Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker reveals old episode had scene that brought back former characters

The meta scene originally featured in series three episode 'Playtest'

Black Mirror co-creator Charlie Brooker has revealed he scrapped a scene that would have seen the return of key characters.

The writer told The Independent how the moment, originally featured in series three episode “Playtest”, would have been interactively “unlocked” by viewers watching for a second time.

He explained how the scene in question inspired a twist that almost featured in Bandersnatch, the choose-your-own-adventure film that was released on Netflix in December.

“At one point, there was a bit where it was going to explain to [Fionn Whitehead's Bandersnatch character] Stefan that he was in Black Mirror, but weirdly that was an idea we’d had a while ago,” he said.

“I remember pitching this to Netflix for “Playtest”, which was one of the reasons they called us in about the interactive stuff,” he continued. “Basically, if you went back to watch the episode a second time, it would have unlocked nightmare mode.”

Brooker detailed how characters from classic episodes “White Bear” and “Fifteen Million Merits” would have returned.

“In the scene where Cooper, the character played by Wyatt Russell, is going mad in the house, there was originally a bit where he literally discovers he’s a character in an episode of Black Mirror, and he’s told what it is and he’s shown characters from other episodes who are there in the house with him. There was a bit where he went in and he saw Victoria Spillane from “White Bear”, and he found himself in one of the rooms from “Fifteen Million Merits”.”

He confesses he scrapped the idea as he feared it would be “a bit indulgent.”

“I literally wrote those scenes and then was like: ''F***, that’s gonna be impossible. Let’s not do that,'” he said.

You can read the full interview here.