Charlie Brooker is returning to the BBC with his first Screenwipe since 2016.
Given the working title Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe, the show will be created in lockdown, although no date for transmission has been announced.
The first instalment in the popular series since 2016’s Bafta-winning entry, Antiviral Wipe will feature the regulars Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) and Barry Shitpeas (Al Campbell), offering their “own very special brand of in-depth reporting”, the BBC said.
Other contributors will also be involved, although a press release could not name them as they “haven’t been told they’re doing it yet, but have no good excuse not to”.
“The BBC asked me to supply a quote for the press release,” said Brooker, “which is what you’re reading now.”
Brooker rose to prominence with Screenburn, his weekly column in the Guardian, which ran from 2000 to 2010. It ended when he started to find it hard to criticise TV while his profile in the industry increased.
He co-created the sitcom Nathan Barley in 2005 with Chris Morris and has since gone on to write five series of Black Mirror – first for Channel 4 and then Netflix.
The BBC’s press release said: “Charlie Brooker has been lured out of isolation, to go into isolation for the one-off.
“Charlie will be taking a typically sharp look at life in lockdown, in a show made during lockdown. As well as coverage of the crisis itself, he’ll also be looking at the things people are watching and doing to keep themselves occupied.”
