Black Mirror: top 5 episodes from series 1-5 ranked as Netflix renews dystopian drama for season 6

The sixth season of Charlie Brooker's sci-fi series Black Mirror, which is expected to be even darker than the first five, is due to arrive on Netflix this June. A trailer for the new season revealed a cast including Aaron Paul, Anjana Vasan, Josh Hartnett, Salma Hayek, and Zazie Beetz.

The dystopian anthology series began life on Channel 4 in 2011 before moving to Netflix in 2016 from season three. It's been almost four years since the latest season was released, and many fans were worried that that was it for the show.

Indeed, it looked as if the real world, with all its warfare, artificial intelligence, and clampdowns on human rights from Iran to the US, had become too dark for Black Mirror to pack a punch any longer. But in May last year a sixth season of the show was finally greenlit.

With a release date now confirmed for June, we take a look back at the top five episodes of Black Mirror so far as we look forward to season six.

5) Smithereens - Season 5, episode 2

This taught season five episode follows a taxi driver determined to get payback on a powerful tech company by kidnapping one of their employees - but as things spiral out of control, the driver becomes more unpredictable, and the fate of his fare hangs in the balance.

Featuring a typically great performance from Andrew Scott as the manic driver, and strong comic relief from Topher Grace as a tech guru on a wellness retreat, this episode is both darkly hilarious and edge of your seat tense. It is by far the highlight of an otherwise lacklustre season.

4) Metalhead - Season 4, episode 4

It may be one of the least popular episodes of the series with audiences, it is the joint second lowest rated episode on IMBD (alongside season 2’s The Waldo Moment, and head of season 5’s Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too) but Metalhead deserves a reappraisal.

In the post-apocalyptic landscape of the Scottish Moors, a desperate woman attempts to survive the land full of dog-like killer robots. We're given very little context for how this nightmarish world came to be, instead being dropped right in the middle of a chaotic fight of humanity versus technology. Shot in black and white, and with very little dialogue, the episode is a tribute to grim determination in the face of overwhelming odds. If you liked A Quiet Place, chances are you'll love Metalhead.

3) Shut Up and Dance - Season 3, episode 3

This is one of the few Black Mirror episodes not to feature any sci-fi elements. Shut Up and Dance is set in contemporary London, and sees a teenage boy, Kenny, blackmailed into carrying out a series of increasingly nasty acts by a hacker who has obtained a compromising video of him. Kenny eventually forms an uneasy alliance with a man who is also at the mercy of the hackers.

Shut Up and Dance is one of the most uncomfortable episodes to watch, largely because of the rug pull towards the end. It’s also because of this shock ending that the episode is the most controversial of Black Mirror so far. Speaking of this episode, Brooker called it a ‘grimy, contemporary nightmare’. It certainly is, and it forces the viewer to unpack their own beliefs about technology, vigilantism, and online privacy. 

2) Hang the DJ - Season 4, episode 5

This episode features the Hinge of the future - singles are paired up by a dating program that analyses each user's personality and puts an finite expiration date on each hookup it created. But when Frank and Amy fall hard for each other and continue to pine long after their relationship has expired, they must fight against the system in an ultimate test of their love.

Hang the DJ borrows some themes from sci-fi romance movies like Her, and is ultimately quite a soppy love story, something of a departure from Black Mirror. It's also one of the few episodes that doesn’t have a totally crushing ending, though it is still bittersweet.

1) White Christmas - Season 2, episode 1

By far the greatest episode of Black Mirror, White Christmas is also the perfect alternative to festive viewing. With a fantastic cast led by Jon Hamm, Rafe Spall, and Oona Chaplin, the episode sees two men who live in a remote cabin swap stories about how they got there.  

What follows is three tales of technology running out of control - it makes for an existential crisis about the power that future technologies could hold to ruin, control, and obliterate lives. White Christmas also features a brilliant final twist and ends unhappily for all concerned in perfect Black Mirror style.