Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker releasing Netflix mockumentary Death To 2020 starring Hugh Grant

Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker releasing a Netflix mockumentary called Death To 2020 starring Hugh Grant with Samuel L. Jackson, Lisa Kudrow and Leslie Jones

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker is working on a Netflix mockumentary comedy special called Death To 2020 with an ensemble cast starring Hugh Grant and featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Lisa Kudrow, Leslie Jones and Tracey Ullman, among others.

Also appearing in the special include Samson Kayo, Joe Keery, Cristin Milioti, Diane Morgan and Kumail Nanjiani in the special, which examines the events of the year from a humorous perspective. 

Al Campbell will direct, according to Deadline

Affable: Grant was snapped last month on the Graham Norton Show

The latest: Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker is working on a Netflix mockumentary comedy special called Death To 2020 with an ensemble cast starring Hugh Grant

‘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,’ Netflix said in a statement previewing the upcoming special.

‘Death To 2020 is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was – and perhaps still is?’ the streamer continued. ‘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.’

Grant last week spoke with New York magazine about his work on the project: ‘I’m doing a thing tomorrow, actually. 

‘Charlie Brooker has written a mockumentary about 2020. It’s for Netflix, and I am a historian who’s being interviewed about the year. I’m pretty repellent, actually! And you’ll like my wig.’

The special examines the events of the year from a humorous perspective

The special examines the events of the year from a humorous perspective 

'Death To 2020 is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was - and perhaps still is?' the streamer said

‘Death To 2020 is a comedy event that tells the story of the dreadful year that was – and perhaps still is?’ the streamer said

Samson Kayo, Joe Keery, Cristin Milioti, Diane Morgan and Kumail Nanjiani also appear in the special

Samson Kayo, Joe Keery, Cristin Milioti, Diane Morgan and Kumail Nanjiani also appear in the special

Brooker earlier this year chat with the New York Times about the challenge of creating content in the coronavirus era.

‘If you look at the film Dr. Strangelove, which was made in 1964, a period of time where nuclear extinction looked like a real possibility, that’s the darkest of satire, depicting an unfolding dystopia that people were in. So I don’t know that there isn’t an appetite for that sort of thing,’ he said. 

He continued: ‘In a way, lots of comedy shows are dystopian because it’s a humor in which the worst thing is constantly happening, even on the small scale, even if it’s like, “Oh no, I hope my housemates don’t walk in and catch me doing this embarrassing thing.” 

‘Sure enough, they will. It must be a way of your brain expressing itself in some way and obviously in the midst of all this, there are a lot of worried brains around.’