Ross in Friends predicted Black Mirror episode 'San Junipero' 16 years before it aired

It seems the US sitcom may have subconsciously inspired Charlie Brooker

While Black Mirror may come from the creative minds of Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, they may have had subconscious help from a rather surprising source - namely Ross Geller in Friends.

It seems the character, played by David Schwimmer, correctly predicted the entire plot of the award-winning season three episode “San Junipero,” a love story between two women - Kelly and Yorkie - who encounter each other through various moments in time in a world that is later revealed to be a computer universe that eternally stores people's thoughts and memories.

Geller recounts this very plot in the sixth season of popular US sitcom Friends which aired in the 1999-2000 television season.

“By the year 2030, there'll be computers that can carry out the same amount of functions as the actual human brain. So, theoretically you could download your thoughts and memories into this computer and live forever as a machine,” he tells Chandler.

“San Junipero,” which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis, won two Emmys last month.

Brooker and Jones both brought Black Mirror to New York's Paleyfest on Friday (4 October) ahead of season four where they revealed why they will never make a sequel to the episode believed by many to be the highlight of the third season.

“We are not doing a "San Junipero" sequel because we want to keep Kelly and Yorkie there,” he said, adding: “And f*ck anyone who says it's not a happy ending.”

You can read our chat with Jones, in which she exclusively detailed each episode from season four, next week.