Charlie Brooker is back with series 7 of his hit Netflix show, Black Mirror which he also executively produced with Jessica Rhoades. Charlie and Jessica told us where their ideas come from and the creator of the show, Charlie says his kids think he's mad.
Black Mirror: Season 7 lands on Netflix Thursday 10th April. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Black Mirror: Season 7 lands on Netflix Thursday 10th April. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00It's greasy and claustrophobic. No cheese involved.
00:03Sometimes we want you laughing, sometimes we want you crying.
00:07You're like, I've got to get this down. It's like being sick.
00:10Guys, it's so wonderful to see you. It is April Fool's Day,
00:13so I thought, are we in a Black Mirror episode right now?
00:15Is something going to happen? Are you going to pull something out or what?
00:17Yeah, my face falls off and I'm all cogs and bits of digital code underneath.
00:21Oh, that would be incredible if so, wouldn't it?
00:24And I watched them all, guys, and I just need to know what on earth is happening in your brains.
00:28Are you all right?
00:30You tell me.
00:33I actually think we're all doing quite well because Charlie's putting us through the paces.
00:37And so by the time the episodes come up, we've like already processed all the worst case scenarios.
00:43It's a week. Well, it's interesting to know.
00:45Would you say this is hopeful? Would you say it's hope?
00:47Well, how did you feel at the end of the...
00:50I felt like from each one I took some... I could understand bits.
00:55I mean, the gaslighting one terrified me because that's one of my own rational fears.
00:59Right.
01:00And every single one, I was like, oh, and then it went bonkers.
01:04Yeah. It's greasy and claustrophobic, though, isn't it?
01:07It's sort of like there's a claustroph...
01:09I wanted to sort of channel that sort of claustrophobic,
01:12crazy-making sensation of almost small details being shifted around
01:17and reality shifting under your feet and feeling like...
01:20So the character Maria, played by Sienna Kelly, is sort of panicking.
01:26She's on unsteady ground, which I think is a feeling that a lot of us feel generally all the time at the moment.
01:31I felt uncomfortable because it felt very real. It could be real every single time.
01:35I've said to Charlie, I mean, I think he has an incredible ability to drop in and do this,
01:39but I think women especially, I mean, it's one of my favourite episodes of the season,
01:43even though we have no favourites, because it's so deeply relatable.
01:46And I think that need for your voice to go up as a woman in a situation
01:51and being able to prove something that is so real to you.
01:55Anyway, I'm just saying.
01:56And they said, why are you getting so emotional?
01:57And I was like, I know, I know.
02:00I've had that line before.
02:02But who's your sounding board, guys?
02:04How do you just write things down in the middle of the night after a lot of cheese?
02:06You eat cheese, go to bed, book beside the bed, chat to your other half.
02:11No cheese involved. No cheese involved.
02:14What tends to happen is like ideas you never quite know when they're going to pop up.
02:19And quite often I'm walking around with two sort of half formed ideas
02:22that suddenly glom together and you're like, oh, I've got an episode idea.
02:26Sometimes I'll come in and I'll sort of say to you, what about this?
02:29Usually I'm giggling if it's like a nasty story.
02:31Yeah, if it's really grotty, he's giggling.
02:34I'm giggling my head off.
02:36Sometimes I run them past Connie, my wife, and I sort of go,
02:39what about she's so sick of hearing me sort of like, you know, 1am going,
02:42what if such and such a thing happened?
02:46I think the...
02:49So she's often sat there as I'm sort of coming out with an idea.
02:54But you just don't know quite where they're going to...
02:57They come from all...
02:58And when she says you're bonkers, is that like brilliant, that's exactly what I wanted?
03:01Yeah. Mission accomplished.
03:03Well, especially if it's a particularly...
03:05If you realise you've got a scenario where a character is on the horns of a really nasty dilemma,
03:11that's sort of mission accomplished.
03:12You also know when you've cracked it when you're like, I have to write.
03:15Yeah.
03:16That's when you're also like...
03:17You sort of see the ending.
03:18You see the ending shot almost and you're like, I've got to get this down.
03:23It's like being sick.
03:24Well, what about the kids?
03:25Do they say, my daddy does this, and I don't really know what it is,
03:28and one day I'll be able to watch it.
03:30They've only ever seen one episode.
03:33Wow.
03:34I'll show them another one this season as well.
03:36They've only ever seen the original USS Callister.
03:38OK. They've got a lot more fun to come.
03:40My kids are 11 and 13.
03:41But I bump into people whose kids are younger than mine who've seen all of them,
03:44and I'm like, that's terrible parenting right there.
03:49So, no, I mean, I think the kids just think I'm your typical stupid dad,
03:55you know, who tells terrible jokes and is annoying.
03:59Well, that's what dads do, right?
04:01That's my...
04:02It instantly becomes your role as a dad,
04:05is to be sort of slightly curmudgeonly and somewhat, like, disrespected.
04:11And you make TV. Love it.
04:13And what do you want people to learn?
04:15It's series seven now.
04:16Yeah.
04:17The amazing episode.
04:18Vintage series by now.
04:19Vintage. Love.
04:20Every episode's different.
04:22What do you want people to kind of feel after this?
04:24Do you want them to binge it?
04:25Do you want them to learn bits and change their characters?
04:28I never sort of feel like the show should be sort of wagging its finger at you,
04:34and telling you what to think.
04:35So whatever you get from it is correct for you.
04:39But obviously you want a reaction.
04:41Sometimes we want you to feel chilled to the core.
04:44Sometimes we want you laughing.
04:46Sometimes we want you crying.
04:48So hopefully, as long as you've got some reaction to it
04:51that isn't just like a blank shrug,
04:54then hopefully we've done our job.
04:56And we hope that people watch them all.
04:58But they're also designed, the season order is designed
05:01to have you feel certain things across the series
05:04and maybe only be able to get two in for a night
05:07or one in for a night.
05:08So we're hoping we're taking care of people.
05:10Ideally, of course, you would watch it.
05:12And then you'd watch it again.
05:13And then you'd watch it another time.
05:14And then you'd hit the double thumbs up icon on the platform,
05:17which apparently is algorithmically important.
05:19Amazing.
05:20Well, I squeezed in four.
05:21There you go.
05:22Amazing.
05:23I cried and laughed.
05:24All of the above.
05:25Good, good, good.