The 40 most popular british sci-fi & fantasy TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Doctor Who
2005 · UK
The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.


Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
2004 · UK
When the Hellmouth opens beneath Darkplace Hospital in downtown Romford, kiddy doctor, Vietnam veteran and ex-warlock Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. is the only man who can close it. Joined by best buddy Dr. Lucien Sanchez, fiery hospital boss Thornton Reed, and woman Liz Asher, Dagless must fight the forces of Darkness while dealing with the burden of day-to-day admin. From the chilling pen of best-selling horror writer Garth Marenghi comes this lost masterpiece of televisual terror. Dare you enter Garth's Darkplace?


The Amazing World of Gumball
2011 · UK
The life of Gumball Watterson, a 12-year old cat who attends middle school in Elmore. Accompanied by his pet, adoptive brother, and best friend Darwin Watterson, he frequently finds himself involved in various shenanigans around the city, during which he interacts with various family members: Anais, Richard, and Nicole Watterson, and other various citizens.


Doctor Who
1963 · UK
The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.


Black Mirror
2011 · UK
Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.


The Avengers
1961 · UK
A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).


Battlestar Galactica
2004 · CA
When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.


Ben 10
2016 · UK
With the fifth offshoot of the "Ben 10" franchise, the animated series returns to its roots and its original name, bringing 10-year-old Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and Grandpa Max back to life on a new summer vacation journey. As in the original, the stories in the remake of the series also spin around an alien wristwatch called "the Omnitrix," with the help of Ben can turn into ten different aliens, which come up with different supernatural powers. He fights enemy aliens and experiences with his grandfather and cousin the most exciting vacation imaginable.


Merlin
2008 · UK
The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.


Red Dwarf
1988 · UK
The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.


His Dark Materials
2019 · UK
Lyra is an orphan who lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Her search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. She is later joined on her journey by Will, a boy who possesses a knife that can cut windows between worlds. As she learns the truth about her parents and her prophesied destiny, the two young people are caught up in a war against celestial powers that ranges across many worlds.


Inside No. 9
2014 · UK
An anthology of darkly comic twisted tales, each one taking place behind a door marked 'number 9'.


Torchwood
2006 · UK
The exploits of a team of people whose job is to investigate the unusual, the strange and the extraterrestrial.


PJ Masks
2015 · CA
Connor, Greg and Amaya are normal kids by day, but at night they activate their bracelets, which link into their pajamas and give them fantastic super powers, turning them into their alternate identities: the PJ Masks! The team consists of Catboy (Connor), Gekko (Greg) and Owlette (Amaya). Together, they go on adventures, solve mysteries, and learn valuable lessons. Watch the first six seasons of PJ Masks now on Disney+!


Doctor Who
2024 · UK
The Doctor and his companion travel across time and space encountering incredible friends and foes.


Hey Duggee
2014 · UK
Animated preschool series about a clubhouse that is run by a big dog called Duggee.


The Tribe
1999 · UK
All adults have been wiped out by a deadly virus, leaving the children of the world to fend for themselves.


Space: 1999
1975 · UK
The crew of Moonbase Alpha must struggle to survive when a massive explosion throws the Moon from orbit into deep space.


House of Anubis
2011 · BE
Strange things are happening at an English boarding school called House of Anubis. Popular student Joy goes missing, the school's cranky caretaker has a creepy stuffed crow and the school's attic may be haunted. When recent American transplant Nina gets thrust into the school during this time, she decides to investigate along with her new friend, Fabian, and housemates.


A Discovery of Witches
2018 · UK
Closet witch Diana Bishop and centuries-old vampire Matthew Clairmont are drawn into a deadly mystery and forbidden romance when a magical book shows up in an Oxford library.


Good Omens
2019 · UK
Aziraphale and Crowley, of Heaven and Hell respectively, have grown rather fond of the Earth. So it's terrible news that it's about to end. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing. The Four Horsemen are ready to ride. Everything is going according to the Divine Plan...except that someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist. Can our heroes find him and stop Armageddon before it's too late?


Ghosts
2019 · UK
A cash-strapped young couple inherits a grand country house, only to find it is both falling apart and teeming with the ghosts of former inhabitants.


Teletubbies
1997 · UK
Pre-school fun, fantasy and education with colourful rotund characters Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po in a magical land called Teletubbyland.


Misfits
2009 · UK
When five young outsiders on Community Service get caught in a strange storm, they discover that they have developed superpowers.


Humans
2015 · UK
In a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robotic servant that's so similar to a real human it's transforming the way we live.


The Sarah Jane Adventures
2007 · UK
Sarah Jane Smith is a truly remarkable woman who inhabits a world of mystery, danger and wonder; a world where aliens are commonplace and the Earth is under constant threat. A world that Maria Jackson, a seemingly ordinary girl, can only dream of – until she moves in next door. Nothing will ever be ordinary again.


Blake's 7
1978 · UK
A group of convicts and outcasts fight a guerrilla war against the totalitarian Terran Federation from a highly advanced alien spaceship.


UFO
1970 · UK
A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders.


Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom
2009 · UK
The friendship between fairy princess Holly and Ben Elf in an enchanted magical kingdom of elves and fairies.


Rolie Polie Olie
1998 · UK
Rolie Polie Olie was a children's television series produced by Nelvana, distributed by Disney, and created by William Joyce, Maggie Swanson, and Anne Wood. The show centers on a little roly pollie who is composed of several spheres and other three-dimensional geometric shapes. The show was one of the earliest series that was fully animated in CGI, and the first CGI animated preschool series.Rolie Polie Olie now airs in reruns on Disney Junior. Rolie Polie Olie won a Gemini Award in Canada for "Best Animated Program" in 1999. The show also won a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program" in 2000 and 2005. William Joyce won a 1999 Daytime Emmy for Best Production Design for this series. The show has a vintage atmosphere reminiscent of the 1950s and early 1960s, with futuristic elements.


Danger Mouse
2015 · UK
Danger Mouse is back saving London, saving the World and, most importantly, saving Penfold in brand new and fantastically absurd, energetic adventures.


The Worst Witch
2017 · UK
Mayhem and mishaps follow young witch Mildred Hubble wherever she goes. She just can't help it! But with her friends' help, Mildred always manages to avoid disaster just in time.


Thunderbirds Are Go!
2015 · UK
Remake of the hit 1960s television show. In the 21st century, Jeff Tracy, a former astronaut, amasses a colossal fortune and decides that he must use it to benefit others. His answer to this desire is to create International Rescue, a unique private emergency response service equipped with customized designed vehicles and equipment that enable the organization to react to any crisis whether it be in sea, air, land, or space. Jeff's five sons volunteer to operate as the pilots and field agents, as well "Brain" who acts as the teams engineer. In addition, Jeff's friend, Kyrano and his daughter Tanusha aka Kayo (based on the original series Tin-Tin character) agree to be the support staff. In addition to the field team, IR also maintains an intelligence network with Lady Penelope and her ex-con chauffeur, Parker as the chief agents in this arm.


Thunderbirds
1965 · UK
Thunderbirds is a 1960s British science-fiction television series which was produced using a mixed method of marionette puppetry and scale-model special effects termed "Supermarionation". The series is set in the 21st century and follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organization formed to save people in mortal danger with the help of technologically advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles and equipment, launched from a hidden base on Tracy Island in the South Pacific Ocean.


Being Human
2009 · UK
Deciding to turn over a new leaf, a group of friends who also happen to be vampires and werewolves move into a house together, only to find that it is haunted by ghosts of people who have been killed under mysterious circumstances. As they deal with the challenges of being supernatural creatures, their desire to be human bonds them.


Chuggington
2008 · UK
Koko, Brewster and Wilson are three young, adventurous trainee "chuggers", learning about working on the railway in the town of Chuggington, with the help of the railway controller, Vee, the older engines, and their human friends.


The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball
2025 · UK
Welcome back to Elmore, where the laws of reality are a joke, and family life is anything but ordinary. Whether he's battling an evil fast-food empire, facing off against a sentient AI in love with his mom, or trying to stop Banana Joe from wearing pants — Gumball Watterson drags his brother Darwin, sister Anais, and the rest of the town of Elmore along for the ride. With even wilder stories, bigger twists, and surreal humor, the show is so amazing that they had to rename it!


The Hunger
1997 · CA
The Hunger is a British/Canadian television horror anthology series, co-produced by Scott Free Productions, Telescene Film Group Productions and the Canadian pay-TV channel The Movie Network. Though it shares a title with the feature film The Hunger the series has no direct plot or character connection to the film, and was created by Jeff Fazio. Originally shown on the Sci Fi Channel in the UK, The Movie Network in Canada and Showtime in the US, the series was broadcast from 1997 to 2000, and is internally organized into two seasons. Each episode was based around an independent story introduced by the host; Terence Stamp hosted each episode for the first season, and was replaced in the second season by David Bowie. Stories tended to focus on themes of self-destructive desire and obsession, with a strong component of soft-core erotica; popular tropes for the stories included cannibalism, vampires, sex, and poison.


The Champions
1968 · UK
After a plane carrying three Agents crashes in the Himalayas, they are rescued by an advanced civilisation secretly living in Tibet who grant them enhanced versions of the ordinary five senses, and intellectual and physical abilities.


Primeval
2007 · UK
When strange anomalies start to appear all over England, Professor Cutter and his team must track down and capture all sorts of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth's distant past and near future.
British television's defining habit is the short series — six episodes, one writer, a finite story. That structure produced the modern prestige miniseries and a format catalogue the rest of the world keeps adapting.
Science fiction and fantasy on television get to build worlds across dozens of hours, which is why the genre's most detailed universes are TV universes. Effects costs long constrained it; streaming budgets no longer do.