Pop princess Ashley O releases a new line of AI assistants, the Ashley Too, to let her fans experience even more of her motivational support and wisdom.

After two dark instalments, Charlie Brooker’s fifth season of his anthology series ends with a lighter adventure, even if its topic is still fairly grim. Miley Cyrus is very good as Ashley, playing both the indestructible public persona and the troubled real-life person who is being controlled by her scheming aunt. It’s a fairly well-known story, the successful artist being manipulated those behind the scenes, but what’s far more sinister here is the continual drugging of Ashley and then putting her in a coma.

Angourice Rice (Betty in Spider-Man: Homecoming) plays Ashley’s number one fan, thrilled to be getting an Ashley Too for her 15th birthday. She doesn’t get on with her sister (they’ve never recovered following the death of their mother) but they eventually bond when it comes to saving Ashley, held captive in her own mansion.

The tech here is as exaggerated as it has got this season, Ashley’s entire consciousness is released into the mini robot assistant and becomes sentient. There’s also the ability to use this downloaded consciousness to extract new songs from her dreams and create a new record, complete with dancing, scalable projection. It’s all far-fetched, but there’s a certain 1980s teenage caper quality to it, and it’s never less than fun.

Verdict: Ignoring the swearing, this is the most PG-13 that Black Mirror gets. Miley’s performance will ensure a certain demographic’s tuning in, and those of us who only know her from straddling a wrecking ball or as a young Hannah Montana, will give her credit for a good performance. You wouldn’t want every Black Mirror to feel this safe and mainstream, but ultimately we get what Charlie gives us. 7/10

Nick Joy