can call a classic.


20 million copies were sold from the original series. The first six are seared into my brain and I'm sure this is true for many of my peers.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

The sci-fi one, Starship Traveller, was ace too.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> 20 million copies were sold from the original series. The first six are seared into my brain and I'm sure this is true for many of my peers.



Fair enough.  I should look into it...


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> 20 million copies were sold from the original series. The first six are seared into my brain and I'm sure this is true for many of my peers.



Although I call bullshit on the 20 million number.  You made that up to prove your point, didn't you?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Although I call bullshit on the 20 million number.  You made that up to prove your point, didn't you?


No


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Although I call bullshit on the 20 million number.  You made that up to prove your point, didn't you?


i see charlie and the chocolate factory has sold 20m copies
don't see this title tho
The Best Selling Books of All Time


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Pickman's model said:


> i see charlie and the chocolate factory has sold 20m copies
> don't see this title tho
> The Best Selling Books of All Time



Imagine if he didn't go into the great glass elevator....


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

It's on Wikipedia and i read an article about them on the Guardian when the Gates Of Death came out last year.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> It's on Wikipedia and i read an article about them on the Guardian when the Gates Of Death came out last year.





Spoiler: Branching path 1



Jon-of-arc goes and edits Wikipedia to say there were less than 2 million copies sold





Spoiler: Branching path 2



massive bun fight accusing Orang Utan of making up guardian articles


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)




----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Although I call bullshit on the 20 million number.  You made that up to prove your point, didn't you?


Reprinted and distributed over 17 countries including the US. It's a realistic figure to me.

There are music singles that have sold 20 million that I've never ever heard of.
We can't be expected to know of everything that's huge to a group we aren't a part of.

I'm a gamer so gaming classics is something I happen to know. Want to talk about how the 2nd edition of Dungeon and Dragons rulebooks are the classic ones?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 3, 2019)

I think Jon-of-arc is probs ten to twenty years younger than my generation who bought them. A lot of kids who would never otherwise read books got into them. They were the only books i remember that got discussed at breaktimes and swapped between us.


----------



## Pickman's model (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Spoiler: Branching path 1
> 
> 
> 
> ...


option 2 seems more urban


----------



## spanglechick (Jan 3, 2019)

Did anyone choose a pathway where we saw what was in Dad’s bedroom?


----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

spanglechick said:


> Did anyone choose a pathway where we saw what was in Dad’s bedroom?


The locked cupboard. 
Four variations.
Pax
PAC
Toy
RFD


----------



## Thora (Jan 3, 2019)

spanglechick said:


> Did anyone choose a pathway where we saw what was in Dad’s bedroom?


Yes - in his office. There were two possible outcomes from there I think.


----------



## Thora (Jan 3, 2019)

Ah, I only saw the pac or toy ones.


----------



## Santino (Jan 3, 2019)

It was good fun mostly because the interactivity was incorporated into the storyline. I can't see it being anything other than a novelty for TV, although clearly a service like Netflix would benefit from it being 'the future of television'.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

20 million is Harry Potter territory, though ...


----------



## tommers (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> 20 million is Harry Potter territory, though ...


 
There were 50 odd books in the series.


----------



## tommers (Jan 3, 2019)

I think these were the originals anyway.

Choose Your Own Adventure - Wikipedia

Wiki reckons they sold 250 million.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> 20 million is Harry Potter territory, though ...


 400 million more like 

Pottermore: JK Rowling facts and figures


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 3, 2019)

tommers said:


> There were 50 odd books in the series.


Daniel Radcliffe made over 100million from rights to his Harry potter image.


----------



## tommers (Jan 3, 2019)

I do like the way that all the geeky shit I liked as a kid is now completely mainstream.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 3, 2019)

tommers said:


> I do like the way that all the geeky shit I liked as a kid is now completely mainstream.


the geek will indeed inherit the earth


----------



## tommers (Jan 3, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Daniel Radcliffe made over 100million from rights to his Harry potter image.



OK.


----------



## spanglechick (Jan 3, 2019)

Gromit said:


> The locked cupboard.
> Four variations.
> Pax
> PAC
> ...





Thora said:


> Yes - in his office. There were two possible outcomes from there I think.





Thora said:


> Ah, I only saw the pac or toy ones.



Ahh right.  Part of me wants to watch it again, but I dunno.  I don’t feel like I want to spend any more time in stefan’s mental torment.   

It’s really very bleak.


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 3, 2019)

Actually, you know, it's starting to make me very cross that such a dumb "nutters, they kill people you know, watch out" plot is still considered acceptable. Oh but it's different now because of oh fuck off.


----------



## xenon (Jan 3, 2019)

Grail Quest? That was my experience of the genre.

The book thing


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Jan 3, 2019)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Actually, you know, it's starting to make me very cross that such a dumb "nutters, they kill people you know, watch out" plot is still considered acceptable. Oh but it's different now because of oh fuck off.



Yes, I liked the overall thing, but that aspect of it was unpleasant for sure. I suspect few people who've experienced psychosis could have enjoyed it.


----------



## Artaxerxes (Jan 3, 2019)

tommers said:


> I do like the way that all the geeky shit I liked as a kid is now completely mainstream.



I'd enjoy it more if I hadn't spent years with my head flushed down the loo for liking this weird fantasy nonsense.


Though tbf it's likely to have happened whatever I liked, I just have that sort of face.


----------



## Gromit (Jan 3, 2019)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Actually, you know, it's starting to make me very cross that such a dumb "nutters, they kill people you know, watch out" plot is still considered acceptable. Oh but it's different now because of oh fuck off.


He didn't kill anyone because he was nuts.

You made him kill you sick fuck. You did it. For your entertainment.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 3, 2019)

Got bored when it kept sending me back to the same bit.

Can’t be arsed.


----------



## Fez909 (Jan 4, 2019)

tommers said:


> I do like the way that all the geeky shit I liked as a kid is now completely mainstream.


Yeah but it's bittersweet, because you're still a freak for liking it before it was cool, and now everyone likes it you're just a sheep.


----------



## Crispy (Jan 4, 2019)

FridgeMagnet said:


> There is masses of good interactive fiction


Could you recommend some? I know it's out there and there are awards and things, but what's actually worth my limited time? I don't want to roll dice, problem solve or "win", just experience good interactive prose.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 4, 2019)

I found the whole interactive thing really tedious to be honest. A lot like choose your own adventure books which I've never liked. I'd rather have just watched a regular show. Also because I was looking at my phone some of the time I missed some of the options. It was a pain in the arse really.


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2019)

Apparently season 2 is getting delayed because this special took so much work. I wished they hadn't bothered, I'd rather have season 2 earlier.


----------



## xenon (Jan 4, 2019)

Reno said:


> Apparently season 2 is getting delayed because this special took so much work. I wished they hadn't bothered, I'd rather have season 2 earlier.



It would be season 4 I think.

Anyway, that Twine thing looks interesting. I like the idea of being able to write some IF with sound fx and music. Just need to work out a story... "Just". Ha.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 4, 2019)

xenon said:


> It would be season 4 I think.
> 
> .



Season 5


----------



## Gromit (Jan 4, 2019)

ruffneck23 said:


> Season 5


Season 6

(We're one upping each other yes?)


----------



## Reno (Jan 4, 2019)

xenon said:


> It would be season 4 I think.
> 
> Anyway, that Twine thing looks interesting. I like the idea of being able to write some IF with sound fx and music. Just need to work out a story... "Just". Ha.


Yes, not sure what brainfart that was.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jan 4, 2019)

Gromit said:


> Season 6
> 
> (We're one upping each other yes?)


no


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> because I was looking at my phone some of the time I missed some of the options. It was a pain in the arse really.


You can't really fault them for your lack of attention


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 4, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> You can't really fault them for your lack of attention



True, but I'm not used to having to stare at one screen continuously and make interactive choices. I'd rather it was just a linear experience. I've seen better Black Mirror's anyway. This was just a bit meh.


----------



## Enviro (Jan 4, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> True, but I'm not used to having to stare at one screen continuously ...



But that's what watching a program is.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 4, 2019)

Enviro said:


> But that's what watching a program is.



I multiscreen. So sometimes I'm not always looking at one screen. Anyway, even if I was, it wasn't enough to hold my attention.


----------



## spanglechick (Jan 4, 2019)

skyscraper101 said:


> I multiscreen. So sometimes I'm not always looking at one screen. Anyway, even if I was, it wasn't enough to hold my attention.


I bet you’re popular in the cinema...


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 4, 2019)

This is why I started going to the cinema loads again. No temptation to look at phones.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 4, 2019)

Santino said:


> It was good fun mostly because the interactivity was incorporated into the storyline. I can't see it being anything other than a novelty for TV, although clearly a service like Netflix would benefit from it being 'the future of television'.


Netflix have made a couple of shows do it when they were previously pushing the idea, (only know buddy thunderstruck off the top of my head) wouldn't be surprised if they asked Brooker to give it a shot.
Sounds a bit gimmicky to me, like those choose your own adventure books. I'd rather a story be told to me.
. . . But then again I've not watched it yet.


----------



## joustmaster (Jan 4, 2019)

Has anyone mentioned those chose your own adventure books yet?


----------



## Enviro (Jan 4, 2019)

You read the reply written by joustmaster. You think for a moment..

Do you:
A) Provide a glib answer 'yes'.
B) Suggest joustmaster reads the thread?


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Jan 4, 2019)

Crispy said:


> Could you recommend some? I know it's out there and there are awards and things, but what's actually worth my limited time? I don't want to roll dice, problem solve or "win", just experience good interactive prose.


Text-based stuff? I'll see if I can dig some less game-y ones up. A lot of the older ones need a Z-code interpreter to run but there are often web versions these days (and Twine is all web).


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 4, 2019)

Anyway, my opinion, although not the best black mirror, it was an engaging attempt to do something different, and entirely worthy of your time.  It's not a work of genius, but an intriguing idea implemented as well as I would have expected.. imagine trying to do a whole series like this? It could be really good, and I think Netflix/Brooker should be applauded for trying something different.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 11, 2019)

I see Black Mirror/Netflix is getting sued by the original 'choose your own adventure' guy. 

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/netflix-black-mirror-bandersnatch-choose-your-own-adventure-lawsuit?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/netflix-black-mirror-bandersnatch-choose-your-own-adventure-lawsuit

Sounds weak, to me. It's like computer games - you can copyright stories, characters etc, but you can't copyright a gaming mechanic.  Besides, people have been doing "choose your own..." things in various mediums for years.  Seems a bit dubious to come out and claim ownership of the entire concept at this stage.  If they're suddenly going after this, why haven't they been going after all the other examples of the genre?  Don't you have to agressively protect your trademark against all infringements, if you want a case like this to stand up in court?

 Maybe there's more to it than was in the papers, though...


----------



## Thimble Queen (Jan 11, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> This is why I started going to the cinema loads again. No temptation to look at phones.



This is why I love the cinema


----------



## D'wards (Jan 11, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I see Black Mirror/Netflix is getting sued by the original 'choose your own adventure' guy.
> 
> https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/netflix-black-mirror-bandersnatch-choose-your-own-adventure-lawsuit?amp_js_v=a2&amp_gsa=1#referrer=https://www.google.com&amp_tf=From %1$s&ampshare=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/netflix-black-mirror-bandersnatch-choose-your-own-adventure-lawsuit
> 
> ...


Most of the computer games by Telltale use exactly this device. 
The lawsuit is a shameless attempt to cash in on the success of BM


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 11, 2019)

D'wards said:


> Most of the computer games by Telltale use exactly this device.
> The lawsuit is a shameless attempt to cash in on the success of BM



Yeah, seems absolutely ridiculous.


----------



## spanglechick (Jan 12, 2019)

Postmodern dramaturgy- involving audience participation that influences the outcome of the narrative predates the literature manifestation by decades.  

The guy’s a chump.


----------



## Crispy (Jan 12, 2019)

I think that might have been the most post-modern thing I've ever seen.


----------



## HoratioCuthbert (Jan 12, 2019)

It might have been more interesting if all adventures weren’t basically the same. The thing forced me to see all endings in one sitting, and I know this because I looked at an equally boring chart someone made of all the endings and side plots and ticked them off because I wasn’t gonna watch it a second time. 

I think someone could make a proper success of this format though, so it’s probably good they’ve at least kicked it off- the possibilities must be endless!


----------



## HoratioCuthbert (Jan 12, 2019)

I liked that the guy was getting freaked out that I was controlling him, but they didn’t take that far enough. It wasn’t unnerving enough.


----------



## BigTom (Jan 13, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Yeah, seems absolutely ridiculous.



The article says they are suing because Netflix actively sought to associate this with the Choose Your Own Adventure brand, with specific references in the program and the use of their mark somewhere, not the use of the mechanic itself (which can't be patented).

The claim is that consumers will think that BM is a CYOA product because of the references, not because of the format/mechanic.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 13, 2019)

BigTom said:


> The article says they are suing because Netflix actively sought to associate this with the Choose Your Own Adventure brand, with specific references in the program and the use of their mark somewhere, not the use of the mechanic itself (which can't be patented).
> 
> The claim is that consumers will think that BM is a CYOA product because of the references, not because of the format/mechanic.



Ok, makes marginally more sense, but still not really

"You sought to associate with us, then you didn't.  Then you mentioned our name." 

Tenuous, at best.


----------



## sojourner (Jan 14, 2019)

HoratioCuthbert said:


> It might have been more interesting if all adventures weren’t basically the same. The thing forced me to see all endings in one sitting, and I know this because I looked at an equally boring chart someone made of all the endings and side plots and ticked them off because I wasn’t gonna watch it a second time.


Isn't (one of) the points about it that people think they have control over their destiny but don't really? It made me think of Brexit, have to say, where no matter what people _think_ they are choosing, it will become something not actually of _their_ choosing.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jan 14, 2019)

It didn't do anything for me. I got bored of all the various options and having to choose something all the time. It just felt like too much effort.


----------



## mojo pixy (Jan 14, 2019)

I can see the writers now...

-_ I can't think of a decent ending to this story_.
- So what have you got so far then?
- _A few possible endings but none are really moving me_.
- Hold on, what if we....


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 14, 2019)

mojo pixy said:


> I can see the writers now...
> 
> -_ I can't think of a decent ending to this story_.
> - So what have you got so far then?
> ...


Not really. That would suggest it didn't start out like that, but the whole thing is geared around choosing paths, and splitting narratives. It wasn't just bolted on cos they couldn't think of an ending


----------



## mojo pixy (Jan 14, 2019)

I made it up facetiously. Who knows how this came to be or where the idea originated? I don't. Maybe it was a way to enliven a dull story, maybe the story was accidentally dull despite the production values. That's normal tbh.


----------



## Santino (Jan 15, 2019)

I'm sure I read somewhere that Netflix specifically asked Brooker and his producer to come up with a choose-your-own-adventure type story to help promote the idea of interactive telly. No doubt because someone at Netflix thinks it's the Future Of TV. Which it clearly isn't.


----------



## Favelado (Jan 15, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> This is why I started going to the cinema loads again. No temptation to look at phones.



Every other fucker has theirs out though, shining blue light in every direction.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jan 15, 2019)

Favelado said:


> Every other fucker has theirs out though, shining blue light in every direction.


Not where i go. People only put their phones down when the trailers go up​


----------



## xenon (Jan 15, 2019)

Santino said:


> I'm sure I read somewhere that Netflix specifically asked Brooker and his producer to come up with a choose-your-own-adventure type story to help promote the idea of interactive telly. No doubt because someone at Netflix thinks it's the Future Of TV. Which it clearly isn't.



 Yes. He said as much on Front Row.


----------



## krtek a houby (Jan 15, 2019)

Orang Utan said:


> Not where i go. People only put their phones down when the trailers go up​



Same here. The audience also stays for the credits. And not just the Marvel films


----------



## Reno (Jan 15, 2019)

mojo pixy said:


> I made it up facetiously. Who knows how this came to be or where the idea originated? I don't. Maybe it was a way to enliven a dull story, maybe the story was accidentally dull despite the production values. That's normal tbh.





Santino said:


> I'm sure I read somewhere that Netflix specifically asked Brooker and his producer to come up with a choose-your-own-adventure type story to help promote the idea of interactive telly. No doubt because someone at Netflix thinks it's the Future Of TV. Which it clearly isn't.



Steven Soderbergh recently released a murder mystery TV series for HBO called Mosaic, which was also available as an interactive app. It allowed the viewer to view the case from the POV of different characters and do their own research via a wealth of online documents. It created quite a stir and I can see Netflix going, we should try something interactive and Black Mirror is the perfect platform for it.


----------



## bellaozzydog (Feb 5, 2019)

Fuck am I the only person who thought it was about mental illness and a descent into madness which questioned the viewers choices and motivation 

I may have had too much wine


----------



## Part 2 (May 15, 2019)

3 new episodes on from 5th June...


----------



## belboid (Jun 5, 2019)

Just watched the first one.  Very good.  It's another where I don't think he quite pushes the 'question' to its full extent, but it's really well done about sexy Tekken characters and male bonding/love.


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jun 5, 2019)

I watched the Miley Cyrus one earlier ( ep3 iirc ),  thought it was great , not at all what I was expecting.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 5, 2019)

belboid said:


> Just watched the first one.  Very good.  It's another where I don't think he quite pushes the 'question' to its full extent, but it's really well done about sexy Tekken characters and male bonding/love.


The first one had me all set up for something hardcore like the Play Test episode.
Turns out it's about relationships n feelings n shit. Meh!

I've liked many of the ones about relationships n stuff so don't get me wrong. But as it's not what I felt I'd been primed for it felt like a let down to me. 

Second one is brilliant.

Saving the third for onboard a flight tomorrow.


----------



## belboid (Jun 5, 2019)

I misread the initial reviews (as I only skimmed them, having not seen the programme) and thought Miley Cyrus was in the first one at first. Which was very confusing.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 5, 2019)

belboid said:


> I misread the initial reviews (as I only skimmed them, having not seen the programme) and thought Miley Cyrus was in the first one at first. Which was very confusing.


Don't think it matters. All three realeased on the same day and they stand alone.


----------



## belboid (Jun 6, 2019)

Gromit said:


> Don't think it matters. All three realeased on the same day and they stand alone.


I know, I was just initially confused about why her MC's performance was being so celebrated when it was so merely perfectly alright, and then by the fact that 'that isn't what Miley Cyrus looks like, is it?'

Probably one for the 'you know when you're old when...' thread


----------



## ruffneck23 (Jun 6, 2019)

I wasn't blown away by MC's performance, just thought it was a good story, if a little slow to start off.


----------



## Part 2 (Jun 7, 2019)

Watched the 2nd one, Smithereens...bloody rubbish.


----------



## Enviro (Jun 7, 2019)

Compared to some of the others, yes. But still good overall, I thought.


----------



## Proper Tidy (Jun 7, 2019)

Watched all three of these, bit underwhelmed. Miley Cyrus one probably the best, got bored during the street fighter and Facebook ones


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 7, 2019)

Proper Tidy said:


> Watched all three of these, bit underwhelmed. Miley Cyrus one probably the best, got bored during the street fighter and Facebook ones



Street fighter one I lost interest. Concept too gimmicky and beyond the realms of "what if" into sillyness. Didn't really relate to any of the characters - found them a bit dull and didn't care what happened. 

Second episode much better but not up to usual standard. A bit preachy in its moaning about social media (it didn't seem to have much to say beyond 'everyone stares at their phone too much' - the ending is even calculated to get make this rather dull point...).  Still, quite tense, and the psycho can guy actor was good, and carried the whole episode really. He's Moriarty in Sherlock, which I wouldn't have realised it I hadn't read it somewhere, which he was also very good in. 

Miley Cyrus one was the best, and still not great.  It



Spoiler: Third episode ending discussed 



kind of had a happy ending. Tried to add a bit of Black Mirror darkness, but still no denying that it just relied on "protagonist saves the day and everyone lives happy ever after..." which is fine for most things but one or the best things about Black Mirror is the almost always very bleak endings. Even when they've not been bleak, they've rarely felt lazy and seemed to have a wider point.


Still, not a badly told story.


----------



## Ponyutd (Jun 7, 2019)

Struggled to see the end of the Cyrus effort.
Ditch water and dull spring to mind. Easily for me the worst one yet.

Yet to watch the other two.


----------



## T & P (Jun 7, 2019)

I must see I was rather underwhelmed by the first episode.


----------



## T & P (Jun 7, 2019)

T & P said:


> I must see I was rather underwhelmed by the first episode.


However, i’m half way through episode 2 and thoroughly enjoying it.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 7, 2019)

Seen ep 3 now.

It's an okay TV piece but it's not Black Mirror to me. 
It was The famous five catch a baddie rather than a 'Dark reflection of society' etc. etc.


----------



## T & P (Jun 8, 2019)

Watched all three now. First one was probably the most Black Mirror-ish but frankly I found it a bit boring. The second was not Black Mirror-ish at all (and could I be right in saying the only episode ever set in the recent past rather than the near future/ alternative reality present day?), but it was at least very good storytelling, as was gripping and fast moving.

The third was the best for me and a good all-rounder. And although uncommon in having a relatively happy ending, certainly not the only one.


----------



## passenger (Jun 8, 2019)

Really surprised how not black* mirrorish* these three episodes where, feels like they spent a lot of there budget on the interactive one the first one was poor 
the second better the Miley cyrus one was like a BBC 3 teens scary thing.


----------



## Enviro (Jun 9, 2019)

Yeah i enjoyed them but they're a bit grey mirror rather than black mirror.


----------



## Badgers (Jun 9, 2019)

Enviro said:


> Yeah i enjoyed them but they're a bit grey mirror rather than black mirror.


Good description. The first one was an off white at best. The second and third were entertaining but lacking the wow/shock factor of previous series.


----------



## Fez909 (Jun 9, 2019)

Badgers said:


> Good description. The first one was an off white at best. The second and third were entertaining but lacking the wow/shock factor of previous series.





Spoiler



"Extracting songs from the brain of a teen idol while she's in a coma to carry on milking her fan base"


isn't black mirror enough for you?

It wasn't amazing, but it fits the show's premise, imo


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 9, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Episode 2 didn't seem to have much to say beyond 'everyone stares at their phone too much' - the ending is even calculated to get make this rather dull point.





Spoiler: Episode 2 "ending" discussion



So the ending of episode 2 is, narratively, the weakest, imo. Left purposely ambiguous in a way that didn't serve the story at all. I just thought it was rubbish and left it there. 

But I happened across an article the next day, which basically said the point of such an ambiguous ending in the context of the episode was to get people to pick up their phones and Google it, this feeding into the main message of the show. 

Which is all very clever clever and meta, but 1, I didn't pick up my phone to do that and 2, I'd rather have a story feel "finished", unless the lack of conclusive ending actually serves some purpose to the story (I'm looking at Fargo season 3 here  - I'm not looking at The Sopranos....)


----------



## Chemical needs (Jun 9, 2019)

Fez909 said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, fits the premise, I really enjoyed that one actually, but it could have been made more hard hitting and less saccharine.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 9, 2019)

Fez909 said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That they could simulate a pop star to replace a popstar doesn't exact scare 98% of the population. It's not really a personal threat to most of us and we have already had holographic appearances of dead artists in the real world.

If the holograms ended up replacing us all... Now that would have been Black Mirror. Oh wait they did that one already with androids.


----------



## Jeff Robinson (Jun 19, 2019)

For those like me who don't follow rock music, The Ashley O track is a re-rendering of a NNI song:


----------



## Fez909 (Jun 19, 2019)

Gromit said:


> It was The famous five catch a baddie rather than a 'Dark reflection of society' etc. etc.


This "dark" description is a big misunderstanding of Black Mirror. It's not what Brooker set out as his vision, though obviously lots of the episodes have been dark.

From the horse's mouth:


> _If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The 'black mirror' of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone._



I thought the VR game episode was the best BM for ages. The Social Media one was boring, but I guess relevent. The Miley one was entertaining enough.


----------



## sojourner (Jun 21, 2019)

The Miley Cyrus one made me remember how fucking nasty she was to Sinead O'Connor when she warned her about being exploited as a woman in the music business.  Huh.


----------



## mwgdrwg (Jun 21, 2019)

Just seen the Miley Cyrus one.

It was very well made, looked great, well acted....but it just made me think that it's time to stop. Very formulaic.


----------



## BigTom (Jun 22, 2019)

I just got round to watching these last week.
I didn't like the VR game one - I think it fits BM but it's not a new idea and wasn't done differently or especially brilliantly imo, wasn't interested and didn't care about the characters.

I liked the social media one 



Spoiler



I think perhaps because it touched on suicide and mobile phone use whilst driving which both resonate with me, but mostly the BM stuff was in the end credit sequence, which I interpreted differently to others in this thread. To me the point of that was that, and of not knowing what actually happened, is that social media renders personal tragedy down to nothing, a notification to be looked at and then forgotten, and that the outcome doesn't matter to the crowd that watch it through social media.



I enjoyed the ashley O episode, I think this had the most BM idea/premise in it but I would have liked them to explore the technology more than the relationship between ashley and her aunt/manager. 



Spoiler



What would happen if performers were all ever lasting holograms who'd been famous for hundreds of years?


----------



## teuchter (Aug 12, 2019)

I watched the Ashley O one at the weekend. The worst BM they've made - really awful. Might be time for them to stop.


----------

