If you like clever science fiction and speculative fiction, Apple TV Plus has some very good shows in its catalog – and it's about to get a new one that appears to have been adapted from a book series about a cyborg.
Based on the award-winning and deeply dystopian story The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, the show follows a self-aware, self-hacking robot bodyguard who is horrified by humans but also drawn to them.
The show will star Alexander Skarsgård. It also marks Apple's second collaboration with executive producer David S. Goyer – Goyer is the showrunner and executive producer of Foundationwhich is currently streaming its second well-received season and has also been renewed for a third season.
I have high hopes for this one. As Apple showed with the glorious Siloan adaptation of the Wool trilogy, the streamer is pretty good at turning beloved sci-fi series into equally beloved sci-fi shows – it's no wonder we called it a utopia of a sci-fi show.
What is Murderbot about?
In Wells' novels, the cyborg Murderbot is a security unit – SecUnit for short – whose job is to protect human scientists on a distant world. Murderbot doesn't really like humans, although he has a very human love of watching TV dramas and is grumpy and sarcastic about pretty much everything. And when it turns out there's a killer on the loose, Murderbot must keep the survivors alive.
It's a great setup, and over the course of the novels it becomes more than just a sci-fi adventure. While the story of each book is self-contained – making it ideal for future seasons – there is a broader arc that explores artificial intelligence and what it means to be human.
I love this review of the All Systems Red book by NPR (very, very mild spoilers ahead): “As much as you'd like to think this is just a lightweight little tidbit made of robot battles and space murder – and as much as All systems red wants to present itself as nothing more than robot battles and space murder – Martha Wells has done something very clever. She hid a delicate, nuanced and deeply, cranky human story within these pulp trappings, making her murderous robot story primarily character-driven.
There will be ten episodes of Murderbot to start, and while Apple hasn't announced a streaming date, we expect it to release in 2024. That gives you plenty of time to look. Silo if you haven't already, and to binge watch all four seasons so far For all humanityone of the best shows on Apple TV Plus of any genre.