Lucy McLean (Ella Purnell) in the second season of Fallout
Amazon MGM Studios
New Year is a time of change. In that spirit, I'd like to shake up the preview of the best sci-fi and sci-fi series of 2026 with a radical move: including the series that launched last year. This may seem strange, but the second season Fall out (Amazon Prime Video) didn't air until mid-December, so I guess that makes a difference.
The action takes place in a retrofuturistic USA. Generations of people have lived in radiation-proof bunkers sold to them by the shadowy corporation Vault-Tec. Last season, former vault dweller Lucy (Ella Purnell) traveled to the surface to find her missing father, encountering cowboys and cannibals along the way. Now she sets out on a new quest, accompanied by the Ghoul (Walton Goggins), an irradiated gunslinger with red skin and no nose. What could be more fun?
Be sure to check it out Fall out is just one of many bunker dramas slated to premiere in 2026. The second season will be released on February 23 Paradise (Hulu/Disney+) begins with Sterling K. Brown as Secret Service agent Xavier Collins, who lives in an underground city built to protect the elite from the apocalypse. After solving the assassination of US President Cal Bradford and learning that others survived the cataclysm, he heads to what remains of Chicago in search of his long-lost wife.
We can expect part three later this year Silage (Apple TV+) is perhaps the darkest show on television. Last season ended with a tantalizing hint at what led to the surface world becoming so toxic – stay tuned if you like the dark and conspiratorial series.
Remaining a dystopia, Dream lands (BBC iPlayer) sounds intriguing. The year is 2039, and Chance lives in the British seaside town of Margate. With the world devastated by climate change and inequality rampant, she turns to crime to help her family survive. But when her community becomes part of a government rejuvenation program and Chance falls in love with Frankie, a young woman with ties to the establishment, it becomes clear that something sinister is afoot. Filming wrapped in mid-2025, so it should be released soon.
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IN Star Cityengineers and intelligence officers are working tirelessly to send the first man (Russian) to the moon
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We won't have to wait long for the long-awaited TV version Testaments (Hulu/Disney+), continued The Handmaid's Talealso written by Margaret Atwood. It comes out in April and follows a new generation of young women in the totalitarian theocracy of Gilead. While they train to become submissive wives and mothers of Gilead's elite, they are forced to seek allies in the fight for freedom.
To clear things up, let's see what the sci-fi giants have in store for us. First out of the gate Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Paramount+), the new series will premiere on January 15. The action takes place in the 32nd century. It follows a group of Starfleet cadets as they train to become officers as they navigate friendships, rivalries, and romance. The Gen Z cast appears alongside stars (ahem) like Holly Hunter, Tatiana Maslany and the great Paul Giamatti. I can't wait to see what the young people think. Star Trek similar – sounds like fantastic family viewing. And that's not all: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds should return for its fourth and penultimate season in the first half of the year.
After huge success Andor we can't get enough of live performances in 2025 Star wars this time a series on Disney+. Only the second season Star Wars: Ahsoka seems likely to arrive, although this has not yet been confirmed. In the meantime, we await the return of the former Jedi student. But we can expect more animated adventures. Star Wars: Maul – Lord of Shadows sees the Sith Lord rebuild his crime syndicate a year after Clone Warsand an anime series Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi continues the story of the Jedi Ethan and Kara.
Elsewhere on Disney+ there is a movie with the same title but with less punctuality. VisionQuest rumored to be released at the end of 2026. This Marvel series will see android superhero Vision, resurrected again after the events of the excellent 2021 series WandaVisiontrying to recover my memories. The series will see the return of many Marvel AIs, including the villainous Ultron (James Spader).
Away from the franchise, if you prefer robot drama on a smaller scale, check out Ann Droid (BBC iPlayer), a sitcom from comedian and actress Diana Morgan. She plays Linda, a social robot created as a medical companion for the elderly. The last thing Sue (Sue Johnston) wants is to be forced into a boring assistant, but once she realizes Linda can help her settle some scores, an unlikely friendship is formed. Ann Droid it has a cast of TV legends, so I'll be keeping an eye on it when it comes out sometime in 2026.
When it comes to a robot comedy, there's a good chance a second season killer robot (Apple TV+) will air before the end of the year – we hope.
Another type of artificial intelligence awaits us. Neuromancer (Apple TV+), the upcoming film adaptation of William Gibson's genre-defining cyberpunk novel. After hacker Case (Callum Turner) is caught stealing from his employer, his nervous system is damaged and he is unable to access the immersive virtual reality world of The Matrix. Down on his luck in near-future Tokyo and desperate to get back on the Internet, he is hired to steal a disk containing human consciousness, but Case and mercenary Molly Millions soon find themselves embroiled in a much more elaborate plot.
Neuromancer is one of two cyberpunk series that have not yet been scheduled for release date. Another Blade Runner 2099 (Amazon Prime Video). We know vanishingly little about this highly anticipated series, other than the year in which it is believed to be set, but we do know that Michelle Yeoh will play a replicant named Olwen who is nearing the end of her life.
If you want to see a completely different tech drama, check out these two up-and-coming series: Altruists And Courage. Obviously, neither of them heeded the advice to “drop “it” – it’s cleaner” given in the mother of all technology dramas. Social networkfilm written by Aaron Sorkin.
Altruists (Netflix), expected to release in late 2026, is a limited series dramatizing the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the whirlwind romance between its founder. Sam Bankman-Fried and his partner Caroline Ellison. Courage (AMC), meanwhile, is a completely fictional story set in Silicon Valley. Data mining CEO Duncan (Billy Magnussen) strives to turn his information and influence into profit, but is plagued by power struggles and public scandals. Then there are absolutely no real parallels in this series.
Let's leave Earth for a moment and explore aliens. Here we are faced with a predicament of wealth, but what worries me most is Star City (Apple TV+), a spin-off of the excellent alternate history series. For all mankindwhich will also return for a fifth season in 2026.
While its sister show presents a US perspective on a timeline where the space race never cooled down, Star City will show us the Soviet side of things. Described as a gripping paranoid thriller, the first season will follow the astronauts, engineers and intelligence agents who worked tirelessly to put the first (Russian) man on the moon.
Other space-based events include the return Doctor Who in December and possibly in the second season 3 Body problemAn epic adaptation of Cixin Liu's series of novels about how humanity prepares for an alien invasion 400 years from now.
We have time for one last choice – for those with strong stomachs. IN Beauty (FX/Disney+), FBI agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall) dive into the world of high fashion after supermodels start dying in gruesome ways. A sexually transmitted infection appears to transform normal people into specimens of physical perfection, but with deadly consequences. I can't wait for it to premiere on January 22nd, a popular time for physical reinvention.
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