Screen time
The stars are out for a sci-fi legend, Christina Hendricks continues to shine and it’s a Downton dynasty on telly
In sci-fi circles, the author Philip K Dick’s name inspires the kind of hushed reverence reserved only for the masters. Try saying it loudly in a crowded branch of Forbidden Planet for proof. For the less fantasy-inclined, there is still plenty to recommend in the 10 standalone adaptations of his Electric Dreams series. The first, The Hood Maker, has the inventive air of a Doctor Who for grown-ups, transporting us to a future dystopia where strange, eerie telepathic oddbods hold the key to communications. Two detectives, one telepathic (Holliday Grainger back in the Sunday-night 9pm slot after Strike), one not ( Thrones’ Richard Madden: pwhoar, etc), are assigned the task of exterminating the titular handyman who’s crafted a mask that blocks the telepaths. The casting throughout Electric Dreams is beyond stellar: Bryan Cranston makes his UK TV debut, joining a list of venerable names including Borgen’s Sidse Babbett Knudsen, Hollywood’s resident kook Steve Buscemi and our own absolutely peerless Julia Davis. The opener belongs to Grainger, sporting a hairdo that looks like it was nicked from the early Björk canon and Madden, who could join the never-ending roll-call of potential Bonds after this performance. Their chemistry is A1. The material is racy, dark, sad and often gripping. For sci-fi nerds, it’s all Christmases come at once; for everyone else, at least a sunny Easter Bank Holiday. Begins Sunday, 9pm, Channel 4