Apple TV has a slew of fantastic science fiction TV shows, and these seven are particularly notable for how complex and sound their world-building is. Apple appears to be the new home for science fiction, with virtually every show in the genre being, at the very least, “good”.
It’s not easy to amass so much quality so quickly, but Apple TV appears to have a blueprint, and it may involve taking the time to map out the worlds each of these shows resides in. These seven series are meticulously crafted and reward viewers for asking questions to see just how deep these worlds go.
See (2019-2022)
See was one of the four original shows Apple debuted Apple TV+ with in 2019, along with Dickinson, The Morning Show, and For All Mankind. See fell on the Dickinson divide of those four shows as one of the two that didn’t quite make it in the same way as the other two.
It’s a shame because after season 1, See quickly developed into a thrilling, compelling post-apocalyptic action drama. The series is set in the distant future, generations after a virus wiped out most of Earth’s population. The survivors and their offspring gradually lost the use of their eyes over the years, rendering the entirety of humankind blind.
A new kind of primeval society emerges from this, and the specific ways that culture has morphed to accommodate this worldwide blindness are fascinating. It feels like every detail has been thought out, and the ways society operates feel like the result of generations of trial and error rather than a 30-minute brainstorm in a writer’s room.
For All Mankind (2019-Present)
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Unlike See, For All Mankind did find a big following and earned five more seasons (the sixth is set to be the final one) and a spin-off show, Star City. The series depicts an alternate history of the world where the space race never really ended. As a result, China, the U.S., and Russia were forced to work together to achieve major space-faring advancements.
Every season of the series jumps a decade into the future, beginning in 1969 and ending in the 2020s. This version of Earth is just a degree more advanced technologically speaking, but culturally, it’s far ahead of where we are. Characters age and move on, and every season brings new players into the fold.
For All Mankind has a lot of real-world history to build upon, but it does a significant amount of its own world-building, going in directions that make sense with the story being developed. The evolution of the world and its countries feels honest to the plot and can be linearly traced from the changes made at the start.
Foundation (2021-Present)
Foundation is an ongoing sci-fi show based on Isaac Asimov’s series of novels of the same name. This hard science fiction show is set in the very far future, one in which humanity has well and conquered the known galaxy. It’s ruled by a triumvirate of genetically identical clones made from the DNA of the long-deceased Emperor Cleon.
The story follows Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), a young prodigy who catches the eye of Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), a revered mathematician, and together the pair use an algorithm to predict the end of the empire. The series takes place over centuries, with Seldon and the empire fighting and working together to avoid catastrophe.
Foundation builds upon Asimov’s incredible universe, bringing his stunning ideas to life and adding in a few of its own for good measure. There is an encyclopedia’s worth of world-building to explore with the universe of Foundation, and the series does a good job of keeping its high-level concepts legible.
Severance (2022-Present)
Severance is one of the best TV shows of the 2020s and the series that signaled Apple TV could put out prestige television to stand up to HBO and Netflix. The series is set in an alternate version of our world where the “severing” process has allowed people to split their memories in two.
The “outie” is the identity who exists outside of work, and the “innie” who only knows life inside work with no knowledge of the outside world. To put a fine point on it, the innie is basically in hell, but since the outie is totally unaware of this, and since they are the only ones capable of reversing the process, the “severed” continue to subject themselves to this torment.
Though Severance only takes place in a handful of locations, its examination of the mind and all the places it will go to avoid insanity or facing reality makes for an endless world of possibilities. Throughout two seasons, the off-kilter world of Severance is gradually revealed, and it offers a wealth of fascinating details for those who want to explore.
Silo (2023-Present)
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Silo had a bit of a slow start, with a debut that took its time to explain exactly where the show was going, but since then, it’s been one of the more solid, rewarding series in Apple TV’s catalog. The series is set in the far future, centuries after humans destroyed Earth’s ability to support life.
The survivors made their way to Silos, cylindrical, underground bunkers that extend hundreds of stories into the ground. The 10,000 inhabitants of the Silo live under the strict rule of a small ruling class. Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) is one of these inhabitants, an engineer who discovers a mystery about the Silo’s past and its future.
Each episode of Silo opens up a new mystery and question about its world, and there are multiple moments in the show that suddenly expand the horizon of the world we thought we knew. It’s a meticulously built series, and the plot seems to only strengthen as the in-universe history gets more fleshed out.
Murderbot (2025-Present)
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Murderbot is an action-comedy science fiction series set in a near future where constructs, combinations of human tissue and mechanical parts, are used for a variety of tasks. One construct for a private security company becomes obsessed with watching human media and disconnects itself from its governing module in order to make its own way.
Referring to itself as “Murderbot” (Alexander Skarsgård), the construct attempts to hide its newfound autonomy by using television and movies to guide its behavior. Murderbot’s view of humans is simultaneously dim and approving, and the series balances that dichotomy of feeling.
The world of Murderbot is an interesting one, and much deeper than it appears at first glance. This isn’t a series set far into the future; it’s one that looks a lot like our modern world. However, there are touches and flourishes that work to build the world and help the viewers understand where something like Murderbot fits in.
Widow’s Bay (2026-Present)
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Widow’s Bay is certainly more folk horror than anything, but science fiction is a very broad term. Isaac Asimov defined science fiction as “…that branch of literature that deals with the reactions of human beings to changes in sciences and technology” (via NaturalHistory). Widow’s Bay is certainly about how humans react to changes in how they understand science and reality.
Plus, Widow’s Bay has some of the best world-building on Apple TV. So it’s a C- for science fiction, but an A+ for world-building. The series is set on the titular Northeastern island, where the local mayor, Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), hopes to make his hometown a resort destination, and he’s not going to let any centuries-old curse stop him.
The world-building in Widow’s Bay is fantastic. It combines the hilarious, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it backstory of a show like Parks and Recreation, with Stephen King’s sense of horror history. Apple TV has only produced one season of Widow’s Bay, and it only feels like we’ve scratched the surface of its world.
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