Netflix have announced a brand new show from Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker is in production.
Brooker has a long-standing partnership with the streamer dating back to his dystopian sci-fi anthology’s move from Channel 4 to Netflix back in 2016, with the new show marking his second time producing non-Black Mirror content for the platform, following the Death to… specials.
The new four-part project is billed as a “profoundly serious” crime thriller following “a tormented detective on a relentless mission to catch a ritualistic serial killer before they run out of victims” with the action split between London, and the fictional northern English city of Bleakford.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be saying these words for the press release,” says Brooker “I’ve dreamt of providing a quote ever since I was a young foetus, and now here I am doing it. I’d pinch myself, but like all of us, I’m terrified that if I do that, I might wake up and discover 2025 has all been a magical dream. Please watch my show. I am begging you.”
Now, based on the synopsis and the creator’s sardonic statement in the press release, we wouldn’t expect the same bleak, mostly serious vibe of Black Mirror here. Instead, we’d expect something more akin to the Diane Morgan-fronted and Brooker-penned Cunk on… series, played straight but displaying a wickedly leftfield sense of humour.
While there’s not a huge amount of casting details just yet, we do know that the show will be led by Paddy Considine, Geogina Campbell and Lena Heady. Considine is no stranger to cop comedy after his scene stealing turns in Hot Fuzz and Deep Cover, while Campbell excelled in the darkly funny Barbarian. Heady, meanwhile, had plenty of memorable moments of black comedy as Game of Thrones’ acid tongued Cersei Lannister.
Is the new show connected to A Touch of Cloth?
If all of this sounds a little familiar, it may be because Brooker was behind a similar cop show satire for Sky in the mid-2010s. A Touch of Cloth starred genre mainstays John Hannah and Suranne Jones as troubled detectives investigating various heinous crimes throughout the show’s three season run. Despite the third season ending with a ‘trailer’ for the fourth, Hannah confirmed in 2015 that the show had been canceled.
While it certainly doesn’t seem like Brooker’s new Netflix show is in any way a revival of Cloth, it very much sounds like a spiritual successor that should appeal to fans of the previous show, casting a similar satirical eye over crime drama trends.
What does this mean for Black Mirror?
For those worried what this new show may mean for Black Mirror, it sounds like there’s still more in store for those looking for their dose of bleak – and very occasionally uplifting – technological prophesying, with Brooker confirming to The Hollywood Reporter that while he’s working on his detective show at the moment, the future is looking “bleakly bright” for one of the best Netflix shows.
While there’s no confirmed release date for the upcoming four-parter, with both this and the promise of a return for Black Mirror, it’s looking like Netflix is set to be one of the best streaming services for Charlie Brooker fans.
