10 Upcoming New HBO Series To Be Excited About

by James Hunt

1. Westworld

HBO

Based on the 1973 Michael Chrichton film of the same name, Westworld tells the story of the titular futuristic theme park. It's been described as "a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin." Artificial intelligence has been everywhere in 2015, from the big-budget Age of Ultron to the smaller-scale Ex Machina, while on TV with the likes of Humans, and Westworld was initially expected to air at the end of this year.

It's been pushed back to 2016 now, so there'll be no robot fatigue, but this is one of the most intriguing offerings. Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher, has created the show, while J.J. Abrams is executive producing (although his name gets given to a huge number of projects these days, so it's not an obvious indicator of quality). There's a very talented cast as well, including Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, and Ed Harris.

The park is staffed by robots that allow people to live out their fantasies, including gunslinging robots you can duel against, and even robot prostitutes. However, when the park's central computer breaks down, the robots begin to run amok.

It's a high-concept drama that promises a lot of thrilling moments and sci-fi action, with some stunning visuals, a whole host of mystery, violence, and the morally-complex characters we're used to from HBO. If they pull it off, this could be their next mega-hit.

Which of these upcoming HBO shows are you most excited about? Share your favourite below in the comments thread.

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.