This is an official announcement

I am a great admirer of Charlie Brooker. He is a master of satire and biting social commentary and so I had very high expectations of his latest work – the three part anthology miniseries Black Mirror, the first episode of which was broadcast this Sunday. I am happy to say that these expectations were more than fulfilled.

The title Black Mirror is a reference to monitor screens and each of the episodes focuses on the darker side of technology, especially social networking and new media. Brooker says that the inaugural episode, entitled The National Anthem, was inspired by “the kerfuffle over superinjunctions” and how “Gordon Brown was virtually commanded to apologise to Gillian Duffy”. The episode opens with Prime Minister Michael Callow being woken up to be told that the popular Princess Susannah has been kidnapped and will be killed unless he performs… well, let us say ‘certain acts’, with a pig on live television. The public are initially sympathetic to his plight but several incidents involving social media cause the situation to deteriorate before he almost literally has no choice but to acquiesce to the demands.

The program is certainly very funny, the best part coming near the end when we see a crowd in pub watching a message broadcast by the government on all television channels proclaim: “this is an official announcement – in a few minutes the prime minister will perform an indecent act on your screen”. This is of course followed by the entire group, including old ladies, laughing uproariously. The scene becomes far more amusing, or, if you prefer, far more disturbing, if you are aware of Brooker’s well publicised dislike of David Cameron.

The main focus of the episode, however, is how new technology means that the government has lost even a semblance of control over the media and how much it is now under the sway of the fast changing whims of the masses. This is helped by there actually being a strong sense of realism in how the situation escalates. As with all good satire there is a feeling that, if the all the superficial, more ridiculous elements were removed, this would be a situation that could happen in the real world.

_The National Anthem _deserved its 1.86 million viewers – the biggest audience for any first episode of a Channel 4 drama series this year. Brooker has created something truly special – a show that is both relevant and funny. I am also pleased that he has decided to use the now rarely seen anthology format – which can offer a very different experience than a serial or one off feature length presentation. In Brooker’s own words, it provides a great avenue “for exploring ideas”. I’m certainly looking forward to the remaining two episodes and I advise you to tune in too.