TV shows we love: Foundation by Alix Norman

The Galactic Empire! Jumpships. Spacers. Starbridge. A cloned dynasty that’s ruled for 1,000 years. A scheming robot masquerading as a loyal henchwoman. A lone voice of reason in a galaxy on the verge of collapse… This is Foundation, and it takes place in a future so far ahead that humanity can no longer remember its planet of origin!

If you haven’t read the original book series (penned by Asimov), Apple TV’s 10-part Foundation might just blow your mind. I remember the original premise: the idea that, given enough of a population sample, mathematics could predict herd actions and forecast the future. So, to be honest, I can’t say I loved everything about this TV show. But you might….

The main theme endures: prodigal mathematician Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) still develops his predictive ‘psychohistory’, forecasts the fall of the Galactic Empire, and establishes a foundation of mathematicians to preserve knowledge and civilisation in the years to come. For the most part, the setting also remains the same: we get Trantor, the digitised, overcrowded capital planet of the Galactic Empire; and Terminus, the remote, hostile site of the newly-established Foundation.

Apple TV eschews the clever subtleties of Asimov’s plot for action-packed space opera featuring a cast of cloned rulers, religious sororities and tortured fanatics. We get a starbridge that crashes into a planet, killing millions in a sequence of fire and fury; a rulers’ reprisal that sees an entire culture laid to waste; a mystic ‘Vault’, which effectively paralyses those who stray too close; and out-of-control warship that could – at any moment – destroy practically the entire galaxy!

If I hadn’t read the books, I would have adored the TV series. There’s enough mind-blowing material to cover the gaping plot holes; a complex cast of characters who fall cleanly into the categories of good and evil; and action sequences that are off the charts! But little of the original literary subtlety remains. To sum up: if you’ve never read Asimov’s Foundation series, then this may well be a TV show you’ll love!