Hawk-eyed Netflix users have noticed that Black Mirror may be releasing a feature-length film ahead of season five. Earlier this month, a deleted tweet from Netflix’s @NXonNetflix seemed to confirm the return of Charlie Brooker’s series on December 28, with an episode supposedly from series five called “Bandersnatch”. As anticipated, Black Mirror will return before the year is out, but not in form we thought.
Eagle-eyed Netflix users have noticed a listing for an episode titled “Bandersnatch”. At 90 minutes, “Bandersnatch” will be the show’s longest instalment so far, appearing separate from the show’s existing 19 episodes on Netflix. Its running time allows it to compete for the Outstanding Television Movie Emmy through the Television Academy’s recently amended rules, which some have dubbed the “Black Mirror Rule”.
The episode was seemingly shot in Croydon earlier this year, where production posters bore the name. During filming, the crew replaced shopfronts with 1980s replicas.
The synopsis of “Bandersnatch” reads “Be Right Back”, which is the same name of the first episode of Black Mirror’s second season with Hayley Atwell and Domhnall Gleeson. That episode saw characters recreate their deceased loved ones through AI. Will we be right back to that world? The now-deleted tweet about the supposed ‘episode’ “Bandersnatch” prompted its own host of theories. If anything is for certain, it’s to expect the unexpected.
Black Mirror’s season five is thought to return to Netflix in 2019, with an episode featuring Miley Cyrus, as well as an interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ format, in which viewers will choose their own endings to episodes. A representative for Netflix told Dazed they have no comment at this time; in the meantime, read our expansive history of Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology, as told by its stars, here.