5 Classic Sci Fi TV Shows To Binge Over the 2023 Holidays
If you’re like me and are up to date on all the new shows like Mythic Quest and His Dark Materials then you might be struggling to find something to watch right now.
Science fiction had a bit of a golden age in the 1990s and early 2000s. Many people will have watched at least one of the various Star Trek shows from that time period and perhaps assumed that was what all science fiction shows at the time were like — wrong.
I’ve followed most of these shows from their original air dates and so am quite attached to them due to my history from a lifetime of viewing — but I have also chosen them for a reason, they’re amazing!
Here’s a list of my top 5 classic sci-fi shows to binge these holidays,
#1. Babylon 5
Great maker! What a show. If you love an epic yarn about ancients, good and evil, human drama and all that — then this is the space opera for you!
The first season’s VFX is a little rough but it gets better. Not that it matters too much because if you’re paying attention to the dialogue or the direction of the scenes they still hold up against some of today’s best.
Babylon 5 contains a lot of themes that are still relevant today including an entire arc about a fall to totalitarianism. The masterful way that the story builds up into the second last season really pays off. It’s unfortunate that confusion with the TV station at the time caused them to have a final season that is a little bit different but still great.
If you want to see how diplomacy in action then you’ll be delighted to see the level of detail written into this show. Created by award winning author J Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5 also has a few spin off shows and films if you’re keen for more.
#2. Farscape
If you don’t like puppets then you must be farbot, because this Jim Henson company production holds up in every way to this day. The world building of Farscape is possibly some of the most creative in television ever.
One of my gripes with a lot of science fiction television is how outmoded American censors have made topics of human sexuality. Farscape shows there’s a way to tell human stories that are still family friendly — just like a lot of media that is made in Europe or Asia.
Another trope within a lot of science fiction is how clean and advanced everything in outer space is. People tend to be more educated when they know how to operate a warp drive engineering deck on Star Trek, but on Farscape they’re just passengers in the belly of a Leviathan — a species of interstellar creatures who serve as spacecraft to life forms our size.
Well ahead of it’s time, this is one of those shows that might challenge your notions about life and that’s some good watching. Filmed around Sydney with a diverse cast this is definitely one of the best shows ever made.
If you get to the end and worry about loose ends don’t despair, Farscape is neatly tied up by a film that is also a great swan song for this universe.
#3. Stargate SG-1
My favourite show, I’ve written about Stargate SG-1 before but enough cannot be said so here I go again… The possibilities that the stargate presents in story telling is basically infinite.
Between very good writing, very good acting and very good production this is basically a slam dunk when it comes to movie level TV shows. When the War On Terror happened during my adolescence I used to wish that it was all just a cover up for the Stargate Program and that we were secretly fighting aliens and not just wrecking middle eastern countries for profits.
The show presented the U.S. military in a very positive way — even highlighting what lines you shouldn’t cross and bringing light to it. For example, there are stone age alien tribes with advanced metals that SG-1 is able to negotiate with rather than steal from. In another similar situation they are able to actually get the native peoples to help them mine rather than drive them away from their indigenous settlements.
It’s this kind of American exceptionalism and idealism that I loved to see growing up as a kid when thinking about the United States. I keep coming back to this show because there are so many examples in it of problems big and small and how they can be resolved by people talking, working together and doing the right thing for themselves and for others.
#4. Fringe
Starting as a procedural crime show and then quickly becoming almost everything else but that after, including a musical for an episode. The acting of John Noble as Walter Bishop carries this series to greatness.
Today’s conspiracy theorists would not be able to handle the amount of pseudoscience coming your way in Fringe — every episode there’s a new shenanigan involving something that was once a news headline. Each episodes premise usually ties into one of the main characters storylines — the bad guy usually the worst possible outcome of their own dilemma. It’s such a smart way to build a narrative, especially because they created a wider arc and over time fit all of that together as well. Magnificent.
Fringe can be a little dark, like when you see people’s flesh melt while alive, so this definitely isn’t one to watch with younger children. There’s also a copious amount of drug use which they sometimes use to put their minds into altered states in order to solve mysteries — definitely not for kids.
The world building really starts to come into its own in the final season though when they finally start to explain who the Observers are and what they want. Fringe has a satisfying narrative conclusion albeit does rush a little bit towards the finish line at the end.
If you want to know what was planned for after Fringe’s run then head to Reddit and the rest of the web, it’s all been discussed.
#5. Sanctuary
Stargate actor Amanda Tapping produced this show with her own money and I am so grateful because it is one of the most charming and unique tales ever to grace television. If you’re a fan of Stargate Atlantis you may also recognise a lot of familiar faces as the show goes on — especially Todd.
Climate change is causing an unprecedented mass extinction event in our lifetime. We have a mental health crisis where people who are different and marginalised are being left to die by an uncaring modern world. As we develop technology and science do we lose a sense of wonder about the world? Sanctuary finds a way to tell stories about these contemporary questions and adds a little bit of hopeful science fiction sprinkled on top.
Each season has its own wider story but the one about the Hollow Earth is by far my favourite. The idea of another world existing beneath the surface of our planet is a very old school science fiction story idea so it’s wonderful to see a fresh take on it. In scenes where the show’s VFX is a bit rough the strong writing and the casts acting and chemistry are enough to maintain the level of entertainment and sell what’s happening on screen.
The fantastical biology of the creatures in Sanctuary and the rich worldbuilding of the sentient ones creates one of the coolest little Gothic style sci fi worlds I’ve ever seen. Amanda Tapping’s Helen Magnus is wonderful but I also have to note Christopher Heyerdahl. Heyerdahl plays an immortal teleporting Jack the Ripper as one of the main antagonists and the house butler Bigfoot, a member of Helen Magnuses household. I absolutely love Sanctuary and hope I can convince at least one person to watch it because it’s a beautiful story with an idealism we need today.
Where to watch these great shows? Check your main streaming services, otherwise you may need to go looking around DVD stores… if you have a time machine or live somewhere that still uses optical storage.
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