GOD laughs at those who make plans. The same could be said of those who write television previews. Last December, I blithely enthused about the 2023 arrival of , and the second series of , none of which ultimately materialised. This year’s Hollywood strikes, needlessly drawn out by those seeking to deny writers and actors a fair shake, delayed TV production for months and put paid to those already quixotic predictions.
Chastened but undeterred, I am trying again for 2024 – and I am delighted to say that at least two of those series will air in the coming year. 3 Body Problem, the first English-language adaptation of Cixin Liu’s towering sci-fi novel, is set to arrive on Netflix in March. This era-spanning alternate history, which begins during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, sees humanity make contact with an alien civilisation in an unstable triple-star system.
And in April, Amazon Prime Video’s long-awaited Fallout series finally arrives. I was happy to learn that, while the show is inspired by the popular video game franchise of the same name – where a retro-futuristic society is nuked into near oblivion and survivors traverse a ghoul-infested wasteland – it tells a new story.
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As for the return of Severance, a sci-fi thriller on Apple TV+ about a company separating its workers’ memories of their personal and professional lives, we have no ETA. But I am hopeful that the second season will arrive in 2024 and live up to the show so far, which was one of the two best of 2022.
The other? For me, it was , a Star Wars series about a thief being gradually radicalised into fighting the Empire. The first season was a stunningly realised look at ordinary people’s lives in fascist states, so ambitious and unlike anything in this franchise that it blew expectations out of the water. The second (final) season airs on Disney+ in August: prepare for heartbreak and high stakes.
That’s a lot of sci-fi, so let’s take a detour. Netflix is adding to its natural history catalogue with . Even more exciting is a 10-part nature documentary from BBC Studios Natural History Unit, set to arrive in the first half of 2024. Narrated by Tom Hanks and with a score by Hans Zimmer, will explore the fragile ecosystems of Earth’s largest landmass.
As a devotee of gritty British dramas, I must mention a few. , due on Channel 4 on , sees two childhood sweethearts, in their 70s, reunite at a wake at which the mourners agree to help each other die with dignity when the time is right.
Jack Thorne, the mind behind this year’s staggering medical drama Best Interests, has written a series for Netflix about one of the UK’s biggest toxic waste scandals. follows three women fighting for justice in the town of Corby. Rounding out this trio, ITV’s has a fascinating premise: two couples learn that their sons were swapped at birth and must consider whether to reclaim their biological children.
Fancy something lighter? From the great Sally Wainwright comes , a BBC series about five women who form a punk band to finally express their thoughts on life, love and the menopause. And Netflix’s , based on a 14th-century collection of short stories, is a soapy dramedy about fleeing the Black Death of 1348. Neither has an official air date, so perhaps I still haven’t learned last year’s lesson.
Bethan also recommends…
Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin
Netflix
Every so often, I become desperate to recommend a show that has no link to science whatsoever – when better to do so than in the dog days of the year? This surreal sketch show is the funniest thing on television.
Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan
Amazon Prime Video
Another non-science hit from 2023, this is a black comedy about the discovery of a body in a sleepy Tasmanian town. Deadloch’s citizens are a riot – and the case is pleasingly knotty.
Bethan Ackerley is a subeditor at ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ. She loves sci-fi, sitcoms and anything spooky. She is still upset about the ending of Game of Thrones. Follow her on Twitter @‌inkerley
