Sci-Fi Series You Are Sleeping On (But Shouldn’t)
There are so many science fiction series out there that it is easy to miss some truly inventive stories. This list rounds up shows that build rich worlds, tackle bold ideas, and keep their narratives moving with tight character work and strong production values. Each entry includes the essentials so you can decide what to queue up next without any guesswork.
You will also see where each series premiered or currently streams, since finding the right home is half the battle when you are planning a new watch. From network TV standouts to streaming originals, these shows span space opera, cyberpunk, multiverse puzzles, and near future thrillers that reward a focused binge.
‘Severance’ (2022– )
This workplace sci fi mystery follows employees who undergo a surgical procedure that splits their memories between office and home, creating two distinct selves. The series premiered on Apple TV Plus, which backs the show with meticulous production design and a minimalist visual style that mirrors the severed lives on display.
Across its episodes the show explores corporate control, identity, and consent through carefully layered clues. Performances anchor the storytelling as the office team uncovers the rules of their floor and the outside world begins to close in on the program that governs their minds.
‘For All Mankind’ (2019– )
This alternate history drama imagines a world where the space race never ended, pushing NASA and its rivals toward continuous milestones. Apple TV Plus carries the series, supporting large scale mission sequences and detailed period settings that evolve with each new era of exploration.
The story tracks astronauts, engineers, and their families as national goals collide with personal sacrifices. The show maps changes in technology, politics, and culture through mission control decisions and the high risk life of living off planet.
‘Silo’ (2023– )
This dystopian mystery centers on a community living deep underground where strict rules keep order and curiosity is punished. Apple TV Plus distributes the series, bringing a massive multi level set to life with careful worldbuilding and an emphasis on practical detail.
As secrets surface, an engineer and a reluctant sheriff follow evidence that challenges the silo’s founding pact. The plot balances investigation with survival problems like resource scarcity, air quality, and the limits of a closed ecosystem.
‘The Expanse’ (2015–2022)
Set in a colonized solar system, this space opera weaves political intrigue with hard science as a small crew becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving alien technology. The show began on Syfy and later continued on Amazon Prime Video, which enabled expansive ship design, zero gravity effects, and multilingual worldbuilding.
Belter culture, Martian naval doctrine, and Earth’s bureaucratic power games shape the conflicts that drive each season. Ship combat follows clear physics, while the larger mystery reframes humanity’s place among forces beyond our control.
‘Dark’ (2017–2020)
This German series connects four families through time loops and generational secrets tied to a small town. Netflix hosts the show, presenting a carefully subtitled and dubbed experience with consistent visual motifs that guide viewers through complex relationships.
The narrative uses branching timelines, identity reveals, and a closed causal loop to examine fate and free will. A character map helps, yet the show’s careful repetition and symbolic cues are designed to keep orientation possible without external guides.
‘Counterpart’ (2017–2019)
A low level bureaucrat learns his agency monitors a parallel world that split from our own, with a more hardened version of himself operating on the other side. Starz aired the series, giving it a quiet espionage tone with international locations and a measured pace.
The show treats the mirror world as a geopolitical problem shaped by past pandemics and diverging policies. Tradecraft, dead drops, and compromised sources drive the plot as the two counterparts negotiate trust while institutions push for advantage.
‘Orphan Black’ (2013–2017)
A street wise drifter discovers she is one of many clones, pulling her into a web of biotech corporations and secret religious groups. BBC America broadcast the series, pairing gritty urban locations with lab based intrigue.
Each clone has a distinct life, skill set, and risk profile, which lets the story jump from suburban cover identities to underground science. Questions of bodily autonomy and intellectual property frame the stakes as the origin of the cloning project comes into focus.
‘Fringe’ (2008–2013)
An FBI unit investigates strange phenomena connected to fringe science and parallel universes, guided by a brilliant but unstable researcher. Fox carried the series, blending monster of the week cases with a serialized mythology.
The procedural format gradually reveals a broader war between worlds and the personal cost of experimental research. The show uses case files, lab experiments, and an alternate timeline to track cause and effect across realities.
‘Continuum’ (2012–2015)
A cop from a corporate ruled future is sent back in time with a group of terrorists, forcing her to stop their plans while protecting her path home. The series aired on Showcase in Canada and on Syfy in the United States, balancing near future tech with present day settings.
Augmented reality overlays, smart suits, and secure implants give the protagonist an edge as she navigates shifting loyalties. The central question remains whether changing the past can prevent the corporate future or only create a new version of it.
‘Travelers’ (2016–2018)
Operatives from a bleak future project their consciousness into people moments before death to guide humanity away from disaster. The show ran on Showcase in Canada and streamed on Netflix internationally, keeping missions tight and grounded in present day logistics.
The team must live the borrowed lives they inherit while performing assignments coordinated by an algorithmic Director. Rules about communication, cover maintenance, and non interference constantly collide with personal attachments.
‘Sense8’ (2015–2018)
Eight strangers across the world become mentally linked, sharing skills and emotions while hunted by a shadowy organization. Netflix produced the series with location shoots in multiple countries that highlight the global nature of the cluster.
The connection lets characters drop into one another’s lives to solve problems, fight, and communicate without speech. The antagonists try to control or erase the cluster phenomenon, pushing the group to define their own code.
‘Killjoys’ (2015–2019)
A trio of bounty hunters works neutral warrants across a planetary system controlled by corporate powers and feudal houses. Space in Canada and Syfy in the United States aired the series, supporting ship interiors, weapon tech, and a rowdy frontier vibe.
Political factions, plasma science, and family ties complicate simple jobs into system wide choices. The team structure moves from case work to insurgency as hidden histories and biological experiments come to light.
‘Humans’ (2015–2018)
In a world where lifelike androids serve households, a family brings home a synth with a mysterious past that changes the balance between people and machines. Channel 4 in the UK and AMC in the United States broadcast the series, emphasizing street level realism over spectacle.
Legal status, labor displacement, and emergent consciousness shape conflicts between activists and manufacturers. The show follows court cases, corporate strategy, and underground networks as synth rights become a social flashpoint.
‘Raised by Wolves’ (2020–2022)
Two androids raise human children on a harsh planet after Earth’s destruction, sparking a clash between faith and rational survival. HBO Max distributed the series, delivering striking production design with biomechanical aesthetics and stark off world landscapes.
As settlements form, relics and signals suggest deeper forces at work. The story tracks resource management, child rearing under pressure, and the instability of belief systems transplanted to an alien environment.
‘Snowpiercer’ (2020–2024)
Humanity’s remnants live on a perpetually moving train divided by class, where a homicide case reveals larger structural problems. TNT premiered the series and later seasons moved to AMC, maintaining detailed train set pieces and a rolling sense of motion.
Car by car worldbuilding shows agriculture, industry, and law within a closed rail ecosystem. Power struggles play out through unions, hospitality staff, and security forces as the train confronts the possibility of change outside.
‘Station Eleven’ (2021–2022)
Survivors of a global pandemic rebuild culture through a traveling theater troupe while a mysterious comic connects past and present. HBO Max carried the series, supporting shifting timelines with intimate cinematography and careful sound design.
The narrative follows artists, pilots, and archivists as communities stabilize and decide what to preserve. The comic becomes a shared text that different people interpret in ways that shape their choices.
‘Dark Matter’ (2015–2017)
Six people wake up on a ship with wiped memories and must decide who they were versus who they will become. Space in Canada and Syfy in the United States aired the series, focusing on ship based storytelling with modular missions.
As old identities resurface, corporate militaries, research labs, and criminal syndicates pursue the crew. Questions of consent and accountability drive decisions as the team discovers their prior reputations.
’12 Monkeys’ (2015–2018)
A time traveler works with a present day doctor to stop a plague, only to uncover a secret society that manipulates the timeline. Syfy broadcast the series, which uses clear rules for causality and paradox to structure each mission.
The plot employs stable loops, temporal echoes, and shifting allegiances as the traveler’s actions reverberate. Visual cues and mission boards help track splinter points and the consequences of changing events.
‘The OA’ (2016–2019)
A young woman reappears after a long absence with unexplained scars and a story about interdimensional travel. Netflix released the series, which blends small town mystery with speculative science centered on near death experiences.
Through group storytelling, the protagonist recruits helpers to perform a sequence that may bridge realities. The show layers captivity narratives with academic research and folklore to question how belief shapes possibility.
‘Foundation’ (2021– )
A mathematician’s theory predicts the fall of an empire, prompting a plan to preserve knowledge through a network of scholars. Apple TV Plus distributes the series, investing in large scale imperial settings, ship design, and a genetic dynasty premise.
Episodes explore psychohistory, succession, and religious influence as colonies form on distant worlds. The story tracks both the empire’s center and peripheral outposts as crises test the plan’s assumptions.
‘The Peripheral’ (2022)
A gamer in a struggling town tests advanced VR gear that links to a future London where her actions have real consequences. Amazon Prime Video released the series, pairing rural America with sleek urban futurism through production design and prop tech.
Time stubs, quantum messaging, and corporate oligarchies define the rules of engagement. The lead navigates contracts, mercenaries, and family responsibilities while learning what the connection truly enables.
‘Archive 81’ (2022)
An archivist restores a damaged tape collection tied to a missing filmmaker and a cult, uncovering a cross temporal conspiracy. Netflix hosts the series, using analog footage and modern restoration labs to build its mystery.
The investigation cuts between recorded past and present day, revealing architectural secrets and ritual patterns. As tapes are repaired, hidden messages and recurring symbols point to a structure with unusual properties.
‘Andor’ (2022– )
This prequel follows a future Rebel operative as small choices lead toward organized resistance against an authoritarian regime. Disney Plus carries the series, providing grounded sets and location shoots that underscore life under occupation.
The story maps supply chains, black market circuits, and local politics that make rebellion possible. Individual arcs show how workers, prisoners, and intelligence officers intersect as networks form.
‘The 100’ (2014–2020)
A group of juvenile detainees is sent from a space habitat to a ravaged Earth to test survivability, triggering contact with multiple factions. The CW aired the series, blending location shooting with stylized tech from the Ark and later settlements.
Resource scarcity, governance models, and environmental hazards force constant recalculations. The show examines how leaders adapt as new cultures and scientific discoveries challenge their initial mission.
‘Utopia’ (2013–2014)
A group of fans of a cult graphic novel find the next manuscript and become targets of a bioengineered plot. Channel 4 in the UK broadcast the series, notable for saturated visuals that contrast with its clinical conspiracy.
The story follows hackers, civil servants, and corporate contractors as competing agendas collide. The manuscript’s predictive drawings guide actions while questions of population health and ethics rise to the surface.
If you have a favorite sci fi series that more people should discover, share your picks in the comments so others can find their next watch.
