Demon 79

In 1979, Nida Huq (Anjana Vasan) works at the department store Possetts in the English town Tipley. While selling shoes, she fantasises about hurting her xenophobic coworker, Vicky (Katherine Rose Morley), and an unsettling customer, Keith Holligan (Nicholas Burns), who killed his wife. Nida is alienated by the Conservative, anti-immigration politician Michael Smart, and vandals who paint the fascist National Front symbol on her door. Forced to eat her biryani in the basement after Vicky complains, Nida pricks her finger on a drawer handle and bleeds over a bone talisman. In her flat, the talisman speaks to Nida, and she releases the demon Gaap (Paapa Essiedu), on his first assignment. Gaap takes the form of Bobby Farrell from Boney M. Nida has three days to make three human sacrifices; failure will lead to world destruction on May Day. Nida refuses to participate, even when Gaap shows her apartment in flames, and flees to a canal. Gaap tells Nida that a passerby, Tim Simons (Joe Evans), molests his eight-year-old daughter. Nida kills Tim with a brick. Nida vomits with guilt, but, the next day, Gaap is eventually able to convince her to go to work, where he repeatedly points out potential targets for the next sacrifice. That night, she drinks scotch at her local pub, and sees Keith there. She follows him when he leaves, but, before she can attack him, he sees her and invites her to his house for sex. Nida bludgeons Keith with a hammer, and also kills his brother Chris, who comes home and surprises her. Gaap calls a demonic technical support line and is told that Keith's death does not count, as he was a murderer, so one sacrifice remains. Smart, whom Nida's boss supports, visits Possetts and wins Vicky's vote. At Nida's urging, Gaap shows her Smart's future: one day, he will become Prime Minister in an upset victory as leader of the ultra-nationalist Britannia Party. Though demons are fans of Smart, and Gaap urges her to choose someone else, Nida insists on targeting him for the final sacrifice. Police officer Len Fisher (Shaun Dooley) begins to investigate Tim's murder, and then that of the Holligan brothers. He interviews Nida after the publican and barmaid mention her strange behavior, and she says that, though she does not usually drink, she lies that the previous day was the anniversary of her deceased mother's birthday. Fisher is suspicious when she says she does not know Keith, as he found paperwork with her signature from Keith's visit to Possetts, so he follows Nida's car when she leaves to tail Smart after a speech. She rams Smart's car, causing him to crash, and attacks him with a hammer, but Len approaches and convinces her to drop the weapon. At the police station, Nida tells the disbelieving officers about Gaap and the talisman. Midnight passes without incident, but, minutes later, sirens blare, and nuclear warfare breaks out. As the atomic shockwave approaches, Nida agrees to join Gaap—who is outcast after failing his initiation—in an eternal void. == Cast ==

Black Mirror went on hiatus after its fifth series was released in 2019. Its executive producers, Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, departed from the production company House of Tomorrow and joined Broke and Bones, leading to negotiations for production rights. During this time, Brooker took a break from Black Mirror and worked on projects that were more comedic. In May 2022, Netflix announced that a sixth Black Mirror series was in development. Broke and Bones produced the series, while House of Tomorrow's parent company, Banijay, retained ownership. "Demon 79" is the last of the five episodes in series six, though it was the first to be written. The series was released on 15 June 2023. The episode was written by Brooker and Bisha K. Ali. Ali is the only co-writer of the sixth series; she created the series Ms. Marvel (2022). Ali also received a credit as executive producer of the series six episode "Joan Is Awful". Brooker noted that, since Black Mirrors 2011 debut, dystopian sci-fi with technological themes had gone from rare to common, so he aimed to write horror fiction and period dramas. He conceived of "Demon 79" as the first episode of a companion retro-themed horror anthology series called Red Mirror. Inspired by "Demon 79", other episodes in the series are set in the past: "Beyond the Sea" was changed from a near-future story to one in 1969 and "Mazey Day" is set in the mid-2000s. with additional cast members Katherine Rose Morley and David Shields revealed in May 2023. Nicholas Burns, who plays Keith Holligan, starred in Nathan Barley (2005), which was co-created by Charlie Brooker. Vasan is one of the few actors to appear in multiple Black Mirror episodes; she had a small role in "Nosedive", wearing silver paint and credited as "Space Cop" and made a cameo as a gamer in series 7 episode "USS Callister: Into Infinity". Her other roles include Amina in We Are Lady Parts (2021–) and Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, characters that are underestimated, like Nida. "Demon 79" was the second episode directed by Toby Haynes, after "USS Callister". Brooker said it was made as "a lost corner of the late 70s that's shot through with a sort of modern sensibility". The local newspaper Harrow Online reported that it was filmed in Harrow, London, in June 2022, under the code name "Project Red Book". Exterior shots of Possetts were sighted in Greenhill, Harrow. Udo Kramer designed sets for all series six episodes. Kramer said that much research was done on 1970s department stores; the furniture and fixtures were made specifically for the episode and the colour palette was chosen to match the period. NVIZ Studio worked on the news reports that show Smart's rise to fascist leader, with iterations of Britannia Party messaging over three decades. Additional black-and-white photography was taken by David Hurn. The soundtrack was composed by Christopher Willis and released on 21 July 2023. Ali and Vasan, both immigrants, spoke about the racial themes of the episode during the production process. Vasan could relate to Nida as an Indian-born woman who moved to Singapore in childhood and Britain in adulthood. Vasan's first question to the writers was over Nida's comment "people said my mum was mad". This is left unexplained, so Vasan speculated that Nida's mother may have been "loud and eccentric" and, unlike Nida, not tried to assimilate to England. This contrasts with the interpretation that Nida's mother had mental health issues and Nida imagined Gaap. Vasan thought that Nida herself questions whether she is "just going insane". Essiedu saw the political themes of "Demon 79" as having contemporary relevance, as the episode features an active political party and "the same kind of campaign slogans" as modern politicians. Vasan drew parallels to modern politicians using the anti-immigration slogan "stop the boats". Essiedu saw the ending as "quite hopeful", choosing to show Nida and Gaap leaving Earth rather than the reality of spending forever together. According to the production, the decision to have Gaap teleport wherever Nida looks when she is trying to run away was made on the day of filming, with Essiedu crouching and running to minimise the "camera trickery". Haynes discussed with Vasan what it would feel like to Nida when Gaap shows a horrifying vision—like a panic attack or the inability to breathe—and Vasan experimented with her reactions on set. == Analysis ==

The episode is a supernatural horror and fantasy story, lacking the science fiction elements of other Black Mirror episodes. Ed Power, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said that it was "cartoonish" while maintaining serious themes. GQs Jack King suggested it was a buddy film due to the unlikely partnership of Nida and Gaap. Reviewers commented that the episode would fit in classic or contemporary anthology series such as Tales from the Darkside (1983–1988) or ''Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022). Jen Chaney of Vulture'' commented that the "futuristic terror" was nuclear war or the racist Tipley characters' fears of white people being outnumbered. With a British cast, dark humour and "budget aesthetic", King saw it as a "return to roots" for the programme. He uses indirect phrases such as "crime is on the rise" and "the neighbourhood is changing" to allude to racist ideas. " matches the symbol on the talisman Nida finds. As foreshadowing, Nida discovers old newspaper headlines describing a series of murders and a May Day celebration—this implies that Possett, the department store founder, previously used the talisman. The soundtrack includes two Boney M. songs: "Rasputin" (1978) and "Ma Baker" (1977). The latter signifies that Nida "has shed her meek demeanor and is ready to kill", according to Den of Geeks Brynna Arens, as the lyrics inform the listener that "Ma Baker is the FBI's most wanted woman". In the same scene, Nida steals a red leather jacket: Vasan said its "explosive pop of colour" contrasts with the many shades of brown in the shoe department. It shows a change from her initial decision to wear all-brown and "blend into the background". Critics compared the premise to Knock at the Cabin (2023), an M. Night Shyamalan film. Nida's aim—to kill three people to save many—was seen as an example of the trolley problem thought experiment by Screen Rants Greg MacArthur. == Reception ==

The episode achieved positive critical reception: on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews. The Independent and Vulture rated it four stars out of five; Vultures Ben Rosenstock thought they had "great chemistry" and The New York Observers Laura Babiak called them the "most watchable pair" of the series. Leila Jordan, in Paste, praised their "thoroughly entertaining" shifts between comedy and horror. 's acting as Gaap. Gaap's characterisation was particularly highlighted for praise, with The Guardians Stuart Heritage attributing the episode's success to Essiedu. Den of Geeks Louisa Mellor compared Gaap to the angel Clarence Odbody in the film ''It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Amy West, reviewing for GamesRadar+'', said that Gaap's "deliciously camp flair" was aided by "one of the most fabulously flamboyant costumes" in the programme. while Varietys Daniel D'Addario commented that Gaap is charismatic. King described Gaap as exemplifying Essiedu's acting range, through expressions of exasperation and bemusement. Vasan as Nida was also lauded. Rosenstock found Nida "easily the most compelling protagonist" of series six. • 9th – Lucy Ford, Jack King and Brit Dawson, GQ • 13th – Ed Power, The Daily Telegraph • 21st – Amit Katwala, Matt Reynolds and James Temperton, Wired • 22nd – James Hibberd and Christian Holub, Entertainment Weekly • 23rd – Charles Bramesco, Vulture • 24th – Brady Langmann, Esquire GamesRadar+ and IndieWire listed the 27 episodes, excluding Bandersnatch, where "Demon 79" placed 20th and 22nd, respectively. The New York Observer rated it third-best of the five episodes in series six. Awards and nominations == References ==