BINGE WATCHES More great series to catch before the emergence from lockdown means sitting at home watching TV all day is no longer an option
THE WHEEL OF TIME Amazon Prime, 1 Series
Amazon have taken note of Sky Atlantic’s hugely successful Game of Thrones and opted to produce a lavish sci-fantasy epic of their own, based on the series of novels by Robert Jordan. Many of the backdrops and surroundings will look familiar to fans of that series and indeed Lord of the Rings, with similar themes of an impending all-out war and long quests to beef out the minor characters. Rosamund Pike leads the cast as a member of an all-female coven who protect the world, guiding a band of young men and women across dangerous lands, and both Michael McElhatton and Maria Doyle Kennedy make up the obligatory Irish contingent of supporting actors. The novels span 14 books, so expect this to either run and run, or crash and burn, but either way it will be interesting to see how it takes over the swords and sorcery mantle from its George R.R. Martin-penned predecessor.
INVASION Amazon Prime, Apple TV, 1 Series Apple has really thrown a lot of money into appealing to sci-fi fans, with several big-name productions on the way. One of the first is this much-anticipated and big-budget ten-part series that weaves together the experiences of several people in different countries around the world as Earth is invaded by aliens. Most notably, Sam Neill plays an American sheriff, while other characters include a Syrian family in New York, a US marine in Afghanistan, and mission control at a Japanese space program facility, all of whom witness a series of inexplicable and seemingly unrelated events that gradually reveal the bigger picture, and bigger questions about humanity. Previews have revealed very little, so be prepared for anything.
HUMANS All 4, Netflix, 3 Series
Hot on the heels of the superb Ex Machina film, in 2015 Channel 4 brought us this eerie drama about artificially intelligent robots called ‘synths’ that have become an everyday helpful feature of our modern world, and important members of our family makeup: until they no longer want to be. It deals intelligently with many major sci-fi themes such as human-robot interaction and the laws of robotics, but it also focuses on the social, cultural and psychological impact of a relationship with androids so like us that we struggle to understand what being human means, or who even is one. The story expands into socio-political areas in its last season, and though it was subsequently cancelled, it remains one of the most critically-acclaimed series ever on Channel 4.
FIRECALL WINTER
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