The fascinating Wonderland factual TV series returns to Sky Arts this Spring with an all-new four-part series, Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age, premiering next month…
Science fiction has commented on the very best and the very worst of humanity – but how did it predict so much? From the earliest stories to modern voices of the genre, this is the ultimate celebration of science fiction and the events that shaped it.
Produced and directed by Odessey Television’s Adrian Munsey this latest series looks at everything from the creation of the atomic bomb by Robert Oppenheimer and others, the Cold War, and the development of science fiction expression in all media, including film, literature, and plays.
Examining the work of authors such as H.G. Wells, Ursula le Guin, Octavia Butler, Kurt Vonnegut, J.G. Ballard, and Arthur C. Clarke, Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age also explores Kim Stanley Robinson’s masterpiece, The Ministry for the Future, about the consequences of climate change and how the world can work to prevent further disasters.
Richly illustrated and with a specially written orchestral score by Munsey, the programmes are a powerful visual document which will inspire, shock, engage and entertain, with its evocative description of visions of the future expressed in the greatest works of science fiction.
Sci-fi fans will marvel at the show’s cinematic insights including Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to classic British TV such as Doctor Who and The Quatermass Experiment.
The series explores Stanley Kubrick’s work, surely one of the greatest film directors of science fiction. After Kubrick’s death, the 30-year project planned by Kubrick became A.I, directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg’s personal warmth is reflected in his many other science fiction films. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a pivotal film. Spielberg’s huge skills are further seen in E.T.
In the 1970s, the power of the film and television industry created a form of science fiction that increasingly defined how science fiction is now generally perceived. Films like George Lucas’s Star Wars and The Matrix series are featured. The superheroes of Marvel and other films offer certainties to a world that has lost its religion and struggles with personal and collective doubt and loss.
The new four-part documentary series combines biography, literary extracts, and interviews with leading academics.
Wonderland: Science Fiction in the Atomic Age, premiering on Thursday 3rd April 2025 at 8pm on Sky Arts.
