There is something really appealing about non-commercial and cable television. I believe it’s that it doesn’t fear breaking away from the standard cycle of mainstream TV, but rather tackles a variety of new and, in some cases, even confronting subjects. I mean, let’s look at freaking BBC’s ‘Black Mirror’. Being a fan of the show I was both really excited, and a little disgusted, that we’d be watching the first episode in class this week. If you’re familiar with the program, you’ll more than understand why. There’s sort of two ways in which you can look at this particular episode, the first being that it’s an amazing and insightful commentary on the power of the media, and the second being that it’s a perverted tale of a man having sexual relations with a pig.

Right, let’s just do a quick checklist of a few of the reasons why this show couldn’t be shown on commercial TV:

• The unusual structure: 3 episodes with different casts, and characters.
• It presents us with a malicious public, whom want to see an extremely indecent act at someone’s expense.
• And did I mention the MAN HAVING SEX WITH A PIG?

As the title suggests, ‘Black Mirror’ is a satire that shows us a dark reflection of ourselves, and examines our relationship with the media. It’s not repetitive, or all that easy to consume, and, most importantly, it makes the audience think. There are some glaringly obvious differences between this intellectual satire, and your typical, commercial rom-com.

I think that most of the allure of non-commercial TV is that it breaks away from the sort of routine mainstream drama, and presents us with something new and different. However, whilst this can be breath of fresh air to the audience, some people may find that they prefer the traditional routines of commercial narrative.

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