It’s been only a few years since the last season of Charlie Brooker’s chilling Netflix series Black Mirror aired, yet the real world has changed so rapidly that it now feels like a reflection of the show itself.
The dystopian anthology, known for its unnerving takes on humanity’s relationship with technology, returns for a seventh season at a time when technological and political shifts are evolving faster than many can process—including lawmakers.
When Black Mirror first premiered in 2011, Siri had just made its debut and the iPhone 4S was state-of-the-art.
Fast forward to today, and we’re navigating a world where Meta AI is integrated into WhatsApp, and we’ve hit the tenth generation of the Apple Watch.
The show’s storytelling has grown alongside these innovations, exploring concepts from memory-hacking devices to robotic bees and werewolf celebrities.
Brooker, speaking with the BBC, remains energized and optimistic about the future of the show, noting that there’s no shortage of inspiration.
“Technology is developing in the real world very quickly. That means there are more sources of inspiration,” he says. “We can do stories I wouldn’t have thought of 10 years ago.”
This season includes an episode titled Hotel Reverie, featuring The Crown and Deadpool & Wolverine star Emma Corrin alongside Issa Rae.
Corrin plays Dorothy Chambers, a glamorous 1940s film star in a modern remake with a twist.
The episode delves into AI, a recurring theme in creative circles, with Corrin admitting the subject makes them uneasy.
They express concern over how artificial intelligence could impact creative professions, emphasizing the irreplaceable nature of human imagination and collaboration.
Brooker echoes these sentiments, pointing out that while AI can be a useful tool, its misuse—especially when it replaces human input or exploits creative work—poses serious concerns.
“What you’re amazed by is the human,” he says, referencing Andy Serkis’s performance as Gollum. “The point at which it worries me is if you remove the people bit from that equation.”
Gaming also returns as a central theme in the new season, particularly in the episode Plaything, which revives characters from the interactive film Bandersnatch.
Will Poulter and Asim Chaudhry reprise their roles as a game developer and company boss, while Lewis Gribben stars as Cameron, a 1990s gaming journalist whose obsession with a strange pixelated game begins to distort his reality.
Gribben, a gamer himself, shares that not having seen Bandersnatch helped him bring a fresh perspective to his performance.
Veteran actor Peter Capaldi delivers a haunting performance as an older version of Cameron, and Josh Finan joins the cast as a friend caught up in the psychological spiral.
Both Gribben and Finan will also appear in the upcoming Amazon mini-series Blade Runner 2099, set decades after Blade Runner 2049 and centered once again on human-AI relations.
Despite the ever-growing presence of artificial intelligence in entertainment, Finan remains hopeful.
“I don’t think actors are going anywhere,” he says. “What we do is too special.”
As Black Mirror continues to push boundaries and mirror society’s technological anxieties, its creators and cast seem to agree—there’s still plenty of story left to tell.
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