The latest on the upcoming Channel 4 production of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams anthology series is starting to get pretty exciting and with yet more cast details being announced it’s shaping up to be the TV science fiction outing of the year. For the majority of moderate to hard core sci-fi fans out there, the name Philip K. Dick will be up there with Aldous Huxley, H.G. Wells, Ridley Scott, Arthur C. Clarke and Steven Spielberg, but for anyone not in the know, he’s the writer behind everything from Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly and The Adjustment Bureau, so he’s literally one of the zen ninjas of the sci-fi, which is why the new production is such a big deal. With Blade Runner 2049 out later this yer, it’s fair to say that his influence is continuing to be as strong as ever.
The series will be made up of ten anthology episodes inspired by the incredible short stories written by Philip K. Dick, who’s work covered socio-political themes, tackling everything from monopolistic organisations to authoritarian regimes. Episode 1 is set to premier on Channel 4 in the UK later this year and on Amazon Prime Video in the US with the rest of the ten episodes going out after it.
Filming is underway in London at the moment and we’re starting to get a few details about the individual episodes and who will be making up the cast. Channel 4 announced details for the first episode being filmed back in March 2017. The episode is called The Commuter and it stars Timothy Spall (The King’s Speech) as Ed Jacobson, an employee at a train station that stumbles on the mind bending reality that a number of the daily commuters passing through are taking a train to a town that shouldn’t exist. His curiosity leads him to follow them, only to discover an alternate reality that forces him to face his own life difficulties. He’s joined by Rebecca Manley (This Is England) as his wife Mary and Anthony Boyle (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child) as his troubled son Sam.
The cast for The Commuter also includes Rudi Dharmalingham (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them) Ed’s colleague Bob Paine, and Tuppence Middleton (BBC’s War And Peace) as a mysterious woman called Linda. Anne Reid, Ann Akin, Hayley Squires, Tom Brooke, Nicole Agada, Marko Leht, Matthew Raymond and Naveed Khan complete the large cast list.
Channel 4 has followed this up in early April with details for the next episode going into production, Impossible Planet, written by David Farr (The Night Manager) and based on the Philip K. Dick short story, The Impossible Planet. It tells the story of two space tourism employees who have become indifferent to their once visionary mode of travel as they transport an elderly women back to Earth, despite its now mythical existence. Taking the big money payoff for the trip, they begin to get second thoughts along the way, feeling guilty about their confused and wealthy traveller, however, there’s a hefty surprise in store for them before the trip is done.
Impossible Planet will star Geraldine Chaplin (A Monster Calls) as the seemingly befuddled old lady, along with Jack Reynor (Free Fire) and Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange) as the two space tourism employees. It will also feature Justin Butcher, Georgina Campbell, Bekka Bowling, Christopher Staines and Malik Ibheis in the cast.
Two more episodes were announced on the 18th April 2017 with Steve Buscemi to lead the cast of Crazy Diamonds, starring as average guy Ed who gets drawn into the illegal plans of a beautiful synth. While Greg Kinnear, Jack Gore and Mireille Enos play the family at the heart of Father Thing as aliens quietly invade the planet by replacing humans.
Electric Dreams has been adapted by a hefty number of leading British and American writers, including Jack Thorn (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child), Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim), Matthew Graham (Doctor Who), Ronald D. Moore (Mission: Impossible 2), Tony Grisoni (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas), David Farr and Dee Rees (Mudbound).
Ronald D. Moore and Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions and Michael Dinner of Rooney McP Productions, Bryan Cranston (Power Rangers (2017)) and James Degus of Moonshot Entertainment, Isa Dick Hackett, Kalen Egan and Christopher Tricarico of Electric Shepherd Productions, David Kanter and Matt DeRoss of Anonymous Content, Lila Rawlings and Marigo Kehoe of Left Bank Pictures, Don Kurt and Kate DiMento in association with Sony Pictures Television.
