Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror may be returning soon after a three-year hiatus, with reports that a “cinematic” sixth season is in the works on Netflix.

Variety first reported that a new season is “forming” and that casting is already underway, with the new run set to feature more episodes than season five, which only contained five.

The new season will reportedly be even more cinematic than previous installments of the dystopian anthology, with each episode being treated as a separate film.

Black Mirror was launched on Channel 4 in 2011 before moving to Netflix in 2016 for its third season. So far, 22 regular episodes and a selectable interactive adventure film, Bandersnatch, have been shown, all of which have explored the dark side of technology and the impact it can have on its users and their own social interactions.

Past stars of the series have included Jesse Plemons, Hayley Atwell, Jon Hamm, Daniel Kaluuya, Miley Cyrus and many more.

Series creator Brooker previously told Radio Times magazine he didn’t know “what kind of stomach there would be for stories about societies falling apart,” and explained that he’s not currently working on a new season. At the time, Brooker said he was “kind of interested in rethinking my comic book skills, so I’ve been writing screenplays aimed at making myself laugh.”

That was in May 2020, however, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, so Brooker may have changed his mind about viewers’ appetites for a wildly popular anthology.

The announced sixth season would be the first since Brooker and his creative partner Annabel Jones left their production company House of Tomorrow and started a new company called Broke and Bones.

With the rights to Black Mirror remaining with House of Tomorrow’s parent company, Endemol Shine Group, there were fears that the deal would spell the end of Black Mirror for good. Variety reports that an agreement must have been reached in order to make a new season possible.

RadioTimes.com has reached out to Netflix for comment.

Black Mirror and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch seasons 1-5 are available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our sci-fi coverage or visit our TV guide to see what’s on tonight.

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