Best Sci-Fi Series You’ve Never Seen

There are so many smart and surprising science fiction shows that flew under the radar, and this list rounds up a mix of international and short lived series that delivered big ideas. You will find parallel worlds, rogue corporations, time travel problems, and eerie mysteries that grow more fascinating with each episode. None of these require a huge commitment to get through and most wrap their arcs with satisfying reveals. If you like sleek tech concepts and high stakes puzzles, this lineup gives you plenty to explore next.

‘Counterpart’ (2017–2019)

A quiet office worker discovers a secret crossing between two duplicate Earths and learns that his counterpart has been navigating a shadow war. The show builds its tension around covert agencies, viral threats, and mirrored lives that diverged after a single event. Berlin provides a stark backdrop for Cold War style tradecraft blended with speculative science. The two seasons tell a complete story with escalating stakes on both sides.

‘Utopia’ (2013–2014)

A group of online forum friends hunt for pages of a mysterious graphic novel that seem to predict real world disasters. As they chase clues, a clandestine organization targets them, claiming the manuscript hides a plan tied to population control. Vivid visuals and coded messages drive a cat and mouse plot that moves across the United Kingdom. The conspiracy unspools through assassins, bioengineering, and a chilling project revealed piece by piece.

‘Continuum’ (2012–2015)

A law officer from the future is pulled back to the present alongside a group of corporate terrorists. She works with a modern detective and a young tech prodigy to stop crimes that could rewrite the future. Time travel rules are laid out clearly and create ripple effects that complicate loyalties. Corporate power, surveillance tools, and personal identities all collide as timelines branch and rejoin.

‘Dark Matter’ (2015–2017)

Six people wake up on a spaceship with no memories and only a cargo hold of secrets to guide them. Their search for identities takes them through corporate wars, android rights debates, and heists across colonized space. Each crew member carries a past that keeps catching up with them. Episodes blend standalone missions with clues that map how the crew ended up together.

‘Travelers’ (2016–2018)

Operatives from a distant future send their consciousnesses into people in the present to avert a collapse. Mission protocols and social cover stories create conflicts between assignments and the lives they inhabit. An AI like authority coordinates teams while rival factions argue over methods. The plot tracks cause and effect carefully as interventions create unintended outcomes.

‘Humans’ (2015–2018)

In a near present world, lifelike synthetic servants begin to show signs of consciousness. A suburban family takes in a synth that carries hidden code connected to a small group seeking freedom. Government agencies and corporate labs compete to control the next stage of evolution. Questions about consent, labor, and law drive both intimate scenes and national policy shifts.

‘3%’ (2016–2020)

Young candidates from a poor inland society compete through brutal tests to earn passage to a privileged offshore community. Each trial reveals corruption inside the selection process and the resistance movement forming against it. The story alternates between puzzle like challenges and political intrigue. Technology, class systems, and propaganda shape every decision the competitors make.

‘Ad Vitam’ (2018)

A breakthrough in regeneration lets people extend their lives almost indefinitely while youth suicides begin to spike. A veteran detective and a rebellious young woman investigate a cult linked to the deaths. The case opens questions about purpose and power in a world where aging slowed to a crawl. Sleek biotech settings frame a police procedural with unsettling answers.

‘Better Than Us’ (2018–2019)

A highly advanced household android bonds with a child and becomes a target for the corporation that created her and the black market that wants her. A fractured family, a police unit, and a robot rights group all get tangled in the fallout. The series explores limits on autonomy and what legal personhood could mean for machines. Action sequences and corporate coverups keep the stakes immediate.

‘The Lost Room’ (2006)

A detective finds a motel key that opens any door into a nowhere room where time behaves strangely. Dozens of everyday objects from that room carry odd powers and collectors will do anything to control them. The search for a missing daughter turns into a map of objects with rules, rivalries, and costs. The miniseries format delivers a tight mystery with a mythos fans still catalog.

‘Incorporated’ (2016)

Climate events and economic collapse let corporations replace governments in many regions. A rising executive leads a double life to rescue someone trapped in a corporate labor system. Security tech, biometric controls, and tiered city zones show how power is enforced. Office politics and espionage operate alongside black market fixes and identity hacks.

‘Limitless’ (2015–2016)

A struggling musician gains access to a drug that unlocks extreme cognitive abilities and ends up consulting for federal agents. He maintains a secret arrangement that protects him from the drug’s side effects while he solves cases. Episodic investigations tie into a larger political network around the supply chain. The show uses memory palaces, pattern recognition, and custom rigs to visualize thinking.

‘Archive 81’ (2022)

An archivist is hired to restore fire damaged videotapes that document a cult operating inside a strange apartment building. As footage is reconstructed, a ritual involving sound and architecture emerges. Parallel timelines link the archivist’s isolation with the documentarian’s investigation. The mystery leans on analog tech, missing reels, and a place that behaves like a living system.

‘Origin’ (2018)

Passengers on a spacecraft bound for a distant colony wake up to find the ship damaged and the crew gone. Each episode reveals a passenger’s past while the group hunts for the source of a threat onboard. Corporate contracts and criminal records complicate alliances. The confined setting turns every corridor and airlock into a test of trust.

‘Parallels’ (2022– )

A group of teens experience a shock that shunts them into alternate versions of their lives. They piece together what happened using physics puzzles, family ties, and modest tools at hand. The story balances friendship dynamics with multiverse rules that are easy to follow. Each episode shifts the stakes as the group tries to return to their original world without breaking it further.

‘Beforeigners’ (2019–2022)

People from different eras suddenly appear in the present and must integrate into modern society. A detective teams up with a partner from the Viking Age to solve a murder tied to the time arrivals. The show uses police cases to explore language barriers and cultural clashes. Government services and tech companies scramble to manage identity records and public safety.

‘Katla’ (2021– )

An Icelandic town near a restless volcano sees figures emerge from the ash who appear to be exact doubles of people from the community. Scientists and residents try to understand a phenomenon that seems linked to glacial caves and ancient microbes. Personal histories collide with unexplained returns that disrupt families. The landscape becomes a key part of how the mystery unfolds.

‘Osmosis’ (2019)

A Paris startup tests an implant that claims to find a user’s perfect match by reading the brain. Beta testers agree to share intimate data while the company prepares for a high profile launch. Regulators, investors, and families push back as side effects surface. The experiment raises questions about consent, memory, and the commercialization of love.

‘The Feed’ (2019)

A near future neural network lets people share thoughts and experiences instantly. A security breach causes users to act violently and a family tied to the technology searches for the source. Corporate coverups and activist groups fight for control of the system. Investigators follow digital footprints that blur the line between private life and public risk.

‘Pantheon’ (2022–2023)

A teenager starts getting messages from a stranger who seems to be her deceased father and learns about a process that uploads human minds. Technology firms race to weaponize the breakthrough while families deal with the consequences. The story tracks how consciousness behaves in digital environments. Conflicts spill across networks, servers, and real world proxies.

‘The Crossing’ (2018)

Refugees wash up on an American beach claiming to be from a future war. A small town sheriff and a federal agent try to verify their story as unusual abilities begin to surface. The government sets up a camp while politics complicate aid and detention. Clues point to a timeline that loops into the present.

‘Extinct’ (2017)

Two hundred years after humanity’s fall, a small group is revived by an alien species with a mission to rebuild. Survivors confront hostile remnants of the past and a mystery about why humans were targeted. Ancient facilities and lost archives hold answers about the extinction event. Team members uncover ties that change the purpose of their revival.

‘Stitchers’ (2015–2017)

A government program places a young woman into the memories of the recently deceased to solve crimes. The lab team navigates strict protocols that limit how long a mind can be stitched. Missions reveal hidden connections among victims and program handlers. The technology’s origins become a central thread as personal stakes rise.

‘Caprica’ (2010)

Two families on a high tech world develop breakthroughs in robotics and virtual reality that set the stage for a coming conflict. Corporate rivalries and criminal networks influence how new machines are built and trained. Religious movements react to synthetic life and digital afterlives. The series maps how invention and power intertwine.

‘Defying Gravity’ (2009)

An international crew embarks on a long duration mission through the solar system under the guidance of a mysterious payload. Each stop reveals scientific objectives that do not match the public plan. The ship’s systems influence crew decisions in subtle ways. Personal histories surface as the journey grows more dangerous.

‘Strange Angel’ (2018–2019)

A self taught chemist in California pursues rocketry while getting involved with an occult group that shapes his ambitions. Military contracts and private funding drive risky experiments in labs and deserts. Relationships shift as tests push materials and patience to the limit. The path from homemade engines to formal research programs becomes clear.

‘Alphas’ (2011–2012)

A team of civilians with unusual neurological abilities assists federal agents on cases that involve similar outliers. Each ability carries constraints that affect how missions unfold. Rival groups try to exploit or suppress people with enhanced traits. The unit balances field work with medical monitoring and ethical rules.

‘Primeval: New World’ (2012–2013)

A tech entrepreneur partners with scientists to investigate temporal anomalies that release prehistoric creatures into a modern city. Field teams track animals while closing unstable portals. Government agencies debate secrecy and public safety as incidents increase. The crew relies on trackers, drones, and improvised traps to contain outbreaks.

‘Between’ (2015–2016)

A mysterious disease kills everyone in a town above a certain age and leaves the area under quarantine. The remaining young residents organize supplies and defenses as outside authorities refuse entry. Rival groups form based on access to food, fuel, and information. Clues about the pathogen emerge from a hidden research trail.

‘The Peripheral’ (2022)

A gamer in a small town tests advanced hardware that places her inside a future London and discovers it is not a simulation. Powerful families and research groups try to recruit or eliminate her. The device opens a market for information and influence across timelines. Local allies and distant operators build a network to survive the new rules.

‘Ascension’ (2014)

A secret US project launches a generation ship in the 1960s and hides it from the world. Decades later the crew faces a suspicious death that exposes fractures in their closed society. Investigations reveal strict social tiers, psychological controls, and a mission history that does not add up. The limited series structure moves quickly through the ship’s origins and the truth behind its voyage.

‘Childhood’s End’ (2015)

Mysterious visitors arrive and end war and poverty while promising a guided evolution for humanity. Their human liaison helps roll out global changes that reshape education, religion, and family life. The plan includes selective breeding and experiments in psychic ability. The story follows how a peaceful takeover leads to a transformation with irreversible effects.

‘FlashForward’ (2009–2010)

A worldwide blackout causes people to see short visions of their lives months in the future. Federal agents piece together mosaic clues from these glimpses to prevent disasters. The investigation catalogs dates, faces, and locations that appear across the visions. The plot tracks how knowledge of the future changes behavior in the present.

‘Terra Nova’ (2011)

A population crisis leads to a program that sends settlers into Earth’s distant past to rebuild civilization. The colony faces dinosaurs, rival factions, and limited resources beyond a guarded perimeter. Scientists study the timeline to understand whether actions can alter the future. Family drama mixes with research into energy, medicine, and security in a prehistoric world.

‘Colony’ (2016–2018)

An alien force seals off major cities and installs human collaborators to manage daily life. A former agent works within the system while his spouse connects with the resistance. Black market networks, checkpoints, and ration systems define survival under occupation. The series examines how a layered control structure uses surveillance and scarcity to maintain order.

‘Debris’ (2021)

Fragments from a destroyed alien craft fall to Earth and trigger strange physical effects wherever they land. A joint task force from two countries retrieves pieces and studies their properties. Each case file documents phenomena like gravity shifts, duplication, and memory disruptions. The larger pattern points to an intelligence behind the wreckage.

‘Emergence’ (2019–2020)

A small town police chief shelters a girl with no memory after a mysterious incident near the shore. Investigators discover she is linked to advanced technology with unusual resilience. Corporate teams and federal units search for her while hiding test results. The trail leads to prototypes that blur the line between human and machine.

‘Almost Human’ (2013–2014)

In a near future city every detective partners with a highly capable android to tackle organized crime. One officer works with a model designed for empathy that behaves more like a human. Cases involve black market implants, synthetic narcotics, and weaponized tech. The partnership explores data limits and the value of intuition in policing.

‘Into the Night’ (2020–2021)

Passengers hijack a red eye flight after learning sunlight has turned lethal due to a sudden solar event. The group flies west to stay ahead of dawn while searching for fuel and safe airfields. Military bases, scientific stations, and satellite data provide clues about the cause. Each stop forces tradeoffs between survival, cooperation, and hard numbers.

‘Tribes of Europa’ (2021)

A mysterious blackout fractures Europe into rival microstates that compete for territory and tech. Three siblings are pulled into a conflict over a powerful cube that may hold answers. Factions develop distinct cultures with their own languages, uniforms, and laws. The journey maps trade routes, salvage economies, and fragile alliances.

‘The Rain’ (2018–2020)

A deadly pathogen spreads through rainfall and forces survivors into underground bunkers. Siblings emerge years later to search for their father who may hold a cure. Research notes, lab ruins, and test subjects reveal how the virus behaves. The group navigates quarantine zones, rival survivor camps, and early stage vaccine trials.

‘The Barrier’ (2020)

A near future Spain divides citizens with biometric checkpoints and strict resource controls after a crisis. A family gets entangled with a powerful official while searching for a missing child. Public health mandates mask political purges and experimental programs. Resistance cells document abuses and move people through hidden routes.

‘Sisyphus’ (2021)

A gifted engineer meets a woman who claims to be from a future ruined by his inventions. Devices that manipulate time create loops where choices echo across multiple attempts. Corporate and intelligence groups chase prototypes through Seoul. The series lays out rules for temporal jumps and their costs on memory and identity.

‘Impulse’ (2018–2019)

A teenager discovers she can teleport when threatened and struggles to control the ability. Each jump leaves forensic traces that draw the attention of people studying similar cases. Investigators connect incidents across towns through patterns in traumatic triggers. The plot follows training, cover stories, and the science behind stress induced movement.

‘Cleverman’ (2016–2017)

In a near future Australia marginalized beings from folklore live in segregated zones under heavy policing. A young man inherits a role that links him to both traditional law and modern media. Government labs conduct experiments while corporations profit from containment. News programs and viral clips shape public opinion around rights and recognition.

Share your favorite under the radar sci-fi series in the comments so everyone can discover something new.