Series

The logo from the original series of the The Twilight Zone.
The original Twilight Zone series ran on television from 1959 to 1964.

Much like the contemporary hit Black Mirror, Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone might be considered the original TV show to explore the idea of dystopia, as many of the individual episodes were set in realities with strong and frightening dystopian tendencies.

Perhaps the term “TV show” has become an anachronism. Many people today talk about “long-form television series,” but even that seems outdated since much of them are not watched on TVs. The list on this page includes shows originally produced for network television and shows produced specifically for streaming services. Some were developed to run for multiple seasons, as we call them in the US, while others were developed as mini-series, essential a show with only one season.

This list is also unique in that many of the entries are titles that were based on titles from other formats first: movies, books, and games.

  • Alice in Borderland (Netflix, 2020-present)
  • Altered Carbon (Netflix, 2018-2020)
  • Amerika (ABC, 1987)
  • Attack on Titan (Adult Swim, 2013-present)
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender (Nickelodeon, 2005-2008)
  • The Barrier (Netflix, 2020)
  • Blake’s 7 (BBC, 1978-1981)
  • Blood Drive (SyFy, 2017)
  • Brave New World (Peacock, 2020)
  • Charlie Jade (Space, 2005)
  • Childhood’s End (SyFy, 2015)
  • Cleverman (SundanceTV, 2016-2017)
  • Cold Lazarus (Channel 4, 1996)
  • Colony (USA Network, 2016-2018)
  • Comrade Dad (BBC, 1984-1986)
  • Continuum (Showcase, 2012-2015)
  • DMZ (HBO, 2022)
  • Electric Dreams (Channel 4, 2017)
  • Freedom (UPN, 2000)
  • Ghoul (Netflix, 2018)
  • The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu, 2017)
  • Incorporated (SyFy, 2016-2017)
  • Into the Badlands (AMC, 2015-2019)
  • Knights of God (ITV, 1987)
  • The Leftovers (HBO, 2014-2017)
  • Leila (Netflix, 2019)
  • The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime, 2015-2019)
  • 1983 (Netflix, 2018)
  • 1990 (BBC, 1977-1978)
  • The 100 (CW, 2014-2020)
  • The Purge (USA, 2018-2019)
  • Raised by Wolves (HBO, 2020-2022)
  • Snowpiercer (TNT, 2020-2022)
  • SS-GB (BBC, 2017)
  • 3% (Netflix, 2016-2020)
  • Ultraseven X (TOKU, 2007)
  • Utopia Falls (Hulu, 2020)
  • Watchmen (HBO, 2019)
  • Westworld (HBO, 2016-2022)

The Channel 4 series Black Mirror, like its predecessor The Twilight Zone, is an anthology series, so each episode can be treated as its own unique take on the question of dystopia.

  • S1E1: “The National Anthem” (2011)
  • S1E2: “Fifteen Million Merits” (2011)
  • S1E3: “The Entire History of You” (2011)
  • S2E1: “Be Right Back” (2013)
  • S2E2: “White Bear” (2013)
  • S2E3: “The Waldo Moment” (2013)
  • Special: “White Christmas” (2014)
  • S3E1: “Nosedive” (2016)
  • S3E2: “Playtest” (2016)
  • S3E3: “Shut Up and Dance” (2016)
  • S3E4: “San Junipero” (2016)
  • S3E5: “Men Against Fire” (2016)
  • S3E6: “Hated in the Nation” (2016)
  • S4E1: “USS Callister” (2017)
  • S4E2: “Arkangel” (2017)
  • S4E3: “Crocodile” (2017)
  • S4E4: “Hang the DJ” (2017)
  • S4E5: “Metalhead” (2017)
  • S4E6: “Black Museum” (2017)
  • S5E1: “Striking Vipers” (2019)
  • S5E2: “Smithereens” (2019)
  • S5E3: “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” (2019)
  • S6E1: “Joan Is Awful” (2023)
  • S6E2: “Loch Henry” (2023)
  • S6E3: “Beyond the Sea” (2023)
  • S6E4: “Mazey Day” (2023)
  • S6E5: “Demon 79” (2023)

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