Charlie Brooker's superb Black Mirror series may have catapulted him to global fame, but what viewers of the twisted yet utterly compelling science fiction show might not know is that he started his career as a games journalist in the UK before making the leap into comedy and TV writing.
Brooker was recently a guest on the BBC's iconic Desert Island Discs programme - where famous faces pick the tracks they'd take with them into hypothetical seclusion, along with a luxury item and a book - and he paid tribute to his video gaming roots by selecting the main theme from the Game Boy version of Robocop, composed by Jonathan Dunn.
His reason for choosing it? "It's a piece of music that's better than it had to be for a Game Boy game." As you can see from Brooker's music selection, the Robocop theme is found nestled neatly among tracks from The Beatles, The Pixies and Radiohead.
Brooker touched upon his love of gaming during the show, picking the Nintendo Switch as the luxury item he would take to his desert island, and saying:
I was fascinated by this thought that you could control an image on a television, it was like a magical thing to me. From that point on I was hooked. I remember getting a ZX80 [home computer], I saved and I begged until I got a Spectrum in 1982. From a very early age I thought - there is something about this as a form of entertainment that I can't get enough of.
Brooker's career began when he was commissioned to draw a series of comic strips to promote the UK chain Computer Exchange (now more commonly know as CEX) in the early '90s. This led to writing for video games magazine PC Zone:
I always knew I wanted to work in comedy but couldn't find a way into it. I started off writing video game reviews for a magazine because I'd been making comic book strips for a video game shop and one of the writers said: 'Why don't you try writing some video game reviews?'. I remember thinking, 'I'm not qualified for this'. I was annoyed I didn't know my way into things.
Brooker's move into television writing saw him contribute to the likes of Brass Eye and The 11 O'Clock Show, before he hosted his own series of "Wipe" programmes aimed at poking fun at other TV shows. However, Black Mirror is perhaps his most famous creation; it began life on the UK's Channel 4 in 2011 before being picked up by Netflix. Series 4 has just gone live on the streaming service.
Critically acclaimed since its launch, the series picked up Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special for the series 3 episode San Junipero.
You can listen to the whole Desert Island Discs broadcast here.
[source bbc.co.uk]
Comments 40
What a clown - and not in a funny or good way.
@Pazuzu666 Why do you say that?
Lol that's brilliant
I watched season 4 with my girlfriend a few days ago, and I liked it. Although, I feel like the series tries so hard to be dark.
Nice to know more about Brooker, it's fun to read this kind of stuff.
Charlie is awesome, sad he never had time for the annual wipe this year but as long as he keeps pumping out content you have no complaints here.
if you are not familiar with his stuff, get on the youtube, film, tv, gaming and news all get ripped to shreds in the way only charlie can! a creative wordsmith of the highest order!
Trust Charlie Brooker to be the one to represent video games in a space where they normally don't get much of a look in He's been a hero of mine ever since watching screen wipe - his cynical observational humour is a rare gem in the uninspired swamp of mainstream TV!
Still think Brooker's a bit of an arsehole, but that Robocop theme is pretty good.
@Pazuzu666
Whoa there horsey, you gonna have to back that up.
@Fuz
Could be, I loved that tune, but I heard it on my speccy 128k first.
Helluva tune. Good choice.
Jonathan Dunn is a composing genius. First time I head his stuff was on the ZX Spectrum and he could make that 128k sound chip sing. Here is one my old remixes.
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on. And Ariston.
I wish there was more Black Mirror, every time a season sends, I'm sad, and go back and watch them all again.
When's season 5 coming? 😁
Brooker, what a ledge.
The Gameboy version of Robocop had the best sounding version of the tunes. There were only 3 proper tracks, but they were all fantastic. The game itself was too frickin hard to finish, but what kept me coming back was the music.
This is article is too British for me to comprehend.🙃
Picking video game sound tracks over "real" sound tracks? Why not? Really wish video game sound track was taken as seriously and played more on the radio.
Tony Hawke 2 on the Gameboy Color had some really good title music, really amazing for a 8-bit tune. Then I played the game...
Always been a fan of Charlie Brooker but I thought his big break into magazines and such was when he used to make cartoons for the comic Oink in the 80s. I still have all my copies along side his books at home.
Nice! Charlie - if you're reading this - bring back Games Wipe! ..and do a 2017 Wipe! ..I miss your Wipe's!
@Raptor78
You are quite correct, he talks about it to Richard Herring, on "richard herring leicester square theatre podcast"
One of the better ones too, worth giving it a listen.
You should check out his, and Chris Morris' collaboration show Nathan Barley. Made in 2005 and is a harrowing prediction of hipster culture, also is dark. should be on 4's on demand service (All4?)
The RoboCop theme is definitely one of my favorite video game tracks. Also love Mega Ran's Infinite Lives, which samples it.
That's cool but RoboCop seems a strange choice. I could understand if he picked a song from Cliffhanger or Fortified Zone on Gameboy. Those have some incredible 8 bit tracks.
@HappyMaskedGuy "Funny coincidence then, because your English is not enough too English enough for me to comprehend.
Boom."
Ironically your English is terrible in this comment, and an Irish person is now calling you out on it.
Ka-boom.
@Archius9 Isn't Brooker behind A Touch Of Cloth too? That show is hilarious!
@Damo the chance to promote hours upon hours of great music, classical, jazz, contemporary, and he chooses this? If he can't take listeners seriously, why should we take him seriously?
@Pazuzu666 Why is he not taking this seriously? Like so many of us, I'm sure Brooker has a strong emotional connection with video game music. That particular track is famous for its excellent composition.
And Desert Island Discs is about picking music that means something to you personally, not about championing other "more worthy" songs.
@Pazuzu666
Nice bit of snobbery there mate, creating good tunes on limited musical chips is quite a feat and should be applauded.
Quite a few final fantasy tunes resonate with me as much as other tunes.
Oh and portals end tune is up there.
I saw a few episodes of Black mirror on television and I found it to be very strong. Clever ways to tackle the modern world issues. Then I wondered why I never saw it again.
Recently I learned it was picked up by Netflix, that's why I never saw it again. It now all of a sudden is a "Netflix original" (just stuff that originally premiered on other channels, bought by Netflix). Ah well...
@The_Mysteron An Irishman who is unable to recognise mockery? You are unique.
Derp-eroo.
@Pazuzu666 Wow you really don’t get the point of this programme do you.... 🙄
@Archius9 Nathan Barley is an amazing show and is probably funnier these days as many of us will have likely have encountered all the 'characters' in the show.
Brilliant writing and incredibly funny.
WHOA! Jonathan Dunn gets mentioned but not his sublime work on the Amstrad CPC o_0
@HappyMaskedGuy
Read back what you said. It makes absolutely no sense.
@Bobbycuckoo thanks I will. Love the guys humour and the way he thinks and I like Richard Herring too. So I will definitely check it out.
@The_Mysteron Ditto. In all seriousness though, you can't understand that my response was a mock one? Really?
@The_Mysteron The user in question has amended their comment on which this discussion was based, editing it's content to conform with half decent English.Therefore our exchanges have been rendered null and void. All the same, nice to make your acquaintance, Mr Irish man.
The real question is
Ranch
or
Cool Ranch?
#wow #whoa
@aesc where as you add plenty, right? My opinion is just as valid as anybody's on here, you can't bully me out, I promise. I've been playing videogames since way, way back, I continue to do so, BUT, gaming is hardly a "proper artistic medium", more a waste of time. I admit this all myself, why can't you?
@Pazuzu666
" BUT, gaming is hardly a "proper artistic medium", more a waste of time. I admit this all myself, why can't you?"
Who gets to decide what is and isn't an artistic medium, you?
Art is, for me, a human creation that envoques an emotion, a thought or inspiration.
Compare some modern " art" to a game like shadow of the colossus, or a game such as journey to Coldplays latest beige drivil.
Music, paintings, sculpture, books, films and games are all "proper" artistic mediums, some good and some bad, and it's entirely subjective.
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