Sci-fi

Sixty years ago this November, a day after the assassination of John F Kennedy, William Hartnell stepped out of the Tardis and into the Stone Age in the very first Doctor Who story, An Unearthly Child.

Ratings were disappointing for a Saturday tea-time slot; the BBC’s new sci-fi show attracted an average audience of 6 million over its four-part run. Reviews were mixed, too: “There was little to thrill [and the] wigs and furry pelts and clubs were all ludicrous,” sniffed The Guardian.

Going boldly where no woman has gone before, Sky’s new drama Intergalactic follows the exploits of a group of female prisoners who commandeer their penal transport to escape to the free world of Arcadia. 

But their journey is made trickier as one of the convicts is Ash Harper (played by Savannah Steyn), the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Commonworld’s establishment. With Ash imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit, her own quest is the search for the truth. Imagine Orange Is the New Black, but set in space. 

Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the sci-fi cartoon follows scientist and intergalactic felon, Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland), who drags his grandson, Morty Smith (Roiland), on a series of insane adventures across the galaxy.

Fans of the show predict the new series will see Sanchez and Smith at odds with Smith’s tyrannical counterpart, Evil Morty (Roiland), alongside a deadly reunion between Sanchez and his lifetime friend turned enemy, Phoenixperson (Harmon).

Intergalactic is set in the future where the population of Earth is governed by a global authority, the Commonworld.

The sci-fi series follows spacecraft pilot and rookie cop Ash (Steyn), who’s rising career gets cut short when she is imprisoned for a false crime. Ash will be at the centre of a high-security breakout that will see a gang of female prisoners pursue freedom across the stars.

Man With A Plan

Friends star Matt LeBlanc plays Adam, a father who is new to being a stay-at-home parent and quickly learns that parenting is far more demanding than he expected.

When his wife Andi (Liza Snyder) returns to work, Adam tries to keep the house in order but when his three children prove to be anything but little angels, he finds out he has his work cut out.

The three-part drama series, adapted by Peter Harness (Wallander, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell) and directed by Craig Viveiros (Rillington Place), will star Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Rupert Graves (Sherlock).

The eerie trailer begins with the four childhood friends Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Will (Noah Schnapp) playing innocently on an arcade game.

The atmosphere quickly changes as Will Byers is momentarily transported back into the dark Upside Down world and faced with a much bigger threat than the terrifying Demogorgon. 

From writing about what happens in a fictional five star luxury hotel to artificial intelligence, Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley have had a successful career in British television writing.

In 2009 the pair received their first drama credit for BBC One's Hotel Babylon. 

A year later they began writing episodes for BAFTA winning Spooks (MI-5) and soon became the programme’s leading writers.

Now they are the writers of sci-fi Channel 4 show Humans, which explores the presence of synths (human-like-robots) in people’s homes. 

The dystopian Channel 4 drama Humans has been recommissioned for a second series.

The show is set in an alternative present where Synths – robotic servants who eerily resemble humans – are a must-have household gadget. Over eight episodes, the science fiction drama has explored the consequences of artificial intelligence.

Humans has been the highest rated Channel 4 original drama in over 20 years with its debut launch in June garnering an audience total of 6.1 million.

Sci-fi series Humans was recently announced as Channel 4’s most successful original drama after securing 4 million viewers for its Sunday night pilot. The genre has continued to shock, excite and amaze in equal measures but which shows have gone down in UK history as the most watched? Take a look at our selection…