In December 2017, Netflix decided to ring in the new year by making us fear for the future with a fresh batch of Black Mirror episodes. It seems the streaming service isn’t done serving up some existential dread during the festive season, either, as it’s been reported that season 5 of showrunner Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series is coming back this December.
While plot details are currently under wraps, we do know of the high concept that’ll feature in one particular episode. Bloomberg has revealed that one installment will take the form of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style interactive experience, in which the viewer will be able to have a say in how the episode develops and how it ends.
Black Mirror has always been fascinated by how technology is changing in terms of how we consume media and entertainment – and the effects it has on society – so it makes sense that the show should be one of the first try out what Netflix hopes will be the next big thing.
Bloomberg reports that the company’s working on a bevy of other interactive TV series, too. They’ve already closed the deal on one live-action show using the gimmick, with negotiations currently underway on for two more. These are expected to be adaptations of pre-existing video games, but the upcoming animated series based on Minecraft likely isn’t one of them.
“Choose Your Own Adventure” books often give you the opportunity to lead towards a happy ending or a bad one, but knowing Black Mirror, we suspect the interactive episode will let you pick between a bad ending and an even worse one. If done right, though, it could be a groundbreaking piece of television, and probably a good piece of awards-bait, too.