Compelling dramas revealed in post-apocalyptic settings

An engaging series full of heart, horror, humour and a sprinkling of mystery

Adaptations of source material for film and television series are not always successful, especially in the case of video games. But two TV series have shown themselves to be worthy of their new iterations on film.

Last year saw the release of The Last of Us (Neon). Starring Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Narcos) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones), the series followed a smuggler and teenage girl as they travelled across a postapocalyptic US, avoiding mycelium zombies, fellow survivors, and becoming more important to each other than they could’ve imagined along the way. The show became a critical “darling” and if you haven’t watched it, you should, it also has Kiwi actor Melanie Lynskey.

The series seemed to break a decades-long trend of terrible adaptations, bringing an emotionally rich story of complex characters, originally experienced on the PlayStation 3, to a wider audience. In doing so, it may have started an entirely new trend.

A more recent attempt to make prestige TV out of a popular video game is Prime Video’s Fallout and, in my opinion, it’s another success. Set 200 years after a nuclear war has turned the entire planet into a wasteland, the series follows the intertwining stories of three different characters.

First, we have Lucy (Ella Purnell). In preparation for the end of the world, rich US citizens purchase spots for themselves inside Vault-Tec bunkers, underground facilities designed to keep occupants and their descendants safe until the radiation levels drop enough for the vault dwellers to emerge and restart civilisation.

Having grown-up in a place where “the worst thing someone can do is forget to say thank you”, Lucy’s world is rocked to its core when her vault is invaded and her father, the overseer, is kidnapped. Going against the wishes of her fellow dwellers, Lucy decides to leave the vault and rescue her father. However, on leaving, Lucy is shocked to learn that a civilisation has developed all on its own, and the people of the wasteland are not what you would term friendly, and her trusting attitude may make life far more dangerous. As the search for her father continues, Lucy also starts to get the sense there may have been more to her vault than its inhabitants have been led to believe.

Then we have Maximus (Aaron Moten). Having lived his whole life in the wasteland, Maximus is used to the dangers that can be waiting around every corner, but they will be no problem for a knight of the “Brotherhood of Steel”, as he hopes to be one day.

When he is sent as a squire to a knight on a mission to track down a criminal with a stolen piece of technology, Maximus has his faith in the order shaken, and becomes even more determined to bring justice to the uncaring and dangerous wasteland. How will he adjust when he finds himself with an optimistic woman who has spent her whole life being sheltered from the horrors of his world?

Last is The Ghoul (Walton Goggins). A 200-year-old gunslinger, his lifespan expanded by certain exposure to radiation, The Ghoul has a singular focus and no one will stop him from achieving his objective. Not the brotherhood, and most definitely not an obnoxious “vaulty”, insisting that kindness is key. It is also through the eyes of the man The Ghoul once was, Hollywood star Cooper Howard, that we get an insight into the final days before the bombs dropped.

Fallout delivers an experience that is at times both charming and horrific. While there may not be much in the way of true evil in the wasteland, survival often requires extreme action, and a best friend can easily become a delectable meal in the right circumstances. An engaging series full of heart, horror, humour and a sprinkling of mystery, it is well worth activating a Prime Video free trial to view it while you wait for the second season of The Last of Us, coming in 2025.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have period romance with the latest series of Bridgerton (Netflix). After being disheartened by hearing his remarks about her last season, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) has finally given up chasing Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and wants to take a husband.

However, when Colin offers to mentor her in finding a husband (trying to earn back her friendship), it soon becomes clear to him that his feelings for Penelope may be deeper than he believed. There are only four episodes of the show’s latest steamy season currently streaming on Netflix, with the second half set to arrive on 13 June.

Next up Doctor Who, the 61-year-old science-fiction series about a time-travelling alien, known only as The Doctor.

If you’ve never seen the show before and feel like you could be tempted, this would be the perfect time to start. The new season currently streaming on Disney+ provides a myriad of fun adventures, from swashbuckling moments with goblins above the clouds on Christmas Eve, to a heart-stopping 40 minutes trapped on a land mine, and even featuring a trip back in time to see the Beatles, culminating in a musical battle for the soul of the human race.

Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, Barbie) plays the current incarnation of the eccentric time traveller and is joined for his adventures by Millie Gibson’s effervescent Ruby Sunday. The show is worth watching for the performances of these two alone, as their seemingly effortless chemistry has the characters forcing their way out of the screen and directly into your heart. New episodes are streaming on Saturdays at 11am, on Disney+.

Nat Dolan is an Auckland actor and movie enthusiast