Black Mirror (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Series	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	235:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Otto Bathurst Euros Lyn Brian Welsh Owen Harris
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

After the darkly inventive Dead Set it perhaps comes as no surprise that British writer Charlie Brooker's latest made-for-TV show Black Mirror is a twisted take on the modern world. What is perhaps surprising, however, is that this series, which consists of two seasons, each of three episodes, is so consistently mind bending and unbelievably dark.

The "Black Mirror" of the title refers to the screen on our daily devices - mobile phones, tablets and televisions - which reflect back very darkly on ourselves. The series consists of self-contained uncomfortably satiric tales each looking at the potential for new technology to go very wrong.

Take episode one of the first season - The National Anthem. Someone has kidnapped the most popular young royal and posted a video on YouTube of her impassioned plea to be released. The government is trying to keep it under wraps, impossible where the video has been re-uploaded each time it's taken down, and Twitter is alight with the rumours. The kidnapper has a simple demand - either the Prime Minister has sex with a specific farm animal on live television or the Royal gets killed on camera. As the moments countdown to the deadline Brooker delivers a show which is both blackly funny and deadly serious.

The episodes are:

Disc 1: Season 1

1. The National Anthem;
2. The Entire History of You

Disc 2 : Season 2

1. Be Right Back;
2. White Bear;
3. The Waldo Moment

Perhaps the greatest asset of the show is that it is science fiction with a very small "F". Each of the stories presents a viable possibility for the future. Will we, before too long, have a chip implanted behind our ear which allows all our memories to be played back (The Entire History of You), could a CGI bear work its way into politics (The Waldo Moment) and will we eventually be able to communicate, in a way, with the dead (Be Right Back)? Throughout the show there is an uncomfortable feeling that these wild flights of imagination are not that far around the corner…

Notice something missing? Unfortunately, due to a rights issue over music episode two of the first season 15 Million Merits has not been included on the DVD release. What a disappointment as this episode, which features Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey) and Daniel Kaluuya (Mac from The Fades) is fascinating and well up to the standard of the other episodes.

Black Mirror's uncompromising and sometimes tough on the viewer with its bleak look at our near future but for those who enjoy dark humour bold ideas this is first class television.

Video

Black Mirror was shot on high-definition digital and comes to DVD in a 1.78:1 transfer consistent with the original widescreen television presentation. It is 16×9 enhanced.

The look of the show is clean and crisp throughout. Although Brooker wrote almost all the episodes there are a number of individual directors and cinematographers for the series. Therefore there is some variety in the look and style of the episodes.

The flesh tones are accurate. The colours are well rendered from the somewhat grim present to the bright future.

There are no technical problems with the transfer.

There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

Black Mirror carries an English Dolby Digital 2.0 sound transfer running at 224 Kb/s.

A surround sound track would have been nice however this does the job presenting the dialogue clearly and giving appropriate ambience to the episodes.

Music is by a variety of composers.

There are no technical problems with the sound.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Black Mirror has yet to be released in region 1. In the UK where rights are not a problem a complete season one has been released. Those completists who want all the episodes together in a DVD release should purchase the region 2 however this collection will satisfy most viewers.This Collection is described as All Regions

Black Mirror presents a world through a very dark mirror. No facet of modern life is left untouched one savaged. It is really a fascinating series of episodes somewhat humorous than others some devastating in their effect.

The DVD is of good quality in both sound and vision terms.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall