There are plenty of anthologies on TV that frightened fans over the years, from Twilight Zone to The Outer Limits, and everything in between.
However, nothing has hit quite as hard and brilliant as the Netflix original series, Black Mirror.
Initially starting as a Channel 4 series in the U.K. (two seasons of three episodes each), Netflix took control in Season 3 and has been its home ever since.
Created by Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror takes the slant of showing the fears and dangers that technology offers to the world. Instead of monsters, ghosts, demons, or stories of government or otherworldly paranoia, this is about how dangerous your phone or home computer could be.
Episodes in the past include Nosedive (eye implants allow people to rate each other on a scale of 1-5, much like a mobile device app), San Junipero (a virtual world where a person can have themselves uploaded after death), USS Callister (a man is brought into his own game), and Metalhead (robot guard dogs turn against humanity).
With Season 5 of Black Mirror hitting over a year ago, fans are wondering if there will be a Season 6 anytime soon.
Here is what you need to know.
This article provides everything that is known about Black Mirror Season 6 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s dig down into what is known so far.
Is there going to be a Season 6 of Black Mirror?
Whether or not Black Mirror will get a sixth season depends on the wants and desires of the world following the coronavirus pandemic.
Honestly, will fans want to see a show that details the often pessimistic fears of societies falling apart after the world was shaken to its core after a real-life pandemic?
Sure, Black Mirror is more about technology destroying the world, but people might not be ready for these stories, according to showrunner Charlie Brooker in an interview with RadioTimes.
“At the moment, I don’t know what stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart, so I’m not working away on one of those,” Brooker said. “I’m sort of keen to revisit my comic skill set, so I’ve been writing scripts aimed at making myself laugh.”
However, don’t count out the sixth season of Black Mirror.
It just might be a wait.
Release date latest: When is Black Mirror Season 6 likely to come out?
Season 5 of Black Mirror only consisted of three episodes (Striking Vipers, Smithereens, and Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too). It hit on June 5, 2019, so it has been over a year since Black Mirror was last on Netflix.
Before that, Bandersnatch hit as a standalone Black Mirror movie – an interactive film starring Fionn Whitehead and Will Poulter that had different endings based on choices that viewers made using their remotes.
That arrived on December 28, 2018.
Season 4 hit on December 29, 2017, so there was a one year wait between that and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
Season 3 came out on October 21, 2016, a 14-month wait between seasons.
The first two seasons were on Channel 4 in the U.K., so that was a weekly series, so it doesn’t factor in, although it did premiere in December 2011 and February 2013.
What this tells us is that, outside of Season 5, the series always premieres in winter. With that in mind, and with no decision to restart the sixth season production at this time, the best possibility is likely December 2021, although it likely won’t return until 2022 thanks to the pandemic.
Black Mirror Season 6 cast updates
The best part of Black Mirror is that it is a popular anthology series that features a whos-who of actors and actresses from movies and TV.
There is no telling who will end up cast in Season 6 until Netflix officially greenlights it and starts production.
Past actors include Miley Cyrus, Topher Grace, Anthony Mackie, Will Poulter, Jesse Plemons, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jon Hamm, Jason Flemyng, Haley Atwell, Domhnall Gleeson, and Jodie Whittaker.
Expect Black Mirror Season 6 to be just as star-worthy.
Catching up with Black Mirror
The last we have seen of Black Mirror was the fifth season with only three episodes. That came after the one-shot Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, which was a choose-your-own-adventure series that was heavily streamed, but not critically praised.
However, the first three seasons of Black Mirror were amazing.
That third season was easily the best, as well as the first produced by Netflix. However, the six-episode fourth season started a downward trend that has not picked back up yet.
When, and if, Black Mirror returns for Season 6, fans have to hope that the wait will give them something closer to the quality of Season 3 than that of Season 5.
Remember, Season 3 featured the best episode of the entire series in San Junipero – a rare episode that is not super bleak and nihilistic.
Black Mirror Season 6 has not been announced yet by Netflix.