HowBlack Mirrormade its most hopeful story.
Adapted fromInside Black Mirrorby Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones and Jason Arnopp.
Copyright 2018 by House of Tomorrow Limited.
Published by Crown Archetype, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
In 1987, self-conscious Yorkie meets flamboyant Kelly in a beach resort bar.
As the time nears for Kelly to leave town, she faces a huge decision.
Charlie Brooker (writer,Black Mirrorcreator):Id been obsessed with doing a story about the afterlife.
I wanted to do a sort of supernatural story, and was thinking of spooky, creepy story ideas.
So, weirdly, San Junipero had started in a sort of horror-movie world.
There was so much untapped potential.
Charlie Brooker:Something else that wed discussed was a way of expanding the world of Be Right Back.
All your dead relatives and friends would be there, and youd pay to go and visit them.
So that thought stayed around for a while this notion of Heaven that you go to as a holiday.
Sometimes its useful to start by thinking about what genres we havent done yet.
Partly because we were doing six films now, we wondered about a retro episode.
How could we do one set in the past?
And then Id remembered seeing this BBC documentary calledThe Young Ones no relation to the sitcom back in 2010.
So it’s possible for you to see how all these ideas lined up.
At some point, they were all up on a whiteboard somewhere.
The conversation became quite free-flowing as we bounced from one idea to another.
And then it happened really quickly: I was talking to Annabel, going, Ooh!
And then this would happen and that would happen!
And she almost burst into tears.
Annabel Jones:Because it was so sad.
Such an emotional story.
Charlie Brooker:Back then, our characters were a man and a woman.
The big twist was one of them was in a coma or dying.
That was where it ended.
Charlie Brooker:At some point, the thought arrived of making this a same-sex couple.
Rather than that feeling like a gimmick, it became both relevant and irrelevant to the story.
It informed a whole other layer because these people couldnt have got married as two women in 1987.
And you forget that theyre old.
Its a cliche, but when youre old youre still mentally and emotionally alive to all experiences.
Its just your body thats letting you down.
But you dont think ofvirtual reality as empowering the old.
So it was just such a great fusion of ideas, all coming together in an emotionally satisfying way.
San Junipero saw director Owen Harris return to theBlack Mirrorfold, having handled season twos Be Right Back.
We looked at things likePretty in PinkandFerris Buellers Day Off.
The key choice was the casting of Gugu and Mackenzie.
This would have been a far trickier piece to pull off without their thoughtful and confident approach.
As soon as we attached them, I really felt we had the chance to make something special.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw (actor):Black Mirrorhas always been such a dark, interesting and cool show.
I loved Be Right Back.
It reminded me of [the Roald Dahl 80s anthology TV show]Tales of the Unexpected.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw:I first read San Junipero on my iPhone an act which felt veryBlack Mirroresque in itself.
It was so original, it blew me away.
Something about it was very inspiring and unusual.
Mackenzie Davis:Charlie wrote Yorkie as an exquisitely brave character in such a quiet and unusual way.
We had a chat, then did the table read.
It was a real whirlwind, so I didnt have much time with Mackenzie beforehand.
Thankfully, the characters were so well-written and Mackenzies a brilliant actress.
Mackenzie Davis:Gugu and I first met in the hotel elevator.
A dodgy club in North London.
Naked butts, nipple tassels, and pierced bits everywhere.
We knew how to spend those Netflix dollars.
Joel Collins:Before we built Tuckers Bar for real, we built it in 3-D.
In the industry that process is just beginning, so we marched ahead a bit.
We wereBlack Mirror, after all.
Can we make the balcony a bit wider?
Kellys flamboyant appearance was a collaboration between costume and makeup.
Her bold lipstick choice showed her confidence and ease with herself.
In contrast, the pared-back look of Yorkie hinted at her innocence and social unease.
We worked out that we needed to razz it up with studs and fringe to make it more Kelly.
Quietly, its the most unique, least derivative of all the looks she tried on.
Annabel Jones:The concept allowed us to doBlack Mirrors version of time travel.
Charlie is incredibly specific, right down to the video games and arcade machines for every year.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw:We worked with a dance choreographer and played around with some very specific styles.
We looked at the music videos of Janet Jackson.
Whereas with Fake, they were in an artificial world, so it had this additional layer.
And luckily the song had exactly the same tempo, so their dance moves would still match.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw:We had so much fun!
Kellys shoulder pads, and that rhythmic shoulder thing, were totally stolen from Janet.
In terms of style, I definitely took inspiration from other artists like Prince and Whitney Houston.
For me, it was a great chance to be goofy and expressive.
The dancing was a big part of that: It was all about expressing and celebrating Kellys life.
Brooker worked hard to ensure the films secrets gradually unveiled themselves.
So instead of wondering what to do next, you have a constant little problem to solve.
Did it nod too much to the fact that these are 70-year-old women?
And at the same time, youre trying to intrigue by adding little clues.
Charlie Brooker:I thought we gave some huge clues, but people generally didnt pick up on them!
She has this horrible visceral reaction because it reminds her of the car crash that paralyzed her.
Once you know whats going on, it makes perfect sense.
But no one ever picks up on it, until maybe a third viewing.
The other big clue was playing the Smiths Girlfriend in a Coma over a shot of Yorkie.
You see, I seem to think that viewers are writing all these small details down!
People only notice when a plot doesnt make sense.
In 1996, Yorkie is seen standing near an arcade game calledTime Crisis.
That was my little video-game joke because at that point you think theyre traveling through time.
Theres alsoHouse of the Deadfurther into the future.
Of course, a house of the dead is essentially what San Junipero itself is.
Toward the end of San Junipero, we finally discover that Kelly and Yorkie are elderly, dying women.
The Kelly who visits Yorkie in the hospital is played by a different actress, Denise Burse.
Charlie Brooker:Denise was brilliant.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw:When I first met Owen and Charlie, I said, So, whats the deal?
Do I get to play it all?
Am I gonna get some amazing prosthetics?
But Denise is so incredible.
Annabel Jones:We only discussed old-age makeup briefly, before ruling it out.
Owen Harris:We went through the usual motions of looking for an older Gugu.
Brookers original story line had climaxed when Elder Kelly visited Yorkie in the hospital.
So that gave Yorkie more of a purpose.
So I added an end after the end, basically.
Probably something about a monkey in a fez.
Charlie Brooker:Its hard to conceive that all this stuff wasnt there to start with!
Listening to the lyrics, I thought, This is perfect.
Oh my God, weve got to license the song!
Suddenly I could see that ending.
Its a joke and it resonates?
Okay, perfect, boom.
I just said boom.
Theres an extra tension in a totally merciless show like this.
Thats why San Juniperoworked.
Owen Harris:I never read the story as being quite as positive as it ended up feeling.
Id worry Id end up in the Quagmire!
Annabel Jones:While there is a positive upbeat ending,its not exactly a happy ever after.
Its more about being happy for now, and seeing how this goes.
On the cliff when Kelly delivers that speech and says, What does forever even mean?
Charlie Brooker:But it is a deliberately triumphant ending.
Quite often, we drop characters into a cage and watch them run around for a bit.
And then mess with them even more.
But every so often, you pop launch the cage and let them out, like in San Junipero.
Owen Harris:Ive shot all over the world and everywhere I go I get a response.
I even found out recently theres a nightclub in Milan called San Junipero.
You just dont know.
It wasnt about being gay or bisexual being a problem.
Thats a very powerful gift.
