''Year Million'' is a six-part documentary and

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 unive ...

television series produced by

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, which premiered on May 15, 2017, on their channel. The series received two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations, including a Primetime Emmy for its narrator

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

. The series is based on the 2008 book ''Year Million: Science at the Far Edge of Knowledge'' by

Damien Broderick Damien Francis Broderick (born 22 April 1944) is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel ''The Dreaming Dragons'' (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine ...

. The narrative alternates tells the story of a family of three in the future, using 2016 interviews to explain events unfolding in the story. The series was filmed in Budapest.

Synopsis

Investigating the ramifications of a variety of potentially world-changing inventions, the series visits a cast of characters representing a typical American family in several different possible timelines.

Ray Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, inventor, and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and e ...

Michio Kaku Michio Kaku (, ; born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, futurist, and popular science, popularizer of science (science communicator). He is a professor of theoretical physics in the City College of New ...

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek Americans, Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University a ...

and

Brian Greene Brian Randolph Greene (born February 9, 1963) is a American theoretical physicist, mathematician, and string theorist. Greene was a physics professor at Cornell University from 19901995, and has been a professor at Columbia University since 1 ...

guide the documentary aspect, discussing possible changes the future might hold based on their research: Artificial Intelligence, Man merging with Machine, the human species becoming an interplanetary entity. Exploring life in both the near and the far future, where artificial intelligence is ubiquitous and advances in science have radically extended our lifespans. The series aims to show that communication, work and education will be revolutionized through virtual telepathy.

Accolades

The series' narrator,

, was nominated for a Primetime

, with a further Craft Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design.

Cast

Each episode of the series is broken up into first narrated scenes, then interviews with scientists and futurologists; the docudrama segments fit around the interviews and narration to illustrate how technological changes might impact a regular family. *

as Narrator

Interviews

Drama

Vinette Robinson Vinette Robinson is a British actress, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Her TV appearances include roles in '' Sherlock'', ''Black Mirror'', and as civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "Rosa". Early life Robi ...

- Eva *

Reece Ritchie Reece Ritchie (born 23 July 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his film roles, such as Moha in ''10,000 BC'' (2008), Bis in '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'' (2010), and Iolaus in ''Hercules'' (2014). He starred as Jay in the Bri ...

- Oscar *

Dinita Gohil Dinita Gohil is a British actress. She is best known for her performance as Amanda in the satirical film ''Greed'' (2019), and on-stage as Viola in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of ''Twelfth Night'' (2017–2018). Early life Dinita ...

- Sajani *

Olive Gray Olive Gray (born Olivia Grant; 3 December 1994) is an English actor, known for portraying Mia Stone in the children's television series ''Half-Moon Investigations''. Early and personal life Gray is the eldest child of ''Fame Academy'' judges ...

- Jess *Joe Corrigall - Damon *Siobahn Dillon - Mother *Miklós Bányai - Newscaster

Episodes

References

External links

* {{National Geographic TV 2017 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American documentary television series 2010s American science fiction television series English-language television shows Documentary films about science Documentary films about outer space Documentary television series about technology National Geographic (American TV channel) original programming Science education television series Documentary television shows about evolution