Charlie Brooker

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.

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.

White Bear played out like a waking nightmare

Given that my paranoia levels are pretty high at the worst of times, it wasn't surprising "White Bear" (C4), the latest in Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror adventures in psychological techno terror, had me checking the cat for secret microchips. Actually, those big green eyes look a bit like tiny cameras...

Black Mirror: White Bear spoiler-filled review

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror takes a nightmarish turn in its second episode. Here's Ryan's spoiler-filled review of White Bear...

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.

Ha, Black Mirror (Channel 4)! Like The Hunger Games plus The Truman Show plus The Gadget Show plus Jeremy Kyle plus Big Brother plus Dawn of the Dead plus Shaun of the Dead plus Groundhog Day plus a lot of morons with phones, all snorted into Charlie Brooker's head where it can fester and go off a bit and gather darkness ... before getting vomited out - projectile vomited - on to the screen.

I actually preferred the first one. It was more human, and felt more of an individual drama in its own right. This is more brutal and bleaker. Nastier. And still probably about the most imaginative television around right now. A big blinding flash of futuresplat.