- Black Mirror season 7 will soon arrive on Netflix
- The show features a brand new all-star cast
- It includes former Doctor Who Peter Capaldi – but who does he play?
Soon, we’ll all be reminded why technology is more foe than friend as Black Mirror season 7 hits Netflix, complete with an all-star cast that includes former Doctor Who Peter Capaldi.
Devised by British screenwriter Charlie Brooker, this nightmarish anthology series never fails to make us squirm in our seats. It’s a show that’s filled with twists, turns, questions and mysteries – with Brooker and his team of writers cramming each episode with plenty of dark surprises.
Read more: Black Mirror season 7 cast confirmed so far
We recently got our first glimpse at the show’s new episodes in the first Black Mirror season 7 trailer although it only added more questions to our already curious minds. In it, we see a new bunch of starry faces battle with some digital terrors. Watch it below:
Among those unlucky enough to find themselves in Brooker’s dystopia are people like Andor’s Ben Bailey Smith, Jackpot’s Awkwafina, Deadpool and Wolverine villain Emma Corrin and The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti.
Read more: Black Mirror season 7 release date revealed as trailer drops
However, it’s the appearance of a lanky, grey-haired cyber geek played Capaldi that caught the attention of many fans online. So who does he play and what secrets is he hiding? Here’s everything we know so far…
Peter Capaldi in Black Mirror season 7: Who does he play?
So far, we don’t know exactly who Capaldi will be playing in Black Mirror season 7. However, the former Doctor Who does give away some clues in the show’s recent trailer.
He’s the first voice we hear as we’re welcomed back into Brooker’s world. By the looks of it, Capaldi will play an aging tech expert who is perhaps a bit of a loner. Judging by his long, greasy-looking grey hair, chunky glasses and ill-fitting overcoat, it looks like he’s more connected to the digital world than the real one.
“They call it mind expanding…,” explains Capaldi’s character in the trailer’s opening seconds. “It alters your neuronal structure. The mind is a computer… suddenly, we’re not just more receptive, you become a receiver.”
“Humans consider artificial life to be somehow less than them…”
While unconfirmed, it sounds like Capaldi’s character will be a visionary of sorts obsessed with a new form of technology that blends human consciousness with digital alterations. He also looks keen to be an early adopter of this new digital frontier and a bit of a human Guinea pig. Later in the trailer, we see him hastily drilling something into the back of his own neck.
Somewhere along the way, it appears that his fondness for an elevated and digitally-altered existence takes precedence over everyday human life. “Humans consider artificial life to be somehow less than them,” explains his character, before we see some more sinister looking snippets of his face.
While plenty of mysteries remain, we don’t have a great feeling about how Capaldi’s role might pan out…
What has he said about the role?
While Capaldi’s character will remain an enigma until Black Mirror season 7 hits Netflix on 10 April, the actor has let some information slip.
During an interview with NME, the Suicide Squad star revealed that we may see a younger version of his role in his Black Mirror episode.
“I’m at an age now where every time I do a job there’s a younger version of me,” he told the outlet in late 2024. “There’s always a scene where the older version talks about the younger version, and then we go back and see the younger version.
“There is an older version of me and a younger version, and we get embroiled with that in a digital…”
It was here where Capaldi decided that perhaps he might be best saving some mysteries for the show itself.
“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say! I don’t care; I’m always given these lists of things you can’t say. And I always go, ‘Well, why are we talking about this in the first place, then?’ But because [this interview] isn’t about [Black Mirror], I haven’t been given a list.”
Does this mean we’ve already seen a younger version of Capaldi’s character in the Black Mirror season 7 trailer? Perhaps. All will be revealed when the show hits the streamer later this year.
