TV review: Playtest (Black Mirror)

Episode 2. Here be spoilers. I will start by saying that I was genuinely frightened by this episode; watching with the curtains closed. “Nothing can physically harm you”, intones character Katie to our protagonist Cooper, an American man travelling the world to escape problems at home. But she can’t know that, not for certain. Accidents happen. The simple power of being alone in the dark working against every rational instinct you have that everything’s fine really is deployed here superbly. Skipping over the finer plot details, when the plot twist is revealed, it’s good. But there’s more; this is no Bobby Ewing in the shower moment. Reality falls away as we realise we’ve been duped more than once along the way here. I foresee irritation on the part of some viewers, but with clarity perhaps a grudging admiration might develop. It’s where I am now.

TV review: Nosedive (Black Mirror)

So it’s here. Netflix gives us Charlie Brooker’s glimpses into the near future – one exception – in all-new BLACK MIRROR, the first episodes since the 2014 feature-length special.

NOSEDIVE
When Netflix announced it had commissioned twelve new episodes, the Twittersphere leapt in to action and groupthought the notion that the show, a gritty piece of navel-gazing exposé, would become “Americanised”, with all the Trump-electing horror that could bring. I report that this is not the case. The team of writer Charlie Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones, a longtime collaborator with fine results, endures with excellent results.
NOSEDIVE is, however, set in America. So far, it seems to me to be set the closest to the present day of all the previous episodes. There are electric cars but they’re not driverless. People still hold mobile phones; they aren’t embedded under our skin. People use video calling rather than teleportation or holograms. It’s very now.
The premise is simple. A world in which everyone’s social status is proclaimed to the world via an app. People rank each other after every social interaction with a Tinder-style one to five star rating system. So far, so recognisable.
I’m not one to proclaim the downfall of civilisation because people are rating one another’s’ attractiveness with apps. But the story takes this modern day scenario further. There are implications to having a low rating – protagonist Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard) can’t board an important flight or rent a classy apartment due to unfortunate circumstances lowering her ranking. It would be easy and perhaps even expected in other programmes for there to be a simple crash and burn end for Lacie, but in typical BLACK MIRROR style, there’s more. She meets a truck driver while hitchhiking who has an even lower rating than Lacie. She’s opted out of the system after realising it’s meaningless and that actual interaction is what counts, not swipes and likes. It’s the closest BLACK MIRROR has come to passing a moral judgement on our always-imminent high-tech future. Interestingly, it wasn’t actually written by Brooker. The teleplay comes from Mike Schur and Rashida Jones, based on an idea by Brooker.
Things come to a head when Lacie’s ranking reaches zero after she breaks down at her best friend’s wedding. Uninvited whilst hitchhiking en route, she tries to attack the groom after making a speech which the elite ranking guests don’t like. In prison, the Google Glass-style implanted device in her eyes which assists with the rating is removed, leaving her free to behave how she wishes without fear. She can’t go lower. Where next? A sequel, perhaps? Time will tell.

TV review: Peep Show 9×1

Although it’s been almost three years since the previous episode aired, in the show’s narrative just six months have passed since the flatmates’ visit to the Quantocks. We left the El Dude brothers rolling in a meadow fighting over the affections of Dobbie, and we return to them seemingly estranged but about to reunite for the stag do of newly re-nicknamed Sober Hans, the “crack-addled maniac” who has apparently completely detoxed for his upcoming nuptials. That isn’t the only surprise in tonight’s episode though. Jez has been swiftly replaced as roommate with Jerry, a bearded and even dryer version of recent bank employee Mark. Before we meet him though, there are several rounds of juice drinks to imbibe at the stag, Hans’s new passion, along with Pret and Zoella. The façade falls away after a pitcher of alcohol is brought to the table, with Hans loudly declaring his love of cocaine and Jeremy flirting with a barmaid using his life-coaching skills. He’s living in Hans’s bathroom, causing difficulties when Hans needs to go for a “longie”, during which Jez tries to apologise for the “Dobbie thing”.

Back at Apollo House, Jez is introduced to Jerry, aka Mark if he were played by Lee Mack. Clearly Jez hates him immediately, but Mark doesn’t seem too fond of his housemate either, as they drag the sorry out of Jez. Faced with eviction after taking a (non-wank-, this time) bullet for Hans taking coke, Jez takes out a loan from Mark’s bank, where his boss is none other than Alan Johnson, and his colleague is Jerry.

After noticing through Facebook updates that Mark is playing Candy Crush rather a lot, Jeremy heads to the flat. After debating the merits of Jerry, Jez apologises. In a bizarre poker faced sequence, a plan is enacted which includes a “normal” kidnapping by Hans, and he moves back in. Mark changes tack at remarkable speed, and it’s clear that he has indeed missed Jeremy in the flat, though he would never admit it.

It’s a decent first episode back, and I’ve a feeling we haven’t seen the last of the fallout from the Quantocks incident, not least because we haven’t seen the Dobster herself yet. This final series already has a few more loose ends to tie up by the end, so we’ll see what next week brings.

**** / *****

3D TV – must-have gadget or modern gimmick?

Article first published as 3D TV; Must-Have Gadget or Modern Gimmick? on Technorati.

3D TV is the latest idea to move out of the lab and in to the home. At the beginning of this month, Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV launched Europe’s first 3D television channel, showing 14 hours of content daily. So far this has been selected films and Premiership football matches, following on from trials of the service in pubs across Britain.

Just like when you see a 3D film at the cinema, you need to wear special glasses. But gone are the plastic blue and red specs you pay more for at the flicks. The new generation of 3D TV uses sleek, futuristic-looking glasses. They’re not cheap, at around £100 ($158) a pair, but are of course more sturdy and reliable. The old glasses will still let you see in three dimensions, just not as well.

However, the cinema is a place where, over the last few years, people have become accustomed to picking up a pair, sitting down to watch the film and looking a bit silly. The living room is a whole new arena – are people ready to adapt?

Where is the market for non-fictional 3D content on TV? I’ve seen one or two films marketed as “3D”. One was Coraline, Henry Selick’s computer-animated adaptation of the Neil Gaiman novel. I remember a few things seemingly coming out of the screen towards me, which I presume is scary for children. But is it entertaining? Does it add anything to the plot, or is it just a gimmick? I think the latter. Warner Brothers announced last week that the planned 3D release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One had been cancelled as the studio was unable to ready it in time for the November release. As such, the film will only be seen in cinemas in 2D. Part Two, to be released in July next year, will also be in 3D.

I cannot see 3D being employed as a serious tool by, for example, news broadcasters, talk shows, comedy programmes or any drama series. It would ruin the feel of the programme by figuratively and, literally via technology, breaking the fourth wall.

Then there is the actual capability to view the programmes. For this, a TV with the necessary hardware built-in is required. Many people have forked out for expensive high definition televisions, and these are just now becoming the new standard available in shops. Consumers set them up to find that the quality on a small selection of programmes is only marginally better. It will be some years before HD becomes standard on the majority of television output, and surely many more years later before 3D is so – if it ever takes off properly.

Also this month, the first hardware supporting Google’s upcoming TV offering will become available, with Logitech’s Revue set to ship on October 21st and offerings from Sony and other companies debuting later this year or in early 2010. Apple also started selling its relaunched Apple TV box, first shown in September.

It seems there is a future in television, despite what the online future media nay-sayers might claim. But the content and format is certain to be very different to that seen today.

Image by user pcs007 on Flickr, used under a CC-BY-SA license.