Charlie Brooker

In the last of his Black Mirror series, Charlie Brooker pulled off another unexpected turn, setting us up for a crass "all politicians are con artists" satire but leaving you thinking a little harder about the consequences of such blanket cynicism. The storyline featured a melancholy television comic, trapped in the career cul-de-sac of providing the voice for a scabrous animated bear, who conducts Ali G-style interviews with unsuspecting politicians. When his producer decides he should stand in a by-election, he's horrified to discover that the electorate find him more interesting than the issues - his feelings further complicated by the fact that he's fallen for the Labour candidate. Like last week's drama, it felt a little rough around the edges here and there. But I wish we had more roughness like it.

When failed comedian Jamie Salter (Daniel Rigby) channels his personal and professional frustrations through Waldo, the aforementioned bear he voices, and unleashes his contempt on an unsuspecting politician (Tobias Menzies), he unwittingly captures the prevailing mood of public disaffection. With a by-election approaching and his backers keen to secure a series for Waldo, the stars are aligned for a paradigm shift in electoral politics.

The most successful instalments of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror have taken latent concerns about techonology and society, infused them real dread and then sent them spinning off in entirely unexpected directions. But The Waldo Project, which closes this second series, springs no such surprises: the execution of the concept is strangely simplistic and linear, while enough jokers get elected these days to make even a blue animated bear running for government barely worth a raised eyebrow.

Sarah Millican: Black Mirror stays with you

I knew that episode one of series two of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror was going to be creepy because I watched the trailer and "ooh"-ed and clapped.

There seems to be a bit of a Charlie Brooker backlash at the moment, as the former poacher of irreverent TV criticism turns gamekeeper of satirical TV drama. Tonight's series finale of Black Mirror, however, plays to his surprising covert strength - writing a deeply twisted romance. Jamie, the voice of an Ali G-style cartoon bear called Waldo, is put in a tricky situation when Waldo turns on his would-be new girlfriend in a Network-style meltdown. Good stuff, but Brooker is probably still funnier mocking media "players" than political expediency.

Would anybody really vote for a TV cartoon character in a by-election? As imagined in the final, chillingly plausible satire in Charlie Brooker's technocentric trilogy, the worrying answer is, quite possibly, yes.

After ill-advised tweets lead to the downfall of a regional politician, there's a void to be filled. In the absence of any candidates the voters can believe in, TV PR spin fans social media into a frenzy, catapulting Waldo - a foul-mouthed animated bear - into the political arena.

Daniel Rigby (Eric Morecambe in BBC2's excellent Eric & Ernie) stars as the disillusioned comedian whose voice and movements animate the bitter Waldo.

Could it happen? A cartoon bear mocking politicians

The finale from Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 series could spark a new line in insults.

The last of Charlie Brooker's dystopian dramas is the sharpest and lightest on its feet. It's also the most nakedly political. Daniel Rigby plays a depressed comedian, Jamie, who has found success on TV as the voice of Waldo, a foul-mouthed cartoon bear. Waldo's slot taking the mickey out of politicians on a weekly satire show is so popular that his media masters dream up a new stunt: Waldo will stand at a real by-election! (The producer figure, played by Jason Flemyng, who approves this idea is a priceless media twonk of the kind Brooker has been satirising since Nathan Barley.)

But things get complicated in the course of the by-election and the drama evolves into a story of why reviling politicians gets us nowhere. The system may be rotten but, as one character observes, "It built these roads."

Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment, Channel 4, review

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror (Channel 4) satirical dramas are fast gaining a cult status. Not all succeed, and some are unwatchable, notably the opener of his first series, where the prime minister had sex with a pig. But this follow-up series has, generally, shown more nuance than the first.

Another blisteringly dark satire from Charlie Brooker, this time tackling a very serious subject: rising public disenchantment with mainstream politics. In The Waldo Moment, a lonely comedian (Daniel Rigby) is propelled into the limelight when the provocative little interactive cartoon bear he voices on TV tangles with a politician (Tobias Menzies) live on air. When the incident goes viral, the entire political process begins to look dangerously absurd. It's not a bad stab at dystopian drama, although it's not quite Orwell.

Black Mirror 'White Bear' (review)

The first 45 minutes of White Bear, the second episode of Charlie Brooker's trilogy of technology-fearing dystopias, played out like a low-budget, low-quality version of 28 Days Later. It's basically the worst thing he's ever written, which, you come to realise, is the whole point.