Sky Arts’ fascinating Wonderland factual TV series returns this April with an all-new four part exploration of science fiction beginning April 3, 2025 at 20:00 GMT.
Science fiction has commented on the very best and the very worst of humanity – but how did it predict so much? From the earliest stories to modern voices of the genre, this is the ultimate celebration of science fiction and the events that shaped it.
Watch the series trailer in the player below:
Produced and directed by Odyssey Television’s Adrian Munsey (Wonderland, The Story of Christmas and Gothic) this stunning new TV series looks at everything from the creation of the atomic bomb by Robert Oppenheimer and others, the Cold War, and the development of science fiction expression in all media, including film, literature, and plays.
Examining the work of authors such as H.G. Wells, Ursula le Guin, Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut, J.G. Ballard, and Arthur C. Clarke, the series also explores Kim Stanley Robinson’s masterpiece, The Ministry for the Future, about the consequences of climate change and how the world can work to prevent further disasters.
Richly illustrated and with a specially written orchestral score by Odyssey Television’s Munsey, Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age is a powerful series which will inspire, shock, engage and entertain, with its evocative description of visions of the future expressed in the greatest works of science fiction.
Sci-fi fans will marvel at the show’s cinematic insights including Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to classic British TV such as Doctor Who and The Quatermass Experiment.
The series explores Stanley Kubrick’s work, surely one of the greatest film directors of science fiction. After Kubrick’s death, the 30-year project planned by Kubrick became A.I, directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg’s personal warmth is reflected in his many other science fiction films. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a pivotal film. Spielberg’s huge skills are further seen in E.T.
In the 1970s, the power of the film and television industry created a form of science fiction that increasingly defined how science fiction is now generally perceived. Films like George Lucas’s Star Wars and The Matrix series are featured. The superheroes of Marvel and other films offer certainties to a world that has lost its religion and struggles with personal and collective doubt and loss.
The new four-part documentary series, Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age, combines biography, literary extracts, and interviews with leading academics.
Episodes and Synopsis:
Episode I – Mary Shelley to Isaac Asimov – Thursday 3rd April
Episode II – Arthur C. Clarke to Ray Bradbury – Thursday 10th April
Episode III – Margaret Atwood to Ted Chiang – Thursday 17th April
Episode IV – Quatermass to Christopher Nolan – Thursday 24th April
