How Netflix ruined Black Mirror

Don’t you also hate it when your favourite TV show becomes Americanised? The cast becomes majority American, the setting has a blend of UK and American features, and British actors put on an American accent to fit a now-abroad audience?

Black Mirror is a British dystopian anthology series that delves into how potential issues around technology can rapidly unfold, creating nightmare scenarios that reflect on modern society’s issues.

Created by English producer Charlie Brooker and Welsh TV producer Annabel Jones, this show was inspired by The Twilight Zone to make satirical commentaries on controversial contemporary issues – racism, sexism, ableism, politics, justice – and place them in a fictional environment to work around television censors.

The show had a very real and grotty feel to it

Brooker wanted a fresh approach to dystopian television. Having a new cast every episode (similar to The Twilight Zone) was an idea that really engaged him, as well as a new story, setting, and background for every single episode. The characters’ actions were designed to feel authentic, despite the story being quite strange and the actions being unusual. Brooker planned less heavily by the second season and wrote the script as he went along, refusing to react to news articles, keeping the storyline as unique and as sincere as possible.

Brooker avoided making an episode as a reaction to breaking news as there was no guarantee of its relevance upon release date, keeping ideas new, fresh, and exciting.

One of the most exciting aspects of the show – at least in the first two seasons – for me was how British it felt. All the actors were British; the locations were British. From the dialogue to the colour scheme of the show, to the looks of the actors (plain, natural, undone), the show had a very real and grotty feel to it. It felt original. The actors selected for the show were often a mix of up-and-coming British actors and acclaimed/celebrity actors. In the first two seasons, emerging British talent was prioritised, keeping the show unique and offering a beautiful showcase of exceptional British performers.

Many parts of the show had become Americanised

If they had kept it up, keeping the show British, it could have been an amazing gateway to promote British art, funding the arts industry, and diversifying alternative career paths instead of pushing creative individuals into office work, or work they do not find fulfilling.

But Netflix bought the rights to produce new episodes in September 2015, with the first Netflix episode (season 3 episode 1) airing on 21 October 2016.

The cast of the episodes were no longer entirely British. Many parts of the show had become Americanised; the setting and location, the actors, and the dialogue had heavy American influences. It did not feel like the grotty, provocative, underground, Channel 4 Black Mirror we had grown to love.

It had completely lost its Channel 4 charm

Season three – my favourite season – still felt quite British. The concepts were original, a lot of the cast were British, and it had the added Netflix budget which increased the quality of episodes.

Seasons five and six, however, felt the most American to me. It had completely lost its Channel 4 charm. The show used Netflix actors, who were not as good as the Channel 4 actors who made the show a cult classic in season one. The physical appearance of the show felt overly done – the aesthetic, perfect-looking actors that oppose the more natural-looking actors of the earlier seasons take away from the dystopian, realist setting of the show. The settings were no longer organic British streets – the kind of street you see outside your window – but this glossy, beautiful, Netflix-budget scene.

Television media is being killed by an influx of incredibly attractive people. One of the appeals of acting is that it is accessible to anyone regardless of looks, gender, race, or any other protected characteristic. Excellent acting is ugly: the contorted facial expressions, the monstrous movements, the loud, emotional, and ugly crying are necessary to produce a good performance. If actors are being selected due to their looks, the acting becomes manufactured. How can one deliver a soulful performance if they are expected to be beautiful? How can an actor with Botox contort their face to express extreme emotions?

The episodes could not have felt further removed from the original concepts of Black Mirror

Season five was the poorest, in my opinion. It felt completely removed from Channel 4’s Black Mirror, and the concept felt completely different. It felt heavily censored, unnatural, and – honestly – mainstream. Season six was another personal stinker of mine. The episodes could not have felt further removed from the original concepts of Black Mirror. It sounds and feels like I am gatekeeping but sometimes shows need to be preserved the way they are. It felt overly American, unoriginal, and at times awkward.

This will not stop me from tuning in. I enjoyed season seven; however I do wish that it could go back to its original, Channel 4 roots.