Electric Dreams

I've enjoyed the whole series of stories. Well acted, great sets, great effects, good design. I have also enjoyed reading the works of P K Dick. The short stories are excellent and introduced many of the key ideas upon which all sci-fi was based. However watching the shows and reading the stories are two different things.

There is barely anything to compare them except perhaps a single key idea. The situations are changed, the characters are different, the settings, to time-frame, just about everything in the TV series is altered.

Are today's writers so devoid of ideas, that they have to take ideas some of them over sixty years old? Or is it that the TV corporate entities are such poor judges of writing talent that they dare not fund a series unless it has some big name at the top of the bill to exploit.

I'd hope that Mr. Dick, were he alive would enjoy the series, but I can't help thinking that he would not recognise his own story were is name not plastered over the top of the credits, and if it were not he'd be saying ' "oh I think I had an idea a bit similar to that in 1958"

Each episode is it's own sci-fi feature, and they are all acted and shot consistently and incredibly. Out of the 10 episodes, four of them for me are remembered as average plots with interesting premises (2,3,4,10), still great television but not incredibly memorable. Each of the other 6 episodes was grade A television. So good that I went to see what people had to say about it on IMDb, and then had to write a review because this show is not getting anywhere near enough credit. I think because Black Mirror, which actually got me to watch this show, has spoiled us with fantastically creative twist endings and foreshadowing. Electric Dreams is not about twist endings, its about the story itself. DON'T EXPECT TWIST ENDINGS. Just enjoy the ride through some excellent adaptations of ingenious short stories.

The episodes do not take place in the same universe and aren't all set in our own reality, and so aren't always as relatable as Black Mirror. If your'e looking to dip your toe in try episode 5 (Real Life, an action packed story of VR and dealing with grief) or episode 7 (Kill All Others, fantastically tense political tale about an everyday guy who notices something).

This is an anthology series based on the works of futurist sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick. It's ten episodes switching back and forth between American production and British. Despite loving the Blade Runner franchise, I don't think I've ever read his work. This has a darker tone. Some of the British ones remind me of Black Mirror which was probably the original intent. It's a murky hit-and-miss proposition. I don't know about the Philip K. Dick part. His name is useful for selling this. It has some good sci-fi ideas. I like the darker tones but the lighter tones is awkward at times.

If you like to be fed the same recycled ideas about a futuristic vision by a blind eye; who's focus on how pathetic humans can be, even in the 'harshest' conditions of a time to come. You will surely be satisfied by this lame attemp.

I've read several critics' reviews comparing this show to Black Mirror as if it fails in comparison. I don't think that's accurate. Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams is visually, thematically and, most importantly, narratively interesting. What is real or normal? What makes a human? Meanwhile, there are at least 2 episodes from S4 of Black Mirror that don't measure up to what I've seen so far in Electric Dreams, and apparently I've been watching the dud episodes, per critics' reviews.

Does everything need to have some heightened level of abstraction to be interesting? I don't think so; straightforward storytelling with very good actors set in a world that's different than my own that makes me think is good enough for me.

Worth your time.