Philip K Dick's sci-fi anthology series is about to hit Channel 4 and its new trailer is VERY Black Mirror. In fact, it looks even blacker.

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Melding its ten episodes into one brilliantly confusing taster, complete with Radiohead soundtrack, the series promises to plunge us into gloriously dystopian realities. Plus, it gives us a look at the star-studded cast in action: Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Julia Davis, Timothy Spall, Joanna Scanlan and Benedict Wong can all be seen at the centre of some gloriously surreal worlds.

So, could the show be a rival to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, the sci-fi series that originally started on Channel 4 before moving to Netflix? Very possibly: each episode will be inspired by a short story by Philip K Dick, the writer responsible for the futuristic classics that inspired Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall.

Adapted by Harry Potter and The Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne, the first episode is based on short story The Commuter and follows Timothy Spall (who played Wormtail in the Harry Potter films) as he discovers a train that takes passengers to a place that should not exist (you know, like Hogwarts). But however Potter the debut instalment sounds, we're guessing it won't go down as pleasantly as a butterbeer.

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Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams will air on Channel 4 in September

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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