Blab Entertainment
Beyond Black Mirror: 10 TV Series Exploring Technologys Dark Side
When Channel 4 first aired Black Mirror in 2011, it instantly became the benchmark for speculative television, dissecting how technology reshapes society. With seven seasons, a special episode, and a new season currently in development, the series has inspired a wave of shows that similarly deploy dystopian narratives to probe the ripple effects of emerging tech. Below, ten such series offer fresh angles on these enduring questions.
Love, Death & Robots is an adult‑animated anthology produced for Netflix by creator Tim Miller. The first season premiered on March 15, 2019, and the fourth season followed on May 15, 2025. Each episode is crafted by a different international studio and linked only by the three words in the title. The collection blends science‑fiction, horror, and comedy, earning praise for its visual flair and genre diversity.
Apple TV+’s Severance is a science‑fiction psychological thriller conceived by Dan Erickson and executive‑produced by Ben Stiller. The first season aired from February 18 to April 8, 2022, and the second season ran from January 17 to March 21, 2025. The plot centers on Lumon Industries' "severance" procedure, which divides a worker’s memories between work and personal life, creating separate identities. The show interrogates corporate control and the erosion of personal autonomy.
Years and Years, a dystopian drama miniseries written by Russell T. Davies, premiered on BBC One on May 14, 2019, and on HBO on June 24, 2019. The six‑part story follows the Lyons family from 2019 to 2034, while British celebrity businesswoman Vivienne Rook ascends to political power. The series examines rapid technological change, political polarization, and social‑media influence on society.
Ultra Q, a Japanese science‑fiction series that first aired in 1966, was originally titled Unbalance and focused on the tension between modern civilization and the natural world, often featuring giant monsters. The show later inspired the Ultraman franchise.
Room 104 is an American anthology that ran from 2017 to 2020 on HBO Max. Each episode is set in a single motel room and spans genres from comedy to horror, featuring guest stars such as Tony Todd and Mahershala Ali. Both shows use speculative premises to comment on contemporary anxieties.
The Outer Limits is an American science‑fiction series that originally aired from 1963 to 1965. Often compared to The Twilight Zone, it focuses more on human characters confronting technological threats. The series is available on Prime Video and Tubi.
Alice in Borderland is a Japanese streaming series that premiered on Netflix in 2020 and is set to conclude in 2025. The story follows video‑game‑obsessed Arisu as he is trapped in an augmented‑reality game in a deserted Tokyo. Both series examine the dangers of immersive technology.
Electric Dreams is an anthology series that adapted ten short stories by Philip K. Dick. The show aired from 2017 to 2018 on Prime Video. Episodes such as "Safe and Sound" and "Real Life" explore surveillance, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. Humans, a British‑American drama that ran from 2015 to 2018 on Peacock, Prime Video, and Tubi, depicts a near‑future society where advanced synthetic beings called synths perform domestic work, raising questions about labor, rights, and identity.
Tales from the Loop is an anthology series based on the art book by Simon Stålenhag. The show premiered in 2020 on Prime Video. Set in the small town of Mercer, Ohio, which sits above a physics laboratory called the Loop, each episode follows a different character affected by the Loop’s experiments, blending speculative science with human drama.
These ten series echo Black Mirror’s ambivalence toward technology, yet each delivers a distinct narrative voice and stylistic approach. From animated shorts to live‑action dramas, the shows span decades and continents, illustrating how speculative storytelling can illuminate the ethical and social dilemmas posed by modern innovation. As streaming platforms continue to invest in genre‑driven content, audiences now have a broad selection of shows that probe the same questions Black Mirror raised while expanding the conversation into new cultural contexts and narrative formats.
Love, Death & Robots is an adult‑animated anthology produced for Netflix by creator Tim Miller. The first season premiered on March 15, 2019, and the fourth season followed on May 15, 2025. Each episode is crafted by a different international studio and linked only by the three words in the title. The collection blends science‑fiction, horror, and comedy, earning praise for its visual flair and genre diversity.
Apple TV+’s Severance is a science‑fiction psychological thriller conceived by Dan Erickson and executive‑produced by Ben Stiller. The first season aired from February 18 to April 8, 2022, and the second season ran from January 17 to March 21, 2025. The plot centers on Lumon Industries' "severance" procedure, which divides a worker’s memories between work and personal life, creating separate identities. The show interrogates corporate control and the erosion of personal autonomy.
Years and Years, a dystopian drama miniseries written by Russell T. Davies, premiered on BBC One on May 14, 2019, and on HBO on June 24, 2019. The six‑part story follows the Lyons family from 2019 to 2034, while British celebrity businesswoman Vivienne Rook ascends to political power. The series examines rapid technological change, political polarization, and social‑media influence on society.
Ultra Q, a Japanese science‑fiction series that first aired in 1966, was originally titled Unbalance and focused on the tension between modern civilization and the natural world, often featuring giant monsters. The show later inspired the Ultraman franchise.
Room 104 is an American anthology that ran from 2017 to 2020 on HBO Max. Each episode is set in a single motel room and spans genres from comedy to horror, featuring guest stars such as Tony Todd and Mahershala Ali. Both shows use speculative premises to comment on contemporary anxieties.
The Outer Limits is an American science‑fiction series that originally aired from 1963 to 1965. Often compared to The Twilight Zone, it focuses more on human characters confronting technological threats. The series is available on Prime Video and Tubi.
Alice in Borderland is a Japanese streaming series that premiered on Netflix in 2020 and is set to conclude in 2025. The story follows video‑game‑obsessed Arisu as he is trapped in an augmented‑reality game in a deserted Tokyo. Both series examine the dangers of immersive technology.
Electric Dreams is an anthology series that adapted ten short stories by Philip K. Dick. The show aired from 2017 to 2018 on Prime Video. Episodes such as "Safe and Sound" and "Real Life" explore surveillance, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. Humans, a British‑American drama that ran from 2015 to 2018 on Peacock, Prime Video, and Tubi, depicts a near‑future society where advanced synthetic beings called synths perform domestic work, raising questions about labor, rights, and identity.
Tales from the Loop is an anthology series based on the art book by Simon Stålenhag. The show premiered in 2020 on Prime Video. Set in the small town of Mercer, Ohio, which sits above a physics laboratory called the Loop, each episode follows a different character affected by the Loop’s experiments, blending speculative science with human drama.
These ten series echo Black Mirror’s ambivalence toward technology, yet each delivers a distinct narrative voice and stylistic approach. From animated shorts to live‑action dramas, the shows span decades and continents, illustrating how speculative storytelling can illuminate the ethical and social dilemmas posed by modern innovation. As streaming platforms continue to invest in genre‑driven content, audiences now have a broad selection of shows that probe the same questions Black Mirror raised while expanding the conversation into new cultural contexts and narrative formats.
