TV columnist Bethan Ackerley has declared Star City the standout science-fiction series of the first half of 2026, describing it as the only 'unalloyed pleasure' in a mixed landscape of genre television. The grim alternate-history thriller, which imagines a world where Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev survives to beat the US to the Moon, follows characters dodging KGB interrogators and surviving near-fatal space accidents. Ackerley notes the show's bleak tone only adds to its appeal.
The Fallout adaptation, meanwhile, entered its second season in January with an uneven start. While protagonists Lucy and Max tread familiar ground — Lucy scolding the Ghoul for his trigger-happy ways, Max wavering on his allegiance to the Brotherhood of Steel — the Ghoul's flashback storyline provides a masterclass in storytelling. The irradiated gunslinger's pre-war recruitment by a spy network trying to prevent nuclear catastrophe by assassinating a Las Vegas technocrat keeps the series worth watching, according to Ackerley.
Paradise faced the challenge of following its acclaimed first season, which revealed that murdered president Cal Bradford lived in a bunker, not a gated community, after an apocalypse. Ackerley says the second season largely succeeded, introducing a 'Ghoul-shaped' plotline for protagonist Xavier Collins as he searches for his long-lost wife across the wasteland. Despite some grating performances, the show's intelligent play with sci-fi subgenres — from bunker drama to post-apocalyptic adventure — sets it apart.
For All Mankind, the original series in the shared universe that includes Star City, continues to follow the Baldwin family in a 2012 where space colonisation is still a priority. Ed Baldwin remains under arrest on Mars after helping colonists steal an iridium-rich asteroid, and tensions between the Mars base and Earth have escalated into all-out war. Ackerley laments that the new season does little with this conflict, making it a 'minor letdown' despite thrilling set pieces.
Fortunately, the spin-off Star City has been 'such a joy', Ackerley writes, anchoring the shared universe with its focus on the Soviet space programme's alternate history. The series diverges from reality because of Korolev's survival, a change that ripples through the entire timeline. For UK viewers seeking intelligent, character-driven sci-fi, Ackerley recommends Star City as the must-watch series of 2026 so far.