10 Black Mirror Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From From The Set
Netflix, the ultra-popular streaming service, has had a lot of great television shows and movies, but there isn't a anthology series quite like Black Mirror. What makes it so unique is that each episode has a brand new story, brand new characters and brand new theories fans conjure up. It's a very well made show, that makes the audience think about the dark side of technology and the consequences of taking things a step too far.
While each episode is filled with mystery and sci-fi elements, fans have to wonder what it took to make such a brilliant show. Of course there's the blood, sweat and tears, but what kind of behind-the-scenes magic or secrets is the cast and crew hiding? In the world of time travel, technology and flashbacks, anything is possible.
10 Several Scenes From Fifteen Million Merits Were Thrown Out, But Would've Made The Episode Much Darker
'Fifteen Million Merits' is the second episode in the first season and portrays bits and pieces of a dystopian future, drama and hope. The memorable and awful ending to the show was already heart-breaking, but director Euros Lyn claims there was an even darker ending planned for Bing and Abi which is hard to believe.
Eventually, the crew decided it was dark enough and end up with what viewers know now.
9 Creator, Charlie Brooker Never Meant For The Show To Be Binge-Worthy
The brains behind the operation, Charlie Brooker, never meant for any of the episodes or seasons to be binge-worthy once it hit Netflix. During a round table interview, he mentioned that watching too many episodes in a row is almost like "being hit by a car" because they are all so emotionally powerful and at times, draining.
While television shows are short and produced to be consumed at a rapid pace, Black Mirror was never meant to be.
8 The Episode, White Bear Was Re-Written In Two Days
'White Bear' is the second episode of the second season, that tells the story of a woman waking up and not remembering where she is. She realized almost everyone is controlled by a television signal, except her and a few others. This was a great additional to the second season, but show-runner Charlie Brooker changed it because of the location presented. He didn't think the initial story fit, given the shooting location and decided to shake things up and re-wrote it in two days.
7 White Bear Is The Only Episode Thus Far That Was Discussed To Have A Follow-up Episode
Once Black Mirror creator, Charlie Brooker decided that once the story had changed after two-days of rewriting, he wanted to take out some of the scenes because he thought there'd be potential to divide the shot footage into two episodes, which hadn't been done before. So far, this hasn't happened yet, but the potential to continue some of the most popular episodes in the series is something to be excited about.
6 The Show Was Originally Going To Be Broadcast On Channel 4 Instead Of Netflix
Netflix Originals have become a thing now, as every week, it seems like there's a new movie or television show. It would seem like a no-brainer that Black Mirror was presented to Netflix right away and it became a smash hit; but that wasn't always the case. The show first debuted on Channel 4 in 2011 and was called 'The National Anthem.'
As of 2016, Black Mirror's third season was on Netflix and got a global release, which led to immediate success.
5 The Episode Called "Crocodile" Was Much Different In The Beginning
Season 4 of Black Mirror premiered in 2017 and was a pivotal season as viewers learned that the series shared universes; but one of the most heart-wrenching and intriguing episodes was 'Crocodile'. It goes down a dark road of using technology to obtain someone's memory of things such as a crime they might've committed.
The main character tries to cover her tracks as she goes on a murderous rampage; but why was the episode called 'Crocodile'? The title was actually imagined for a different script of the episode and was reimagined to what viewers know today. It was about a person witnessing their mother dying at a very young age.
4 The Robot Dog In Metalhead Was CG And Not Real
Some Black Mirror episodes are more ominous than others and takes on the dystopian theme to another level, as well. In 'Metalhead', everything was shot in black and white, which gives it a Alfred Hitchcock vibe right from the start. Also, the creepy Robot Dogs that are chasing the main character, Bella, that's trying to outrun them and survive.
The presentation of the Robot Dogs were extremely well perceived, so it's a little surprising that the machines weren't built from the ground up, but derived via CG.
3 There Were A Ton Of Easter Eggs From Previous Episodes In Black Museum
Right from the start, it was clear that the series in an anthology, meaning that it tells its own story, with new characters portraying that story each time; but there were also theories that each episode is tied to one another in some way and it was only talk until the 'Black Museum' episode. The final episode in season 4 was set up to tell a story about a tourist attraction that held technological artifacts with terrible backstories.
There are other notable episodes that nod towards a relation, but 'Black Museum' is the most obvious indicator it's intentional. Examples such as the face wall with the creator's faces, the bathtub from 'Crocodile' and the Masked Man from 'White Bear'.
2 There Are Often Different Directors For Each Episode
It's very evident by now that each and every episode of the Black Mirror series is different from one another; but ties to each other in some way or another. The obvious sign is that technology is the subject that gets portrayed one way or another in each episode, but the other reason why episodes can stand alone is because they are directed by a different person each time.
While there is a core team that always has a hand in the series, directors rotate to keep things fresh.
1 Almost Every Episode Has Been Filmed Outside The United States
A lot of the Black Mirror episodes are filmed in seemingly familiar places such as Los Angeles, CA, but might be depicted in different decades or universes of time; but in reality, almost all of the episodes have been filmed outside the United State due to the extremely high cost of filming. For example, 'USS Callister' was a spoof of Star Trek, the spaceship scenes were filmed in the United Kingdom, 'Arkangel' was filmed in Ontario, 'Crocodile' was filmed in Iceland and a number of scenes from 'Black Museum' were filmed in Spain.