If you’re looking for a high-concept, mysterious sci-fi show in the vein of “Under the Dome,” “From,” or “Manifest,” Stephen King has a recommendation for you. The master of horror has always loved sharing recommendations for spooky genre offerings on social media, and this week he took to Threads (he left the cesspool formerly known as Twitter in November) to highlight the UK-made series “The Midwich Cuckoos.”
“THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS (Amazon): Surprised there hasn’t been more talk about this,” King recently posted on Threads. “It’s a brilliant re-imagining of John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi/horror novel.” The title of one of Wyndam’s best-known novels may not sound familiar to you, but the name of its earlier film adaptation might: “The Midwich Cuckoos” became “Village of the Damned” when Wolf Rilla adapted it in 1960. That version of the story is considered an all-time-great horror movie, alternately dubbed as an “excellent thriller-chiller” (by The Boston Globe), “one of the period’s truly exciting screen tales” (according to the Evening Star), and “a master horror tale” and “clammy little masterpiece” (via The Washington Post).
The plot of “The Midwich Cuckoos” starts with an unnerving inciting incident: a whole town is suddenly knocked unconscious, and upon waking up, all of the women are pregnant. The story is trippy and surprising, featuring elements like mind control, otherworldly beings, and military intervention. The iteration King is championing was made by Royal Shakespeare Company associate director David Farr and stars the BAFTA-nominated actor Keeley Hawes (“It’s A Sin,” “Death at a Funeral,” the “Tomb Raider” video games) and actor-writer Max Beesley (“Hijack,” “The Outsider”).
King just gave his stamp of approval to a trippy British miniseries
King has made several strong recommendations for new and returning horror shows this year, from the final season of “Evil” (for which he inspired an entire social media renewal campaign), to the Netflix adaptation of “3 Body Problem” to the James Wan-produced Peacock series “Teacup.” “The Midwich Cuckoos” stands out a bit since it’s not actually a new release; the series was made by British streamer Sky Max, and its lone season to date aired in 2022.
If you’ve been watching TV at all this century, you’ve probably encountered some high-concept sci-fi/mystery slow burn shows, most of them made in the wake of ABC’s game-changing hit “Lost.” From “The Returned” to “Dark” to “The OA” (not to mention plenty of already-forgotten one-season shows like “Revolution,” “The Event,” and “Flashforward”), the TV mystery box is a formula that seems to keep on trucking along, successful or not. “The Midwich Cuckoos” at least has the benefit of finality, as it was envisioned as a limited series. The under-the-radar show also has a handful of decent reviews from people who aren’t Stephen King, with the Irish Independent calling it “effective, engaging and full of ideas” as well as “a fascinating thesis on bodily autonomy and the crippling anxieties of young parenthood.”
The show is available to U.S. viewers on AMC+, Acorn TV, and the Sundance Now platform, although King says he watched it on Amazon Prime (which does have AMC+ and Acorn TV add-on options).
