Charlie Brooker teases follow-ups to old ‘Black Mirror’ episodes in new material
A popular season two episode has been mentioned
As we gear up for the fifth season of Black Mirror, there’s a lot of intrigue around the ‘choose your own adventure’ episode that’s supposedly in the works.
The Netflix show has produced plenty of memorable episodes, with some including intricate call-backs and easter eggs which you’d have to be a genius to spot the first time around.
However, we haven’t yet had fully-fledged sequels to Black Mirror episodes - but that too could be set to change.
One of the most frequently referenced episodes across the Black Mirror universe is ‘White Bear’, which featured in the second season on Channel 4 back in 2013.
The episode’s main character, Victoria Skillane, is mentioned in one-off special ‘White Christmas’ and season three episodes ‘Shut Up and Dance’ and ‘Hated in the Nation’, while there are other White Bear references in season four anthology episode ‘Black Museum’.
Now, though, creator Charlie Brooker has spoken about discussions around a full follow-up episode, as well as fielding questions about sequels to other popular episodes of the show.
“That was something we discussed at the time, as a potential expansion of the story,” Brooker said about a potential ‘Return to White Bear’ episode in an interview with Digital Spy.
“What if [Skillane] becomes aware that this is going on, and starts rebelling against it?”
He also spoke about a potential sequel to ‘San Junipero’, the award-winning episode starring Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, albeit with different protagonists.
“I wouldn’t necessarily want to revisit those characters, because we’re very happy with where they ended up and their story, but that’s not to say that we couldn’t revisit that world, if there was a compelling reason to do so,” Brooker said.
Brooker also spoke about potentially releasing more “portmanteau” episodes in the vein of ‘Black Museum’ or ‘White Christmas’, in order to bring together strong ideas which he feels are unable to sustain a full hour-long episode.
“So if you look at an episode like ‘Black Museum’, that consists of three separate stories – they actually build on each other… so I’ve got quite a few ideas of that nature and I would like to, at some point, revisit the portmanteau format,” he explained.
“You wouldn’t want to inflate [an idea] beyond its lifespan, but if there’s a way to link them together, they can become more than the sum of their parts.”
Even if we don’t get a sequel in the upcoming fifth season, which is expected to air in 2019, you’d imagine we’ll at least see some new Black Mirror easter eggs which build on everything that’s come before.
(Images: Netflix)
