30 facts about Black Mirror every true fan should know

After Bryce appeared in Nosedive, set in a world dictated by social media ratings, she was inspired to ask an Uber driver what her ranking was — and horrified to learn she was "only" a 4.8.

The series premiere, The National Anthem, is best known for its (no pun intended) climax, in which the British Prime Minister has sex with a pig on TV in order to satisfy a kidnapper's ransom demand. But it wasn't always a pig: Charlie explains, "We went all around the farmyard. At one point, we were thinking of a giant wheel of cheese." Horrifying.

Several years after The National Anthem aired, allegations emerged that David Cameron had placed a private part into the mouth of a dead pig as a part of a fraternity initiation. But Charlie claims that was merely a coincidence, and he had no knowledge of the PM's alleged past acts while writing the episode.

Jon Hamm's appearance on the show came about because he was such a big fan of it he asked his agent to arrange a meeting with Charlie. Jon explains, "It came about in this very odd way, with me asking my agent if I could meet Mr. Brooker. I didn't know he was even working on a third series or a Christmas special or anything, it was simply that I really liked his work and really wanted to meet the guy."

In 2004, Charlie wrote a satirical editorial calling for the assassination of then U.S. president George W. Bush. The barrage of criticism he received inspired the theme of public, large-scale backlash that Hated In The Nation explores.

From the beginning, Charlie was inspired by The Twilight Zone's anthology-based approach to telling spooky stories. "Every week you were plunged into a slightly different world," Charlie says. "There was a signature tone to the stories, the same dark chocolate coating — but the filling was always a surprise."

In 2013, Robert Downey Jr.'s production company optioned the rights to The Entire History Of You with the goal of making it into a film with Warner Brothers. But in 2016, Charlie admitted that he isn't sure what the status of the project was, or whether the adaptation will go forward at all.

Each episode will tackle a different genre, including a dark noir filmed in black and white (Metalhead), and an episode marking Black Mirror's first trip into space (USS Callister).

Netflix may be the biggest binge-watching hub on the internet, but Brooker doesn't recommend watching Black Mirror episodes one after the other. "I don’t know that we’re really much of a binge-watching show, because it’s a bit like being hit by a car," he says. "How many times can you get hit by a car in one day?"

Charlie got his start working on British shows such as The 11 O'Clock Show and Nathan Barley, and he doesn't see Black Mirror as the dark dystopia many viewers do. He thinks of it as dark comedy, saying, "I think that doesn’t often translate in the U.S."

Last September, Black Mirror won the Emmy award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special, based on the merit of the critically acclaimed episode San Junipero (Black Mirror also won an International Emmy for its first season).

The half-spider, half-human hybrid monster in the second episode of season three was one of the most chilling images of its season, but Black Mirror's visual effects team initially had concerns about how to ensure the monster was creepy, rather than funny. To up the scare factor, the team consulted the work of experimental artist Chris Cunningham (warning: the making-of video is somehow EVEN CREEPIER than the episode).

Black Mirror's creative team must have been thrilled to learn that the King of Horror himself is a big fan of the series. In 2014, Stephen King tweeted, "Loved BLACK MIRROR. Terrifying, funny, intelligent. It's like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, only rated R."

No, seriously. As Buzzfeed has pointed out, Ross put forth the idea that by the year 2030, it would be possible to add human thoughts and memories to a computer and live forever as a machine — the same technology behind the episode's twist ending.

Tanya Lodge won a BAFTA for her work on Black Mirror in 2017.

There's a Saturday Night Live sketch that references San Junipero, a reference on the CW's Riverdale, and an Orange Is The New Black crossover mashup.

When asked whether they'd consider doing a sequel to the series' most popular episode, Charlie and Annabel said they would, but not necessarily as a traditional TV episode. Charlie said, "Like, a thing. An experience." And Annabel added, "Like, for real." SOLD.

In Be Right Back, Martha uses her partner's digital past to create a version of him after his death — first as a text bot, then via phone calls, and finally through a life-sized android. The seeds of this technology have already been explored by developer Eugenia Kuyda, who coded and created a digital version of a friend of hers who'd passed away.