David Farnor | On 07, Oct 2016

“We’re all so caught up in our own heads, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s real.” That’s the sound of a new season of Black Mirror approaching – and judging by its new trailer, it’s set to be as bleak as ever.

The video gives us a glimpse of the six new realities that feel just that little bit too close to our own, where user ratings, social media connections, webcam videos and more are just waiting warp our day-to-day existence. There’s an even-starrier-than-usual cast to bring it all to life, with stories featuring Bryce Dallas Howard, Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. With directors Joe Wright, Owen Harris and Dan Trachtenberg behind the camera, expectations are high. And having seen three of the six new episodes, we can confirm that Netflix’s third season of Charlie Brooker’s technology-infused anthology lives up to them.

We’ll have more on that soon – but until then, wallow in these 128 seconds of glossy, pristine, exciting misery. And count down the remaining seconds until Friday 21st October.

Or, for a look back at Season 1 and 2 of the show – both of which are available on Netflix UK – read the 10 things we learned from Black Mirror.

 

First images from Netflix’ Black Mirror arrive

19th August 2016

Your first look at Netflix’s new series of Black Mirror is here.

The third season of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian sci-fi anthology is getting nearer and nearer – and hot on the heels of the first details about the episode titles, directors and stars, Netflix has released the first batch of stills from the new run.

The images come from the episodes San Junipero and Nosedive. Nosedive features Bryce Dallas Howard, Alice Eve and James Norton in an episode directed by Joe Wright. San Junipero features Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis in an episode directed by Owen Harris.

No plot detail have yet been revealed for either episode. What is clear from the pictures, though, is that Brooker and his team have been given an impressive budget to play with, as the images look impressively cinematic.
Indeed, Brooker has confirmed that the talent behind the camera is just as starry as the names in front of it: music for the new series will be provided by a veritable who’s who of TV and film’s best composers, with Max Richter (The Leftovers), Clint Mansell (Drive) and Bear McCreary (Black Sails, Outlander) all scoring an episode each. Portishead and Beak member Geoff Barrow have also reunited following Alex Garland’s Ex Machina to score an episode. Who’s scoring which episode is not yet confirmed, although McCreary previously worked with Dan Trachtenberg on 10 Cloverfield Lane, so our money is on a reunion between him and the director on Playtest, which stars Wyatt Russell and Hannah John-Kamen.

Here are the images:

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Netflix’s Black Mirror gets October release date and episode titles

Netflix’s Black Mirror has finally got an official release date.

All episodes of the new season will premiere exclusively on the streaming site on Friday 21st October, just in time to freak you out before Halloween.

Charlie Brooker’s anthology series, for those who aren’t aware, is an anthology series that taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia. Without questioning it, technology has transformed all aspects of our lives; in every home; on every desk; in every palm – a plasma screen; a monitor; a Smartphone – a Black Mirror reflecting our 21st Century existence back at us.

The third season of the show is once again created and written by Charlie Brooker, and executive produced by Brooker and Annabel Jones. The run will comprise six episodes and now, for the first time, we have a full list of actors and directors involved in each instalment and they range from Halt and Catch Fire alumni and House of Cards veterans to Game of Thrones stars.

San Junipero features Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis in an episode directed by Owen Harris.

Shut Up and Dance features Jerome Flynn and Alex Lawther in an episode directed by James Watkins.

Nosedive features Bryce Dallas Howard, Alice Eve and James Norton in an episode directed by Joe Wright.

Men Against Fire stars Michael Kelly, Malachi Kirby and Madeline Brewer in an episode directed by Jakob Verbruggen.

Hated in the Nation features Kelly MacDonald in an episode directed by James Hawes.

Playtest stars Wyatt Russell and Hannah John-Kamen in an episode directed by Dan Trachtenberg.

Netflix adds more top talent to Black Mirror line-up

30th April 2016

Netflix continues to add more top talent to its line-up for Black Mirror Season 3.

This week, 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg signed on to helm an episode of the streaming service’s newly acquired series. He joins a star-studded ensemble in front and behind the camera, including Bryce Dallas Howard, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Atonement’s Joe Wright, Doctor Who’s James Hawes and returning director Owen Harris, who made Be Right Back for Black Mirror’s second season.

Malachi Kirby, after playing Kunta in A+E’s remake of Roots, will join Orange Is the New Black and Hemlock Grove’s Madeline Brewer in one episode directed by London Spy’s Jakob Verbruggen, while Kelly Macdonald will appear in another.

Charlie Brooker’s dark sci-fi anthology began life as a Channel 4 show, earning enough fans to take it to that second season and a Christmas special. It won fans across the Atlantic too, after Netflix snapped up the US streaming rights to the programme, with Mad Men’s Jon Hamm even signing on to star in the one-off seasonal episode.

US audiences liked what they saw so much that Netflix then bought the show outright to become one of its original series. The reported $40 million deal ordered 12 new episodes of the programme, with House of Tomorrow’s Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, who executive produced the first seven episodes of the series, continuing to serve as executive producers and showrunners. Season 3 of Black Mirror will premiere in the UK exclusively on Netflix, after Channel 4 failed to outbid the streaming giant.

Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos says Brooker and Jones have “complete creative control” on the new run of episodes.

“I was blown away by the first episode I ever watched. We went, ‘How did we not make this?'” he told The Independent.

“It’s a very ambitious show with what Charlie [Brooker] and Annabel [Jones] were doing and they were looking for a big global audience. We came in as partners to help give that show a big global footprint; we saw how people reacted to the show all over the world and it came up that Charlie and Annabel wanted to make the show bigger.”

While fingers are very firmly on lips when it comes to the plot details for the new episodes – and rightly so – what we do know is that Black Mirror’s extended run will have an even bigger and better cast, with the superb line-up for the first two seasons paving the way for a host of high-profile names.

Here are episodes we know about so far, along with their impressive roster of directors and cast members:

Untitled Episode

Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Alice Eve, Bryce Dallas Howard

Hated in the Nation

Director: James Hawes
Cast: Kelly Macdonald

Men Against Fire

Director: Jakob Verbruggen
Cast: Malachi Kirby, Madeline Brewer

Untitled Episode

Director: Owen Harris
Cast: Mackenzie Davis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw

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