Although Black Mirror’s episodes are standalone stories, they are all part of the same universe, constantly referencing characters and events from other episodes. Very much like viewers, they haven’t forgotten about Michael Callow, the prime minister forced to have sex with a pig in the series’ first episode “The National Anthem”.
Bandersnatch. But the series doesn’t forget its roots, and it has added some subtle hints to the main character in “The National Anthem” in multiple episodes.
Black Mirror universe as well, and he has appeared one way or another in other episodes. In season 3’s “Nosedive”, Lacie’s social media feed features a trending post from Callow that reads “just got thrown out of the zoo again” (no questions asked). In “Shut Up And Dance”, a news headline reads “PM Callow to Divorce”, and in “Hated in the Nation”, Michael Callow is a trending topic on Twitter but never a target of the killer robot bees.
Callow’s name appears again in Smithereens” three times: when a big screen with a social media feed shows a tweet that says “Prime Minister Callow to meet with EU negotiators in Brussels”; when the London office of Smithereen is about to call Penelope Wu in the U.S., the caller scrolls through her s and Callow’s name can be seen very briefly; and when a word cloud of things Chris has posted about is shown and Michael Callow appears in it.
It looks like Michael Callow remained a figure of authority for a while after the events in “The National Anthem”, and became a pop culture figure so big that no matter what he does (like being in Celebrity Bake Off), he will continue to be a trending topic. As the Black Mirror universe keeps growing, their attention to detail is more and more irable, as they continue to add nods to other characters and episodes in very smooth and clever ways.