Prime Video’s 10-Part Sci-Fi Series Is Like A Secret Season Of Black Mirror

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Prime Video’s Electric Dreams, featuring a great cast and unique sci-fi stories, is reminiscent of a lost season of Black Mirror, which originally aired nine years prior. While Black Mirror has varied in style across its seven seasons, there’s a clear explanation for these changes in tone and visual approach.

Black Mirror started as a show on Channel 4, with the British network ordering two seasons between 2011 and 2014. Following the positive reception of Charlie Brooker’s earlier series, Dead Set, Black Mirror quickly became another well-regarded show for Channel 4.

The show’s success quickly attracted attention from Hollywood, and between its second and third seasons, Black Mirror transitioned to Netflix. This move to streaming allowed for larger budgets and a more global scope, though the show has consistently acknowledged its origins, from the episode “Shut Up and Dance” in season 3 to “Loch Henry” in season 6.

Electric Dreams Has One Of The Best Sci-Fi Show Casts Ever

It’s ironic that the Black Mirror episodes set in Britain are often the most depressing and bleak of each season. Earlier episodes, like “San Junipero” and “USS Callister,” showed the show could move beyond consistently dark storylines after it started producing episodes set in America.

Around the same time, a different British TV show, originally broadcast on Channel 4, was acquired by a competing streaming platform. This science fiction anthology series shared noticeable similarities with Charlie Brooker’s famous show, Black Mirror. However, while Black Mirror draws on current scientific advancements to feel relevant and ahead of its time, Electric Dreams, which premiered in 2017, took its inspiration from a different source.

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, or simply Electric Dreams, is a science fiction series that brought nine stories by the famous author Philip K. Dick to life as individual episodes. Dick, best known for his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – the basis for the classic film Blade Runner – was a highly influential figure in science fiction.

Featuring a stellar cast including Steve Buscemi, Bryan Cranston, Richard Madden, Anna Paquin, and Janelle Monáe, Electric Dreams had as many famous faces as any season of Netflix’s Black Mirror. Though Netflix’s Love, Death, & Robots also uses well-known actors, Electric Dreams feels more similar in style and tone to Black Mirror.

Electric Dreams Is Like A Sibling Series To Black Mirror

Similar to Black Mirror, the first season of Electric Dreams featured individual, hour-long science fiction stories. Each episode explored how advanced technologies affect people’s lives, and, like Black Mirror, used these imaginative tales to cleverly comment on and poke fun at current political and social issues.

Despite being similar to Black Mirror, Electric Dreams distinguished itself with a few key differences. It had a much more vibrant and colorful look, unlike the darker, grittier style of Black Mirror‘s first seasons. Plus, the show generally had a more positive and hopeful feel.

Few shows are as relentlessly bleak as Black Mirror, famous for its shocking and depressing endings in episodes like “White Bear” and “White Christmas.” So, it was unexpected to see Electric Dreams take a more optimistic turn, especially given the generally somber tone of the Blade Runner series it’s based on.

It was important for the show, which Prime Video began distributing, to be different from the highly praised sci-fi anthology series that had previously aired on Channel 4. However, Electric Dreams debuted in 2018, right after seasons 3 and 4 of Black Mirror. Interestingly, those seasons of Black Mirror had started to feature more optimistic stories, like “San Junipero” and “Hang the DJ.”

The show’s brighter look, similar to episodes like “Nosedive” and “USS Callister,” surprisingly made Electric Dreams feel a lot like a season of Black Mirror. But that wasn’t a negative – this period is considered one of Black Mirror‘s best, which is good news for anyone watching Electric Dreams.

Netflix’s Sci-Fi Anthology Successes Prove Electric Dreams Deserves A Second Season

Fans of Black Mirror will likely enjoy Electric Dreams, which offers a similar level of smart storytelling, originality, unexpected turns, and stunning visuals. Unfortunately, despite a strong first season in 2018, the show’s high production costs led to its cancellation and it wasn’t picked up for another season.

It’s unfortunate the show was cancelled, as it could have run alongside Black Mirror with new seasons continuing to be made. Philip K. Dick wrote so many other stories that Electric Dreams could have used, meaning it wouldn’t have needed to rely on the same ideas as Black Mirror if it had been given another chance.

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2026-03-19 00:34