Demon 79

"Demon 79" is the fifth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by series creator Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali, and directed by Toby Haynes. Alongside the rest of the sixth series, it premiered on Netflix on 15 June 2023. It stars Nida (Anjana Vasan), a mild-mannered sales assistant. She releases a demon, Gaap (Paapa Essiedu), who tells her she must commit three murders to prevent the end of the world. The episode is the first to be released under the label Red Mirror, the result of Brooker experimenting with supernatural horror and past settings. It was the first episode written in the sixth series, with which Brooker aimed to rethink the programme's scope. Set in 1979, it shows anti-immigration politics of the Conservative Party and National Front. It was filmed in June 2022 in Harrow, London. The demon Gaap, initially designed as a punk, has a look influenced by Bobby Farrell of Boney M., whose music is used in the soundtrack. The episode draws from horror fiction, fashion and settings of the 1970s. It is unclear whether Nida is imagining the episode's events until the happy ending, where she leaves Earth with Gaap as nuclear warfare breaks out. Reviews were positive, with Essiedu and Vasan's acting widely praised, alongside the episode's comedy. However, it was ranked poorly on critics' lists of Black Mirror instalments by quality. Plot In 1979, Nida Huq (Anjana Vasan) works at the department store Possetts in the English town Tipley. While selling shoes, she fantasises about hurting her xenophobic coworker, Vicky (Katherine Rose Morley). The customer Keith Holligan (Nicholas Burns), who murdered his wife, makes sexual comments towards Nida as she imagines attacking him.