Charlie Brooker has been making. “Black Mirror” episodes for over 15 years and is a firm believer of quality over quantity with only 33 episodes released so far (not counting ‘Bandersnatch’). After the series first ever Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Limited Series or Anthology Series, along with a couple of actor nods for Rashida Jones and Paul Giamatti, it seems Netflix is pushing Brooker for more content.
After a less than 2 year wait between seasons 6 and 7, Brooker has revealed that season 8 has been greenlit and the Creator is already working on the next series. During a recent interview at Netflix’s TUDUM event, Brooker said: “I can confirm that Black Mirror will return, just in time for reality to catch up with it…”. He went on to say that his strategy for the news season would be: “Well, what haven’t we done yet, and what tone am I looking for?…It’s a useful thought experiment when approaching a new story…Where does this track come on the album, and what musical direction are we going to go into?”
After a less than 2 year wait between seasons 6 and 7, Brooker has revealed that season 8 has been greenlit and the Creator is already working on the next series.”
Season 7 was truer to the roots of the original twisted technology themed episodes of “Black Mirror” well season 6 was a noted departure form the OG style with more supernatural themes and was actually dubbed “Red Mirror” by Brooker himself. It’s unclear if there will be any more ‘Red Mirror’ themed episodes in season 8 although the Creator has teased that we definitely will see more ‘Red Mirror; in the future at some point.
Behind the scenes, season 8 will be a bit more complicated as Brooker and his core team have left their Netflix owned production company Broke & Bones after the end of a 5 year deal. There is no known issues between. Brooker and Netflix so it’s likely a deal will be made quickly and amicably, although the lack of an existing agreement could affect budget or episode count. Brooker is currently also working on another series with Netflix, surprisingly a strait-laced detective series starring Paddy Considine, Lena Headey and Georgina Campbell.
Given the high-brow cast, it’s likely Brooker will put a good portion of his energy into this new series before fully committing to “Black Mirror” and it’s eighth season/ As it stands, season 7 filmed about 7 months and change before the series aired on Netflix so the better metric as to when we might see season 8 episodes will be when we get start date for production.Our earliest production for seeing any new “Black Mirror” episodes would be early 2027 although anything is possible in Charlie Brooker’s dystopian future fantasy multiverse.
Since the pandemic and even before, it’s been a running joke that the world we’re living in is becoming increasingly more and more like the bleak future that “Black Mirror” portrays for a society that has become increasingly dependent on technology and social media. Although our real world is not quite as advanced as “Black Mirror”, the mob mentality of social media has definitely shown eery similarities to what we deal with everyday.
After a star studded season that saw multiple actors nominated for awards, it’s likely that even more A-List celebrities will bed up appearing in season 8 although no guest stars have been made known yet. Episode count is always a sore subject with “Black” Mirror as some seasons have as little as 3 episodes while the most we’ve ever seen is 6. We[re firmly hoping for 6 but we wouldn’t be surprised if there was only 5 or 4 this time around with more focus on bigger stories and/or more features from bigger actors.
The series is also known for its deep Easter Eggs and playable hidden games that have been featured in association with major episodes in the past. After the perceived success of “Black Mirror”’s first ever sequel in season 7, there’s s a possibility Brooker will elect to do another sequel , but as a Creator who likes to constantly try new things, it’s likely he’ll wait another season or more before we see any other sequels. Fans have been begging for a sequel to fan favorite episode “San Junipero” since the episodes release while the ill-fated “Bandersnatch” also has developed it’s own cult following over the years, in spite of the fact that it’s no longer available to be properly played on Netflix in it’s originally intended interactive form.
What do you think? When will season 8 be released? Will there be any more sequels or returning characters like Colin Ritman? Will we get any more Red Mirror episodes? What guest star celebrities will sign up for next season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
