Fans are only just realising why Black Mirror is called Black Mirror

You've been gripped to every episode, but have you ever wondered where Black Mirror got its name?

A straw poll of Black Mirror fans here in our office found that plenty of folk never realised why it's called that, while others figured it out yonks ago. Some fans online have only just realised the reason for the name and they're shook, to say the least.

am i the only one who didnt know black mirror was called black mirror because when you look at your phone or computer screen after it's turned off you see your reflection on the black screen...it's a black mirror.. pic.twitter.com/ApBxUC3RdU

— ? (@bleuvaIentine) December 29, 2017

When you finally realize why 'Black Mirror' is called 'Black Mirror': https://t.co/vRyLTGDXhR pic.twitter.com/Ctxt7kuBZX

— Highsnobiety (@highsnobiety) January 3, 2018

GUYS. BLACK MIRROR IS CALLED BLACK MIRROR BC WHEN YOU TURN OFF YOUR PHONE, TV, ETC ITS A BLACK MIRROR. WOWEE WOW WOW, I CANNOT COPE.

— Gabby (@gabviola13) January 3, 2018

Yep, in that grim moment when your phone, laptop or TV screen goes black, showing your bleary-eyed reflection; it's a black mirror. As Cosmo points out, the show's creator Charlie Brooker confirmed this all the way back in 2014 so true super-fans have no excuse for not knowing the name's provenance. "Because any TV, any LCD, any iPhone, any iPad – something like that – if you just stare at it, it looks like a black mirror, and there’s something cold and horrifying about that, and it was such a fitting title for the show," he told Channel 4.

"I mean, I don’t know what else we would’ve called it – Spooky Technology Time?! It would’ve been rubbish.

"I quite like the fact that people are watching it on their TV or on their laptop, or their smartphone or whatever, and then as the end credits start running and the screen cuts to black, they see themselves reflected."

So there you go.