Black Mirror Trilogy

Charlie Brooker's "Black Mirror" comprised three new dramas on Channel 4 that explored how new technology might have progressed in years to come. They were all highly original, very disturbing and uncompromising in their portrayal of a unpleasant future. The first in the series called "The National Anthem" gave the Prime Minister, played effectively as usual by Rory Kinnear, an impossible dilemma as the release of  the kidnapped young female royal (the ransom demand shown on YouTube) depended on his submitting to public humiliation on television. This was all about the power of the Internet and social networking. There were serious flaws with the plot. Family would normally always come first as the Prime Minister would regret at the end. But this did not spoil what was a powerful and upsetting drama.

"Fifteen Million Credits" envisages the concept of the "X-Factor" gone mad. Our future selves gain credits in ways including getting fit on an exercise bike. Fifteen million gets you performing on the top TV talent show "Hot Spot", complete with judges even more awful than their present day counterparts, including Rupert Everett as sleazy Judge Hope. Bing, very well played by Daniel Kaluuya, is our tragic hero who uses his spot to have a rant against what the programme stands for. But the story goes into overdrive when he starts gathering credits all over again so as to donate them them to the object of his love, Jessica Findlay Brown (from "Downton Abbey"). But her performance on the show does not go as planned. The visual effects are stunning for such a small film. Huge credit must go to all those involved.

The final part of the trilogy is "The Entire History of You", written this time by Jesse Armstrong. Technology has advanced to the stage where you can store all your memories on a hard drive implanted in your brain. These can be played, rewound frozen etc. Just like Sky Plus. When a young lawyer suspects his wife of having an affair, the constant replaying of his memories finally drives him mad. Not the best of the three, but still a dizzying prediction of what the future has in store. But as one character demonstrates, you can always go without.