It was ok, but it seemed a bit obvious to me. I can imagine it being a pub staple to ask 'Which politician would you most like to see f**king a pig...for, like, an hour...on TV?' As soon as the pig-f**king idea reared it's head I knew it was going to happen, so for me the tension was gone. Ok, not entirely true - there was the 'will the producers chicken out*?' tension but none within the story.

Still, they turned it into an entertaining hour-or-so of TV.

* F**king a chicken is much less offensive.

Quote: samcheese @ December 6 2011, 9:33 PM GMT

i've never read blind faith but black mirror reminded of popcorn by Ben Elton the central theme is very similar. Black mirror was good but popcorn is a masterpiece, Ben Elton's best work imo.

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It is a great book. Not relevant to this thread really, but years ago I ended up going for a meal with Ben Elton during the book-promotion of 'Popcorn' (I worked at Waterstones). We had a nice time, quite a lot of wine and a good laugh, so I asked him to read a script I'd written. He said no.

He was bloody right too - it was rubbish.

Quote: Frantically @ December 6 2011, 10:37 PM GMT

It is a great book. Not relevant to this thread really, but years ago I ended up going for a meal with Ben Elton during the book-promotion of 'Popcorn' (I worked at Waterstones). We had a nice time, quite a lot of wine and a good laugh, so I asked him to read a script I'd written. He said no.

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Oh dear. I imagine this anecdote has the potential to shatter the illusion that millions of us must hold dear, namely that Ben Elton is the nicest, most selfless man in comedy.

To go back to an older point - I'm pretty sure the actual act was never mentioned in any of the promo material. The trailer was quite cleverly put together actually, to use some shots from very late in the show (the PM walking down a corridor just before it actually happened) without ever saying what it was.

I think the closest they came to describing it was a brief clip of the newsroom discussing how they should describe it. And maybe one use of the phrase "indecent act". Which to be honest, covers everything from making the "wanker" gesture, to...well, what it actually was.

I do like Charlie, but he's only a so-so dramatist. As with Dead Set it was a great premise but the narrative was pretty linear and predictable. Still, an enjoyable watch, although I wasn't sure about the post credit bit. I'm guessing that if the PM boinked a pig he'd pretty much be finished as a serious political figure.

Surely though, the point of the story is that the reason he did it, was twitter/facebook etc. told his advisers that doing so would be the most politically favourable thing to do? I admit that might not necessarily work in real life, but within the story's internal logic, you can see why they had to finish by showing that he's still going strong (on a public level at least).

He's in power not because he made the decision he wanted to, but because he made the decision that was given to him by the public, via the internet. Given the choice in an isolated box, there's a decent chance he wouldn't have done it.

Quote: GGdown @ December 7 2011, 3:52 PM GMT

Surely though, the point of the story is that the reason he did it, was twitter/facebook etc. told his advisers that doing so would be the most politically favourable thing to do? I admit that might not necessarily work in real life, but within the story's internal logic, you can see why they had to finish by showing that he's still going strong (on a public level at least). He's in power not because he made the decision he wanted to, but because he made the decision that was given to him by the public, via the internet. Given the choice in an isolated box, there's a decent chance he wouldn't have done it.

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Maybe, but public opinion is notoriously faddy and fickle and after an initial honeymoon period post-pig f**k, it would have turned on him and eaten him alive.

How can people criticise this show - just look at the the level of discourse it's enabling!

Quote: chipolata @ December 7 2011, 4:12 PM GMT

after an initial honeymoon period post-pig f**k, it would have turned on him and eaten him alive.

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The pig would? It happened in Hannibal.

Quote: Tim Walker @ December 6 2011, 11:13 PM GMT

Oh dear. I imagine this anecdote has the potential to shatter the illusion that millions of us must hold dear, namely that Ben Elton is the nicest, most selfless man in comedy.

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To be fair he was quite reasonable about it, and anyway my clumsy approach probably appeared like a pissed-up bloke propositioning a girl in a bar...which if you ditch the girl thing and take the 'proposition' as being purely literary is what it was.

Did you offer to suck his cock?

No, at the time I had no idea how comedy writers get started.

rookie mistake

Quote: Frantically @ December 7 2011, 8:32 PM GMT

No, at the time I had no idea how comedy writers get started.

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It might have been easier to follow if this thread was called "Black Mirror." Any mod fancy rectifying that?

Anyway. My immediate response was on the What are You Watching? thread:

Quote: Badge @ December 4 2011, 10:31 PM GMT

It didn't really leave itself anywhere to go once you know the basic plot, and it didn't have the confidence to follow things through to the natural conclusion without being a bit heavy-handed towards the end. Dead Set was much better.

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Far too many obvious influences. He got this bit from that show, and that plot from that book, it's as if he can't imagine anything other than shows he's already seen.
And IMO, Brooker is funny, so it's a shame he didn't put in more laughs.