''The Peripheral'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series created by Scott B. Smith. Produced by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, it is loosely based on the 2014 book of the same name, written by

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

. ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'' creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers, along with Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, and

Vincenzo Natali Vincenzo Natali (born 1969) is an American-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, known for writing and directing science fiction and horror films such as '' Cube'', ''Cypher'', '' Nothing'', and '' Splice''. Early life and education Nat ...

. Set roughly a decade in the future, with new technology that has changed society in subtle ways, a VR gamer is delivered a connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own. The series had its world premiere on October 11, 2022, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022, on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.

Cast

Main

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards. She began acti ...

as Flynne Fisher * Gary Carr as Wilf Netherton * Jack Reynor as Burton Fisher * JJ Feild as Lev Zubov *

T'Nia Miller T'Nia Miller (born 1980) is a British actress, known for her appearances in television series including '' Witless'' (2016–2018), '' Years and Years'' (2019), ''Free Rein'' (2019), ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), and ''Foundation'' (2021 ...

as Cherise Nuland * Louis Herthum as Corbell Pickett * Katie Leung as Ash * Melinda Page Hamilton as Ella Fisher * Chris Coy as Jasper Baker * Alex Hernandez as Tommy Constantine * Julian Moore-Cook as Ossian *

Adelind Horan Adelind Horan is an American film, theatre, and television actress and writer. She is known for her documentary solo play about mountaintop removal in Appalachia, ''Cry of the Mountain,'' and for playing the role of Viv, a character based on Nan ...

as Billy Ann Baker * Austin Rising as Leon * Eli Goree as Conner Penske *

Charlotte Riley Charlotte Frances Riley (born 29 December 1981) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Hurst in '' Easy Virtue'' (2008) and as Catherine Earnshaw in ITV's adaptation of '' Wuthering Heights'' (2009). Early life and educat ...

as Aelita West *

Alexandra Billings Alexandra Scott Billings (born March 28, 1962) is an American actress, teacher, and singer. Billings is the second openly transgender woman to have played a transgender character on television, which she did in the 2005 made-for-TV movie '' Romy ...

as Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer

Recurring

* David Hoflin as Daniel *

Hannah Arterton Hannah Jane Arterton (born 26 January 1989) is an English actress. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2011. She has most notably appeared in the television series '' The Five' ...

as Dee Dee * India Mullen as Mary Pickett * Miles Barrow as Mason * Gavin Dunn as Edward * Moe Bar-El as Reece * Chuku Modu as Carlos *

Harrison Gilbertson Harrison Gilbertson (born 29 June 1993) is an Australian actor. Early life Gilbertson was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Julie Sloan and Brian Gilbertson. Career Gilbertson began acting at the age of six when he played the chara ...

as Atticus * Duke Davis Roberts as Cash *

Claire Cooper Claire Elizabeth Cooper (born 26 October 1980) is a British actress, best known for portraying Jacqui McQueen in Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a character she played from 2006 to 2013. Cooper co-owns clothing rental boutique The Closet ...

as Dominika Zubov * Poppy Corby-Tuech as Mariel Raphael * Amber Rose Revah as Grace Hogart * Ned Dennehy as Bob * Ben Dickey as Sheriff Jackman * Anjli Mohindra as Beatrice

Production

Development

In April 2018, a TV series adaptation of

's novel ''

The Peripheral ''The Peripheral'' is a 2014 science fiction mystery-thriller novel by William Gibson set in near- and post-apocalyptic versions of the future. The story focuses on a young rural-town American woman who lives in the near future, and on a London ...

'' was announced by ''

'' creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan for

with a script-to-series commitment. It was announced in April 2019 that Joy and Nolan had signed a first look overall deal at

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

, and the project received a series order in the middle of November 2019, with Joy and Nolan executive producing under their overall deal. Beyond Joy and Nolan, executive producers include Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, and

. The show has hour-long episodes, developed by Kilter Films, through Amazon Studios.

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

is also co-financier and producer, with Scott Smith as writer. Smith created the series, while also serving as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

and executive producer. Natali directed the show's pilot. On March 30, 2021, Greg Plageman joined the series as executive producer and replaced Smith as showrunner. In February 2023,

renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

In October 2020, it was announced that

was cast in the lead role of Flynne Fisher, with Gary Carr also joining the main cast. In March 2021, Jack Reynor joined the series in a main role. The following month, Eli Goree,

, JJ Feild,

, and Alex Hernandez were added to the main cast. In June 2021, Louis Herthum, Chris Coy, Melinda Page Hamilton, Katie Leung, and Austin Rising joined the cast in recurring roles. In July 2021,

joined the cast in a recurring role.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

for the series began on May 3, 2021, in London, England. Filming moved to

Marshall, North Carolina Marshall is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 872 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County. Marshall is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Bank of Fren ...

on September 24. Production on the series wrapped on November 5, 2021.

Episodes

Release

''The Peripheral'' had its world premiere on October 11, 2022, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022, on

. As with other Amazon shows, the episodes aired at midnight Eastern, so technically the release dates were the day before for the Pacific audience. The first season had 8 episodes and ended with a cliffhanger, with Lisa Joy stating, "I would love to have season 2 and season 3 and all the seasons in the world to explore this amazing, amazing novel."

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reported a 77% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 53 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Somewhere on the edges of this sci-fi vision is a compelling narrative, but ''The Peripheral'' single-minded focus on its lofty ideas comes at the expense of character or coherence."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

''The Peripheral''
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peripheral, The 2020s American drama television series 2020s American science fiction television series 2022 American television series debuts Amazon Prime Video original programming American thriller television series English-language television shows Television series based on American novels Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows filmed in North Carolina Television shows shot in London William Gibson Works by Jonathan Nolan Works by Scott Smith