‘F*** Off’: Charlie Brooker Shuts Down This 1 Criticism Of Black Mirror Season 7

The reviews are already in for the new series of Black Mirror on Netflix, and they’re overwhelmingly positive. 

But creator Charlie Brooker has given a pretty blunt response to one of the criticisms aimed at the dystopian drama in more recent years. 

While Black Mirror began its run on UK screens, it garnered a whole new audience when it premiered on Netflix, with the streaming platform later buying the format from Channel 4 a decade ago. 

Speaking to The Royal Television Society in a video released on Thursday, Charlie said that changes that have been made to the show since its initial run on Channel 4 still have some people talking.

“I hear people going, ’Oh, it’s all American now’…” he claimed. “Fuck off – no it isn’t!” 

“I defy anyone to look at, like, an episode from this season like… Bête Noire or Plaything, like even Hotel Reverie [is] about a British studio,” the writer and show creator continued. 

“It’s part of the show’s DNA” to switch up the show’s locations and themes, he insisted, pointing out that season three – the first to air fully on Netflix – went from “this big, glossy episode with all this Californian imagery and red sports cars and a sunset” in San Junipero to “people waking in Croydon” for Shut Up And Drive.

That chop-and-change essence has stayed the same, the executive producer stated, adding: “We mix these sort of gritty episodes with British people frowning.”  

It’s not the first time Charlie has been, er, vocal about critics’ comments. 

When the “pick your own adventure”-style Bandersnatch episode came out, Charlie told HuffPost UK: “There’s also some people that are like ‘I don’t wanna make decisions’, ‘I don’t want to do any of it’… well fuck off, then. Do something else!” 

The new episodes of Black Mirror have already launched on Netflix and are brimming with the show’s beloved satirical style. 

Season seven also offers what may be the show’s most glittering cast to date.

And while some fans may still wish the originally British show had stayed closer to home, the pros are (almost) united; American or not, the reviews are almost roundly positive, with many calling it a “return to form” for the hit show.