Black Mirror

An uncomfortable idea, then another

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror builds stories around inventions, social pressures and human desires that are often easier to recognise than we might like. Most episodes begin again with different characters and a new situation. The range runs from satire and horror to romance and space adventure.

The appeal is more than a parade of dangerous gadgets. A way to replay memories, measure social approval or escape ordinary life can be attractive for perfectly understandable reasons. What people do with that opportunity is where the trouble starts.

Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniel Kaluuya, Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti and Jon Hamm are among the actors who give these individual stories their human centre.

For me, it is one of the best television series ever made. The quality varies between episodes, but the strongest ideas have a life beyond their running time. The anthology structure makes that variety a strength rather than a reason to demand that every instalment do the same thing.

My full review discusses the appeal without giving away the episode revelations. Watch the original USS Callister before its season-seven follow-up. For related longer-form drama, try Severance or Westworld.