Black Mirror

As the ticker tape settles over in the ITV studios, a drama will begin on Channel 4 that is so closely modelled on The X Factor that there is no doubting that its scheduling directly after this year's grand final was a deliberate one.

Black Mirror's second episode, 15 Million Merits, is co-written by Charlie Brooker's wife Konnie Huq, who presented X Factor companion show The Xtra Factor in 2010.

Brooker abandoned his TV criticism column in The Guardian midway through his wife's stint on the ITV2 show, prompting many to speculate that he felt his partiality had been compromised by Huq's involvement in the franchise. The plot thickens.
Like The National Anthem, the first in the Black Mirror series, 15 Million Merits' plot is not its strongest point. But the fine performances from its stars - who include Julia Davis and Rupert Everett - more than make up for some weak links in the narrative.

And in terms of capturing the terrifying, oppressive nature of The X Factor, Brooker has it spot on with his barely fictitious show Hot Shot, which plucks ordinary folk from their dystopian drudgery and bombards them with stardom.

For X Factor fans, it will serve as the perfect way to reflect on what has been a more sinister and contrived series than any other.
It is dark and disturbing, but is it any darker and more disturbing than the real X Factor we know and love to hate?

Review of Black Mirror - '15 Million Merits'

Imagine a future powered by people on exercise bikes, where rooms are made up of walls of screens and the only chance to escape is by going on a reality television show. Welcome to the world of black mirrors.

TV review: Black Mirror

In the second episode of Charlie Brooker's darkly comic Black Mirror, The X Factor gets its comeuppance in a nightmare worthy of Orwell. It's striking to look at and beautiful - the virtual reality, the interactiveness, all the screens...

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Black Mirror returns for a spectacular second episode. Here's our spoiler-filled review of the reality TV dystopia, "Fifteen Million Merits"...

Black Mirror: 15 Million Merits, Channel 4, review

15 Million Merits presented some familiar tropes, but they were explored with style, savvy and lashings of acerbic humour.

Black Mirror - 15 Million Merits review

The world depicted may be overblown, but the nods to technology are indeed humorous and at times all too scarily familiar. The verdict? Well... it's a yes from me.

Black Mirror: '15 Million Merits' review

Daniel Kaluuya's performance here is so amazing, you can even forgive him for appearing in Johnny English Reborn.

Black Mirror: The National Anthem was one of the strangest dramas I've ever seen - which would be more of a recommendation if it hadn't set out so blatantly to be as strange as possible. When "Princess Susannah" was kidnapped, the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) was told that she'd only be released if he agreed to have sex with a pig on live TV.

An excellent cast lent this rather more veracity than it deserved while director Otto Bathurst had chosen to play it as straight as possible - just as well as there were surprisingly few laughs in Charlie Brooker's script. What on earth, you may be wondering, were Brooker's intentions here? If pushed quite hard, I'd venture that he was trying to explore the limits of prurience. This, however, was not enough to stop it from being bloody silly. Remarkably puerile too - although you probably guessed that already.

The second of writer Charlie Brooker's three comedy-horrors. Tonight's drama satirises the sort of shows that happen to be on the other channels this evening. In a sarcastic vision of the future, everyone is confined to a life of physical drudgery. The only way to escape is to enter the Hot Shot talent show and pray you can impress the judges. The star-studded cast includes Rupert Everett, Julia Davis and Downton's Jessica Brown Findlay.

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In a spoiler free review of Sunday's Black Mirror episode, Ryan explains why "Fifteen Million Merits" is the best bit of sci-fi you'll see on TV all year...