--- ---  # Did Karl Pilkington Predict These Wild _Black Mirror_ Plotlines? by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 2, 2018 4:34 PM UTC  From left: Anjana Vasan, Janie Booth, and Paapa Essiedu in Black Mirror season 6 From left: Anjana Vasan, Janie Booth, and Paapa Essiedu in Black Mirror season 6Nick Wall—Netflix by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 2, 2018 4:34 PM UTC **Warning**: If you haven’t watched the fourth season of [_Black Mirror_](http://time.com/5048852/black-mirror-season-4-review/?iid=sr-link1), there are some light spoilers ahead. _The_ _Ricky Gervais Show_ regular Karl Pilkington might have predicted stories from the latest season of _Black Mirror_? Viewers noticed the similarities between Pilkington’s wild ideas and two plotlines that show up in the _Black Mirror_ episode “Black Museum,” which combines several mini stories into one hour-long show. To highlight the similarities, a fan helpfully put together a YouTube video combining clips from [_Black Mirror_](http://time.com/3449069/jon-hamm-black-mirror/?iid=sr-link8) with Pilkington’s explanation. One of the stories involves a grieving husband who has his wife’s consciousness transferred into his own head. It’s a wild idea, made even wilder by the fact that Pilkington pitched something similar to Ricky Gervais back in 2007\. [According to _Metro_](http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/30/karl-pilkington-predict-two-stories-black-mirror-season-4-7192873/?ito=cbshare), Pilkington’s film idea was called _The Love Of Two Brains_ and involved a wife agreeing to add a her husband’s mind to her own. While the [_Black Mirror_](http://time.com/4529439/sci-fi-evolves-into-disturbing-reality-in-black-mirror-and-westworld/?iid=sr-link10) premise gets much darker than what Pilkington discussed, it’s certainly a similar idea. That’s not the only similarity, though. Another mini-story involves a doctor who has a device implanted into his brain that allows him to feel the symptoms of patients wearing a headset. Pilkington mentioned a similar idea in the 2008 audiobook _The Ricky Gervais Guide To… Medicine_, which was later recreated on _The Ricky Gervais Show._[In the clip](https://youtu.be/OT0l1io7ZYQ), Pilkington called his invention the “doctor machine” and said it would transfer symptoms between patient and doctor for diagnostic purposes. Of course, the idea isn’t wholly new. As [_Heavy_ notes](http://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/12/penn-jilette-pain-addict-black-mirror-museum-buy/), Black Mirror credits magician Penn Jillette’s short story called [_Pain Addict_](http://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/12/penn-jilette-pain-addict-black-mirror-museum-buy/) as inspiration for the segment. The story was based on Jillette’s time in a hospital where a language gap made him yearn for a device that could make his doctor understand his symptoms. 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