Oona Chaplin

I'm not sure how much of a reward the Christmas special of Black Mirror would actually be and I think you'd have to be a rather strange individual to want a rather dark present such as the one Charlie Brooker conjured up. Subtitled White Christmas; the feature-length special of Brooker's dystopian fantasy anthology saw Matt (Jon Hamm) and Sam (Rafe Spall) hauled up in a remote shack in the middle of nowhere. We are told early on that Matt and Sam have barely spoke to each other in the five years they've lived and worked together. As you would expect with Black Mirror, the Christmas element become slightly eerie and from the first time we hear it Wizard's 'I Wish It Could be Christmas Everyday' takes on an ominous tone. Hamm initially plays up to his smoothie persona in the first story in which we learn of Matt's hobby which involves helping losers-in-love get dates. However, as we discover, his most recent client didn't have the best of experiences after he gatecrashed a Christmas party and ended up a reluctant part of a suicide pact. Whilst this first third was suitably shocking the second segment of the programme; in which we saw Matt at work was rather confusing. Although it did go some way to explain the episode's final act I found it to be rather rushed and also felt that it ruined the significant talents of Oona Chaplin. The real emotional core of the episode was provided by Sam as we learnt of his turbulent relationship with girlfriend Beth (Janet Montgomery) which ended when she wanted to abort the baby she was carrying. This story brought with it one of the episode's central ideas; what if we were able to block somebody in real life like we can currently do on Twitter? The answer was incredibly memorable and also provided some really vivid images which stuck with me long after the episode had concluded.

Whilst White Christmas wasn't up there with Black Mirror's best, which I still feel is series two's White Bear, it certainly had its moments. Many of these were provided by Joe's story which I found to be the most profound thanks in no small part to the brilliant performance from Spall. I think that Spall's facial expressions were perfectly utilised as part of a story in which he had to convey emotion by saying very little. The look on his face when Joe was blocked by Beth was particularly powerful as was the expression when he discovered the truth about the daughter she'd given birth to. Black Mirror has always been based around vivid technological ideas and the legal blocking technique felt like a plausible narrative device. On the other hand I'm still not quite sure what the cookie implant story achieved other than giving us one final reveal. Whilst Spall provided the emotional depth that the episode required; Hamm appeared to be having a ball as the sleazy executive who'd overstepped the line in more ways than one. Hamm's performance as the cool Matt was great in the first voyeuristic tale which I thought went a little too far even by Black Mirror's standards. The Christmas theme of the episode wasn't overplayed but was used just enough and I thought Hamm's cooking of the Yuletide dinner was a nice touch. One thing I did find was that Brooker struggled to write a feature-length instalment and, although all the pieces fit together, the middle of the episode really dragged for me. However, I can't say that Brooker didn't provide a powerful piece of Christmas television and it's also fair to say that that no other festive special will have the same tone as Black Mirror. Ultimately I found White Christmas to be a unique special episode but I feel that the Black Mirror series works better in forty-minute episodes rather than in feature-length installments.

A triptych of tech-tinged tales, just in time for Christmas. Jon Hamm and Rafe Spallp] star as Matt and Potter, two men sharing a turkey dinner in the middle of nowhere, who start to divulge stories from their past: Matt's time as a relationship guru with a twist, Potter's encounter with a social media-style blocker, and a woman's (Oona Chaplin) unfortunate encounter with some invasive "smart! technology. Of course, this being Black Mirror, there are some unforeseen twists along the way.

Radio Times review

Charlie Brooker's digital dystopia delivers a festive mystery in anthology form, with three connected stories about dark things in a twisted near-future. Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall lead the cast as two men sharing a Christmas meal somewhere remote and snowy. Where are they? And who are they, really? As the companions exchange stories, we see Oona Chaplin as a woman bedevilled by "smart" gadgets, and Hamm himself offering unconventional romantic advice.

Plus, in the sort of flip between virtual and tangible worlds that's the trademark of the series, the question is asked: what would happen if you could "block" people and never see or hear from them again in real life, as you can on Twitter and Facebook?

Black Mirror interview

Black Mirror - Channel 4's mind-bending series of cautionary tales about our addiction to digital technology - is returning for a big-name Christmas special starring Rafe Spall, Oona Chaplin and Mad Men's Jon Hamm. Bryony Gordon asks them and the programme's creator Charlie Brooker what's in store.

Black Mirror Xmas Special: new plot details & pictures

The new episode of Charlie Brooker's satire stars Jon Hamm, Rafe Spall and Oona Chaplin and tells a chilling story about "blocking" people in real life - just as we do on Facebook and Twitter.

Cast revealed for Black Mirror Christmas special

Jon Hamm, Rafe Spall and Oona Chaplin are confirmed to co-star in the Black Mirror feature-length special due on Channel 4 this Christmas.

Who would have guessed, a generation ago, that in the year 2014 we sophisticated, endlessly demanding television viewers would be falling about laughing over a silent (or at least wordless) comedy starring somebody called Chaplin? The comedy series Inside No. 9 is the creation of The League of Gentlemen duo Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. The second in the series was A Quiet Night In, one of the cleverest and funniest things I've seen on telly for years. It featured Oona Chaplin, the 27-year-old grand-daughter of Charlie Chaplin. She says she thinks he would have approved of the show. I'm sure he would have loved it, not just for Oona's appearance but to see Pemberton and Shearsmith's split-second timing, as perfected by the Master 100 years ago.

There's some quality comedy on offer tonight, with the second instalment of Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's address-based series paying inspired homage to silent movies in a dream home robbery caper co-starring Denis Lawson and Oona Chaplin.

Radio Times review

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are superb comic actors and ace gag-writers, but what makes them precious is their willingness to attempt difficult concepts, because they know that if it works they'll have something really special.

Last week we spent half the episode inside a wardrobe; this one-off story roams around the house of the week, a glass-walled millionaire mansion. Denis Lawson is at home, arguing with his wife (Oona Chaplin) and oblivious to the presence of two inept cat-burglars (Shearsmith and Pemberton). As they try to steal from him, there are near misses, pratfalls, murder and farce, all beautifully choreographed. But no dialogue.

Oona Chaplin interview

Tonight's dialogue-free episode of the BBC Two drama is particularly poignant because its star is the grand-daughter of the biggest silent movie actor of all time.