A sequel to Death to 2020, the special features a series of fictional characters discussing US news in 2021, including the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine misinformation and Big Tech.

[6] For the 2021 special, Brooker had a reduced role—a Netflix spokesperson told British Comedy Guide that he was working on other productions for the streaming service.

[12] Screen Rant criticized that the special had a "refusal to talk about cultural events outside of Netflix's domain", with segments about their original productions Bridgerton and Squid Game but omitting other television and film of the year.

[14] Bruce Dessau of Beyond the Joke wrote that Death to 2021 was targeted at an American audience, to a further extent than the previous year's special.

Dessau praised Morgan, Grant and Kayo, and said that pushback to a joke about Prince Philip's death came from people "that [have] clearly not seen a Brooker programme before".