''Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams'', or simply ''Electric Dreams'', is a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

based on the works of 20th-century writer Philip K. Dick. Written by British and American writers, the series consists of ten standalone 50-minute episodes serving as adaptations of Dick's work—nine short stories and one

novelette Novelette may refer to: * ''Novelette'' (ballet), a 1926 ballet by Martha Graham * Novelette (literature), a work of narrative prose fiction that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novella * Novelette (music), a short piece of lyri ...

Autofac "Autofac" is a 1955 science fiction Novelette (literature), novelette by American writer Philip K. Dick that features one of the earliest treatments of clanking replicator, self-replicating machines (and Dick's second, after his 1953 novelette ' ...

"). ''Electric Dreams'' premiered on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in the United Kingdom on 17 September 2017, and in the United States on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

on 12 January 2018.

Production

Development

The series was initially planned to run on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

and

, before AMC pulled out, leading Channel 4 to announce the series. In February 2017, it was announced that

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

had bought the U.S. rights to the series. The series is produced by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

with

Ronald D. Moore Ronald Dowl Moore (born July 5, 1964) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Star Trek,'' as well as on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, for which he won a Peabody Awar ...

Michael Dinner Michael Dinner (born May 20, 1953) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter for television. Biography Prior to his TV career, Dinner was a singer-songwriter and recording artist for Fantasy Records, where he released two albums, ''The ...

, and

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor. After taking minor roles in television, he established himself as a leading actor in both comedic and dramatic Bryan Cranston filmography, works on stage and screen. He has received ...

serving as executive producers. Cranston also stars in one of the episodes. The episode writers include Ronald D. Moore, Michael Dinner,

Tony Grisoni Tony Grisoni (born 28 October 1952) is a British screenwriter. He lives in London. His first feature film, '' Queen of Hearts'', directed by Jon Amiel, won the Grand Prix at the 1990 Festival du Film de Paris. Life and career He has co-written ...

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...

Matthew Graham Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos (production company), Kudos Film and Television science fiction series ''Life on Mars (UK TV series), Life on Mars'', which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has re ...

, David Farr,

Dee Rees Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films ''Pariah (2011 film), Pariah'' (2011), ''Bessie (film), Bessie'' (2015), ''Mudbound (film), Mudbound'' (2017), and ''The Last Thing ...

, and

Travis Beacham Travis Beacham (born 1980) is an American screenwriter, best known for writing and co-writing the films '' Dog Days of Summer'' (2007), ''Pacific Rim'' (2013), '' Clash of the Titans'' (2010), and proposing the concept for the Amazon Prime fanta ...

. Jack Thorne wrote the teleplay for "The Commuter", based on the short story of the same name, with Tom Harper directing the episode.

Casting

In March 2017,

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall ( ; born 27 February 1957) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. S ...

joined the episode "The Commuter", starring opposite

Anthony Boyle Anthony Boyle (born 8 June 1994) is a Northern Irish actor. A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Boyle began his acting career on London stage and rose to prominence for originating the role of Scorpius Malfoy in the West ...

and

Tuppence Middleton Tuppence Amelia Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is a British actress. In 2010, she was nominated for the ''London Evening Standard'' Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Middleton appeared in various films before making her breakthrough ...

. The following month,

Jack Reynor Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'' (2012), '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'' (2014), '' Glassland'' (2014), ''Macbeth'' (2015), '' Sing Street'' (2016) and '' Midso ...

and

Benedict Wong Benedict Wong (born 3 July 1971) is an English actor. He began his career on stage before starring in the film '' Dirty Pretty Things'' (2002), which earned him a British Independent Film Award nomination, and the BBC sitcom '' 15 Storeys High ...

were cast to lead the episode "Impossible Planet", alongside a supporting cast including

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress whose long career has included multilingual roles in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German films. Geraldine is a daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of his eigh ...

and

Georgina Campbell Georgina Alice Campbell (born 12 June 1992) is an English actress. She won the 2015 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' Murdered by My Boyfriend'' (2014), making her the first non-white actress to win that award. Her other television credits ...

. Also in April,

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi (,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself. It is not uncommon for people to pronounce his name or instead. ; born December 13, 1957) is an American actor. He is known for his work as an acclaimed character actor. Mul ...

was cast in "Crazy Diamond", and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor and former talk show host. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in '' As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, ...

and

Mireille Enos Marie Mireille Enos (; born September 22, 1975) is an American actress known for the lead role as homicide detective Sarah Linden in the drama series '' The Killing.'' Early life Enos was born on September 22, 1975, in Kansas City, Missouri. ...

joined the episode "The Father Thing". On 3 May 2017,

Anna Paquin Anna Helene Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, she made her acting debut in the romantic drama film ''The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Act ...

and

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

were cast in the episode "Real Life", with a supporting cast including

Rachelle Lefevre Rachelle Marie Lefevre ( , ; born February 1, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the television series '' Big Wolf on Campus'' and had recurring roles in '' What About Brian'', '' Boston Legal'', and '' Swingtown''. She played the va ...

Jacob Vargas Jacob Vargas is a Mexican-American actor, producer, and dancer. Early life Vargas was born in Michoacán, and raised in Pacoima, Los Angeles. He was raised in a devout Roman Catholic family. He attended high school at San Fernando High School ...

Sam Witwer Samuel Weiler Witwer IV (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles as Crashdown in ''Battlestar Galactica'', Davis Bloome in ''Smallville'', Aidan Waite in '' Being Human'', Mr. Hyde in ''Once Upon ...

Guy Burnet Guy Burnet is a British actor. Early life Burnet attended Holland Park School where his interest in drama first developed, taking an A level in the subject. Before becoming an actor, Burnet aspired to become a professional footballer. He atten ...

and

Lara Pulver Lara Pulver (born 1 September 1980) is an English actress, best known for playing Erin Watts in the BBC spy drama '' Spooks'' and Irene Adler on BBC's TV adaptation '' Sherlock''. She won the 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actr ...

. Also in May,

Richard Madden Richard Madden (born 18 June 1986) is a Scottish actor. He was cast in his first role at age 11 and made his screen acting debut in 2000. He later began performing on stage whilst a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In 2007, he t ...

and

Holliday Grainger Holliday Clark Grainger (born 27 March 1988), also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series '' Roger and the Rottentrolls'', Lu ...

were announced to star in "The Hood Maker". Later that month,

Vera Farmiga Vera Ann Farmiga ( ; born August 6, 1973) is an American actress. Farmiga began her professional acting career on stage in the original Broadway production of '' Taking Sides'' (1996). After expanding to television and film, her breakthrough ...

and

Mel Rodriguez Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor and comedian, best known for starring as Nurse Patsy de la Serda on the HBO comedy '' Getting On'', as Todd Rodriguez on the Fox comedy '' The Last Man on Earth'', and as Ernie Go ...

were cast to lead the episode "Kill All Others", with

Jason Mitchell Jason Mitchell (born January 5, 1987) is an American actor. Mitchell started his career acting in minor roles in films such as the action-thriller ''Contraband'' (2012), and the neonoir ''Broken City'' (2013). He is best known for portraying ra ...

Glenn Morshower Glenn Morshower (born April 24, 1959) is an American actor and inspirational speaker. Known for his distinctive Texas accent, he is well known for playing military and law enforcement roles in both live-action and voice work, particularly Secret ...

and Sarah Baker also appearing. Finally in May,

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson ( ; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and actress. She has received ten Grammy Award nominations, and is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Children's and Family Emmy Award. ...

and

Juno Temple Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–2023) and in the fifth season of the crime drama series '' Fargo'' (2023–2024). She earned Primetime Emmy Award nomi ...

joined the cast of the episode "Autofac" alongside

Jay Paulson Jay Paulson is an American actor and poet. Early life and education Paulson was born in New York City. Career Paulson's first major television role was a regular recurring role as Zoe's boyfriend, Sean, on the comedy ''Cybill''. He appeared i ...

and David Lyons. In June 2017,

Maura Tierney Maura Lynn Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009) and Helen Solloway on the myst ...

and

Annalise Basso Annalise Basso (born December 2, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for her role as LJ Folger in the post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller series ''Snowpiercer'' (2020–2022). She started her career as a child actress, appearing in the fil ...

were cast to star in "Safe and Sound", and Bryan Cranston was confirmed to appear in the episode "Human Is" with

Essie Davis Esther "Essie" Davis is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in '' Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'' and its film adaptation, '' Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears'', and as Amelia Vanek in '' The Babadook''. ...

Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independent ...

and

Ruth Bradley Ruth Bradley is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Emily Merchant in '' Primeval'' (2011) and Karen Voss in ''Humans'' (2015–18). She has also had recurring roles in ''Legend'' (6 episodes, 2006), '' The Innocence Project'' (8 e ...

Filming

Five episodes were filmed in England and five were filmed in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The fourth episode of the series, "Crazy Diamond", filmed in two locations in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England; the

Dungeness Dungeness (, ) is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the ham ...

estate was used for various exterior settings and driving scenes, and the Cheyne Court wind farm was used as the checkpoint Sally passes on her way in and out of the estate.

Music

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', '' Phone Booth' ...

was hired to compose the main titles theme music and score an episode, and

Ólafur Arnalds Ólafur Arnalds (; born 3 November 1986) is an Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. He mixes strings and piano with loops and beats, a sound ranging from ambient/electronic to atmospheric pop. He is also th ...

and

Cristobal Tapia de Veer Juan Cristóbal Tapia de Veer is a Chilean and Canadian film and television score composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is best known for his work on the TV series '' The White Lotus'', f ...

were also hired to score multiple episodes each.

Brian Transeau Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1971), known by his initials as BT, is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. An artist in the electronic music genre, he is credited as a pioneer of the ...

and

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic music, electronic. He is also a prolific and acclaimed composer of Film ...

scored music for the episode titled "Autofac", while

Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American composer of film, television, and video game scores. His work includes the scores of the television series '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', '' Black Sails'', '' ...

scored music for three episodes in the first season.

Sequels

Amazon intended the production as a limited series. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' reported in 2019 that sources said Sony TV was attempting to find a new home for the drama.

Episodes

Each episode is based on a short story by Dick. The episode sequences are different on

and

Reception

On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the series has an approval rating of 72% based on reviews from 53 critics, with an average rating of 6.06/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Electric Dreams''s dreamy production values and optimistic tone help make up for a lack of originality and tonal cohesion – and save the show from feeling like just another ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

'' clone."

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

assigned the first season a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Broadcast

The series was

greenlit In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the project ...

for production by Channel 4 in the UK and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

in the United States. The first six episodes were screened weekly on Channel 4 in 2017, with the rest premiering on 12 January 2018 on Amazon, when the entire season was released on Amazon Streaming worldwide (except UK, Canada and Australia). On Amazon, the episode order is sequenced differently from the UK broadcast. ''Electric Dreams'' was broadcast on

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

in Canada and on the streaming service Stan in Australia.

References

External links

* {{Philip K. Dick adaptations 2010s American science fiction television series 2010s British science fiction television series 2017 British television series debuts 2018 British television series endings Amazon Prime Video original programming American English-language television shows 2010s British anthology television series British science fiction television shows Channel 4 television dramas Dystopian television series Science fiction anthology television series Television series based on short fiction Television series by Anonymous Content Television series by Amazon MGM Studios Television series by Left Bank Pictures Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows based on works by Philip K. Dick