Dystopian fiction has carved out a significant niche within the realms of science fiction and horror, evolving into a dominant genre in the 21st century. This list showcases the pinnacle of dystopian television, featuring a variety of grim futures, from zombie-infested wastelands to AI-driven apocalypses, and even more nuanced scenarios such as societies controlled by social media scores or worlds where every moment is recorded in your mind like a video file.
From devastating pandemics and nuclear winters to robot rebellions, time travel-induced paranoia, and mysterious disappearances, these 19 TV series (along with one miniseries) offer the most ingenious, terrifying, and often deeply moving dystopian narratives ever crafted. Whether depicting life after a cataclysmic event or exploring the eerie realities of office workers with consciousness-altering microchips, each show presents a bleak vision of the future—whether near or distant—that is charged with intensity, intrigue, and boundless creativity.
While our focus here is on television, if your interest lies in cinematic dystopias, don't miss our curated lists: the Top 10 Apocalypse Movies of All Time and the 6 Post-Apocalyptic Movies You've Probably Never Seen. Additionally, IGN readers have had their say on their Favorite Post-Apocalyptic World from Movies and TV!
But if TV series are what you're looking for, delve deeper with us into iconic shows like *Fallout*, *Severance*, *The Walking Dead*, *The Handmaid's Tale*, *The Last of Us*, and more. Here are the Top 20 Dystopian TV Shows of All Time!
