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.
Streaming rank this week: 17
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 1 - The National Anthem
Further details
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
Cast & crew
| 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 |
| Charlie Brooker | Writer |
| 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 2021Black 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 2019Charlie Brooker's 'Black Mirror' preview
Overall The National Anthem kept us second-guessing, delivering several well thought out twists with some fantastic performances. However, we can't help but feel that the strength of the message would've been a lot more powerful had the threat been less comical, though that isn't really Brooker's style, and that's why we love him.
William John, Cult Box, 23rd November 2011