Channel 4 Announces A New Festive Feature-Length Black Mirror

Black Mirror, the television mini-series from UK Channel 4, is set for a feature length Christmas special this year. Previously taking the form of three one-hour episodes per season, this year the show will be broadcast as a one-off anthology, following three different, intertwining stories for the festive feature.

The show debuted in December, 2011, with a shocking, satirical political thriller involving the British Prime Minister being blackmailed into having sex with a pig in return for the safe return of a kidnapped princess. The episode set the tone for the following series - a biting attack on state of society and the media, shown through the veil of a dystopian world.

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The first series received rave reviews and went on to become one of the most watched foreign shows in China. A second season was released in December 2013, and was once again lauded as darkly twisted, leading to creator and writer Charlie Brooker being labelled a genius by many.

According to the Radio Times, Brooker said: "I always enjoy a good ghost story at Christmas, and I'm a sucker for the Amicus' compendium horror movies of the 70s. Our aim is to create the Black Mirror equivalent of that."

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Brooker's latest venture has not received a casting announcement at time of writing, although it seems at least partly underway as Channel 4's head of comedy, Phil Clarke, stated: "I'm delighted that we have a Black Mirror Special this Christmas. Charlie Brooker has penned a dystopian future festive tale, that intertwines three stories to deliver a dramatic and thrilling twist. It's satirical, comic, disturbing, and thought provoking. Not to be missed."

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We'll have to wait and see if this latest adventure into the peculiar mind of Charlie Brooker works as a stand-alone anthology, or if the series format that made the show (and Brooker's 'Dead Set') successful will be missed. And whether there's any additional animal cruelty.