30 Facts About Black Mirror Every True Fan Should Know

While there are many potential interpretations of the title, creator Charlie Brooker has confirmed that it's inspired by the look of a switched-off screen. He explains, "Because any TV, any LCD, any iPhone, any iPad — something like that — if you just stare at it, it looks like a black mirror, and there's something cold and horrifying about that."

Jodie Foster is set to direct a season-four episode ("Arkangel") and Parks and Rec's Rashida Jones and Michael Schur co-wrote the season-three premiere, "Nosedive."

After Howard appeared in "Nosedive," set in a world dictated by social media ratings, she was inspired to ask an Uber driver what her ranking was — and horrified to learn she was "only" a 4.8.

The series premiere, "The National Anthem," is best known for its (no pun intended) climax, in which the British Prime Minister has sex with a pig on TV in order to satisfy a kidnapper's ransom demand. But it wasn't always a pig: Brooker explains, "We went all around the farmyard. At one point, we were thinking of a giant wheel of cheese." Horrifying.

Several years after "The National Anthem" aired, allegations emerged that David Cameron, the IRL British Prime Minister, had placed a private part into the mouth of a dead pig as a part of a fraternity initiation. But Brooker claims that was merely a coincidence, and he had no knowledge of Cameron's alleged past acts while writing the episode.

Jon Hamm's appearance on the show came about because he was such a big fan of it he asked his agent to arrange a meeting with Brooker.

In 2004, Brooker wrote a satirical editorial calling for the assassination of then U.S. president George W. Bush. The barrage of criticism he received inspired the theme of public, large-scale backlash that "Hated in the Nation" explores.

From the beginning, Brooker was inspired by The Twilight Zone's anthology-based approach to telling spooky stories. "Every week you were plunged into a slightly different world," Brooker says. "There was a signature tone to the stories, the same dark chocolate coating — but the filling was always a surprise."

In 2013, Robert Downey Jr.'s production company optioned the rights to "The Entire History of You" with the goal of making it into a film with Warner Brothers. But in 2016, Brooker admitted that he isn't sure what the status of the project was, or whether the adaptation will go forward at all.

Each episode will tackle a different genre, including a dark noir filmed in black and white ("Metalhead"), and an episode marking Black Mirror's first trip into space ("USS Callister").

Netflix may be the biggest binge-watching hub on the internet, but Brooker doesn't recommend watching Black Mirror episodes one after the other. "I don't know that we're really much of a binge-watching show, because it's a bit like being hit by a car," he says. "How many times can you get hit by a car in one day?"

Brooker got his start working on British shows such as The 11 O'Clock Show and Nathan Barley, and he doesn't see Black Mirror as the dark dystopia many viewers do. He thinks of it as dark comedy, saying, "I think that doesn't often translate in the U.S."

Last September, Black Mirror won the Emmy award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special, based on the merit of the critically acclaimed episode "San Junipero." (Black Mirror also won an International Emmy for its first season.)

The half-spider, half-human hybrid monster in the second episode of season three was one of the most chilling images of its season, but Black Mirror's visual effects team initially had concerns about how to ensure the monster was creepy, rather than funny. To up the scare factor, the team consulted the work of experimental artist Chris Cunningham. (Warning: the making-of video is somehow EVEN CREEPIER than the episode.)

Black Mirror's creative team must have been thrilled to learn that the King of Horror himself is a big fan of the series. In 2014, Stephen King tweeted, "Loved BLACK MIRROR. Terrifying, funny, intelligent. It's like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, only rated R."

Tanya Lodge won a BAFTA for her work on Black Mirror in 2017.

There's a Saturday Night Live sketch that references "San Junipero," a reference on the CW's Riverdale, and an Orange is the New Black crossover mashup.

When asked whether they'd consider doing a sequel to the series' most popular episode, Brooker and Jones said they would, but not necessarily as a traditional TV episode. Brooker said, "Like, a thing. An experience." And Jones added, "Like, for real." SOLD.

In "Be Right Back," Martha uses her partner's digital past to create a version of him after his death — first as a text bot, then via phone calls, and finally through a life-sized android. The seeds of this technology have already been explored by developer Eugenia Kuyda, who coded and created a digital version of a friend of hers who'd passed away.

She's featured in the 2014 Christmas special, "White Christmas," alongside Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall.

Super-fans have poured over the Black Mirror timeline, trying to make connections and find Easter eggs, but Brooker

Strange that a TV series about all things digital dystopia would go analog, but a three-volume series of Black Mirror stories, edited by Brooker, is in the works.

Max Richter's soundtracks for "San Junipero" and "Nosedive" have both been released on vinyl — a rare achievement for a television series.

You know, in case you were wondering.

The show tweeted: "This isn't an episode. This isn't marketing. This is reality." Coming from the scariest dystopia on television that's…bleak.

Explains Jones, "It puts us just on the cusp of a nervous breakdown, so it's working! I think even a number seven would just do us in."