A brutal rebellion on a train full of the last humans, a ‘zomromcom’ in which the dead start shuffling around London and a contemporary reimagining of an HG Wells classic… there’s so much for fans of post-apocalyptic fiction and sci-fi to get stuck into right now.
We’ve selected the 25 dramas and films that it really would be the end of the world to miss – sifting through thousands of options so you don’t have to.
Looking for a new series or film to stream On Demand?
Read on to find out the shows worth investing your precious last days on earth in…
Fallout
Explosive video game adaptation from the creators of the Westworld TV series
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Video game adaptations used to have a bad name – does anyone remember Bob Hoskins playing the Italian plumber Mario in 1993’s Super Mario Bros film? It’s probably best that you don’t.
Those days are now long though, especially after HBO’s The Last Of Us upped the dramatic ante in 2023 and won eight Emmy Awards for its trouble. Fallout looks set to continue that trend, coming as it does from Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, a producing duo with great expertise in serving TV audiences big and complex worlds.
And Fallout is certainly that – the games are set in a sprawling, post-apocalyptic wasteland centuries after a nuclear war has devastated the planet’s surface. Underneath that wasteland are The Vaults, in which cheery survivors have been living lives of order and relative luxury while those above scrabbled for scraps.
That culture clash is at the centre of the series, following Lucy (Yellowjackets’ Ella Purnell) as she leaves the safety of The Vaults for the chaos above. ‘Practically every person I’ve met up here has tried to kill me,’ she despairs in her opening week. There’s a lot of comedy in that clash and we meet a lot of eccentric characters as it unfolds, too, especially Justified’s Walton Goggins as a roaming bounty hunter.
Fallout is primarily an epic action game though, and this ambitious and visually impressive series keeps that very much in mind. It should certainly please those in search of a little popcorn entertainment and, even if it doesn’t quite reach the dramatic heights of The Last Of Us, it’s also a rich evocation of an exciting world. (Eight episodes)
Snowpiercer
Jennifer Connelly is superb in this post-apocalyptic series set on a train
Year: 2020-2022
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Netflix
The movie Snowpiercer follows a brutal rebellion on a train full of the last humans from a frozen Earth. This TV series version starts off looking like it’s telling the same tale in slow motion, but then chooses a different track and throws in a murder mystery for good measure. Jennifer Connelly plays Melanie Cavill, the authoritative voice of the train, who serves the will of the even more mysterious Mr Wilford. She is our guide to the richly realised world of a very long locomotive that is strictly divided by class. It’s worth watching if you like a strong female star.
There’s a lot to like in the world-building that Snowpiercer does, but it’s Connelly’s subtly shifting performance as the enigmatic Melanie that really holds your attention throughout season one. As the show progresses, the action moves off the train, dubbed Big Alice, to take in more of what is left of the freezing world outside. (Three series)
The Walking Dead
Zombie apocalypse horror that became a global hit
Year: 2010-2022
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Disney+
Launched in 2010 on the US cable channel AMC – the original home of Mad Men – this post-apocalyptic drama became a TV phenomenon, running for 11 series and spawning numerous spin-offs. The Walking Dead explores the stories of survivors in the wake of a zombie apocalypse, and evokes that same sense of wonder at a world in suspension that you see in movies such as 28 Days Later and I Am Legend. The writer and director is Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption), and the story is derived from a series of comic books. This Life’s Andrew Lincoln the main star, playing a heroic cop – and with an American accent that doesn’t make you cringe – who awakes from a coma to find the world overrun by zombies; fellow Brit Lennie James plays one of the survivors he finds.
Be warned though, it’s strong stuff and very scary at times, although more for the tension it creates than the gore – although there is that too. The zombies are, of course, horrific – yet the series doesn’t revel in that, and there’s a heartbreaking poignancy to survivors coming face to face with hopelessly changed former friends and family. The Walking Dead has scale, depth and ambition, plus a great mystery at its heart – one to watch, if you have the stomach and nerves for it. (11 series)
The Last Of Us
HBO’s epic, post-apocalyptic drama about a father-daughter bond
Year: 2022
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Sky
Watch now on NOW
It sounded like the last thing any of us needed – another post-apocalyptic drama about zombies, and one adapted from a video game, at that – but HBO’s The Last Of Us was a stunning surprise. It was grisly, yes, and full of desperate characters; but, unlike the relentlessly depressing Walking Dead, proved to be a show about hope, with two very likeable characters at its centre.
Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) plays grieving father-figure Joel, who shepherds teenager Ellie, who is immune to the zombie-causing fungus, on a journey across the US. Ellie is played by rising Brit Bella Ramsey (Game Of Thrones), in a star-making performance that takes on real punch as the show evolves, venturing across a ruined world that’s realised with scale and detail. If you’re unsure if it’s for you, give it until part three – that’s when the tone really becomes clear. (Nine episodes)
The Road
Father and son journey through a savage post-apocalyptic America
Year: 2009
Certificate: 15
This adaptation of acclaimed American author Cormac McCarthy’s 2006 novel is a stark yet powerful story of survival set in the smoking embers of a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Viggo Mortensen is the man, Kodi Smit-McPhee is the boy. We never learn their names, and nor do we learn how the world came to be a wasteland yielding nothing but starvation and horror for its scattered survivors. The only warmth of tone and colour comes in flashback to memories of the boy’s mother, who is no longer with them.
Constantly on the move, man and boy hide from nomadic bands of cannibals, distrustful of anyone they meet. Survival is fear and caution, but the boy yearns for more. This is a world where everything we currently hold dear, even our names, are of no meaning or use. What does matter, though, is a father’s love for his son, and the boy’s innocence and hope.
The Road doesn’t flinch from showing the violence of a future where civilisation has completely broken down. But it does also show how humanity is a spark within us all, one that is easily extinguished, but also one that can be nurtured. (111 minutes)
Finch
Life-affirming take on the post-apocalypse genre starring Tom Hanks
Year: 2021
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Apple TV+
This post-apocalyptic movie stars Tom Hanks as one of the last surviving members of the human race. It takes a far lighter, more optimistic approach than most films of the genre with their obvious need for doom, gloom and the fight for survival.
Finch is worried about what will happen to his dog, Goodyear, when he dies, so builds an android to look after him. We know from Cast Away that Hanks can carry a film in which he’s the only human. We now also know that a movie about a man, a mutt and a machine can reduce anyone to a blubbing mess. You have been warned. (115 mins)
Sweet Tooth
Post-apocalyptic adventures with human/animal hybrid children
Year: 2021-
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Netflix
This magical comic-book adaptation is set in a world where animal/human hybrids are born in the wake of an apocalypse, and are feared by those humans who remain. What follows is more of a coming-of-age story than a superhero tale, centered around Gus, a half-deer hybrid who lives in the wild with his father – until his dad dies, and Gus sets off on an adventure to find his mother. That was the core of series one, so read no further if you want to avoid spoilers.
At the start of series two, Gus has just been captured by the fanatical Last Men, a militaristic cult dedicated to human purity. Will he be able to escape with the other hybrids being held prisoner? Will his towering, Last Of Us-style protector Tommy Jepperd be able to find him? This show continues to marry the dark and the bittersweet with the unbearably hopeful and even borderline fairytale elements to great effect in its second, eight-strong batch of episodes. (Two series)
A Quiet Place
A family flee aliens who hunt by sound on a ravaged Earth with few survivors
Year: 2018
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Paramount+
A chilling mix of thoughtful sci-fi and stalker horror, this low-budget thriller was a fantastic surprise hit. When alien monsters who cannot see but have amazing hearing invade the earth, a young family battles to stay silent in order to survive.
Directed by and starring John Krasinski, alongside his real-life wife Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place milks its brilliant high-concept idea for nerve-tingling set pieces as the mum, dad and children (one of whom is deaf) creep around, gesturing in sign language, aware that the slightest sound could spell disaster. It also isn’t afraid to inject real emotion into proceedings, elevating its characters far above bog-standard horror-flick cliches.
The 2020 sequel kept the nerves on edge and this post-apocalyptic world continues to build with a spin-off film A Quiet Place: Day One and a second sequel due for release in 2024 and 2025. (90 minutes)
12 Monkeys
Mind-bending sci-fi adventure following a man to the past to save the future
Year: 2015-2018
Certificate: 15
Terry Gilliam’s cult classic is reimagined as a TV series, following a prisoner sent back in time to try to stop a plague from decimating the future population, with only the 12 Monkeys of the title as a cryptic clue.
Aaron Stanford (Pyro in the early X-Men movies) stars as the time-hopping prisoner Cole (the Bruce Willis character from the movie) in a show that over four series takes time to indulge the strangeness of the premise, while still delivering sci-fi action, thrills, and not forgetting a dash of romance – a big part of the original.
The whole thing fits together like a puzzle that rewards the patient viewer. It’s strictly for sci-fi fans who can enter into the spirit of its frequently flabby logic, but enjoyably bonkers, especially its way out there and hugely satisfying finale. (Four series)
Bird Box
Sandra Bullock stars in a horror movie where seeing is dying
Year: 2018
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
Imagine a monster that doesn’t need to kill you – just the sight of it is enough to drive you to suicide. That’s the force that has invaded the earth and rendered it almost uninhabitable in this high-concept horror movie.
Just as A Quiet Place played games with sound and silence in order to generate scares, this film toys with sight and vision to unsettle as Sandra Bullock’s battered and blindfolded survivor attempts to get herself and two small children across the post-apocalyptic country to a safe haven that the creatures can’t reach. The result is a tense, sad and eerie watch full of jumpy moments. (124 minutes)
Silo
The remains of humanity live deep underground in Apple’s finely acted mystery
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Apple TV+
Shows with fantastical mysteries at the centre can be frustrating things. The classic example is Lost, which went on for 121 episodes before coming to a conclusion that wholly satisfied no one. The problem comes when the characters and world are less interesting than the mystery of the show, but that’s not the case with Silo.
Based on a series of books (unlike Lost, which the writers made up as they went along) Apple’s show takes us into a silo-dwelling society deep under the planet’s surface, where the remains of humanity cower from what they believe to be a ruined and toxic surface. Are they being told the truth, though? That mystery feels very important at the start, but the more you get to know the characters, especially gruff engineer Juliette (beautifully and precisely played by Rebecca Ferguson), the less you’ll worry about what’s going on up top. Silo becomes more of a murder mystery than a fantastical mystery, and one that’ll grip you more with each passing episode. The wider and very fine cast includes David Oyelowo, Iain Glen, Harriet Walter and Tim Robbins and, once you reach the end, you’ll be especially glad to know that Silo will be back for series two. (Ten episodes)
Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hardy stars in this exhilarating franchise reboot
Year: 2015
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Thirty years after the original film, director George Miller brought Mad Max back to life in stunning fashion. A huge commercial and critical success, Fury Road is a wild, exhilarating epic, with visual effects to match its ambition and progressive themes befitting our times. It returns to the dystopian future of the earlier films, and all resources for preserving life – from food to fertility – remain sparse, controlled by despotic warlords and their deranged soldiers.
Tom Hardy is Max, the character originally played by Mel Gibson, who opens the film on the back foot – captured, tortured and gagged. After he escapes, he forms an uneasy alliance with rogue driver Furiosa (Charlize Theron), and Max – the loner hellbent on self-preservation – finds a cause worth fighting for. (120 minutes)
Shaun Of The Dead
Simon Pegg’s hilarious take on the zombie apocalypse genre
Year: 2004
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
There’s something for everyone in this ‘zomromcom’ from the makers of cult sitcom Spaced, namely romance, comedy, and zombies. Simon Pegg is Shaun, the slacker who finally gets the wind up him when the dead rise and start shuffling around London. It takes him a while to notice, though – just one of the many fresh and funny twists the film injects into the arm of the done-to-death zombie apocalypse genre.
With his best pal Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun sets off to collect his mum (Penelope Wilton) and stepdad (Bill Nighy) and reunite with his ex-girlfriend (Kate Ashfield), traversing the dangerous lawless streets to reach safety at his local pub.
The Terminator
Sci-fi thriller that made Arnie Schwarzenegger a megastar
Year: 1984
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
The Terminator is one of the most influential sci-fi films ever made. It’s a genre in which it’s increasingly difficult to innovate without relying on computers to do all the work, but way back in 1984, James Cameron – who has since made impressive, if perhaps a little too insistent, use of technological advances – had little to play around with. All he had were low-tech thrills, a nightmarish soundtrack and inspired plotting. It was enough.
Cameron also makes perfect use of blank-canvas star Arnie Schwarzenegger – then little more than a body-building beefcake having a stab at acting, now a global megastar (and that’s mainly down to the Terminator franchise). The whole film is well cast, but it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Arnie, with his curious mix of foreignness and physicality, as the indestructible, monosyllabic cyborg – sent from the future to stop Resistance leader John Connor from ever being born. Interestingly, the studio initially suggested OJ Simpson for the role, but Cameron didn’t think anyone would accept OJ as a cold-blooded killer…
All science fiction movies have plot craters, and this one has its fair share – in fact, the central premise is an absolute corker that monkeys around with the space-time continuum in a way that will make your brain scream if you think about it too hard – but, surely, that’s what suspension of disbelief was invented for. This film has got it all: good-looking leads, action in spades, humour and heart-pounding tension – the classic James Cameron blend. Available to buy on Prime Video or via MGM+(108 mins)
Good Omens
Terry Pratchett’s apocalypse comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen
Year: 2019-
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Prime Video
It was Terry Pratchett’s dying wish for his vibrant apocalypse comedy to be adapted for the screen, and Neil Gaiman did a terrific job of doing just that – with no expense spared. Aside from the budget required to bring this comical account of the rise of the Antichrist to the screen, though, there’s one great casting decision that makes it really work at the centre.
Michael Sheen and David Tennant deliver a great double act as Aziraphale and Crowley, the bantering angel and demon who are trying to stop that apocalypse. The ethereal duo have become quite attached to their easy life on Earth over the centuries, thank you very much, and don’t want it to end just yet.
The first series of Good Omens was made before Staged sent Sheen and Tennant’s double act stratospheric, and they’re just two of many familiar faces on the cast – look out for Mad Men’s Jon Hamm as the angel Gabriel, Motherland’s Anna Maxwell Martin as Beelzebub and Miranda Richardson as a medium, to name but three. It’s really all about Sheen and Tennant, though, and series two digs even further into their characters’ unusual friendship. (Two series)
World War Z
Can Brad Pitt single-handedly save the world from a virus that turns humans into zombies?
Year: 2013
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Paramount+
Large-scale apocalyptic adventure in which zombies quickly gain the upper hand through sheer volume. Brad Pitt is a UN investigator drafted in to help a scientist to find a cure for the zombie virus. He ends up taking the fate of the human race on his shoulders, virtually single-handedly. A thrill ride from the start, but after such epic scenes of carnage, the end was always going to fall flat. (116 minutes)
Under The Dome
Science-fiction mystery based on a novel by Stephen King
Year: 2013-2015
Certificate: 15
Watch now on My5
Inexplicably, an entire town is sealed inside a huge impenetrable dome. That’s the plot of The Simpsons Movie, too (released six years prior), but unlike the Simpson family who manage to escape their dome, the inhabitants of the town of Chester’s Mill really are stuck and remain so, no matter how much they shoot at their transparent prison or attempt to bulldoze their way through it. It’s bonkers but rather fun if you leave your brain outside your own rational thought bubble. The series is based on a novel by Stephen King, which he says he first started in 1976, then set aside until 2007. (Three series)
Henpocalypse!
A hungover hen party wake up to the end of the world in this raucous BBC comedy
Year: 2023
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
From Caroline Moran, writer of Raised By Wolves and Hullraisers and sister of columnist Caitlin, this anarchic comedy throws the kitchen sink at us. Five women head to Snowdonia for a wild hen weekend and wake, bleary-eyed, to a whole new world where a viral pandemic is wiping out all the men.
With scant supplies and a woeful lack of common sense, these are not women with finely tuned survival instincts. Although most of the characters are pretty unlikeable – especially bridezilla Zara (Lucie Shorthouse) – the female-fired tension and frequent mishaps mean there’s never a dull moment. Look out for a bizarre guest appearance from Danny Dyer as the series goes on. (Six episodes)
Brave New World
Classy retelling of Huxley’s dystopian chiller, with a starry cast
Year: 2020
Certificate: 15
Timing, they say, is everything, so to broadcast a series about a dystopian world from which people are desperate to escape, in the middle of a global pandemic, was possibly a little unfortunate.
This nine-part series, based on the 1932 Aldous Huxley novel of the same name, was originally shown on Sky in October 2020 and cancelled soon after. But now, post-pandemic, it definitely merits another viewing.
Jessica Brown Findlay, Lady Sybil in Downton Abbey, is excellent in the leading role of Lenina Crowne, a lower-class worker whose adventures in the Wild Lands while on a date with the higher status Bernard Marx (Harry Lloyd) leads them both to question just how perfect their ‘perfect’ world actually is.
There’s also Hollywood royalty on board with Demi Moore playing Linda, the mother of John The Savage, and enough imaginatively designed furniture to distract from the occasionally dodgy dialogue. (One series)
War Of The Worlds
Contemporary reimagining of the HG Wells alien-invasion classic
Year: 2019-2022
Certificate: 15
Watch now on My5
Watch now on Disney+
This is no tired rehash of the HG Wells alien-invasion story but confidently charts its own way. First, the similarities: aliens invade and start wiping out much of humanity and, just like in the Wells version, these invaders have a weakness. That’s where the similarities end, though, and a dramatic big reveal between series one and two turns all expectations around.
This is a genre show that is big on atmosphere and, despite its weighty sci-fi ideas, it really focuses on its characters, who are well defined and developed and have been brought together across Europe and Britain by the invasion.
The cast is headed by Gabriel Byrne’s weary, hangdog neuroscientist hero Bill Ward, and the series was written by Brit Howard Overman, who won a BAFTA for his superhero comedy-drama Misfits. The show also wraps its story up neatly and tidily at the end of its third and final series. (Three series)
Westworld
Reinvention of the 1973 sci-fi western movie set in the ultimate theme park
Year: 2016-2022
Certificate: 18
The first series of HBO’s reboot of the 1973 sci-fi western movie was a stone-cold classic, and told a complete story across ten parts as theme park robot Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) took control of the destiny set for her by her creator, Dr Ford (Anthony Hopkins). The dystopian premise is brilliant; Westworld is a dark Disneyland inhabited by amazingly life-like robots where humans can live out their cowboy fantasies of shootouts, murder and hot romance. But a malfunction means the robots remember everything that has happened to them, triggering a rebellion.
The first two series, for which Thandie Newton and Evan Rachel Wood both won awards, are the best. In series three and four it became more of a thoughtful action thriller and, while it never quite reached the very high watermark set at the start, Westworld remains one of the most exciting and visually stunning series to hit TV in a long time. (Four series)
Leave The World Behind
Julia Roberts stars in a thriller about a looming apocalypse
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
In order to get out of the city for a few days, Amanda and Clay (Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke) take their two kids off on a last-minute getaway to a rented holiday home on Long Island. The fun is blunted a bit when the home’s owners (Mahershala Ali and Myha’la) turn up, but things turn seriously strange when reports of nationwide blackouts reach them and local animals start behaving very weirdly indeed.
Taut storytelling by Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail dovetails with memorable performances (watch out for Kevin Bacon too) in a dark and unnerving account of what happens when a modern apocalypse descends and the bricks that support society start to crumble. (141 minutes)
The Lazarus Project
A secret organisation with the ability to turn back time finds its newest recruit
Year: 2022-
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
Sky’s time-loop thriller pulls you in very swiftly indeed with its exciting premise, and holds you with its unpredictable characters, fast-paced action and witty asides. The Lazarus Project is a top-secret organisation that, using the scientific theory of gravitational singularity, has the ability to rewind time whenever the world comes to an end. The series is the brainchild of writer Joe Barton – the creator of the Anglo-Japanese crime drama Giri/Haji – who was struck by how fortunate it is that the world has so far managed to avoid an apocalypse: ‘I thought it unbelievable that mankind hadn’t destroyed itself by accident at various times, and started to wonder why.’
Caroline Quentin stars as Wes, the leader of the Project, and her team includes Archie (Vigil’s Anjli Mohindra) and George (I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu). Series one sees George pulled into the bewildering world of the Project, and the second run opens with a succinct round-up of what happened: ‘Things got out of hand. I did some bad things – but I did them for a good reason.’ The stakes in series two include the pursuit of a rival group who have an actual time machine, and it plays with the same addictive mix of pace, action and wit. (Two series)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ellie Kemper plays a naive cult survivor seeking a new life in the city
Year: 2015-2020
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
The premise of this US comedy, which was co-created by the Saturday Night Live stalwart Tina Fey, makes for entertaining viewing: one day, naive Kimmy (Ellie Kemper of The Office US) is rescued from a bunker where she had been hiding from an apocalypse she had been conned into believing in by a phony doomsday cult.
Kimmy seizes on her second chance at life, and runs into New York City looking to pursue her dreams with all the enthusiasm and optimism of a child. Kemper is great at conveying that positivity – and the vulnerability that sits under it – and she’s supported by a sharp, gag-packed script and absurd characters, most notably the great Jane Krakowski as an out-of touch socialite. The show was nominated for 18 Primetime Emmy Awards but strangely didn’t win one. (Four series)
Helgoland 513
Dystopian German sci-fi thriller series set on a post-apocalyptic island
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
After a worldwide catastrophe plunges the planet into chaos, the people of the island of Helgoland in the North Sea are one of the few bastions of civilisation left. Life is hard, though, with a brutal social hierarchy enforced and strict population controls (only 513 people are allowed to live there). But while the inhabitants might yearn for change, they also face the threat of invasion from the mainland as survivors of the apocalypse scheme to take the island for themselves.
Dark, mysterious and clever, this eight-part German sci-fi drama plays on current strains and fears to craft a very bleak vision of the near future. (Eight episodes)
