Brave New World (2020 TV series)
Brave New World is an American science fiction drama series. It is loosely based on the classic novel of the same name by Aldous Huxley. It premiered on the NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock on July 15, 2020. In October 2020, the series was canceled after one season. Premise. The series "imagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself." In an update of the original novel, an artificial intelligence system named Indra also connects citizens via a wireless network. Production. In 2015 , Syfy announced their intention to develop the series, with Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey producing. In 2016, writers Les Bohem, Grant Morrison, and Brian Taylor were attached to the project. On February 13, 2019, the series was moved to the USA Network, with David Wiener replacing Bohem as a writer and Owen Harris directing the pilot. In April 2019, Ehrenreich was cast as John the Savage. In the same month, it was announced that Lloyd would be cast in the series regular role as Bernard Marx. In May 2019, it was announced that Jessica Brown Findlay would be cast in  the role of Lenina Crowne. In June 2019, Kylie Bunbury, Hannah John-Kamen, Sen Mitsuji, Joseph Morgan, and Nina Sosanya were added to the main cast in various supporting roles, with Demi Moore set to appear in a recurring role. On September 17, 2019, NBCUniversal announced that the series would be moved to Peacock. The series premiered on July 15, 2020. Dungeness Estate in Kent is the location for the "Savage Lands"; the Old Lifeboat Station there doubles as John and Linda's house. On October 28, 2020, Peacock canceled the series after one season. It marked the first major  TV series cancellation for the streaming service. Reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 46% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Brave New World" is sleek and seductive, but not very daring, only skimming the surface of Aldous Huxley's dystopian epic without plumbing its philosophical depths." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Sonia Saraiya of "Vanity Fair" gave it a positive review and wrote: "The new series is a  clever modern adaptation, engaging deeply with the source material while dispensing with Huxley's glaringly racist themes and some of the misogyny, too." Judy Berman of "Time" suggests the show owed more to "Westworld" than Huxley, but said the series looked gorgeous and the performances were solid. Berman found the show lacking. "Television thrives on rich characters, but, in large part because it's set in a realm devoid of eccentricity, I struggled to get invested in this bunch. ... "Brave New World" feels [inert] as serialized TV." Daniel D'Addario of "Variety" gave it a mixed review and wrote: So many  of the characters we meet in this series are not merely loathsome but have so completely had the character trained out of them through a lifetime of sloth that we grab onto what little signs of life are there elsewhere. ... Both Brown Findlay and Ehrenreich seem frustratingly tamped-down here. ... No wonder the actors seem exhausted; their project, deep into its first season, doesn't know what kind of show it wants to be. Release. "Brave New World" premiered on July 15, 2020, on Peacock in the United States, and Sky One in the UK on October 2, 2020. Internationally , the series was originally scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in Oceania and New Zealand on August 21, but the series was instead released on September 18, 2020. In Canada, the series was released on Showcase on September 13, 2020. In Russia, the series was released on July 16, 2020, on the streaming service KinoPoisk HD. In Germany, the series was released on the streaming service TVNOW at the end of September 2020. In Australia, the series was released on the streaming service Stan on October 16, 2020. In Spain and Europe, the series was released on the streaming  service Starzplay on October 4, 2020.