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

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

television

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

based on the works of Philip K. Dick. The series consists of ten standalone 50-minute episodes based on Dick's work, written by British and American writers. It premiered on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

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

on 12 January 2018.

Production

Development

The series was initially planned to run on AMC and

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

Amazon 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 p ...

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 and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Enterta ...

with Ronald D. Moore,

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 and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

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. He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', a ...

Matthew Graham Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series '' Life on Mars'', which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim. Career Graham ...

, 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), ''Bessie'' (2015), '' Mudbound'' (2017), and ''The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and dir ...

, and

Travis Beacham Travis Beacham (born 1980) is an American screenwriter, best known for writing and co-writing the films '' Dog Days of Summer'' (2005), ''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 and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' ...

joined the episode "The Commuter", starring opposite

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

and

Tuppence Middleton Tuppence Middleton (born 21 February 1987) is an English actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the ''London Evening Standard'' Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer. Middleton appea ...

. The following month,

Jack Reynor Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', ''Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', '' Sing Street'', and '' Midsommar'', as well as the ser ...

and Benedict Wong 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. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to ac ...

and Georgina Campbell. Also in April,

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

was cast in "Crazy Diamond", and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. 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, including '' Sabrina'' (1 ...

and

Mireille Enos Mireille Enos (; born September 22, 1975) is an American actress. Drawn to acting from a young age, she graduated in performing arts from Brigham Young University, where she was awarded the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. Having made her acting ...

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

Anna Paquin Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, Paquin made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film '' The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the Aca ...

and

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films '' Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema role ...

were cast in the episode "Real Life", with a supporting cast including Rachelle Lefevre, Jacob Vargas,

Sam Witwer Sam Witwer (born October 20, 1977) is an American 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 a Time'', Ben Lockwood in ...

, Guy Burnet and

Lara Pulver Lara Pulver (born 1 September 1980) is an English actress. She has played Erin Watts in the BBC spy drama '' Spooks'' and Irene Adler on BBC's TV adaptation '' Sherlock''. She won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical ...

. 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 who is best known for portraying paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring Universe films '' The Conjuring'' (2013), '' The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Annabelle Come ...

and

Mel Rodriguez Melvin Dimas Rodríguez (born June 12, 1973) is an American actor, 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 Gomes on the S ...

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 neo-noir '' Broken City'' (2013). He is best known for portraying ...

Glenn Morshower Glenn Morshower is an American character actor. He is best known for playing Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce in '' 24'' and Colonel (later General) Sharp Morshower in the ''Transformers'' film series. He has also appeared in many feature film ...

and Sarah Baker also appearing. Finally in May,

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

and

Juno Temple Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films '' Notes on a Scandal'' (2006), ''Atonement'' (2007), '' The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2008), ''The Three Musketeers'' (2011), ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), '' M ...

joined the cast of the episode "Autofac" alongside

Jay Paulson Joseph Andrew "Jay" Hughes Paulson is an American actor. Personal life Paulson was born in New York City, where he lived until 1984, when his father moved the family to Los Angeles. Paulson graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History and is a li ...

and David Lyons. In June 2017,

Maura Tierney Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television 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 Annalise Basso were cast to star in "Safe and Sound", and Bryan Cranston was confirmed to appear in the episode "Human Is" with Essie Davis,

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 Independen ...

and

Ruth Bradley Sharon 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' ...

Filming

Five episodes were filmed in England and five were filmed in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England; the Dungeness 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 the ...

and

Cristobal Tapia de Veer Juan Cristóbal Tapia de Veer is a Chilean-born Canadian film and television score composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is best known for his score of the British TV series ''Utopia'', for ...

were also hired to score multiple episodes each. Brian Transeau and

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

scored music for the episode titled "Autofac", while

Bear McCreary Bear McCreary (born February 17, 1979) is an American musician and composer of film, television, and video game scores based in Los Angeles, California. His work includes the scores of the television series '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004), '' A ...

scored music for three episodes in the first season.

Sequels

Amazon intended the production as a limited series. Some sources say Sony TV is 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-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 ...

, the series has an approval rating of 73% based on reviews from 52 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 television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative ficti ...

'' clone."

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 ...

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 To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

for production by Channel 4 in the UK and

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 the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

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 2010s British anthology television series British science fiction television shows Channel 4 television dramas Dystopian television series English-language television shows Science fiction anthology television series Television shows based on works by Philip K. Dick Television series by Anonymous Content Television series by Amazon Studios Television series by Left Bank Pictures Television series by Sony Pictures Television