Jaw-dropping twists and mind-altering technology aim to delight and make you think in Season 7 of Black Mirror, now streaming on Netflix.
The new season includes more Easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans to decipher. There’s also a follow-up to Season 4 opener “USS Callister,” about a video game programmer who creates a sinister simulated reality in which he’s the captain of a spacecraft and his co-workers make up his crew.
Plus, the Black Mirror universe welcomes a bevy of newcomers this season, including Issa Rae, Peter Capaldi, Paul Giamatti, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Awkwafina. Meanwhile, familiar faces such as Cristin Milioti, Will Poulter, Asim Chaudhry, and Jimmi Simpson return to the mix.
“We’ve got an embarrassingly stacked cast,” series creator, showrunner, and executive producer Charlie Brooker tells Tudum.
“It’s a thrill working with great actors. It makes everything better. They tease out aspects of the character that I hadn’t considered,” he said. “We traditionally have a mix of well-known faces and up-and-comers, and I think that’s true in this season.”
Who makes up Season 7’s all-star ensemble? Keep reading for key intel on which new and returning characters appear in the latest Black Mirror episodes.
About the Character
At the start of “Hotel Reverie,” Kimmy persuades a cash-strapped studio owner to use her company’s Redream software, which has the ability to insert a modern-day Hollywood star into a classic film, for a highly interactive remake that aims to revitalize the studio.
Previously In
Quiz Lady, Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, Crazy Rich Asians
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Milanka Brooks
as Elena Tulaska
About the Character
Elena, whom we first met in “USS Callister,” is back for the sequel episode “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” which finds the titular crew facing a new threat: death.
Previously In
The Windsors, Four Weddings and a Funeral
Peter Capaldi
as Older Cameron Walker
About the Character
“Plaything” follows Cameron, a computer enthusiast whose love for tech leads him astray. Capaldi portrays an older version of the character, who is arrested for stealing a bottle of whiskey.
“As I am interrogated, I begin to reveal that I’ve spent my life building a game which I’ve been playing, and I want to keep on playing,” Capaldi noted.
Previously In
Criminal Record, Doctor Who, Paddington, Torchwood
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Emma Corrin
as Dorothy Chambers
About the Character
In “Hotel Reverie,” Dorothy Chambers is a long-dead starlet whose AI rendering is used for a living, breathing remake of a classic Hollywood film.
“That’s the crux of the episode, figuring out who she is,” Corrin said. “Because she doesn’t even know who she is.”
Previously In
Nosferatu, Deadpool & Wolverine, A Murder at the End of the World
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About the Character
In “Eulogy,” a man receives a mysterious package containing technology that allows the user to step into the past via recreations of photographs and other memorabilia.
Ferran portrays the Guide, who is there to “help whoever has received this package, to guide them through the photo and see if that can jog any memories.”
Previously In
Mickey 17, Miss Austen, Jamestown, Black Narcissus
About the Character
When we meet Phillip in “Eulogy,” he’s living a quiet life far removed from his earlier days as an aspiring musician.
“Everything’s been a little bit of a disappointment for him, but not catastrophically. He has settled into a kind of middle-aged contentment,” Giamatti said.
Previously In
Billions, Sideways, Cinderella Man
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Lewis Gribben
as Younger Cameron Walker
About the Character
“Plaything” finds young Cameron, an introverted journalist, meeting with Tuckersoft game developer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter) to discuss the latter’s new project. But the project is more than just a game.
“It is artificial life that [Colin] has created,” Gribben said. “Cameron essentially becomes attached to this artificial life, and he wants to protect it.”
Previously In
Generation Z, Masters of the Air, Deadwater Fell, T2 Trainspotting
About the Character
Introduced as an intern long overdue for a promotion in “USS Callister,” Nate is among several familiar faces returning to the Black Mirror universe for the Season 7 follow-up episode, “USS Callister: Into Infinity.”
Previously In
All American, Citadel, Misfits
About the Character
In “Common People,” Amanda is a schoolteacher and wife who experiences a terrible medical emergency. When she and her husband, Mike (Chris O’Dowd), turn to new technology that aims to keep Amanda alive, they quickly realize that this life-saving software comes with a major downside.
Jones, who co-wrote the Season 3 episode “Nosedive,” jumped at the chance to reteam with creator and executive producer Charlie Brooker.
“I essentially hunted Charlie down and insisted that he be friends with me,” Jones said. “I’d seen the first series of Black Mirror, and I just completely fell in love with it. The universe that exists in Charlie’s brain is rich and so prescient and funny and weird.”
Previously In
Parks and Recreation, The Social Network, Angie Tribeca, The Office
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About the Character
Things are going well for Maria, a food researcher for an international snack company, in the episode “Bête Noire.” But when her old high school classmate Verity (Rosy McEwen) shows up, Maria’s “sense of reality starts falling apart at the seams,” Kelly teased.
Previously In
Domino Day: Lone Witch, Temple
About the Character
First appearing in the 2017 episode “USS Callister,” Karl returns for “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” which finds the crew of the titular spaceship dealing with an entirely new — and dire — set of circumstances.
Previously In
The Franchise, Made for Love, Ingrid Goes West
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About the Character
Verity, an old schoolmate of Maria’s (Siena Kelly) in “Bête Noire,” may not be who she seems.
After landing a job at the same company, Verity quickly becomes a source of frustration for Maria. “We don’t know if it’s Verity’s entrance, or if it’s something else,” McEwen teased.
Previously In
Apartment 7A, The Alienist
Cristin Milioti
as Nanette Cole
About the Character
Following the events of “USS Callister,” in which the spaceship escapes to an alternate universe, “USS Callister: Into Infinity” finds Nanette navigating a new reality where her crew can actually die.
“It’s really harrowing and she’s not doing a great job as captain, and that’s really eating at her,” Milioti said. “She feels responsible because she’s the one who got them to this place, so [the episode] deals with them trying to survive and escape again.”
Previously In
The Penguin, Made for Love, Palm Springs, How I Met Your Mother
About the Character
In “Common People,” O’Dowd plays Mike, a regular guy dealing with his wife’s life-threatening medical emergency.
“It’s a happy life that he’s built for himself,” O’Dowd said. “But when her health is at risk, he puts everything else on hold.”
The couple turns to a new implant available through a subscription service to keep Amanda alive, “and it all goes wrong from there.”
Previously In
The Big Door Prize, Girls, The IT Crowd
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About the Character
In “Hotel Reverie,” Rae is Brandy Friday, a famous actress who is jaded about the state of her personal and professional life. She jumps at the opportunity to star in a state-of-the-art remake of one of her favorite classic films, but the experience is not what she expects.
Previously In
Barbie, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Insecure
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Paul G. Raymond
as Kabir Dudani
About the Character
The skilled programmer from “USS Callister” is back for another dark sci-fi adventure in the sequel episode “USS Callister: Into Infinity.”
Kabir and the rest of the titular crew are “fighting for their lives inside of a video game where people are trying to kill them every two seconds,” said Cristin Milioti, who reprises her role as Nanette.
Previously In
Deadpool & Wolverine, Wonka, Avenue 5, Starstruck
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Tracee Ellis Ross
as Gaynor
About the Character
When Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones) of “Common People” face a life-threatening emergency, Gaynor introduces the couple to subscription-based tech that promises to keep Amanda alive.
The medical tech company representative gains their trust because she speaks from experience, having gone through the same procedure.
“She is selling to these people from very personal experience,” Ross said. “The interesting thing about this story is you ask yourself, ‘Which path would have been better?’ ”
Previously In
American Fiction, Black-ish, Girlfriends
About the Character
We last saw Walton’s digital copy sacrificing himself at the end of “USS Callister” to ensure that his crewmates make it to an alternate universe. In “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” the real Walton, CEO of the gaming company Callister Inc., is dealing with complaints that bandits are disrupting the game.
“If ‘USS Callister’ was a four-course meal, then this episode is like an additional seven courses, but somehow the courses are interspersed between the first four,” Simpson said. “You’re experiencing it all again in a fuller experience. It’s not a sequel, it’s an expansion of an idea and a story.”
Previously In
Pachinko, Westworld, Psych
Harriet Walter
as Judith Keyworth
About the Character
In “Hotel Reverie,” Judith Keyworth is the head of Keyworth Pictures, which produced classic black-and-white films. Though disdainful of modern marketing, she takes up the chance for her studio to be revived by artificial intelligence.
“She gets extremely excited by it all,” Walter explained. “She doesn’t understand the technology but loves what it can do. She starts off grumpy and snooty and then becomes emotionally involved.”
Previously In
Silo, Succession, Law & Order: UK, Sense and Sensibility
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