‘Black Mirror’s Creator Is Completely Changing Genres For His Next Show

Charlie Brooker has one of the most varied resumés in entertainment. He’s been a video game journalist, a cartoonist, a TV reviewer, a satirist, and a comedy writer, and all of those skills came in handy when he created Black Mirror, his hit dystopian sci-fi anthology series that dominates the Netflix charts whenever it releases new episodes. Now, Brooker is moving on to a new project, and it’s taking him in a fresh direction yet again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Charlie Brooker’s next series is an untitled four-part crime drama starring Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) and Lena Headey (Game of Thrones). But don’t expect it to contain Black Mirror’s sly wit; the series is described as “a profoundly serious, stunningly original crime thriller” following a detective from the northern city of Bleakford who goes to London to catch a ritualistic serial murderer.

Brooker has had his hand in many other Netflix projects — his second-most famous creation is Philomena Cunk, the mockumentary host known for asking real-life experts bizarre questions. But his only dramatic experience came from a 2008 series that followed reality show contestants as the zombie apocalypse unfolded outside their Big Brother-esque house, and even that was as satirical as his future work. This new series, which he describes as containing “blood and frowning,” would be a significant departure.

This new project won’t interfere with the future of Black Mirror; the crime drama is already in production, while Netflix hasn’t even announced Black Mirror Season 8. Considering there was a two-year gap between Seasons 5 and 6, it’s likely Brooker’s got quite a bit of downtime to work on his side projects. So far, those have been goofy satire pieces, but maybe he can find the same success with a dramatic miniseries. After all, Black Mirror’s best trait is that it’s unsettling as it is funny.

Black Mirror is streaming on Netflix.