The series comes from comedy writing genius Dennis Kelly, better known for BBC Three’s sitcom Pulling and co-writing the West End hit Matilda: The Musical with comedian Tim Minchin. While the remake has been adapted by Gone Girl and Sharp Objects author Gillian Flynn and boasts Hollywood actors John Cusack and Sasha Lane, the original features an equally talented line-up. And, after years of teasing a third season (in 2015 David Fincher was rumoured to be resurrecting the series) the announcement came that Amazon Prime’s new remake would air on 25th September. The story – which follows a group of comic book fans who believe the graphic novel The Utopia Experiments predicted several disastrous epidemics, and that a rumoured sequel holds further information on future world events – has been seen in a new light during the events of the coronavirus pandemic this year. Stylish, provocative and superbly acted, it was that rare breed of British drama that dared to rear its head above the kitchen sink and truly run with an idea, playing beautifully into our paranoid political times.

The two-season series was abruptly cancelled in 2014 much to fans’ dismay, and its cancellation represented a hammer blow for original UK drama. Originally airing in 2013, Utopia is, in my opinion, the best TV show ever made. I am used to blank faces being the response whenever I’m asked for a TV-show recommendation – and yet my answer remains unchanged. We sat, excitedly shouting out titles as they reappeared in our consciousness after years of dormancy – some were easy crowdpleasers ( Misfits, Doctor Who, The Inbetweeners), some that we squabbled over (“I’m sorry but Shameless wasn’t even that funny”), and a few that had fallen so far out of the contemporary cultural lexicon that no one else in the group had heard of it. And, perhaps more interestingly, how much of what we watch now comes from shiny Hollywood studios, while our adolescence was filled with British-made dramas. That being said, within one quick conversation I was astounded at the volume and quality of television that has been produced in only the last decade.

As women born 1996-98 we teeter on the edge of millennial and gen-z, so we may not have to cast our minds back that far before our only thoughts become that of Saturday morning cartoons. With little to do as many remain furloughed and cooped up in cupboard-sized bedrooms as the fleeting sunny weather of summer passes, my flatmates and I have indulged in each online TV craze, from Tiger King to Hamilton to Ru Paul’s Drag Race and the sleuth of Netflix reality dating shows.Ī couple of days ago, whilst in our back garden for one of our regular ‘ciggy breaks’ during movie and/or TV-box set binging sessions, we started to reminisce about the TV from our youth. If there was an awards ceremony for my quarantine experience thus far, Netflix would win the best supporting role (and Amazon Prime, and NOW TV, and Disney+).

British utopia series streaming