10 Unique TV Episodes That You Must See

The television industry is constantly reinventing itself season after season, with writers and directors trying to break out of their own creative sphere and produce a new iconic trope. Like a silent episode, or an episode which plays out in reverse. And it's the episodes that smash the sphere that stick in your head and are remembered by their fanbase for years after.

When a television show gets stuck in their own formula for so long, it can become a way to switch your brain off. That's why it's such an exciting and rewarding experience to find yourself in the middle of a quiet episode, hit with the sudden realisation that no-ones said a word for twenty minutes. It wakes you up and shakes off a shows creative cobwebs.

In the last decade of TV the how has become almost as important as the what in terms of storytelling. And writers that conjure up a ground-breaking how often become an inspiration for countless others over the years. After all, how many musical-format episodes of television are there these days? And what about episodes that take place in one room.

These kinds of concept breakthroughs are what sets shows apart from the crowd and create a precedent for others to follow.

An episode controlled by the audience.

A concept thought unique to video games for a long time, interactive story-telling is now being explored in the television industry, thanks to Charlie Brooker. And is it any surprise that Black Mirror, the show that focuses on the endless possibilities of technology, is the first to produce such an innovative concept in the mainstream.

Bandersnatch follows a young programmer, Stefan, as he attempts to complete an interactive "choose your own adventure" video game of his own. The story lets you make some decisions for Stefan along the way that alter his path, a format that wouldn't be possible if not for the streaming era where viewers can use their mouse to make these decisions.

The film may not boast as much choice as a video game but the cost and time that goes into live-action productions must have limited Brooker's script. Still, with five separate "main" endings (along with multiple variations of those), Bandersnatch achieved what it set out to. They have shown that interactive-television is possible and will likely inspire many other streaming services to produce similar concepts.