Show's creator responds to criticisms that Netflix ruined the show

Brooker raised the accusation himself at the SXSW event.

“One of the criticisms we sometimes get is, ‘I prefer the show when it was British and everyone in it was miserable and everything smelled a little bit of shit and all the stories were horrible,’” the 52-year-old Berkshire-born director and writer said.

“And then it’s gone to Netflix and suddenly everything’s sunny and happy and everyone has wonderful teeth, and it’s full of Hollywood stars and it’s lost that edge.”

Brooker said he understood and accepted the criticism, and admitted that when he had first started doing business in the US “everyone expected me to be like the Unabomber”. But he insisted the streaming company played little role in the show’s evolution

“Arguably the happiest [episode] I’ve ever written was San Junipero and I just did that off my own back,” he said.

“I was aware we’re going on a global platform now, so we’ve got to make these stories a bit more international. And I wanted to mix it up a bit, as in not just keep doing bleak-a-thons.”

He made the point that one episode in the last season, the serial killer-themed Loch Henry, was “fucking nasty – nasty as anything we’ve ever done”.