15 TV series about space for fans of science fiction

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

From the legendary Star Trek and Babylon 5 to modern parodies of the classics.

1. Firefly

• USA, 2002-2003.
• Science fiction, space western.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 9, 0.

The action takes place in the distant XXVI century. The Serenity space cargo crew, led by galactic war veteran Malcolm Reynolds, roams the stars in search of adventure. Heroes hide from the law, trade in smuggling and constantly get stuck in dubious stories.

Created by the director of two Avengers films, Joss Whedon, the cult space western Firefly is an example of an undeservedly closed project. Real masters of their craft worked on the series, so the plot turned out to be sincere, the script was exciting, and the characters were well written and well played.

Fans have tried more than once to secure the continuation of the project, but the management of the Fox television channel did not listen to the requests of the viewers. The story has not been revived to this day, but in 2005 Joss Whedon nevertheless shot a full-length feature film "Mission Serenity", which logically ended the series' broken storyline.

2. Doctor Who

• UK, 1963 - present.
• Science fiction, chrono fiction, drama.
• Duration: 38 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 7.

The central character is the mysterious Doctor, an eccentric Time Lord who hides his real name. He once escaped from his home planet Gallifrey in the TARDIS spaceship, which looks like a blue police box. Together with his friends, the hero travels through time and space, meets amazing creatures and visits the most different worlds and eras.

For its more than half a century history, the legendary series "Doctor Who" has not become outdated at all and is still loved by its fans. Perhaps the secret is that the project does not stand still: the appearance of the Doctor and his companions change from season to season.

3. Battlestar Galaktika

• USA, 2004-2009.
• Science fiction, drama.
• Duration: 4 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 7.

The plot tells about the long-term fierce war between humanity and the robotic Cylon. After the Cylons destroy 12 colonial planets, the surviving handful of people are forced to flee on the battleship Galaktika. The only hope of the survivors is to find planet Earth, the legendary thirteenth colony.

It is not so easy to understand the immense universe of "Galaxy", because it has two stages of development: the classic version of 1978 and the modern revived one. Moreover, the new series is one of the rare remakes that surpassed the original.

4. Space

• USA, 2015 - present.
• Science fiction, detective, drama, space opera.
• Duration: 4 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

In the near future, humanity has settled throughout the solar system and is at enmity with each other for influence and resources. Ceresian detective Joseph Miller is tasked with finding the missing daughter of a very powerful man. Meanwhile, unknown assailants are attacking the crew of the cargo ship "Canterbury", and Miller suddenly discovers a connection between the missing girl, the attack on the crew and the Cererian revolutionaries.

The adaptation of the eponymous book cycle by Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank, writing under the pseudonym "James Corey", is a wonderful space fiction mixed with noir. In addition, the series was also filmed at a high technical level: what are the spectacular special effects.

5. Stargate: SG-1

• USA, Canada, 1997-2007.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 10 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

The action takes place a year after the events of the feature film "Stargate" directed and written by Roland Emmerich. In the center of the plot is the SG-1 squad, which studies distant planets and is looking for allies to protect the Earth from the Goa'ulds - a race of intelligent space parasites.

A 10-year television project by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner received critical acclaim and became the starting point for the massive Stargate media franchise. The creators did not skimp on special effects, because of this, the cost of each episode reached 400 thousand dollars. Recommended for all fans of space battles and interstellar travel.

6. Red dwarf

• UK, 1988 - present.
• Science fiction sitcom.
• Duration: 13 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 4.

The series follows the adventures of a junior technician, Dave Lister, stranded on the Red Dwarf starship. By chance, the hero remains the last representative of the human race. Lister's company is Holly's on-board computer, a hologram of the deceased bore and bureaucrat Arnold Rimmer, and a strange humanoid creature named Cat.

The cult comedy series "Red Dwarf" is a kind of hybrid of science fiction and sitcom. Creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor have been childhood friends and love good British humor.

The inspiration for "The Red Dwarf" was the cult film "Dark Star" by John Carpenter, where the main characters were not exemplary heroes without fear and reproach, but ordinary people. Therefore, the crew of the "Dwarf" is a bunch of not the most belligerent guys who still want to empathize, despite their shortcomings.

Today, watching the series is as funny as it was 30 years ago, because the creators parodied the most famous timeless fantastic plots: "Alien", "Robocop", "Blade Runner" and many, many others.

7. Babylon 5

• USA, 1994-1998.
• Space opera, science fiction.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

The series tells the story of the space station Babylon-5, built to maintain peace between stellar civilizations, but eventually became the center of various political intrigues and conflicts.

It is one of the most celebrated sci-fi projects in the space opera genre and a source of inspiration for the creators of Mass Effect. The series "Babylon 5" lasted five seasons, the most successful of which were the first three, and closed, unable to withstand the competition with "Stargate".

8. Far away in the universe

• Australia, USA, 1999-2003.
• Space fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 4 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 3.

During the experiment started by earth scientist John Crichton, something goes wrong. The hero finds himself at the other end of the universe, and even at the epicenter of hostilities. Crichton will lead a gang of bizarre alien creatures - runaway prisoners, who are pursued on the heels of the hostile militaristic Sebatian race.

The creators wanted to release a series similar to the popular Star Trek and Babylon 5 franchises, but at the same time different from them. “Far in the Universe” is a truly non-standard project. For example, several episodes even feature magic, which is very atypical for the genre of space fiction.

9. Orville

• USA, 2017 - present.
• Science fiction, sitcom, comedy, drama.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

The series tells about the everyday life of the crew of the research ship "Orville", headed by the cheerful captain Ed Moorser and his ex-wife. The team plows the vastness of space in search of new planets and intelligent races to exchange technology, every now and then getting into ridiculous situations.

Orville was created by Seth McFarlane, famous author of Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, and The Odd Three. Initially, the series was positioned as a parody of all kinds of space operas like "Star Trek" or "Babylon 5". But in the end it turned out to be a rather deep story about human relationships.

10. Black matter

• Canada 2015-2017.
• Space opera, science fiction.
• Duration: 3 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Six strangers wake up on an abandoned ship in space, but have no idea who they are. Trying to figure out what happened, the heroes learn that five of them are the most wanted space pirates in the galaxy.

Based on the comics of the same name, Dark Matter was shut down after season three, despite a strong fan base and good ratings. The series can be recommended to everyone who loves good dramas: the writers managed to build extremely interesting relationships between seemingly rather trivial characters.

11. Lexx

• Canada, Germany, Great Britain, 1997-2002.
• Science fiction, black comedy, drama.
• Duration: 4 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The events of the series revolve around the renegades living inside the huge living and sentient starship "Lexx". The main characters travel through space, hoping to find a new home.

"Lexx" is a very non-standard combo of genres. It's a wicked, utterly insane, surreal series full of black humor. But the main thing for which fans love him is the boundless imagination with which he was invented and filmed.

12. Star Trek: Discovery

• USA, 2017 - present.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The action takes place 10 years before the events of the very first series in the world of "Star Trek". The crew of the Shen Zhou ship sets out on a space journey to discover new civilizations. The team soon encounters the proud and warlike race of the Klingons and finds themselves on the verge of a global war.

The series "Star Trek: Discovery" is a controversial attempt to bring the legendary media franchise back to life after a long hiatus. It is worth noting that the revived universe of Kirk, Spock and Picard has become much darker than in the original.

13. Lost in Space

• USA, 2018 - present.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Starship J2 crashes light-years from its intended destination. The passengers of the ship - the Robinson family - are forced to fight for life on an inhospitable planet.

Lost in Space was conceived as a remake of the 1965 series of the same name. At the same time, the creators of the project, Matt Sazama and Burke Sharpless, rethought the history of space robinsons in a modern spirit. Now the tone of the whole series is set by a strong-willed woman - engineer Maureen Robinson, always ready to protect her family from numerous dangers.

14. Ascension

• USA, 2014.
• Science fiction, space opera, drama, detective.
• Duration: 1 season.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The story unfolds on a giant spaceship heading for the distant star Proxima Centauri to found a new home for humanity. While trying to investigate the mysterious murder of a young woman, the crew members begin to realize that the true purpose of their mission has nothing to do with what they believed in.

The six-part technotriller "Ascension" is based on an interesting idea of how civilization would develop in an alternative history. But the best part of the series is visual, because the characters seem to be frozen in time and live surrounded by the aesthetics of the fifties.

15. Highlights

• Canada 2015 - present.
• Science fiction, drama, adventure.
• Duration: 5 seasons.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The distant planetary system Quadro lives according to the rules of a rigid caste hierarchy. Poor people live on the planet Westerly, in an ecological disaster. The wealthy, on the other hand, spend their time serenely on the heavenly planet Crash and run the company, a trade and military organization, for which all other inhabitants of the system work.

Space cops John and Dutch work for the Correctional Detention Alliance, created to control the population. Once John receives a warrant for the murder of his own brother D'avin, after which the life of the heroes changes abruptly.