Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'' is a British

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

anthology series created by

Charlie Brooker Charlton ‘Charlie’ Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English screenwriter, producer, presenter, author, cartoonist, and social critic. He first became known for creating and presenting satirical television shows that featured biting criticis ...

. The programme was inspired by ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' and explores technology and its side-effects. It began on the British television network

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

before moving to the American streaming platform

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and has run for seven series between 2011 and 2025. There are 33 episodes and one

interactive film An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, o ...

, '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch''. Episodes vary in length between 40 and 89 minutes and can be watched in any order. Actors rarely appear in more than one episode, though many instalments make small references known as "

Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are Egg decorating, decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter ...

" to previous episodes, such as through in-universe news channels and briefly-seen text. In 2025, the episode " USS ''Callister''" received a sequel episode titled " USS ''Callister'': Into Infinity", marking it as the first ''Black Mirror'' story to receive a continuation. The first two series comprised three episodes each and ran on Channel 4 in December 2011 and February 2013. After discussions for a third series fell through, a special entitled " White Christmas" was commissioned and aired in December 2014. The following year, Netflix commissioned twelve episodes, later splitting this into two series of six episodes that were released on 21 October 2016 and 29 December 2017. The interactive film ''Bandersnatch'' was spun out from the fifth series due to its complexity, debuting on 28 December 2018, and the delayed fifth series of three episodes premiered on 5 June 2019. The sixth series was released on 15 June 2023 and consists of five episodes. A seventh series was announced in November 2023, and was released on 10 April 2025. Episodes are usually dystopian, often with unhappy endings, and many are set in a futuristic world with advanced technology. The instalments have spanned a variety of genres including

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre freque ...

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

, and

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

. ''Black Mirror'' has been met with positive reception from critics and has received numerous

awards and nominations An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

, including three consecutive wins of the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie This is a list of the winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie, which has been awarded since 1992. The category was originally called Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special. In 1991, Outstanding Drama or Comedy ...

Series overview

Episodes

Series 1 (2011)

Series 2 (2013)

Special (2014)

Series 3 (2016)

Series 4 (2017)

Interactive film (2018)

Series 5 (2019)

Series 6 (2023)

For series six,

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

reported that ''Black Mirror'' was the most-watched television programme on streaming platforms in the United States during the week of its release, with an estimated 23million hours watched. In the following weeks it ranked second and fifth, with a cumulative 40million hours watched. Netflix, which started releasing viewing figures after series five, stated that 60million hours of ''Black Mirror''s sixth series were watched worldwide during its week of release. According to Netflix's ranking method, it was second to ''

Never Have I Ever "Never have I ever", also known as "I've never.." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A versi ...

''s fourth series by viewer count. By the end of June, its hours of viewing reached 140million, in addition to 110million hours of other ''Black Mirror'' views. This placed the sixth series 53rd in Netflix content across all views from January to June 2023.

Series 7 (2025)

Home media

References

Notes

Citations

General references

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Mirror episodes Lists of anthology television series episodes Lists of British drama television series episodes Lists of British science fiction television series episodes