TV fans often whinge that there’s just too much brilliant television to catch up and they’re not wrong.
It would take you three days to watch The Sopranos start to finish, two and a half days to finish The Wire, and a bum-numbing 11 days to binge The Simpsons… although to be fair, you can stop after season ten.
Still, the fact is that some TV shows will steal literal days of your life and who’s got the time for that? Not me.
No, I prefer a story that has an ending, and it turns out so do Metro readers.
Metro readers have their say
We asked you to share your favourite sci-fi series that only lasted for one season, and you more than delivered.
So if you’re looking for something out of this world to watch this weekend, or just want to impress your mates with your dazzling knowledge of sci-fi history, we have you covered.
Star Cops
Andrew Gledhill nominated the ‘absolutely brilliant’ Star Cops, claiming it’s a ‘tragedy’ that it only got one short season.
Created by Doctor Who and Blakes 7 writer Chris Boucher, this BBC sci-fi show followed the titular star cop Nathan Spring as he policed the frontier of humanity’s burgeoning space colonies.
Sadly, the show’s down-to-earth tone (pun intended) and realistic tone led to criticism from critics who compared it with the more imaginative Doctor Who. After just nine episodes and low viewership, the series was quietly cancelled before a planned tenth episode could be produced.
In recent years, however, Star Cops has undergone a critical reappraisal with many recognising it as a forerunner of the hard sci-fi genre.
Indeed, critic Kim Newman once wrote that ‘if it had come back for another couple of seasons it might well have been the BBC’s best science fiction show.’
Star Cops is not available to stream at this time.
The Strangerers
Star Cops wasn’t the only British sci-fi series to get some love. Martin Hossell suggested The Strangerers (no, that’s not a mispelling).
This Sky One comedy was the brainchild of Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant, and the channel had high hopes for the series, which told the story of two oblivious aliens on a fact-finding mission to Earth.
Unfortunately, the series never found an audience and it was quickly cancelled after the first series. Still, despite its short-lived run, the series does have its champions.
Steve Barnes wrote on IMDb: ‘The Strangerers is best comedy I’ve seen in a long time’ while orcadiansmeghead added ‘it’s basically a fun story with some fun characters and some good special effects for a TV show made 10 years ago.’
The Strangerers is not available to stream at this time.
Firefly
Dozens of Metro readers nominated Firefly, but Kieran Bourne put it most succinctly when he wrote, ‘Firefly was the best.’
If you’ve never heard of it, then I’m guessing you weren’t on the internet between 2002-2018 because, for a brief time, it felt like everyone was talking about this ambitious TV show.
Set in the year 2517, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Serenity, a ‘Firefly-class’ spaceship, as they try and eke out a living on the fringes of the galaxy following a huge interplanetary civil war.
An odd mix of sci-fi shenanigans and western cliches, Firefly received mixed reviews from critics upon its release, who basically enjoyed the world-building but found the show ‘messy’.
Disappointing viewing figures led to Firefly being pulled after 11 of the 14 episodes made went to air. This wasn’t the end of Firefly, though. Strong DVD sales (remember those?) led to the show getting a follow-up movie, and the franchise lives on in comics and board games.
Arguably, Firefly remains sci-fi’s biggest ‘what could have been’ and regularly polls on lists of the best sci-fi series ever made.
Firefly is available to stream now on Disney Plus.
Space: Above and Beyond
Iain Fraser chose the ‘awesome 90s TV show’ Space: Above and Beyond as his pick.
Running from 1995–1996, this sci-fi the Space Aviator Cavalry (known as the Wildcards) as they battle a previously unknown alien threat called the Chigs.
Boasting some impressive worldbuilding and a surprisingly dark story, Space: Above and Beyond was impressive enough to garner Emmy and Saturn Award nominations, but that wasn’t enough to earn it an audience, and the show was cancelled.
Despite being taken off the air, the show retains a strong fandom. On IMDb, Quill_32 wrote: ‘This was one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen, and its cancellation was an enormous loss as well as a blow to its fans.’
Julecucci was similarly enthusiastic, adding: I loved this show when it was on and now, more than 10 years later have watched it again and love it just as much.
‘As has been mentioned, the character development and progression are all but one of a kind.’
Space: Above and Beyond is not available to stream at this time.
Childhood’s End
Jay Zhadum chose a more modern show called Childhood’s End, describing it as ‘excellent from start to finish’.
Based on the 1953 novel of the same name, by Arthur C. Clarke, and developed by Life on Mars co-creator, Matthew Graham, this show sees a group of benevolent aliens appear in the skies over Earth.
As these beings from another world promise to usher in an age of peace and prosperity, people begin to wonder what the trade-off might be.
Lasting just three episodes (no, it wasn’t cancelled), the show enjoys a respectable 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans on IMDb have been very kind.
LivingWitness wrote: ‘It’s unfortunate that so few people have seen this. It’s really worth seeing, especially if you’re already a fan of the genre.’
Childhood’s End is not streaming for free at this moment, but you can buy it for £6.99 on Prime Video.
Dark Skies
Tony Bufton is clearly a genre enthusiast, as he chose the forgotten series Dark Skies.
Running from 1996 to 1997, Dark Skies was essentially an X-Files clone set in an alternate history where the US government was working with an alien cabal known as the Hive.
Our heroes then are John Loengard and Kim Sayers as they expose the alien plot.
While it’s only got 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, the series still has its fans.
One Rotten Tomatoes user wrote: ‘I really enjoyed the series. It presents an interesting narrative about historical facts that occurred in the 60s, rewriting these events in a fictional way.
Dark Skies is not available to stream at this time.
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