Black Mirror's creator has made a grim British detective series with Paddy Considine. It is a comedy
‘Black Mirror’ creator Charlie Brooker is turning his pitch‑black humour on a gritty, ‘absurdist comedy’ detective series — and it sounds as twisted as you’d hope.
If you fancy your crime dramas with a hefty dose of pitch-black comedy, Netflix is gearing up something properly odd: Blackmere, the new series from Charlie Brooker — yes, the Black Mirror bloke. He’s clearly not content quietly plotting more digital nightmares, because now he’s turning his attention to the world of hard-bitten detectives, serial killers, and, inexplicably, used nappies.
Netflix has locked in an early 2027 release window for Blackmere.
From Bleak Streets to Bleaker Laughs
The show got its first proper reveal at a flashy Netflix UK event in London, and going by the first images, it’s not your standard moody cop fare. Apparently it's an "absurdist comedy disguised as an incredibly serious crime thriller," and if you're picturing something like The Gentlemen by way of Bodyguard but with its tongue jammed firmly in its cheek, you’re not far off. Blackmere is a four-parter, which means not a lot of meandering about — expect things to jump straight in and keep up the pace.
Front and centre is Paddy Considine (MobLand, Peaky Blinders), playing Det. John Blackmere — a man so tormented he might as well have it in his job description. He’s dragged from a miserable northern backwater called Bleakford (going subtle on the names, clearly) to London to hunt a ritualistic serial killer and get some revenge for his partner’s murder. Sounds bog-standard for these things, until you see the preview snap of Considine’s troubled detective strolling past a shop flogging dodgy groceries, second-hand vapes, and, yes, used nappies. So, definitely not a straight-faced genre entry then.
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Writers, Cast and Brooker’s Black Humour
Brooker’s roped in a motley crew of writers known for biting satire and the sort of weary, deadpan laughs that sting. There’s Jason Hazeley (Death to 2020), Joel Morris (Philomena Cunk), Daniel Maier (You Have Been Watching), and Ben Caudell (Cunk on Earth) providing the comic venom, while Emer Kenny (Karen Pirie) and Victoria Asare-Archer (who wrote on Netflix’s Harlan Coben adaptation Stay Close) handle the darker, more serious edge. If you're looking for a straight-up detective series you might genuinely want to watch something else, but if you like your crime fiction skewered and put through the wringer for laughs, this might be worth a look.
- Paddy Considine as John Blackmere
- Georgina Campbell (Barbarian)
- Lena Headey (Game of Thrones)
- Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat, previously appeared in a classic Black Mirror nightmare-fuel episode)
- Abbie Murphy (David Brent: Life on the Road)
- Maximilian Osinski (Ted Lasso)
- Nadia Albina (Doctor Who)
- Endy McKay (The A List)
- Charles Armstrong (The Crown)
- Brendan Patricks (Downton Abbey)
- Paul Ginns
- Brad Alexander
- Suzie Chard
If you’ve ever seen Brooker’s earlier series A Touch of Cloth, which took the mick out of those grim British police procedurals long before Netflix started getting nostalgic about rain-slicked streets, you’ll have a decent idea of the sort of meta, parody-laced approach Blackmere might take. Rather than brooding over dystopian tech for once, Brooker’s unleashing all his dark wit on British crime drama — so expect the genre hallmarks to get a proper working over, for better or worse.