Peter Capaldi reveals surprise pick for his favourite Black Mirror episode

In spite of these returnees, Plaything is, like all Black Mirror episodes thus far, a stand-alone story, and thus will no doubt end up at various points in people's rankings, and fans try to compare the wildly different instalments.

In anticipation of the new season, Capaldi was asked for his own personal favourite episode from the sci-fi anthology – and he had a surprising answer.

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Capaldi said: "I like a lot of them, but I’d choose The Waldo Moment, when a cartoon character is set to become a candidate in a by-election, getting into debates with other candidates. It’s obviously for comic effect, but at the same time, it was a precursor to comic-isation of politics.

"In some ways, that's what we're dealing with now, various cartoon characters, rather than clever people, or wise policies. We just have these avatars, these comic book populists, which it's easier to be than somebody who has a real vision of the future and how to get there."

The Waldo Moment, the third episode of season 2, starred Daniel Rigby as an actor who played a popular satirical cartoon character Waldo, who ended up running to be an MP on a populist, anarchistic, nihilistic platform.

It has often been considered a lesser light in the show's canon, ranking at number 25 out of 28 in RadioTimes.com's own list.

In fact, even the show's creator Charlie Brooker previously said it is the one episode he would go back and change in retrospect, telling Vulture in 2016 that "the stakes weren't right".

However, it has started to be reappraised in recent times, with many commentators calling it prescient in its presentation of politics in the modern age.

Of course, Capaldi is known for his own starring role in a political satire, having played Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It.

In January 2024 Capaldi said he wouldn't be "terribly keen on" returning to the show, saying that real-world politics is "beyond a joke" and that "joking about it just in some way takes the spotlight away from the problems".

"And I think that problems are profound," he continued. "And, you know, we're in the middle of a climate crisis, we're in the middle of a time when we can't trust the government, there seems to be a level of corruption that's going on that's quite extraordinary."

Black Mirror season 7 will stream on Netflix from 10th April 2025. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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