Over the past few years we’ve been spoiled with a dazzling amount of Star Trek on our screens, but with shows coming to an end, the close of Season 3 of Strange New Worlds leaves us impatiently waiting for more! With a bit of time to go until we see season four, and the next live action show Starfleet Academy coming next year, we need some geeky joys to fill the gap!
Taking a look around at recent sci fi releases, we’ve picked the top five from the year to keep us engaged before our return to the Star Trek Universe in 2026.
Murderbot
Based on the series of books by Martha Wells, Murderbot is stars Alexander Skarsgård as a refurbished security unit who’s hacked his safety protocols to gain free will and horrible at hiding that fact. Assigned to protect a group of explorers on an isolated planet who live a more relaxed and caring lifestyle than he’s witnessed before, Sec Unit struggles through dealing with their day to day drama, emotional probing about his untapped humanity and dealing with a potential corporate plot that will kill everyone which is seriously interrupting his favourite premium quality entertainment.
With short episodes and a fast moving plot, Murderbot is a bit of a hidden gem on Apple TV that feels a little lost in the mix between big budget dramas like Foundation and Invasion, and overshadowed by the popularity of the unique Severance. Yet it’s one of the best sci fi comedies made in a long time.
Foundation
Based loosely on Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, Foundation focuses on psycho-historian Harri Seldon’s prediction that the Galactic Empire, which has held strong for thousands of years, is coming to an end. Told through several era’s through Seldon’s predictions and the challenge of elements beyond his algorithm. Season one sets the stage of the Foundations origins and it’s first crisis, while season two see’s it’s influence reach beyond it’s exile as the Empire struggles to deal with change.
Tweaking the story to include the ‘genetic dynasty’, a rotating trio of clones destined to continue the legacy of Cleon the First, Foundation tells the sci fi version of the fall of the Roman Empire – just with psychic abilities, secret robots, space battles and in the latest season, a mysterious warlord. It’s an epic tale with an impressive cast, huge set pieces and a fascinating story linking it all together.
Alien: Earth
For decades we’ve seen terror in space with humans encountering Alien Xenomorphs and now the franchise is coming home. Two years before John Hurt’s chest would be ripped open during an otherwise relaxed dinner, the USCSS Maginot crash lands on Earth with it’s research and samples let loose. As a team led by Wendy – a human mind in a synthetic form – is sent to investigate and isolate the incident, things go horribly wrong.
Giving a little more insight to the world of the Alien universe, Earth is filled with powerful corporations, advanced experiments linking to the franchises already stuffed lore and bring it all together in a familiar setting. Bringing some much needed originality while clinging firmly to the Alien world, the series has the potential to tell a new story that can revive the Alien franchise by keeping things basic (for now…)
Peacemaker
Following a misfit failed superhero with more firepower than sense, Peacemaker is a follow up series to The Suicide Squad starring wrestler turned actor John Cena in the titular role as a criminal forced to earn his freedom by working with a top secret group. The R Rated series has a lot of blood, gore and lots of naughty words, but is a fun series filled with laughs, surprises and an oddly endearing cast of characters.
Adding Peacemaker may seem a bit of a cheat seeing as it’s a comic book spin off series following The Suicide Squad, but with aliens and interdimensional portals leading the plot, it counts! The second season see’s the Peacemaker Chris Smith struggling with the weight of past mistakes and failed redemption before finding a portal to an alternate world where he’s the hero. Running weekly on NowTV, the second season takes a more sombre tone than the first, but remains an impressive template for DC Studios.
Fallout
Growing up in a vault her ancestors took refuge in two hundred years prior, Lucy ventures out into the wasteland after her father was kidnapped by invading raiders and slowly begins to learn more about the outside world, it’s survivors and the truth behind her safe and comfortable home in Vault 33.
Based on the game series, Fallout brings a new lead and a new vaults history to explore with a live action adaption that’s painstakingly visually accurate to the retro-future world seen in the games while using the backdrop of multiple vaults and cities to find it’s own feet. Through Lucy’s struggles through the violent and chaotic wasteland, hunted by ‘The Ghoul’, the story plays out with background on what led to the nuclear fallout as the reality of the world is uncovered piece by piece.
After a successful first season, Fallout returns this December starring Ella Purnell, Walter Goggins and Aaron Moten as the series heads into the lore of New Vegas for the next chapter.
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