Charlie Brooker
Brooker in December 2017
Born	Charlton Brooker (1971-03-03)3 March 1971 (age 54) Reading, Berkshire, England
Occupations	Screenwriter producer presenter author cartoonist social critic
Years active	1987–present
Spouse	Konnie Huq ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	2

Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English screenwriter, producer, presenter, author, cartoonist, and social critic. He first became known for creating and presenting satirical television shows that featured biting criticism of modern society and the media, such asScreenwipe,Gameswipe,Newswipe, andWeekly Wipe.

Brooker came to wider prominence as the creator, writer, and executive producer of the dystopian seriesBlack Mirror. His other work includes writing for comedy series such asBrass Eye,Cunk on Earth,The 11 O'Clock Show, andNathan Barley, creating the horror drama seriesDead Set, writing social criticism pieces forThe Guardian, co-founding and designing the logo for second-hand retailerCeX, and serving as a creative director for the production company Zeppotron.

Charlton Brooker was born on 3 March 1971 inReading, Berkshire.^[1][2][3] He grew up in a "relaxed"Quaker household inBrightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire.^[4] His parents, who were fans of the sitcomBewitched, named him Charlton after a character featured in one episode and his sister Samantha after the show's main character.^[5] As a teenager, he first worked as a writer and cartoonist forOink!^[6]

After attendingWallingford School, Brooker attended theUniversity of Westminster (known as the Polytechnic of Central London until his final year there) to study for aBachelor of Arts in Media Studies; he later revealed that he did not graduate because he wrote his dissertation on video games, considered an unacceptable topic for a dissertation.^[6][7] He has listed his comedic influences asMonty Python,The Young Ones,Blackadder,Chris Morris, andVic Reeves.^[8]

Brooker did some early work as a cartoonist and worked in the video game department of Music and Video Exchange, a retailer inNotting Hill Gate. He and some other employees left to co-found the second-hand retailerCeX. Brooker worked in their first shop and produced cartoon advertisements,^[9] and designed their logo.^[10]

After some of Brooker's CeX cartoons were printed in the magazinePC Zone, he was invited to write for the magazine. His early reviews includedSystem Shock (1994)^[11] andFallout (1997).^[12] Brooker wrote for the magazine throughout the mid- to late-1990s.^[13] Aside from games reviews, his output included the comic strip "Cybertwats" and a column titled "Sick Notes", where Brooker would insult anyone who wrote in to the magazine – and offered a £50 prize to the best letter.

One of Brooker's one-shot cartoons caused the magazine to be pulled from the shelves of many British newsagents. The cartoon was titled "Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo" and professed to be an advert for a theme park created by aTeutonic psychologist for children to take out their violent impulses on animals rather than humans. It was accompanied byphotoshopped pictures of children smashing the skulls of monkeys with hammers, jumping on a badger with a pitchfork, and chainsawing anorang-utan, among other things.^[14] The original joke was supposed to be at the expense of theTomb Raider games, known at the time for the number of animals killed, but the original title, "Lara Croft's Cruelty Zoo", was changed for legal reasons. In October 2008, Brooker and several other ex-writers were invited back to review a game for the 200th issue. Brooker reviewedEuro Truck Simulator.

Brooker began writing a TV review column titled "Screen Burn" forThe Guardian newspaper's Saturday entertainment supplementThe Guide in 2000, a role he continued until October 2010.

From late 2005, he wrote a regular series of columns inThe Guardian supplement "G2" on Fridays called "Supposing", in which he free-associated on a set of vague what-if themes. From October 2006 this column was expanded into a full-page section on Mondays, including samples fromTVGoHome and Ignopedia, an occasional series of pseudo-articles on topics mostly suggested by readers. The key theme behind Ignopedia was that, whileWikipedia is written and edited by thousands of users, Ignopedia would be written by a single sub-par person with little or no awareness of the facts.^[15]

On 24 October 2004, he wrote a column onGeorge W. Bush and the forthcoming2004 US presidential election^[16] which concluded, "John Wilkes Booth,Lee Harvey Oswald,John Hinckley Jr. – where are you now that we need you?" that was criticised for Brooker's apparent encouragement of the assassination of the American president.The Guardian withdrew the article from its website and published and endorsed an apology by Brooker.^[17] He has since commented about the remark in the column stating:

I ended a Screen Burn column by recycling a very old tasteless joke (a variant of a graffiti I first saw during theThatcher years), and within minutes half the internet seemed convincedThe Guardian was officially calling for assassination. My inbox overflowed with blood-curdling death threats, and it was all very unfunny indeed – a bit like recounting a rude joke at a dinner party, only to be told you hadn't recounted a joke at all, but molested the host's children, and suddenly everyone was punching you and you weren't going to get any pudding. I've had better weekends.^[18]

Brooker left the "Screen Burn" column in 2010. In the final column,^[19] he noted how increasingly difficult he found it to reconcile his role in mainstream media and TV production with his writing as a scabrous critic or to objectively criticise those he increasingly worked and socialised with. Longtime covering contributorGrace Dent took over the column. He continued to contribute other articles toThe Guardian on a regular basis, his most recent comment column appearing in May 2015.

In 2012, he contributed to the bookBehind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who.^[20]

In 2014, an article he wrote forThe Guardian—"Too much talk for one planet: why I'm reducing my word emissions"—was published in theA-Level anthologyVoices in Speech and Writing: An Anthology.^[21]

From 1999 to 2003, Brooker wrote the satiricalTVGoHome website,^[22][23] a regular series of mock TV schedules published in a format similar to that of theRadio Times, consisting of a combination of savage satire andsurreal humour and featured in technology newsletterNeed To Know. A print adaptation of the site was published byFourth Estate in 2001. A TV sketch show based on the site was broadcast on UK digital stationE4 the same year.^[24]

In May 2012, Brooker was interviewed forRichard Herring'sLeicester Square Theatre Podcast series.^[25] In 2019, he made a second appearance on the podcast, which was released during March 2020.

Brooker's television presenting debut was withGia Milinovich onBBC Knowledge'sThe Kit (1999–2000), a programme that reviewed gadgets and technology.^[1] From 1999 to 2000, Brooker played the hooded expert 'the Pundit' in the short-lived showGames Republic, hosted byTrevor and Simon onBSkyB.

In 2000, Brooker was one of the writers of theChannel 4 showThe 11 O'Clock Show. In 2001, he was one of several writers on "Paedogeddon", Channel 4'sBrass Eye special on the subject ofpaedophilia. In 2003, Brooker wrote an episode entitled "How to Watch Television" for Channel 4'sThe Art Show.^[26] The episode was presented in the style of a public information film and was partly animated.

Together withBrass Eye'sChris Morris, Brooker co-wrote the sitcomNathan Barley, based on a character from one of TVGoHome's fictional programmes. The show was broadcast in 2005 and focused on the lives of a group of London media 'trendies'. The same year, he was also on the writing team of the Channel 4sketch showSpoons, produced by Zeppotron.

In 2006, Brooker began writing and presenting the television seriesCharlie Brooker's Screenwipe onBBC Four, a TV review programme in a similar style to hisScreen Burn columns inThe Guardian. After an initial pilot series of three editions in April, the programme returned later in the year for a second run of four episodes plus Christmas and Review of the Year specials in December 2006. A third series followed in February 2007 with a fourth broadcast in September 2007, followed by a Review of the Year in December 2007. The fifth series started in November 2008 and was followed by another Review of the Year special. This series was also the first to be given a primetime repeat on terrestrial television (BBC Two), in January 2009.

Screenwipe editions have had themes including American television, TV news, advertising and children's programmes. The last of these involved a segment where Brooker joined the cast ofToonattik for one week, playing the character of "Angry News Guy". An episode on scriptwriting saw several of British television's most prominent writers interviewed by Brooker.

Newswipe with Charlie Brooker, a similar show concerned with current affairs reporting by the international news media, began on BBC Four on 25 March 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010. He has also written and presented the one-off specialGameswipe on video games and aired on BBC Four on 29 September 2009.

Brooker's2010 Wipe, a review of 2010, was broadcast in December 2010. The end-of-yearWipe specials continued annually,^{[27][28][29][30][31]} the last one to date broadcast on 29 December 2016.^[32] Due to Brooker's commitments toBlack Mirror and other projects, the annual Wipe went on hiatus beginning in 2017.^[33]

Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe was first broadcast on BBC Two on 31 January 2013.^[34] It was an amalgam ofScreenwipe andNewswipe, with sections that dealt with recent news, television shows and films. Along with the regular cast, it also featured guests who discuss recent events.^[35] Two more series followed in 2014 and 2015.^{[36][37][38][39]} A 60-minute special,Election Wipe, aired on 6 May 2015, examined events running up to the2015 general election.^[40]

A 45-minute BBC Two special,Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe, aired on 14 May 2020. It concerned life during theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.^[41][42] It was produced during the UK lockdown, which had caused a series starringWipe characterPhilomena Cunk to be postponed. Most of the crew from the series transferred to work onAntiviral Wipe. Brooker initially turned down the offer to make the special but accepted when it was clear that production would be largely unchanged, as the format of the series required few characters to appear on screen together and made extensive use of archive footage. The editing process was the most affected aspect of production.^[43][44]

Brooker often signs off his programmes by saying "Thank you for watching. Now go away."^[45]

Brooker wroteDead Set, a five-part zombie horror thriller forE4 set in theBig Brother house.^[46] The show was broadcast in October 2008 to coincide with Halloween and was repeated on Channel 4 in January 2009 to coincide withCelebrity Big Brother, and again for Halloween later that year.^[47] It was produced by Zeppotron, which also producedScreenwipe.

Brooker told MediaGuardian.co.uk it comprised a "mixture of known and less well known faces" and "Dead Set is very different to anything I've done before, and I hope the end result will surprise, entertain and appall people in equal measure." He added that he has long been a fan of horror films and that his new series "could not be described as a comedy". "I couldn't really describe what it is but it will probably surprise people," Brooker said, adding that he plans to "continue as normal" with his print journalism.

Jaime Winstone starred as arunner on the TV programme, andBig Brother presenterDavina McCall guest starred as herself.^[48] Dead Set received aBAFTA nomination forBest Drama Serial.^[49]

In December 2011, three episodes of Brooker'sBlack Mirror, a science fiction anthology series, aired onChannel 4 to largely positive reviews.^[50][51][52] As well as creating the show, Brooker wrote the first episode and co-wrote the second with his wifeKonnie Huq. He also wrote all three episodes of series two. In September 2015, Netflix commissioned a third season of 12 episodes, withChannel 4 losing the rights to the programme.^[53][54] A trailer for the third season was released in October 2016.^[55] This was later split into two series of six episodes.^[56] The third season was released on Netflix worldwide on 21 October 2016.^[57] Brooker has solely written four of the episodes in series three, and has co-written the remaining two.

The fourth season was released in December 2017, followed by a full-length interactive filmBandersnatch in December 2018. The fifth season was released in June 2019.

The series is produced by Zeppotron forEndemol. Regarding the programme's content and structure, Brooker noted, "each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy."^[58]

An Endemol press release describes the series as "a hybrid ofThe Twilight Zone andTales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world", with the stories having a "techno-paranoia" feel.^[59]Channel 4 describes the first episode as "a twisted parable for the Twitter age".^[60]

Brooker explained the series' title toThe Guardian, noting: "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is whereBlack Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The 'black mirror' of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, asmartphone."^[58]

Several news reports, including one byChris Cillizza, political reporter forThe Washington Post, compared the2016 Donald Trump political campaign to "The Waldo Moment", a 2013 episode of theBlack Mirror TV series;^[61][62] later, in September 2016, Brooker also compared the Trump campaign to the episode and rightly predicted Trump would winthe 2016 election.^[63][64]

WithDaniel Maier, he co-wrote a spoof crime drama forSky1 calledA Touch of Cloth, which first broadcast on 26 August 2012 and starredJohn Hannah andSuranne Jones, both notable for having starred in genuine crime dramas.^[65] Two further series were broadcast in 2013 and 2014, with the latter starringKaren Gillan.

Brooker has appeared on three episodes and onewebisode of the popular BBC current affairs news quizHave I Got News for You. He appeared on an episode of the Channel 4 panel show8 Out of 10 Cats,The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009,Never Mind the Buzzcocks andWould I Lie To You?. In December 2006 he reviewed two games written by the presenters ofVideoGaiden, on their show. He also made a brief appearance in the third and final instalment of the documentary seriesGames Britannia, discussing the rise and popularity of computer games.

Brooker wrote for theBBC Three sketch showRush Hour.

In 2009, Brooker began hostingYou Have Been Watching, apanel comedy TV quiz on Channel 4 which discusses television. A second series was broadcast the following year.

On 6 May 2010, Brooker was a co-host of the Channel 4 alternative election night, along withDavid Mitchell,Jimmy Carr andLauren Laverne.^[66] The telethon was interspersed with contributions from Brooker, some live in the studio but mostly pre-recorded. Notably, these included an "Election Special" ofYou Have Been Watching and two smaller segments in an almost identical style toScreenwipe (the only noticeable difference being that Brooker was sitting in a different room). Brooker described the experience of live television as being so nerve-wracking he "did a piss" during the broadcast.^[67] A spin-off series,10 O'Clock Live, started in January 2011 with the same four hosts.^[68]

Brooker hostedHow TV Ruined Your Life, which aired on BBC Two between January and March 2011.

In November 2020,Hugh Grant reported that Brooker was producing amockumentary with Netflix "about 2020". Grant stated that he would star as "a historian who is being interviewed about the year."^[69] The mockumentary, titledDeath to 2020, was released onNetflix on 27 December 2020.^[70]

In 2022, the animated interactive fictionCat Burglar was released. Brooker was credited as creator.^[71][72]

From 2010 to 2012, Brooker presented aBBC Radio 4 series celebrating failure titledSo Wrong It's Right, in which guests compete to pitch the worst possible ideas for new franchises and give the "most wrong" answer to a question. It aired 17 episodes across three series.^[73] In common withScreenwipe's use of aGrandaddy track (A.M. 180) from the albumUnder the Western Freeway as its theme tune,So Wrong It's Right uses another track from the same album,Summer Here Kids.

In January 2018, he was the guest onBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs.^[8]

Brooker became engaged to television presenterKonnie Huq after dating for nine months, having met while filming an episode ofScreenwipe.^[74] They married on 26 July 2010 at theLittle White Wedding Chapel inLas Vegas.^[75] They have two sons.^[76][77][78] Huq's sister isLabour Party politicianRupa Huq.^[79]

Brooker is anatheist and contributed toThe Atheist's Guide to Christmas.^[80] Due to his family's background, he has also described himself as aQuaker.^[80][81]

For his work as creator and screenwriter ofBlack Mirror, Brooker won three consecutivePrimetime Emmy Awards forOutstanding Television Movie and two consecutive forOutstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

Brooker won the 2009Columnist of the Year award at theBritish Press Awards for hisGuardian column.^[82]Dead Set was nominated for the 2009 Best Drama SerialBAFTA. In 2010, he was given the Best Entertainment Programme Award forNewswipe from theRoyal Television Society. He has received threeBritish Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer in 2009, Best Comedy Entertainment Show Award forNewswipe in 2011 and Best Comedy Entertainment Personality in 2012. At the BAFTA TV Awards 2017, his showCharlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe won forBest Comedy and Comedy Entertainment Programme.^[83]

• TV Go Home, 2001 (rescanned reprint in 2010) (ISBN 1-84115-675-2)
• Unnovations, 2002 (rescanned reprint in 2011) (ISBN 1-84115-730-9)
• Screen Burn, 2004 (ISBN 0-571-22755-4)
• Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline, 2007 (ISBN 9780571238415)
• The Hell of it All, 2009 (ISBN 9780571229574)^[87]
• I Can Make You Hate, 2012 (ISBN 0-571-295-029)
• Article from the Guardian featuring in Voices in Speech and Writing: An Anthology, 2014 (ISBN 978-1-4479-8176-3)^[21]

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