Charlie Brooker Reveals Boris Johnson Was His Muse For 'Anti-Politics Celebrity' Black Mirror Waldo

The Blue Bear meets the Blonde Bombshell.
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Boris Johnson
Matt Cardy via Getty Images

Charlie Brooker has revealed he based a satirical politician in an episode of ‘Black Mirror’ on Boris Johnson. 

The comedian and broadcaster said Johnson was the muse for a cartoon blue bear who ran for office as the “anti-politics celebrity” in one of his shows. 

The bear features in ‘The Waldo Moment’, an episode of the dark-humoured series which also imagines a fictitious prime minster having sex with a pig. 

Waldo is the creation of character Jamie Salter - a failed comedian who performs the cartoon’s voice and movements.

The bear becomes a huge hit with the British public and goes on to stand in a parliamentary by-election. 

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Waldo the Blue Bear
Channel 4

One political opponent of Waldo’s quips during the episode: “If that thing is the main opposition then the whole system looks absurd.”

But speaking on Tuesday night, Brooker revealed that the now foreign secretary was his muse.

“We did a Black Mirror episode about a comedian who controls a cartoon bear who runs for office after it becomes an anti-politics celebrity,” Brooker explained on Newsnight.

“That was loosely based on Boris Johnson in a way, because he became a figure through appearing on Have I Got News For You and becoming a buffoon.”

Brooker also recently told Vulture: “He was one of the guys behind Brexit and also quite a clown.

“He appeared on comedy-panel shows here in the UK and was known as a sort of an oaf — which inoculated him from criticism, weirdly.”

Watch a trailer for the episode featuring Waldo below: