It’s a matter of constant existential terror that Black Mirror keeps on getting more relevant and lifelike with each passing year, but although it often feels like we are living inside the reality of the smash-hit Netflix series, rest assured that the world of Black Mirror is actually set in its own alternate timeline that is similar but distinct from our own. Although the dark dystopian anthology initially appeared to be standalone, viewers quickly spotted Easter eggs hidden in the episodes that confirmed it all took place in the same universe.
That said, as the series grows ever more complex and ambitious with each new season, it’s becoming harder and harder to piece the entire Black Mirror timeline together. Creator Charlie Brooker has never gone ahead and released any kind of official chronology, so it’s left up to the rest of us to work it out for ourselves. Analyzing all the clues to determine which installment goes where is a tough job, but Black Mirror fans are nothing if not dedicated and they’ve managed to figure it out.
Explaining the Black Mirror universe
While season 1 didn’t really lean into the idea of tying the different episodes together too heavily, the interconnectivity which came to be such an important aspect of the show began in season 2, and once the series switched to Netflix with season 3 and its popularity soured, the shared universe aspect was ramped up. Season 4’s “Black Museum” well and truly confirmed the concept, thanks to the callback-filled museum of the title.
By taking on board the references to other episodes (e.g. Prime Minister Callow being namechecked on TV must mean an episode is set close to “The National Anthem”) as well as examining the similarity between the different pieces of tech, and also just the mirroring of societal themes present in the stories, it’s possible to establish a workable Black Mirror chronology, thereby providing an interesting alternative viewing order.
Every Black Mirror episode in chronological order
The following is a well-considered ranking of all 28 episodes in the series to date — from the chronological earliest to the latest — that was shared by Redditor FlimsyTemperature on the Black Mirror subreddit, refined based on suggestions from other users, and finally tweaked and updated by yours truly. So if you’re looking to watch the series in a unique way, here’s how to approach that:
- “Beyond the Sea”
- “Demon 79”
- Bandersnatch
- “Mazey Day”
- “The National Anthem”
- “Shut Up and Dance”
- “Smithereens”
- “The Waldo Moment” [Bulk]
- “Loch Henry”
- “Hated in the Nation”
- “Joan is Awful”
- “Be Right Back”
- “Playtest”
- “Striking Vipers”
- “Arkangel”
- “Crocodile”
- “An Entire History of You”
- “White Bear”
- “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too”
- “USS Callister”
- “White Christmas”
- “San Junipero”
- “Black Museum”
- “Hang the DJ”
- “Nosedive”
- “Men Against Fire”
- “The Waldo Moment” [Epilogue]
- “Fifteen Million Merits”
- “Metalhead”
To make the timeline more digestible, I’ve gone ahead and split this list into five distinct subdivisions, so keep reading if you want to find out more on why this is the correct Black Mirror timeline.
Alternate Histories
Black Mirror season 6 definitely broke the show’s established rules by both diving back into decades past and expanding into a whole new genre. As such, it’s difficult to match up three out of the season’s five episodes with the wider established timeline of the series. “Beyond the Sea” is explicitly set in an alternate 1969 in which technology is far advanced on both the real world and the regular Black Mirror universe. Meanwhile, “Demon 79” is a 1970s apocalyptic horror story set in its own insular universe. “Mazey Day,” taking place in 2006, is likewise supernatural so must, again, occur in a separate timeline.
- “Beyond the Sea”
- “Demon 79”
- “Mazey Day
A Dystopia Begins
This first band of episodes from the main Black Mirror timeline have been grouped together because they are all set in a world extremely similar to our own, however they all predict a dark path for society due to our reliance on technology, mob mentality, the corruption of leadership and other factors. Bandersnatch is obviously the earliest chronological episode — excluding those mentioned above — because it takes place in the 1980s while ‘Hated in the Nation’ has to be last due to its advanced bee drone tech.
- Bandersnatch
- “The National Anthem”
- “Shut Up and Dance”
- “Smithereens”
- “The Waldo Moment” [Bulk]
- “Loch Henry”
- “Hated in the Nation”
Technology Advances
This next subdivision of episodes are tied together because they feature significant technological advances that put them a bit farther away from our own time. Artificial intelligence is making huge strides in “Be Right Back”, for example, while tech embedded in the body is very much becoming the norm by the point of “Crocodile.” Season 6’s “Joan is Awful” is difficult to place, due Streamberry’s extremely advanced AI engine, but as the world at large is unaware that such tech exists it must be relatively early in the timeline.
- “Joan is Awful”
- “Be Right Back”
- “Playtest”
- “Striking Vipers”
- “Arkangel”
- “Crocodile”
A Society Changed
This fourth chunk of episodes, meanwhile, portrays a world that’s being totally transformed by the leaps forward in tech. This is the largest of the four subsections as many episodes share similar devices — with copies of consciousnesses apparently becoming a domestic norm — so are clearly roughly set around the same period. Note: the original Reddit post listed “San Junipero” after “Black Museum,” but I’ve elected to switch their positions due to the latter episode referencing “old people being uploaded to the cloud.”
- “An Entire History of You”
- “White Bear”
- “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too”
- “USS Callister”
- “White Christmas”
- “San Junipero”
- “Black Museum”
- “Hang the DJ”
The End is Nigh
In many of the episodes from the previous subsection, society’s moral and ethical standpoints were clearly degrading. Well, in this final group of episodes, the world has well and truly morphed into a dystopia and hardly resembles the one we live in anymore. While the majority of “The Waldo Moment” is close to our own reality, the ending skips ahead to a point when the rebellious bear has been co-opted as the mascot of a totalitarian regime. Elsewhere, “Metalhead” must be the last episode on the Black Mirror timeline as it portrays a desolate, post-apocalyptic world.
- “Nosedive”
- “Men Against Fire”
- “The Waldo Moment” [Epilogue]
- “Fifteen Million Merits”
- “Metalhead”
All six seasons of Black Mirror are available to stream on Netflix.
