We didn’t know we had it so good.
Then came the 2010s, the birth of transatlantic co-productions and streaming.
British sci-fi television was no longer the cheaper, shoddier counterpart to its US equivalent.
The age of cheap and cheerful sitcom-adjacent British science fiction was over… almost.
Does it feel like a throwback?
Yes, but in the best way.
Black Mirror (2011)
Stream on: Netflix
Black Mirrormeanwhile, was frightfully forward thinking.
Its opening episode, The National Anthem, might not appear to be science fiction.
Which isnt much,but its weird it happened twice.
FromDennis Kelly, the writer ofMatilda: The Musical,Utopiais, above all, extremely Channel 4.
It is blackly comic, mysterious, and constantly wrong-foots its audience from scene-to-scene and moment-to-moment.
There are a lot of things going on in this series.
It is also surprisingly prescient in terms of how it writes its Synths.
But the opposite is also true.
It is not a series about saving the world or evacuating the human race to safety.
WellsThe War of the Worlds.
There are quite a few films and TV series that even share its title.
Wells own marriage to his cousin.
Until a truly faithful adaptation comes along, this will do.
