Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones answer Guardian readers’ questions about Doctor Who, James Bond – and what gives them nightmares

Whose TV writing do you admire?

Barbara, Beckenham

Charlie Brooker: Recently, anyone and everyone who hammered out words for Succession, Catastrophe, Inside No 9, Fleabag, Better Call Saul, Russian Doll, I Think You Should Leave, Derry Girls, Back to Life, Blood, A Very English Scandal … I mean I could go on. I bet Years and Years is really good too; I’ll probably be too jealous to watch it.

Annabel Jones: I’d add Mum to that list. The writing is small, beautiful, funny and painfully poignant.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Great words … Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney in Catastrophe, which they also write. Photograph: Channel 4

Casting cult game designer Jeff Minter as the troubled Jerome F Davies in Bandersnatch was a masterstroke. Whose bright idea was that?

Niall, Dublin

CB: David Slade felt Jerome F Davies should be played by someone with real-life significance. Annabel remembered Jeff Minter from his appearance in a games documentary we made back in 2013, which was such a good suggestion I soon came to believe it had been my idea, and have subsequently been going round telling people it was, until about 10 minutes ago when she reminded me that she said it first. The episode as a whole is a love letter to the early-80s UK computer game scene, so it felt right to have someone of Jeff’s stature in the role. He’s still going strong, creating idiosyncratic, psychedelic titles like Polybius – itself based on a mythical game that may or may not exist.

AJ: And that is an insight into how the series is made. Joke!!!

Hi, Please can you make a Nathan Barley/Black Mirror. It would be well Mexico, yeah?!

Joe, St Albans

CB: Keep your eyes peeled (not literally, that’d sting) and you might spot a Nathan Barley Easter egg in the new season. That is well Jackson.

Did you stop doing the End-of-Year Wipe because Netflix didn’t want you offending Trump voters?

Jason, California

CB: No, I stopped because there wasn’t enough news happening. I mean there’s literally nothing going on in the world right now. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve stopped the Wipes. I like to think of them as “paused”. I’m not doing one this year because Black Mirror takes so much time, but at some point in the future I might return to the desk – assuming that: a) the BBC haven’t replaced it with Some Fucker Off YouTube’s 2020 Wipe by then, and b) civilisation as we know it still exists.

What’s your favourite Pixar film?

Holly, Liverpool

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Wall-E is a big Black Mirror influence, particularly for the episode 15 Million Merits Photograph: c.W.Disney/Everett / Rex Feature

CB: Wall-E. In fact, Black Mirror in general and the episode 15 Million Merits in particular, owes Wall-E quite a debt. It’s also pretty much the only Pixar movie that doesn’t open with a devastating emotional body blow in the first 10 minutes (unlike, say, Finding Nemo or Up).

AJ: So the creator of Black Mirror is saying he likes Wall-E because it doesn’t have a devastatingly bleak opening?! I also like Toy Story. When we started developing USS Callister, its working title was Toy Story for Adults, but I think Netflix was worried we were making a porn movie so we changed it.

Do you think you could knock out a child-friendly animated episode of Black Mirror?

Ruth, Derry

CB: Yes – in fact one day, I hope to achieve just this, if only in the vain hope it might stop my own children from watching YouTube videos of people unboxing presents or filling swimming pools with ping-pong balls or whatever the fuck else it is they’re gawping at right now.

AJ: It’s not animated, but The National Anthem was like Peppa Pig meets Black Mirror.

What video games do you recommend at the moment?

Emily Walters, England

CB: Like a slowpoke I’ve only just got into Katamari Damacy which has just been remastered for the Nintendo Switch. I’d also recommend Baba Is You, which is the most original puzzle game I’ve seen in ages. Being a tragic old man, I’ve also been getting into emulation, thanks to things like Retroarch and Launchbox.

AJ: I’ve just got into Pong. It’s really quite progressive.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Original … Baba is You

Have you ever considered writing a historical period piece for the series?

Kevin James Kirby, California

CB: Yes – that’s (in part) how San Junipero and Bandersnatch came about, from a desire to create a period episode. I’m not a huge fan of “traditional” costume drama because I find it impossible to give a shit about anyone who wears a ruff. You could disembowel them in front of me and I’d scarcely even shrug.

AJ: Even if it’s Danny Dyer?

What happens to the ideas/story concepts that are never made into a show?

Jonathan, Canada

CB: We sell them to Samsung.

Has technology such as cellphones and video games limited our social development?

Sunny Chopra, Canada

CB: No. If someone spends a lot of time staring at their phone it’s because it strikes them as more interesting than their immediate reality. Can’t blame them for that. Social media is like a superpower which we’re still figuring out how to use, hence the current clumsy period of adjustment which is doing hilarious things like upending democracy. And all video games are brilliant, even the terrible ones. Technology is fantastic, but learning to use it, and how not to misuse it, is hard. That’s all.

AJ: Wait, what? What did you say?

What’s your biggest fear to do with technology, and your most anticipated advancement?

Alexandra Jenkinson, London

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Driverless cars could finally put an end to any chance of Charlie Brooker taking his driving test again. Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

CB: Right now? Big fears: a far-right misinformation campaign that spreads fake but entirely photorealistic AI-generated video propaganda like wildfire; and intelligent toilets that analyse your shit and make a swallowing sound instead of a flush noise. Anticipated advancement: driverless cars. I never passed my driving test and now I’m not sure it’s worth me bothering.

AJ: I’ve been vegetarian nearly all my life so I’m delighted that plant-based meats like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are entering the mainstream. They generate significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than burgers made from a cow and are going to be instrumental in preserving the planet. My biggest fear in technology is that the robots aren’t going to like the taste of Impossible burgers.

Are there any secret codes you can enter into the phone on Bandersnatch?

Jean Labuschagne, South Africa

CB: Sadly not – I genuinely wanted to make it so if you entered 999, Stefan rang the police … and if you dialled 911, he rang the American police. But we didn’t have time.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Daniel Kaluuya … the next Bond? Photograph: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Fancy writing the next Bond film? I reckon you could take him into some pretty dark areas of his psyche. Who would you get to play him or her?

Dave Phillips, Nottingham

CB: Oddly enough I do have an idea for a Bond movie, but I’m not going to tell you what it is in case they fire Phoebe Waller-Bridge (which they won’t) and then hire me (which they also won’t). And I’d cast Daniel Kaluuya, Will Poulter or Julian Barratt as Bond.

AJ: You sexist pig! You mean you absolutely wouldn’t cast a woman? You’re saying that Bond would be ruined if they cast a woman? Wow, that’s a real disappointment Brooker.

CB: What makes you assume the people I mentioned identify as male? Now who’s the narrow-minded pig?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest … or maybe Julian Barratt? Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Why did you decide to give the newer series happy endings, removing the bleakness that is Black Mirror’s key difference to other series and films (and for me its central appeal)?

Sean, London

CB: To annoy you, and you alone. No, actually – we still have plenty of less-than-happy endings, eg Metalhead to pick one random example. We’ve just mixed it up a bit to keep things interesting for us. If you want to turn a happy ending into an unhappy one, simply flip to any news channel the moment the credits roll.

AJ: It’s not just more interesting to us, but hopefully more interesting for the viewer. If every episode had a bleak, nihilistic ending the series would be very predictable. Surely one of the delights of an anthology is not knowing what you’re going to get.

From all the shows you have written, which scenario can you imagine being the most likely to occur in real life?

Matt, Bourne

CB: The National Anthem.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Black Mirror: The National Anthem. Photograph: Channel 4

What do you think is most important to think about when writing and developing a character?

Magnus Solhaug, Norway

CB: I honestly don’t know. You just kind of picture someone and start imagining what they’d do. This sounds unbelievably trite, but coming up with a name is an important first step. Somehow, the moment I’d thought of the names “Yorkie” or “Colin Ritman”, I had a sense of who they were. I really can’t explain why. Get a name that fits and you start hearing how they might speak. Then you cast an actor in your mind’s eye and start describing the film you’re imagining they’re in. And don’t just write dialogue – spend a lot of time describing what they’re looking at, how they’re reacting non-verbally to things.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who. Charlie Brooker has been asked to write an episode. Photograph: Simon Ridgeway/BBC

Would you consider taking over the helm or at least writing Doctor Who?

Colin Hill, Lake District

CB: They have asked me to do a Doctor Who, and I even have an idea that might be right for it – I’ve just been too busy, annoyingly. I’d be very nervous, mind.

Is there an episode that keeps you up at night or gives you nightmares?

Harold, Seattle

AJ: Any episode that’s still in production.