Background:
Charlie (Charlton) Brooker was born on 3rd March 1971 is an English writer, television presenter and producer. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series Black Mirror, and has written for comedy series such as Brass Eye, The 11 O'Clock Show, and Nathan Barley. Brooker started his career as a cartoonist. He has produced adverts for the second-hand video game retailer CeX before becoming a journalist for PC Zone. He has presented a number of television shows, mostly consisting of satirical and biting criticism of modern society and the media, such as Screenwipe, Gameswipe, Newswipe, Weekly Wipe, and 10 O'Clock Live. He also wrote the 2008 horror drama series Dead Set. He has written social criticism pieces for The Guardian and is one of four creative directors of the production company Zeppotron.
Other Shows made:
Brooker's television presenting debut was BBC Knowledge's The Kit, a programme that reviewed gadgets and technology. Brooker wrote Dead Set, a five-part zombie horror thriller for E4 set in the Big Brother house. The show was broadcast in October 2008 to coincide with Halloween and was repeated on Channel 4 in January 2009 to coincide with Celebrity Big Brother, and again for Halloween later that year. It was produced by Zeppotron, Brooker told Media-Guardian it comprised a "mixture of known and less well known faces."
Format of Shows:
Brooker has been interested in interactivity for ages (if there’s a message to the viewer in Cat Burglar, he says, it’s: “You do your bit, mate. Don’t just sit there”). His first foray was Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, in 2018, also for Netflix. This was where he discovered that he could work with the platform, without it sticking its oar in. Brooker also tends to end his shows with "Thanks for watching, now go away".
Topic and Ideas:
Brooker always has topics to do with a biting criticism of modern society and the media. In an article by Sky News, Brooker was asked if U.K. politicians were doing enough about AI. In response, Brooker joked: “If Rishi Sunak had been replaced by AI, I probably wouldn't have noticed.
Black Mirror in particular has links to real issues yet many differences.
Cunk on Earth
The character of Cunk was forged in Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe/Newswipe, where she popped up for short skits as a kind of rent-an-idiot interviewer. There was always going to be a question over whether it would work to give her a half-hour episode, or even a full series.
As parodies go, Cunk on Earth is decidedly mild, and the mockery never gets out of hand or comes across as disrespectful. Some of the probing is surprisingly insightful in spite of the silliness, and you can visibly see professors trying to give the question its due merit despite knowing that it is complete horsesh*t.
Dead Set:
Dead Set is directed by Yann Demange. Dead Set is a production of Zeppotron, part of the Endemol group of production and distribution companies that produces the actual Big Brother. The series first aired on E4 starting on 27 October 2008, just six weeks after the end of Big Brother 2008 on the same channel.
Charlie Brooker said that the basic idea for the series came about in 2004, as he watched the American series 24. He commented: "I'm enjoying this, but these terrorists are just ridiculous. They're like waves of Space Invaders. They might as well be zombies." Following this, he imagined an apocalypse occurring during the filming of Big Brother. He cited the Big Brother House as an excellent place to hide during a zombie apocalypse.
“Dead Set” shows that there might be a stronger theme running through this and the rest of Brooker’s work. In both series, when faced with the possibility (and inevitability, really) of catastrophe, all of his central characters face the consequences of split decisions.
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