Dennis Kelly’s Utopia ran for two seasons on Channel 4, 12 episodes in all, from January 2013 to August 2014. It never got the third series its official Twitter feed ruled out in October 2014. What it got instead was a cult following, and a long afterlife: HBO planned an American version in 2014 but did not produce it over budget disputes, Amazon acquired the rights in April 2018, and a U.S. remake landed on 25 September 2020. The original only reached Amazon Prime on 1 November 2020.
Trailer, via Channel 4 Entertainment.
The Utopia Experiments Predicts Disaster
The premise is a comic book that predicts outbreaks. A community of fans believes The Utopia Experiments foretold disasters like mad cow disease. Word spreads of a rumored unpublished sequel with more of the same, about world events still to come.
One enthusiast gets the manuscript and invites four friends from an online forum to meet in person. He is killed before they arrive. Ian, Becky, Wilson and Grant end up holding the thing anyway, and a secret organization called The Network wants it back.
Jessica Hyde Has Been Running Her Whole Life
The Network dismantles the four lives piece by piece and kills anyone in the way. It is hunting the manuscript and a woman named Jessica Hyde, who has been on the run from the organization her entire life. She meets the group and helps them evade capture.
The closer people come to understanding what’s truly going on, the more dangerous things become.
Two Versions, Seven Years Apart
| Version | Channel 4 original | Amazon remake |
|---|---|---|
| First release | 15 January 2013 | 25 September 2020 |
| Seasons | 2 (12 episodes) | — |
| U.S. availability | Amazon Prime, 1 November 2020 | At release |
Arby Kills Anyone in the Way
Other characters get snared in The Network’s orbit — Michael Dugdale, Geoff Lawson, and Arby, the operative who does much of the killing. Through their dealings with its agents, the organization’s purpose and its secret plot come into focus. Rumors of “Russian flu” spread worldwide as groups and individuals close in on the protagonists.
The Cast Carries It
Fiona O’Shaughnessy plays Jessica Hyde. Adeel Akhtar is Wilson Wilson, Paul Higgins is Michael Dugdale, Neil Maskell is Arby, Alexandra Roach is Becky, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett is Ian Johnson, Oliver Woollford is Grant Leetham, and Alistair Petrie is Geoff Lawson.
A Comic Book That Recruits Paranoids
Utopia is a conspiracy thriller that treats comic-book fandom as a recruiting pool for paranoia, and that is the part that still bites. The violence is blunt. The pacing is ruthless — 12 episodes across two seasons, no filler.
The Mystery Runs Out of Road
The weakness is the same as its strength. Once The Network’s purpose comes into focus, the mystery loses some of its menace, and the show’s refusal to explain everything reads as evasion rather than design. The American remake arrived seven years after the original’s debut. The original is still the one worth the time.
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