Black Mirror anyone?

[Flossie69]

This is good, in a surreal kind of way....

[limitedperiodonly]

She passed out on the wobbly bridge from strong sedatives. She'd been released unharmed 30 minutes before the pig-love deadline but everyone was too busy watching the telly to notice and call it off.

She then went on to get pregnant by her handsome husband and live happily ever after.

[limitedperiodonly]

Actually BoF Eric Pickles would make an excellent stand-in for the pig in a porno Nativity scene.

[Snorbs]

As well as the viagra they had what was presumably porn running in his line-of-sight. The hard-as-nails political advisor (or whatever her actual job was) explained that to the PM as they were walking towards the studio.

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

Now you are going too far, limitedperiodonly. Just too far.

[redlac]

Limitedperiodonly I feckin love Brookmyre - I cried when I watched Quite Ugly One Morning cos they totally murdered a wonderful book!

Yes there was two televisions playing porn in the pig shagging room.

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

Yes, I am a massive Brookmyre fan too. I never remember which story is which though, because of the odd titles.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Eric Pickles

[Moln]

was there porn for the pifg too? Bit one sided if there wasn't

iwas disappointed that in the sum up bit at

the end (that's the technical name for it btw) that it wasn't mentioned if he has a fondness for pork sauagaes and rashers.

Also isn't too belivible that someone who spent their life depicated to art would be able to hoodwink those who dedicated their live to intelligence (that sounds wierd, but i know what i mean)

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

Apparently, Brooker is saying he came up with the idea years ago, so didn't lift it from Brookmyre.

[ElderberrySyrup]

so according to that link, it was originally going to be Terry Wogan, not the PM!
That makes sense and explains the slightly implausible ending where his career was not damaged but if anything, improved.
I think if Wogan shagged a pig on tv he would get away with it.

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

Oh yes. I think he'd smile and wink at the camera too.

[limitedperiodonly]

A likely tale and I see I'm not the only person asking about it.

I enjoyed Brooker in the TV Go Home days and also in earlier G2. But he steals, he goes for soft targets and no one holds him to account.

[redlac]

The Ben Elton book that it is similar to is Dead Famous and was published in 2001. It's a bit spooky though in that link from 2002 he mentions Roy Kinnear and it was Rory Kinnear, his son, who payed the PM

[TwoIfBySea]

At the end - no way he could have remained as PM as the act would have lost him all credibility with other governments & you know what would be running through your mind every time you saw him on tv. It wouldn't be his policies.

It also humiliated & destroyed his wife.

I imagine a forced act regardless of the sex (or species) of the person is still a form of rape/sexual assault? And it going on for "nearly an hour"? What did it say about the people still watching it?

I honestly did think there would be a last minute reprieve. Now feel a bit grubby and manipulated into watching something no doubt touted as being 'clever'. Ironic the artist was a Turner Prize winner. Lack of substance in both.

(Sorry likely this will post twice as using phone thanks to internet being down - again!)

[AitchTwoOHoHoHo]

you know it's a story, don't you? it doesn't have to be exactly credible.

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

Aitch, have a look here- it seems distastefully relevant, somehow.

[AitchTwoOHoHoHo]

aye, i did see that earlier in active convos... so interesting about twitter, i think. and, well... grim. but also understandable. it speaks badly of human nature, probably. [human]

[TwoIfBySea]

Yes but a story is only successful for the length of time you are carried along with it. I just thought the ending was fudged.

[TwoIfBySea]

Yes but a story is only successful for the length of time you are carried along with it. I just thought the ending was fudged.

[LEttletownofBOFlehem]

I liked the ending. It was an artist who felt disillusioned with the vacuity of our age, and ended it all while making a protest. Part of the role of art is to hold up a (black?) mirror to ourselves.

[AitchTwoOHoHoHo]

i think the ending was rushed, certainly, and you could make a case for leaving off the denouement, but i don't think that saying that it's not politically credible that other govts would deal with the continuing PM is that relevant a criticism.

[ThatVikRinA22]

it was the kind of plot line i could imagine charlie brooker shouting at the telly during an episode of Screen Wipe....

i bet thats where he got the idea.

i found it interesting, and a commentary on the way we live our life through the internet these days.

they are meant to be like tales of the unexpected for the twitter generation arent they?
in that i think it was a success.

the concept was horrible. but interesting.

[upahill]

Well whether you loved it or hated it one thing is for sure it's got people talking and divided!!!

We watched it last night.
I didn't know anything about it or read anything but DS1 called us in from the middle room to see if we wanted to watch.

I must admit with not knowing the premise of the story I felt uncomfortable with both DS's in the room however once it finished it got us all talking about how youtube, fb twitter and other social networking sites are used to get messages across eg how facebook was used in the riots, how extremist parade their captors in front of a camera and so on.

We talked about how people seem to like watching other people being humiliated or doing extreme things (nast comments on x factor for the sake of entertainment, people being put on stage when others know they are going to be torn to pieces, I'm a celebrity etc etc) We also talked about how people in the public eye put on a front for the media and nothing is ever how it seems (the public face of the pm and his wife being happy while the cameres were rolling but it was all a sham behing closed doors.


We all talked how we thought it would end. I guessed the artist was involved early on but didn't know how. I thought the Princess was going to be in on it and it was a hoax - I guessed - obviously wrongly- because they made a reference to her being an eco type, that she was trying to make a point somewhere.

Interesting piece of drama. Not enjoyable as such but interesting.

[samstown]

Agree that these ideas are not exactly new. Along with Dead Famous and Snowball in Hell, in 2002 Jim Brown wrote a really good book called 24/7. It was a Big Brother type gameshow set on a desert island were people can watch 24/7 (hence the name!). However someone hijacks the programme and infects all the contestants with a deadly ebola type virus that will kill them within 24 hours. Every 24 hours the contestants receive a vaccine containing an antidote to stop the virus apart from the contestant that the public have voted to 'evict' who dies a horrible death live on telly!

God that sounds so crap when written down but it was a really good book!

[scatterthenuns]

Oh no.