Black Mirror. Copyright: Zeppotron
Black Mirror

Black Mirror

  • TV comedy drama
  • Channel 4 / Netflix

Dark sci-fi fantasy comedy dramas about our collective unease about the modern world. Created by Charlie Brooker.

  • JustWatch Streaming rank this week: 251

Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 1 - The National Anthem

Political thriller in which the fictional Prime Minister Michael Callow faces a huge and shocking dilemma when Princess Susannah, a much-loved member of the Royal Family, is kidnapped.

Further details

Black Mirror. Image shows from L to R: Jane Callow (Anna Wilson Jones), Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear). Copyright: Zeppotron

The National Anthem, is a blackly comic drama written by Charlie Brooker.

A twisted parable for the Twitter age, The National Anthem looks at how information is now disseminated so quickly and public opinion now so loud, powerful and quick to change, that life is very much harder for the rich and supposedly powerful.

It's a political thriller in which the Prime Minister faces a huge and shocking dilemma when a much-loved member of the Royal Family is kidnapped.

Broadcast details

Date
Sunday 4th December 2011
Time
9pm
Channel
Channel 4
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Thursday 15th December 2011 11:10pm C4

Cast & crew

Guest cast
Rory Kinnear Michael Callow
Lydia Wilson Princess Susannah
Patrick Kennedy Section Chief Walker
Alastair Mackenzie Martin
Chetna Pandya Malaika
Alex Macqueen Special Agent Callett
Jay Simpson Rod Senseless
Helen Fospero Lucinda Towne
Sophie Kennedy Clark Lauren
Andrew Knott Brian
Allen Leech Pike
Johann Myers Noel
Sophie Wu Jamie
Rakie Ayola Shelly
Amit Shah Jack
Nick Hendrix Andrew
Justin Edwards Jon
Jeany Spark Camilla
Aymen Hamdouchi Kieran
Julian Rivett Damon Brown
Jonathan Forbes Browne
Madeleine Bowyer (as Madeliene Bowyer) Sonia
Jeffry Wickham Sir Harold Mount
Shazad Latif Mehdi Raboud
Eleanor Wyld Young Actress
Wolf Wasserman Spark
Mickell David Son
Dominic Le Molgnan Prince
Tom Goodman-Hill Tom Blice
Anna Wilson Jones Jane Callow
Lindsay Duncan Alex Cairns
Donald Sumpter Julian Hereford
Writing team
Charlie Brooker Writer
Production team
Otto Bathurst Director
Barney Reisz Producer
Charlie Brooker Executive Producer
Annabel Jones Executive Producer
Chris Barwell Editor
Joel Collins Production Designer
Martin Phipps Composer

Press

Hugh Grant almost played PM in The National Anthem

Hugh Grant, who played the Prime Minister in Love Actually, almost played Black Mirror's Prime Minister who has sex with a pig.

Laurence Mozafari, Digital Spy, 12th January 2021

Black Mirror's pig-gate PM still appears in easter eggs

Rory Kinnear's character from the first ever episode of Charlie Brooker's dystopian drama is still in Number 10 - despite being thrown out of a zoo.

Thomas Ling, Radio Times, 7th June 2019

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