Black Mirror (2011)

Black Mirror isn't as daring as it used to be. Once Netflix and American money got its claws into the show, the quality dipped, it's true. But how could you ever count out a series that gave us the chiling 'White Bear', a pig-loving Prime Minister, or whatever the hell that ending was in the White Christmas special? And don't get me started on San Junipero or the gay anthem that Ashley O aka Miley Cyrus gifted us. At its best, Charlie Brooker's all-too-real sci-fi anthology still knows how to get people talking and freak us out in the process.

Don't get me wrong, Black Mirror is mostly ace. High production values and top casting tend to bring Charlie Brooker's dystopian visions to life in style, and the stories are usually thought-provoking, scary, hilarious, surprising or all of the above. But when a new Black Mirror doesn't really hit, it's arguably more fun: analysing what went wrong is a pastime that's as addictive as enjoying the episodes that bang, and there's never a shortage of opinionated blogs and articles to chew on. Add in that almost every episode is a guess-the-twist challenge and you have a uniquely interactive show.

From its very first episode all those years ago, Black Mirror quickly established itself as one of the most intriguing and frankly, most important television shows of the 21st century. It's no coincidence that these days, every story you read about scary technological advancements or depressing dips in the quality of society are likened to the tales Charlie Brooker warned us about over the last 15 years. Black Mirror is smart, scintillating, and incredibly diverse, with episodes that'll make you gasp, cry, laugh, and more than anything, dread the idea of these stories coming true.