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Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker had Bandersnatch idea that was considered 'too nerdy' for Netflix

'People said it was going to be off-putting to people who just don’t play video games'

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 14 January 2019 07:01 EST
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Netflix takes interactive storytelling to the next level with ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’

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Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror film Bandersnatch was almost even more ambitious.

The choose-your-own-adventure Netflix outing was released in December to rave reviews, and now the co-creator has revealed he wanted to include a little treat for fans that was scraped for being “too nerdy”.

“I wanted us to do something that was technically possible, but that everyone else said was too nerdy” he told The Independent. “I wanted to have achievements so that every time you got a different ending, you would get a little thing that would say, ‘Well done – you found the train ending’ or whatever, and it would give you a little badge.”

He continued: “I guess I’ll reluctantly say that everyone correctly said that was going to be a bit off-putting to people who just don’t play video games and encounter that sort of thing.”

Annabel Jones, whom he co-created the anthology series alongside, added: “It’s just another thing between you and your main character – you don’t want him to feel like he’s an avatar.”

Brooker also revealed to The Independent that series three episode “Playtest” almost featured an exciting interactive element that would have seen past characters return to the show.

You can read the full interview here.

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