The joy of CeX: how to spend £10 in the secondhand gaming mega store
Entertainment (and thrill) seekers on a budget never know exactly what they’re going to find in the ubiquitous technology shop. Just don’t mistake it for a pawn shop
October 2023
Australian arts in focus
AI not ‘messy’ enough to replace creative people, Charlie Brooker says
Black Mirror creator tells SXSW Sydney event he asked ChatGPT for a story outline but it was boring and ‘so derivative’
July 2023
Joan Is Awful: Black Mirror episode is every striking actor’s worst nightmare
On my radar
On my radar: Charlie Brooker’s cultural highlights
June 2023
Robo dogs, lethal video games and VR time travel: can you tell real life from Black Mirror episodes?
Bite the hand that streams! Charlie Brooker is trolling Netflix – and it’s breathtaking
‘You’d need to talk to my therapist about that’: Aaron Paul on Black Mirror, AI and his love of dark roles
TV review
Black Mirror season six review – prepare to convulse in horror on the sofa
April 2023
Black Mirror: new trailer promises big stars and big shocks
The sixth season of the award-winning sci-fi thriller series is set to star Salma Hayek, Aaron Paul, Myha’la Herrold and Himesh Patel
March 2022
‘By 10, I knew all about the impact of a nuclear blast’: growing up in the shadow of the bomb
From CND marches, to books, films and music, fear of the bomb was everywhere in the 1980s. Now, for many, the war in Ukraine has brought back that sense of dread
February 2022
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Cat Burglar; Suspicion; The Fear Index; We Are Black and British
‘Really, actively, surprisingly brilliant’: the Top 5 interactive shows on Netflix
TV review
Cat Burglar review – Charlie Brooker’s note-perfect nostalgia trip for cartoon fetishists
Charlie Brooker: ‘Mr Dystopia? That makes me sound like a wrestler’
November 2021
As Black Mirror turns 10, just how well did it predict the future?
From chips – lots of chips – in our brains, to VR sex and Uber-style social media ratings, we rank every episode of the sci-fi series, from dystopian hogwash to shockingly prescient plots
September 2021
TV review
Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! review – Rob Lowe raises idiocy to a high art
Produced by Charlie Brooker, this jam-packed sendup of hackneyed film tropes – from The Baguette Rule to The Smurfette Principle – is a perfect hour of fluff and nonsense
The watcher
Attack of the Hollywood Cliches! Charlie Brooker and Rob Lowe churn out a shoddy tropefest
It’s got a fine lineup of film stars and critics, but this tedious tour of movie tricks feels like an opportunity missed. What were they all thinking?
Charlie Brooker: ‘Succession made me furious with envy’
The Black Mirror creator recalls his days as an acerbic TV critic, insulting rock royalty, and the shows that he is most jealous of in 2021
January 2021
The week in TV: The Serpent; Black Narcissus; Death to 2020; Doctor Who; Spiral
The story of the charming psychopath who murdered travellers on the 70s hippie trail is the first great drama of the year
December 2020
Charlie Brooker: ‘There’s a certain release in laughing into the abyss’
Black Mirror co-creators Brooker and Annabel Jones discuss new comedy special Death to 2020, and the importance of being silly in the face of disaster
