If you’re looking for something to watch whilst you use up the turkey and polish off the mince pies, Charlie Brooker’s Netflix Special ‘Death To 2020’ will premiere on 27th December, and has a new trailer too.
‘Death To 2020’ is a “documentary” about a year whose story couldn’t be told until now… because it was still happening… “2020: A year so [insert adjective of choice here], even the creators of Black Mirror couldn’t make it up… but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a little something to add,” comments the logline for the show. “‘Death To 2020’ is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was — and perhaps still is? This landmark documentary-style special weaves together some of the world’s most (fictitious) renowned voices with real-life archival footage spanning the past 12 months.”
The cast for the special includes the legendary Samuel L. Jackson, ‘Friends’ star Lisa Kudrow, Joe Keery from ‘Stranger Things’, and ‘SNL’/’Ghostbusters’ star Leslie Jones, Hugh Grant, Kumail Nanjiani (‘The Big Sick’, ‘Silicon Valley’), Samson Kayo (‘Truth Seekers’, ‘Famalam’), Cristin Milioti (‘No Activity’, ‘Fargo’), and legendary British comic icon, Tracey Ullman (aka HRH Queen Elizabeth). The cast also features ‘Wipe’ regular Diane Morgan (known for Philomena Cunk), and the entire thing is directed by Al Campbell (aka Barry Shitpeas).
“Those who only know me through Black Mirror may not realize that when not writing speculative sci-fi about people frowning at smartphones, I’ve spent years making comedy shows in the UK – including many topical comedy specials. So to me, Death to 2020 feels like the collision of several different strands. (Do strands ‘collide’? No. Apologies). But the approach for this is quite different to most of the topical comedy I’ve done in the past. For one thing I’m not on screen presenting it – a relief for anyone watching in 4K – and it’s more character-based. In the loneliest year on record, I got to work (remotely) with writers and team members from my previous comedies, as well as many sickeningly talented people who were new to me,” comments Brooker. “Death to 2020 features fictional characters discussing real events in a bombastic mockumentary, but quite a bit sillier than that makes it sound. It felt like an apt format for Netflix, which is known for high-end documentaries, but also like a good opportunity to create a different kind of comedy special that deals with the year head-on while also showcasing some brilliant performers. I don’t love the word “satire” but there’s some of that here, alongside some angry jokes, and some goofy jokes. And hopefully, viewers will find at least one joke to their liking — because let’s face it, in 2020, any laugh you can emit, no matter how fleeting, is a small but precious victory.”
‘Black Mirror’ creators Charlie Brooker & Annabel Jones exec produce via their production company Broke And Bones, with Alison Marlow (‘Cunk on Britain’, various ‘Wipe’ series) as the producer. The reason this is on Netflix rather than the BBC is due to the streaming service investing in Broke And Bones back in July, which gave them exclusive rights to any new series from Brooker & Jones.
‘Death To 2020’ premieres 27th December 2020 on Netflix UK and worldwide.
