"Hang the DJ" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of the British anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by Tim Van Patten. The episode first aired on Netflix, along with the rest of series four, on 29 December 2017. It follows Amy (Georgina Campbell) and Frank (Joe Cole), who are matched into relationships for fixed lengths of time by an algorithm that eventually determines their life-long partner.
The episode was inspired by the streaming service Spotify, as Brooker considered a system which gives people "playlists" of relationships. The production designer Joel Collins's visit to an expensive holiday area became the basis for the setting, while the simulation ending and app display had to be simplified and reworked to avoid audience confusion.
Critics drew parallels between the episode and online dating through apps such as Tinder, and made comparisons to the series three episode "San Junipero", among other works. The episode received positive reception according to Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for three British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs), but critics wrote mixed comments about the storyline and the final twist, though were mostly favourable towards the characters of Frank and Amy.
Plot
Frank (Joe Cole) and Amy (Georgina Campbell) use a circular device called "Coach" that matches them with partners for fixed periods of time. They are matched together for 12 hours. Despite initial nerves, they quickly get on and regret not having sex as they part. Coach (voice of Gina Bramhill) tells them the system monitors each relationship to assign them a lifelong partner on "pairing day", with a success rate of 99.8%.
Frank's next match Nicola (Gwyneth Keyworth) immediately disdains him, but they are paired for a year. Meanwhile, Amy finds her nine-month match Lenny (George Blagden) attractive. Amy and Frank meet again, at an event where a couple talk about their successful pairing. Amy begins to find Lenny's mannerisms tiresome, particularly his heavy exhalations. After the relationship ends, she is repeatedly matched with people for 36 hours; having sex with each match, she begins to dissociate over the matches' pointlessness.
After Frank's match ends, he and Amy are matched again and they agree not to check the time length, to avoid preconceptions. They enjoy having sex for the first time and talk about how the system might work. One night, Frank checks the expiry date. It initially says five years but recalibrates, as Frank's betrayal of their agreement has destabilised it, until it reads 20 hours. Frank is distracted the next day as Amy notices every pebble she skips hits the water four times; he admits what has happened with an hour remaining. She is furious and he is heartbroken.
They continue matches to no avail. The evening before Amy's pairing day, she chooses Frank for her one permitted farewell session before skipping Coach across a swimming pool. At dinner with Frank, whose pairing day is also tomorrow, she encourages him to leave with her. Recognising that neither of them have memories prior to the system, she thinks the world is a test and they must rebel. A man with a taser approaches; Amy touches the taser and it stops working, and the people in the restaurant freeze. Frank and Amy run and scale a wall that separates the outside world. The world is revealed to be one of 1000 simulated realities constructed around Frank and Amy—in 998 of the simulations, they rebelled to be together. In the real world, Amy's dating application says Frank is a 99.8% match and they make eye contact for the first time across a bar, as "Panic" by the Smiths plays.
Production
Whilst series one and two of Black Mirror were shown on Channel 4 in the UK, in September 2015 Netflix commissioned the series for 12 episodes, and in March 2016 it outbid Channel 4 for the rights to distribute the series in the UK, with a bid of $40 million. The 12-episode order was divided into two series of six episodes each, with "Hang the DJ" in the latter group. The six episodes in series four were released on Netflix simultaneously on 29 December 2017. "Hang the DJ" is listed as the fourth episode, but as Black Mirror is an anthology series, each instalment can be watched in any order.