No matter how old you are, science fiction has a special place in your heart, with great movies and TV shows that have become iconic and have stood the test of time. While we have already discussed the best sci-fi movies of all-time, I want to take a look at a subgenre of sci-fi that is often overlooked: the miniseries.
There have been some great sci-fi miniseries over the years, and thanks to streaming, we can go back and enjoy the best the genre had to offer. In order to curate the absolute bangers you should binge-watch over a weekend (or week), we went to Letterboxd to rank the best sci-fi miniseries of all time.
10
‘The Stand’ (1994)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.2/5
Yes, The Stand is more of a post-apocalyptic drama than a sci-fi miniseries, but hear me out for a second. While the miniseries, which is an adaptation of the 1978 Stephen King novel, is set in an apocalyptic world in which a deadly plague (cheekily called “Captain Trips”) wipes out nearly all of humanity, The Stand does have some touches of sci-fi sprinkled around that qualify for this list.
The central battle of good versus evil, and how both the leaders of both the good and the bad use psychic abilities to contact the remaining survivors in their dreams to recruit them for the ultimate battle of good and evil, with the victors enjoying the spoils of ruling over the earth. The Stand is not your typical sci-fi miniseries. However, given the storyline and the ways each side goes about gathering survivors for their cause, you have to admit, it does have a bit of sci-fi in it.
9
‘The City and the City’ (2018)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.3/5
I’m going to set up a scenario for you: So, you live in a town where everything seems normal. Your routine, culture, everything is fine for you. Next to your town is another town which has an entirely different society, technology, and language. The two towns couldn’t be more different from each other, yet are in the same space, right next to each other. This is the central premise to the British sci-fi miniseries The City and the CIty, which finds two totally separate cities thrust into turmoil when the body of a foreign student is found in a derelict city next to an extremely-advanced one.
The City and the City is a very interesting miniseries, one that, in a lot of ways, mirrors our own reality. We’re occupying the same space, but we choose to treat others who are different from us in a completely different and disparaging light. That’s the message this series is trying to get across, and while it can be on-the-nose at times, it’s very effective; not to mention, entertaining as well.
8
‘The Kettering Incident’ (2016)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.4/5
So, let me paint a picture for you: You and your best friend are out enjoying the day, riding your bikes in a forbidden forest, when, all of a sudden, you see these lights in the sky that appear out of nowhere. You and your friend think to yourselves: “Wow, what is that?” Then, hours later, without any memory of what happened, you’re alone, scared, and covered in blood.
That’s the simple summary of The Kettering Incident, a sci-fi drama that finds the girl that was alone and covered in blood, Anna Macy (Elizabeth Debicki), coming back to her hometown of Kettering, Australia just trying to get by. However, Anna showing up back in the town causes a stir among the locals when another girl disappears in the same fashion as Anna did. It’s a compelling drama, and you’ll get caught up in the mystery of what happened to these girls throughout its eight-episode run. It may not be as well-known outside Australia, but trust me when I say, if you love sci-fi, The Kettering Incident is a great binge-watch.
7
‘V’ (1983)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.6/5
In 1982, writer and director Kenneth Johnson had an idea for a sci-fi show that involved aliens trying to take over the world. That idea came to fruition a year later, when he wrote and directed V, the NBC miniseries that was inspired by Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here, which proved that, yes, it very well could happen here.
V tells the story of a race of aliens who arrive in huge ships that hover over the world’s biggest cities. While they appear as humans and appear to want peace and friendship with us humans, it hides their real agenda: manipulating the public and gaining influence so they can rule the world. V was a huge hit for NBC, and while it has aged quite poorly over the years, V is still a compelling sci-fi miniseries and makes for an exciting watch. The miniseries spawned a franchise, but, honestly, the original is the one that everyone should check out.
6
‘James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction’ (2018)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.7/5
Part of AMC’s Visionary series back in the late 2010s, the network decided to run a six-part documentary focusing on the genre itself, with none other than James Cameron himself presenting a deep look into how this genre grew into popularity. The Story of Science Fiction looks at how sci-fi rose to a pop-culture phenomenon from some pretty humble roots, and explores the deep-rooted questions that the genre has long strived to answer.
This is more of a documentary, yes, but documentaries can count as miniseries as well, and with Cameron and Keanu Reeves narrating this riveting look into the sci-fi genre. It’s definitely worth a look if you have long asked yourself how this genre that constantly looks at the issues facing humanity through future and technological lenses, is one of the more popular genres in modern pop culture.
5
‘WandaVision’ (2021)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.8/5
From 2008 to 2019, the MCU film franchise couldn’t be touched, releasing one banger superhero movie after another. The same cannot be said of the TV side of the MCU, which has been largely hit-or-miss. One of the rare hits was Disney+’s WandaVision, which brought back Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as the couple are living a seemingly peaceful suburban life after the events of Avengers: Endgame, desperately trying to hide their true selves from their community. Things get wonky, however, when their idyllic surroundings begin to resemble various sitcom tropes, which kickstarts an ending that was truly epic.
Mixing traditional sitcom comedy tropes with the maddening action of the MCU was a huge risk, especially after coming off a climatic ending with the Infinity Saga of the MCU. Thankfully, it was a risk that paid off tremendously, as WandaVision is considered the best MCU show in the franchise.
4
‘Maniac’ (2018)
Letterboxd Rating: 3.9/5
Black comedy and psychological drama have always mixed well, producing a number of iconic movies and TV shows that are both mentally disturbing and funny at the same time. You can count Netflix’s Maniac as one of those great series, one that will have you questioning the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs and if you can find love while suffering through a bad side effect trip from a drug trial.
Maniac follows two strangers (Emma Stone and Jonah Hill) as they’re selected for a 12-person pharmaceutical trial to test a new drug. Things get incredibly wonky as the two bond while going through a mind-bending hallucinating journey thanks to the experimental drug. Stone and Hill are quite hilarious, and watching a love story develop through a drug trial was a unique premise that creator Patrick Somerville nailed with excellent precision. If you haven’t checked out this underrated miniseries, please do so. You’ll laugh, squirm, and feel a warmth in your heart at the same time; no drugs needed.
3
‘Station Eleven’ (2021–2022)
Letterboxd Rating: 4.2/5
In 2021, creator Patrick Somerville wanted to answer a question: What would hope in the aftermath of the apocalypse look like? That question was answered during a ten-episode run of Station Eleven, which was a hit for HBO Max in 2021 and is considered one of the best modern-day miniseries ever created.
Instead of taking the usual dour-look at the apocalypse, Station Eleven, which was adapted from the Emily St. John Mandel novel of the same name, took a different approach, injecting hope and optimism in a group of survivors of a flu pandemic that caused the collapse of civilization. The seemingly positive mood of Station Eleven was a breath of fresh air for a viewing audience that was feeling like the virus-that-shall-not-be-named was causing a real-life collapse of society, and needed something positive to cling on to. Station Eleven showed that, even when things fall apart, you always have hope, and that’s what makes this miniseries an all-time great.
2
‘Watchmen’ (2019)
Letterboxd Rating: 4.3/5
It was a gamble for creator Damon Lindelof to re-create Watchmen into a TV series after the spectacular box office bomb of the 2008 Zack Snyder adaptation showed that there was little appetite for a Watchmen comic adaptation. However, we learned to never underestimate Lindelof, and, instead of going for a near-identical remake of the Watchmen comics (that Snyder did with his movie), Lindelof decided to “remix” the comics into a TV adaptation, and, let me tell you, that was a really, really smart move.
Watchmen, the TV series, is a huge improvement over the 2008 movie (which I personally like). While it’s technically a sequel to the events of the comic series, HBO’s Watchmen introduced new characters to the universe that paid off in more ways than one. The plot was also a winner, with the series eschewing the cheeky comic-book storylines and, instead, focusing on racial violence in modern-day Tulsa, Oklahoma as a basis for the story. Simply put, Watchmen is an all-time great, and while I personally would have loved to see what Lindelof and his team would have done with a second season, maybe it was for the best that Watchmen ended up as a miniseries that stands tall among its peers.
1
‘Cowboy Bebop’ (1998)
Letterboxd Rating: 4.6/5
When you say the name Cowboy Bebop, you’re basically saying the name of anime royalty. This anime series, which premiered in 1998, is widely considered one of the best anime series of all-time, and for good reason. The story, the characters, and the action are all legendary, and few shows can rival what Cowboy Bebop has done for anime, which, along with Dragon Ball Z, helped push and expand the genre’s popularity in the West.
Cowboy Bebop is a space Western with a neo-noir aesthetic that, even in 2025, makes the series beautiful to watch. The anime follows a group of bounty-hunters aboard the “Bebop” spaceship; but this anime is more than just bounty-hunting space cowboys looking to make some money. Cowboy Bebop effortlessly glides its way through multiple genres, and explores important themes such as loneliness and existential boredom in a way that’s engaging and not on-the-nose. Cowboy Bebop is a classic, and if you’re looking to get into anime, this is the best introduction to this fascinating genre.
Cowboy Bebop
- Release Date
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1998 – 1999
- Network
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TV Tokyo, WOWOW Prime
