alien earth – Trekking with Dennis

End-of-Year Awards 2025

A Lord of the Rings-themed spoiler warning.

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for some of the productions discussed below.

You know what I find silly? When magazines, websites, and media outlets publish their “best of the year” articles and awards in early December or even November! I mean, at that stage there’s still a month or more of the year left! That’s why, here at Trekking with Dennis, I always publish my End-of-Year Awards at… the end of the year! What a novel concept, eh?

In 2025, I reviewed more films here on the website than in any prior year. But, to tell you the truth, I didn’t watch as many TV programmes or play as many games this year as I think I’ve done in years gone by. There are still more than enough to win some made-up trophies, don’t worry, but there are a few that I originally planned to get around to this year that I just… didn’t. Partly that’s because it’s been a pretty busy year for me, on the whole – you can see more on that by clicking or tapping here! And partly that’s just because I’ve been feeling pretty tired, sometimes, or I just haven’t felt up to starting a brand-new story.

Who will win the ultimate honour of a Trekking with Dennis End-of-Year Award?

As always, a few important caveats.

Firstly, and most importantly, all of this is *subjective, not objective.* If I give an award to a film, game, or TV show that you despise, or if I skip over one of your favourites that’s already won all of the other big awards… that’s okay. There will always be a broad spectrum of opinions on works of media and entertainment, and these are mine – and mine alone. We don’t need to get into a shouting match over a made-up statuette!

Secondly, there are a bunch of popular movies, games, and TV programmes that I didn’t get around to in 2025. For reasons that I hope are obvious, they won’t be entered into consideration for an award. Finally, I might include one or two titles from the tail end of 2024 as well, as I may have only got around to them in 2025.

Alright then! With all of that out of the way, let’s hand out some awards.

Best Web Series:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Mugthief

I don’t watch a lot of “gaming content” online, but there are a few content creators I still regularly tune in for. One of those is Mugthief, a YouTube-based video game reviewer and video essayist. I occasionally disagree with his takes, but I like the way he presents his coverage, and he always comes across as fair, even-handed, and not like someone seeking out games to “hate on.” I also appreciate the distinct lack of clickbait in videos, titles, and thumbnails!

There isn’t always a lot to be positive about in gaming, and Mugthief isn’t shy about criticising games and gaming companies when they deserve it. But he can also be passionate and positive about titles he enjoys, which is always great to see. I’ve had fun and learned about a few titles from Mugthief in 2025, and I just wanted to celebrate his channel and his content as the year comes to an end.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Quiet Nerd

I’m not someone who’s very good at engineering, electricals, or really doing anything hands-on! But I like to live vicariously through others, and YouTuber Quiet Nerd has taken me on some wild adventures with his self-made drivable camper, boat, and more. I’ve really come to enjoy videos about people building things like this – camper vans and caravans have always felt cute and cozy to me, and the idea of building one from scratch just seems like it must be a huge amount of fun. Quiet Nerd is one of the best in the business for that kind of content, in my opinion.

Some of the vehicles Quiet Nerd has built are incredible. Using electric batteries, tracks, steel beams, and a whole lot of knowledge that I do not possess, he’s constructed sturdy, drivable, livable camping vehicles that he then takes on adventures in the wilderness. It’s just a lot of fun. And as someone who doesn’t get out a lot due to my health – let alone go camping – it’s been hugely entertaining to be taken on those adventures with him.

Most-Improved Web Series:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Binging With Babish

I’d unsubscribed from Binging with Babish at least a year ago. The show seemed to have descended into – for want of a better term – slop, with videos like “I tried eating 100 different kinds of ramen!!” replacing the recipes that I’d originally tuned in for. By the end of my time as a subscriber, only Babish collaborator Alvin’s videos were of any interest to me at all, and they were so outnumbered by low-quality, low-effort nonsense that I felt sure I was done.

But in 2025, I was pleasantly surprised to see Binging With Babish make somewhat of a comeback. There’s still slop, but there are once again genuine recipes in the mould of Babish’s earlier content, and I’m glad to see the show’s pivot. Many creative folks get burned out doing the same thing over and over again, and I can empathise with the desire to branch out and try different things. But I’m very pleased to see what I consider to be a return to form from what had been a fairly unique and well-produced web series.

The “Too Early For Early Access” Award:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
inZOI

After the disappointing cancellation of Life By You about a year ago, I was still hopeful that a genuine competitor or “spiritual successor” to The Sims series might be in the offing. The Sims 4 is catastrophically over-monetised, and Electronic Arts has shown no signs of developing a new entry in the series, either. And all of that was before the EA buyout situation that we discussed earlier in the year. So I had hopes that a game like inZOI might be the challenger that The Sims has needed for a long time – as well as a fantastic game in its own right.

But, as you may know by now, inZOI launched into early access far too early, in a near-unplayable state. Basic game features were missing, and I just got the impression that publisher Krafton was pushing the game’s developers too hard before inZOI was even close to being ready. Early access is hit-and-miss, and you have to understand that when you jump in. And I get that, believe me! But even for an early access title, inZOI felt horribly unready, and needed at least another year-plus of development time. I hope that the game’s difficult early access release hasn’t damaged its reputation too much ahead of its full launch.

Worst DLC:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
The Oblivion Remaster’s “Deluxe Edition”

DLC "horse armour" for the deluxe edition of TES IV: Oblivion.

Remember Bethesda’s infamous “horse armour” debacle in 2006? Well, how would you like to pay extra money to Bethesda, again, for *more* horse armour in the remastered version of Oblivion? Because that’s what the shitty “Deluxe” version of the Oblivion remaster gets you. Paid horse armour. In Oblivion. In 2025. As I said back in June: piss off, Bethesda.

If this was meant to be a joke, I didn’t find it funny. If it was a freebie, a little nod-and-wink to longtime fans to say “hey, wasn’t this silly back in the day?” then sure. Add it in as a free DLC and we can all chuckle to ourselves about how Bethesda’s greed led directly to paid skins and other crappy DLC in single-player games. But as a *paid* feature in the Oblivion remaster? I was shocked at how brazenly Todd Howard and Bethesda were just taking the piss.

Best DLC:

🏆 Winner 🏆
No Man’s Sky: Voyagers

Promo image for No Man's Sky: Voyagers DLC.

I didn’t play very much No Man’s Sky this year, but I loved what I saw of Voyagers. Hello Games has added almost a decade’s worth of content to No Man’s Sky completely for free – making a mockery of companies like Bethesda who want to charge for every weapon skin, outfit, and even individual quests in games like Starfield. And Voyagers is the biggest and most expansive No Man’s Sky DLC to date, introducing ship-building, among other features.

At this stage, No Man’s Sky is basically what I hoped Starfield could have been back in 2023. The seamless exploration, the ship- and base-building, and the sheer sense of *scale* that Starfield lacked are all present here. Maybe in 2026 I’ll jump back in and really get stuck into it! I know it’s a bit of a “hot take,” but I felt the launch version of No Man’s Sky was decent for what it was. But comparing that version to this one? It’s literally an entirely new game. If you missed it, or you wrote off No Man’s Sky after launch… fire it up again. I really don’t think you’ll regret it.

The “Stupidest Own Goal” Award:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Microsoft and Xbox

Photo of Phil Spencer announcing the Xbox Series consoles.

In 2025, Microsoft and Xbox hiked the prices of their consoles. Twice. But even then, I’d still have said that an Xbox Series S and a Game Pass subscription were a good-value way to get started with current-gen gaming. And then what did Microsoft do? Hiked up the price of Game Pass by a massive amount. On PC, Game Pass went up by 70% in the span of thirteen months. And on console, the price of the top tier of Game Pass – which is now the only way to get same-day releases of big titles – has basically doubled in just over a year.

As I said at the time, the subscription model is *a perfect fit* for gaming. And Microsoft, until now, has had the best service in town. But no one should accept price hikes of 50%, 70%, or more – and that’s why so many people went to cancel their Game Pass subscriptions that the website crashed. I cancelled Game Pass this year, and I doubt I’ll pick it up again. At these prices, it ain’t worth it. And with Microsoft’s consoles failing… Game Pass was all they had.

The “Most Unfriendly Company” Award:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Nintendo

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct broadcast showing three of Nintendo's executives.

For what it is, and considering which games are available for it, Nintendo’s Switch 2 console is overpriced. Nintendo Switch 2 games, at £75 or $80, are also overpriced – and worse, this threatens to normalise the second rise in the standard price of video games in less than five years, with other publishers now starting to follow suit. Nintendo is still embroiled in a frivolous lawsuit against Pokémon competitor Palworld and its developers. And, on top of all of that, Nintendo has tried to patent vaguely-defined in-game systems and mechanics, including the ability to have summonable allies fight alongside you in battles.

Nintendo’s well-trained legion of super-fans may not like to hear it, but Nintendo is an ugly, greedy, predatory corporation that behaves no differently from Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and others in the industry. In fact, in some ways, Nintendo is *worse* than all of them, suing competitors when it feels a game is doing well, failing to innovate and move with the times, and just behaving in a horribly anti-consumer manner. I had hopes for both the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World… but Nintendo was just awful in 2025, and left me very disappointed.

Best Hack-and-Slash Game:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (photo mode) showing the protagonist fighting a horde of enemies.

I had a blast playing Dynasty Warriors 2 with a friend a long time ago, but that had been my only real exposure to this long-running series. Origins hadn’t been on my radar at the start of the year, but something in the game’s marketing material just… called out to me, I guess. And I felt I needed to give the game a shot. I’m so very glad I did, because I had a blast with this game and its fantastic soundtrack!

I’m someone who usually plays games for their stories, with gameplay being a secondary consideration much of the time. But Dynasty Warriors: Origins was just plain *fun* to get stuck into, with hordes of enemies to slice through and bosses to whittle down. The game’s incredible soundtrack also feels like a throwback, with up-tempo rock and electronic-inspired music that’s obviously totally anachronistic to its ancient China-inspired setting. But I adored it, and I just had a wonderful time playing this game.

Best Mario Kart Game:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is a fantastic kart-racer. It was ballsy of Sega to release it just a few weeks after Mario Kart World… but I think it’s fair to say that the risk paid off spectacularly, because this is genuinely one of the best arcade racing games I’ve played in the last few years. Its signature “CrossWorlds” mechanic guarantees that every race is going to be different – and gives you a reason to keep pushing to stay in the lead. Obviously I can’t compare it directly to a game I haven’t played, but I believe CrossWorlds would’ve given Mario Kart World a real run for its money if I’d picked up a Switch 2 this year.

There are some fun additions to CrossWorlds, bringing characters and settings from Minecraft and SpongeBob to the racetrack, and there’s more to come from the game in 2026, with new inclusions planned. The racing is fast-paced and fun, items add a lot of chaos to the game, and the CrossWorlds idea shakes up every single race and keeps things from feeling boring. All in all, a fantastic kart racer.

Best Strategy Game:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Civilization VII

Screenshot of Civilization VII (Civ 7) showing a Medjay unit near the Grand Canyon wonder.

This is somewhat of a reluctant award, to tell you the truth. Civilization VII is good, and it’s getting better now that we’re almost eleven months post-launch. But Civ VII is not as good as I wanted it to be or hoped it would be, and it takes this award basically by default. I want to see many more improvements to the game in 2026, and I hope I won’t come to regret giving the game this award by this time next year if they don’t come.

That being said, Civilization VII is my most-played game of 2025, and it would feel wrong not to at least acknowledge that achievement with an award. There are things that I enjoy about this game, and I don’t think it’s the total failure or dumpster fire that some reviewers have tried to claim. There are interesting ideas in the mix, some really fantastic graphics, and a good mix of new civilisations and leaders to play with. But the game is in need of a lot more work, and was arguably released too early. Perhaps in six or twelve months, it will truly live up to its potential.

Worst Game:

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
Nintendo Switch 2: Welcome Tour

Promo graphic for Nintendo Switch 2: Welcome Tour.

Let’s get something straight: if Welcome Tour had been the *free* pack-in that it was clearly supposed to be, it wouldn’t be anywhere near this award. But by choosing to sell this non-game, this overblown manual, for $10/£8, Nintendo invited it to compete with actual, bona fide *games*. See, I don’t hate Welcome Tour for what it is. As a concept, a basic programme that explains some of the features of a brand-new console is not a bad idea. The Switch 2 – being so derivative and similar to the original Switch – arguably didn’t need this kind of software, but that’s somewhat beside the point. An interactive manual is a fun concept.

But something like that *needs* to be included with the console for free. Welcome Tour isn’t a game. It isn’t even a tech demo – it’s an interactive manual which goes over, in brief, what the console can do and how its controls operate. Nintendo used to be the company that gave away free copies of Tetris with the Game Boy, and that created Wii Sports as a free pack-in title to show off the Wii’s motion controls. And now? They’re the greedy, predatory company that tries to trick their own fans into buying a glorified manual. I don’t hate Welcome Tour – I hate what it stands for and what it says about how far Nintendo has fallen.

Video Game – Honourable Mention:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Indika

Screenshot of Indika showing the title character walking through a snowy village.

Indika was released in 2024, but I missed it when it was new. It can’t be entered into contention for “game of the year” because it didn’t come out this year, but I was gripped by Indika when I played it. The game has an intense story set in Tsarist Russia, following the story of a nun as she undertakes a harrowing journey. For an indie title made by a small team, the game was absolutely fantastic, and I went on an intense and emotional journey with Indika that really hit close to home.

Mechanically, Indika brought a lot to the table, too. In addition to being a “walking simulator,” there were quick-time events, and several beautiful pixel art sections, including a 2D platformer, a racing mini-game, and even a rhythm game of sorts (that I was terrible at!) Indika also had some beautiful and bleak landscapes that really captured the look and feel of the era and place in which it was set. Just a thoroughly fantastic indie game, well worth playing.

Game of the Year:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Mafia: The Old Country

Promotional screenshot for Mafia: The Old Country.

Someone online said that Mafia: The Old Country “could’ve been a movie,” intending for that to be a criticism. I agree… only, I mean it in the best way possible! For decades, I’ve sought out games with fantastic stories, great world-building, and engaging characters, and that’s exactly what this prequel to the long-running Mafia series delivers. So yeah, it could have been a movie!

Mafia: The Old Country was recently given a free update which opens up its beautiful and detailed world quite a bit, making it feel less linear and closer to the open-world adventure that I think some folks were hoping for. Gameplay isn’t ground-breaking, but it’s fun, competent, and tightly-managed, keeping Enzo’s story on the rails. I had a good time with the game, and I thoroughly enjoyed stepping back in time to The Old Country’s neat recreation of Sicily.

🏆 Winner 🏆
South of Midnight

Screenshot from South of Midnight showing Hazel with a waypoint.

South of Midnight is a truly wonderful game. An adventure title with some difficult boss fights and fun platforming, South of Midnight also had a truly engaging story as protagonist Hazel sets off on a quest to find her missing mother. The world has a dark “Southern Gothic” style, and draws inspiration from the mythology of the Mississippi Delta region and African American folklore. The story was emotional, and Hazel made for a fun and relatable protagonist.

South of Midnight weaved its gameplay and story together with practised ease, ensuring that Hazel’s growing powers never felt out-of-place, and every level or fight was perfectly attuned to her new skills. Crouton, her sidekick, was adorable, and though the story was dark in places, I had a whale of a time with it. The game’s art style was beautiful, too, with its much-hyped stop-motion effect being especially notable in cut-scenes. A thoroughly fantastic adventure that I’m happy to crown my “game of the year.”

Best Film Soundtrack:

🏆 Winner 🏆
KPop Demon Hunters

Still frame from KPop Demon Hunters (2025) showing Huntr/x (Zoey, Rumi, and Mira) singing.

I cannot stop listening to Golden and This Is What It Sounds Like! Those two songs have been living rent-free in my head for *months,* and I’m not even mad about it. KPop Demon Hunters was a fantastic film, and its soundtrack was exceptional. I’ve never considered myself a fan of K-pop, nor had I listened to any Korean songs since Gangnam Style a few years ago… but these songs absolutely stunned me with how good they were. I’m admittedly not a music critic, but I know what I like when I hear it!

I bought the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, and I’m pretty sure I’m single-handedly responsible for Golden topping the charts here in the UK, as I was streaming the track so often! I know the film’s meant for kids, but come on! These songs are outstanding, and I really can’t find a bad one amongst them. The sooner we get a sequel to this fantastic film, the better!

Best Film:

🏆 Winner 🏆
KPop Demon Hunters

Still frame from KPop Demon Hunters (2025) showing Derpy the tiger and a plant pot.

A very rare two-for-two this year, as KPop Demon Hunters also nabs the award for best film! As I was saying, the film and its soundtrack are both absolutely fantastic, with Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix absolutely wiping the floor with Disney’s sequels and live-action adaptations. Who knew that making a good, original film with a fun cast of characters, a unique setting, and a great soundtrack would be… a really good idea? Not Disney, obviously.

KPop Demon Hunters had an easy-to-follow story that was surprisingly deep and emotional. Its central characters kept things grounded, even amidst a story about popstars saving the world from demons, which is no mean feat. I found myself getting thoroughly invested in the story and its great cast of characters, and KPop Demon Hunters is the first film in a long time that I’ve voluntarily watched more than once – and not just to take notes for my review! I returned to the film several times this autumn and winter, and I daresay I’ll watch it again in 2026, too.

Worst TV Series/Miniseries:

🥈 ”Runner-Up”🥈
Earth Abides

Promo image for Earth Abides showing the main character sitting at a table.

I saw some ads for Earth Abides on social media earlier in the year, and the post-apocalyptic miniseries seemed like it would be worth a look. But I bounced off it hard after about three episodes. Earth Abides just couldn’t decide what kind of show it wanted to be: a post-apocalyptic tale of survival and mystery, or a dense philosophical take on the structure of civilisation. It ended up being neither, overladen with tired tropes of the post-apocalypse, and just… boring.

The protagonist (whose name I’ve already forgotten) wakes up from a coma to find the world has collapsed. He runs to a supermarket – where the lights are still on and cars are still in the parking lot – to stock up on supplies. He goes to Vegas, where he meets a couple of other survivors who are debauching themselves before the last of the power runs out. And… I’ve seen this all before, done way better, in other shows. Earth Abides was based on a novel, and maybe the novel is better than the show turned out to be.

🏆 “Winner” 🏆
King and Conqueror

Still frame from King & Conqueror showing Edward and Lady Emma.

I don’t necessarily think that King & Conqueror was significantly worse than Earth Abides. I mean, I actually made it to the end of this one! But in terms of raw, unbridled disappointment… this is by far the worst I experienced in 2025. I had really high hopes for this big-budget retelling of a story all British kids learn about in school: the Norman Conquest of 1066. But what I got instead was a Game of Thrones-ified, over-dramatised, totally fictitious let-down.

If you don’t care about historical accuracy, maybe King & Conqueror works. But when you have such blatant silliness as William and Harold wrestling half-nude in the mud, and total transformations of major historical figures like Harold’s brother Tostig, Edward the Confessor, and Edward’s wife… I can’t forgive it. King & Conqueror should have kept closer to the real story, because there’s more than enough excitement and drama there. This fictional account may as well have been called something else, and dropped the pretence of “real history” entirely. What a disappointment.

Best Animated TV Series:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Phineas and Ferb
Season 5

Still frame from the premiere of Phineas and Ferb Season 5 showing most of the main characters.

I was eagerly awaiting Phineas and Ferb’s revival this year, and in true summer vacation style, it arrived in June! I felt that the season – which isn’t totally complete, as there are still three or four episodes remaining – was pretty good, on the whole. Perhaps it was closer in quality, much of the time, to Season 4 of the original run than to Seasons 1-3, but there were a good mix of classic adventures and new stories.

A revival of any long-running show after a long break has to do more than just be “more of the same,” and Phineas and Ferb’s writers found some great justifications for bringing the series back. New character groupings and new storylines went a long way to keeping things feeling fresh, but there were also plenty of classic adventures, inventions, and evil schemes which harkened back to the show’s original run. All in all, a solid revival.

Best TV Miniseries:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Zero Day

Still frame from Zero Day showing George on the phone.

Zero Day was good fun for what it was. I think it leaned a bit more on the political side of things than I’d been expecting at first, and there was a lot of “post-9/11” security stuff that, arguably, feels a bit outdated in 2025. But Robert De Niro put in a spectacular performance as the conflicted ex-President, and the series shone a light on the vulnerability of society in general to this kind of cyber attack. I think the show’s focus was a bit split, in places: it wanted to be a kind of “dark mirror,” warning America about the dangers of giving unchecked power to agencies and political figures. But parts of it, with a focus on a “good man doing bad things for virtuous reasons,” felt a bit… flag-wavey.

That being said, I binge-watched the show in a couple of days, and I had a good time with it. The main character was complex and believable, the threats it depicts seem totally plausible out here in the real world, and I’m always a sucker for a good political thriller.

Best TV Series:

🥈 Runner-Up🥈
Alien: Earth

Still frame from Alien: Earth showing a Xenomorph.

Alien: Earth feels like a great foundation to build on. It took the Alien franchise in a bit of a different direction while remaining true to the original film’s themes of out-of-control corporate greed and the very alien nature of extraterrestrial life. The show’s best episode by far was In Space, No One… which managed to recapture much of the tension and fear factor of 1979’s Alien in a way that practically none of the sequels, with their more action-heavy tone, managed to.

Alien: Earth also did something that the Alien franchise has desperately needed to do for a long time: introduced new and different extraterrestrial creatures. The eyeball alien in particular could be a massive part of the series going forward, and with the Xenomorph kind of being a one-trick pony, there was a sense that Alien as a whole might be beginning to run out of steam before Alien: Earth came along. As I said in my review, I’d rank Alien: Earth only just behind the original film, and well ahead of any of the sequels and spin-offs.

🏆 Winner 🏆
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Season 3

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (3x10) showing Pike and the crew on the bridge.

Season 3 is arguably not Strange New Worlds’ best. But there are some fantastic episodes in the mix, some great standalone and semi-standalone stories, and some wonderful moments of characterisation, too. Strange New Worlds has been, for me, the absolute high-water mark of modern Star Trek, and I was so disappointed earlier in 2025 when we learned – prematurely – that the series will end after a truncated fifth season. There should still be so many stories to tell with Captain Pike and the crew… ending it so soon feels positively criminal!

But I had a fantastic time with the season as a whole. Not every episode was perfect, but the good ones outnumbered the bad, and even the “worst” of the season still had a lot to offer. Strange New Worlds remains a largely episodic project, with the Enterprise able to warp away to a new destination – and a new kind of adventure – every week. That format suits Star Trek so perfectly, and it feels like the very best kind of throwback to the franchise’s heyday.

Best Star Trek Episode:

🏆 Winner 🏆
Terrarium

Still frame from Star Trek SNW Terrarium (3x08) showing the control panel of a shuttlecraft.

Terrarium was the “Ortegas episode” that fans had been clamouring for for three seasons! And the Enterprise’s pilot got a genuinely fantastic and emotional outing that really made the wait more than worth it. After taking on a solo mission aboard a shuttlecraft, Ortegas finds herself crash-landing on a desolate world, and is forced to survive alongside someone she couldn’t communicate with – and might’ve considered an enemy. There were echoes of stories like The Enemy from The Next Generation, and the episode isn’t just one of Strange New Worlds’ best – it’s one of Star Trek’s best.

Terrarium also packs an emotional punch! There was a callback to The Original Series that, while potentially interesting, didn’t actually add a lot, and felt a little unnecessary. But all things considered, this was absolutely one of the best things I watched in all of 2025. It’s an episode that I’d show to even the most aggressive haters of “nu-Trek,” to prove the point that modern Star Trek can, and does, still get it right.

So That’s It… Till 2026!

Photo from the 3rd Academy Awards (1930) showing presenter Jack Cunningham and Best Adapted Screenplay winner Frances Cunningham. — We’ve handed out some imaginary statuettes!

So there you have it! The End-of-Year Awards have been distributed for another year, and now there are just a few hours left to go until we’ll be ringing in 2026. Whatever you’re up to tonight, I hope you have a great time! And I hope my silly little awards show has been a bit of fun, too. It’s always nice, at this time of year, to take a step back and think about some of the highlights of the year as we prepare to turn over the calendar.

The website isn’t going anywhere in 2026. And in the next couple of days, I’ll be sharing some of my predictions for the new year, as well as looking ahead to some of the TV programmes, video games, and films that I’m most looking forward to. So please join me here on the website for some of that!

So all that’s left to say, really, is this: Happy New Year! Thanks for showing up this year, and I hope to see you again in 2026, where I’ll still be geeking out about gaming, Star Trek, and so much more!

All titles discussed above are the copyrights of their respective developers, studios, broadcasters, distributors, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

You can find individual reviews, articles, and essays about some of these award-winning titles by following the links below:

Horror Hypothetical: Where Would You Try To Survive?

Sun 26.10.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for the films, games, and TV shows discussed below.

With Halloween rapidly approaching, I thought we could have a bit of fun by playing one of those “hypothetical question” games that you often see doing the rounds on social media. I’m going to choose one with a seasonally-appropriate horror theme, and try to go through a few possible answers, weighing up the pros and cons of each.

So what is this horror hypothetical, you rightly ask?

If you had to spend 72 hours (that’s three days) in one fictional universe from a horror property, which one would you choose? And, perhaps more pertinently: which horror franchise/universe presents the highest chance of survival?

Stock photo of two Jack-o-lanterns. — Happy Halloween!

Let’s lay down some ground rules – because rules are always fun, right?

In this scenario, I’ll have to spend 72 hours in one fictional universe of choice – and it has to come from a recognised horror film, TV series, or video game. Scary episodes or levels of non-horror properties don’t count – so there’s no trying to wriggle out of it by picking something like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Empok Nor. We’re talking full-blown horror only!

Most stories take place in a larger fictional world – but it wouldn’t be *any* fun at all to pick, say, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and say that I’d avoid it by catching the first bus out of town, or to say that I’d survive in the Alien universe by just never going into outer space. So we’re assuming, for the purposes of the hypothetical, that I’m dropped in the middle of the danger zone. Running away is possible – but only using the equipment and technology that we’ve seen depicted on screen, *and* that I’m reasonably confident I’d be able to use. So… no hijacking a nuclear bomb or anything like that!

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showing Hemmer as a zombie. — Argh!

I’m also going to assume that I’m in reasonably good health in these hypotheticals – which is categorically *not* the case in real life, unfortunately! But, again, it doesn’t seem like it’d be a lot of fun to have to take into account my limited mobility in every scenario. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’m going to assume I’m in better health than I actually am!

Finally, as I always like to say, everything we’re going to talk about is subjective, not objective. If you hate the horror franchises I’ve chosen, think I’ve totally messed up my survival, or just feel I’ve got the wrong end of the stick somehow… that’s okay! All of this is just a bit of Halloween-themed fun, at the end of the day. And since neither of us are ever going to be actually dropped into a horror franchise (well, fingers crossed), none of this really matters! It’s just for fun – and I share it with the interweb in that spirit.

I’ll talk a little bit about each scenario, then give it a survival chance at the end using a simple 1-10 scale, with one being the lowest chance of survival, and ten being the highest.

So with all of that out of the way, let’s get started.

Option #1:
28 Days Later

Still frame from 28 Weeks Later showing a zombie breaking in through a window. — A zombie.

28 Days Later redefined the zombie genre, and it was genuinely one of the most terrifying depictions of zombies I’d ever seen. Fast “sprinters,” able to infect people with a single drop of blood, and blinded by rage… this is gonna be a tough one!

For the purposes of our 72-hour survival challenge, the best thing to do would be to shelter in place, using whatever resources are available in the immediate surroundings. Venturing outside, especially in a large city the size of London, seems like it would be immediately fatal, so as long as I have some kind of shelter and hopefully some water or something else to drink, I’d try to hunker down, keep quiet, and stay away from any windows!

Still frame from 28 Days Later showing two zombies dying. — Dying zombies.

That being said, we’ve seen how aggressive 28 Days Later’s zombies can be, and how a small flicker of light or a seemingly innocuous sound can attract an entire horde. Assuming we’re in London or a similarly-sized urban area, and all we have for defence is the contents of the average house… I don’t think this is going to end well, to be blunt about it. One loud snore, one step too close to a window, or one candle at night would be all it’d take to send the zombies crashing through the windows and doors.

I deliberately chose 28 Days Later ahead of something like The Walking Dead because of how much more intense and powerful its zombies appear. But that could be what screws us over! If we get lucky and the hordes pass us by, I think sheltering in place for 72 hours is plausible. But if we run out of water and have to venture out, if our base is compromised, or if we make one small mistake… that’s all it’d take.

Survival Chance: 3/10

Option #2:
A Nightmare on Elm Street

Promo photo for A Nightmare On Elm Street showing Freddy Krueger. — Freddy Krueger.

Freddy Krueger has one major weakness: he can only hurt me in my dreams. If this was a “survive indefinitely” challenge, that would be a problem! But if I have to make it 72 hours… I reckon I could manage to stay awake. A combination of caffeine pills, energy drinks, and coffee should keep the spooky lil’ guy at bay!

But okay, that’s getting dangerously close to cheating territory, I suppose. There have been more Nightmare on Elm Street films and spin-offs than I thought, and it seems as if Krueger’s backstory and the source of his powers have changed since the original. But if we assume that Krueger is fuelled by his victims’ fear, as the first film depicted, then trying to stay calm will be the biggest obstacle. And all that caffeine we just chugged? That probably won’t help with keeping calm!

Still frame from A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 showing Freddy and Nancy. — Krueger and Nancy in one of the sequels.

I don’t think I’d be able to figure out all of the other stuff depicted in the sequels: things like purifying Freddy’s bones or staging a group hypnotherapy session in order to enter his world and take the fight to him! So my plan, to be honest, would really be to try to stay awake for as long as possible. 72 hours seems like a stretch – that’s three full days – but if the alternative is a violent and painful death… well, that’s a pretty good motivator.

If possible, I’d try to meet up with anyone else who might be one of Freddy’s targets. Perhaps by working together, we could develop a more solid strategy!

Survival Chance: 6/10

Option #3:
The Last Of Us
(Video game version)

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us showing Joel fighting a clicker. — Fighting a clicker.

In this scenario, we survived the main event (or we were born after it) and we’re now a couple of decades into the post-apocalypse, as depicted in the main part of the story. For a 72-hour survival challenge, I’m torn between seeking out a safe zone, like Boston, where the first game starts, or simply finding an abandoned property and taking shelter.

In either case, I don’t want to spend much time on the road or travelling, as that seems like the time for the mushroom-zombies to strike! Finding a truly safe space outside of one of the established settlements or safe zones seems like it would be challenging, but trying to enter one of these places would also have its drawbacks. Some guards seem especially trigger-happy, so one wrong move (or sarcastic quip) could lead to a premature demise!

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us showing a clicker on a red background. — We don’t want to run into any of these…

The video game version of The Last Of Us also showed how deadly fungal spores could be. Without proper protection, spores would quickly infect me and bring my run to an end – and I can’t rely on having access to a proper hazmat suit or gas mask! And knowing me, I’d struggle to get the damn things on in time even if I was lucky enough to have them. This side of things makes venturing anywhere pretty dangerous, not least derelict buildings which could hold clouds of cordyceps spores.

Perhaps the least-bad option would be to just… pitch a tent in a field somewhere and hope that you’re far enough away from the zombies to survive for three days? There are also scavengers and gangs to worry about, though. Being alone in this post-apocalyptic world wouldn’t be a lot of fun, that’s for sure.

Survival Chance: 4/10

Option #4:
The Thing

Still frame from The Thing showing a character holding a lit flare. — *The Thing*.

In The Thing, you’re trapped at an isolated outpost, unable to tell your friends from the creature, and… I think it’s gonna be a bad time! Unlike in other scenarios, going off alone and trying to hunker down won’t work; the Antarctic base is relatively small, and the creature seems to have a pretty good method of navigating it. Leaving the base, even if well-equipped, means facing Antarctica in the dark in the middle of winter… so I’m not making it 72 hours that way!

If possible, I’d try to organise the survivors into one group, occupying a “safe” room with resources, like the cafeteria. Taking shifts, so at least two or three people are awake at a time, I’d try to keep the creature at bay for as long as possible. But I have no doubt that the shape-shifting abilities would be a waking nightmare; not feeling 100% confident in trusting anyone would take a toll.

Still frame from The Thing showing a character using a flamethrower. — Kill it with fire!

With nowhere to run, the best way to survive 72 hours in this world would seem to be by befriending everyone at the facility and trying to stick together in one group. That means if there’s something to attend to outside of our safe room, the whole group goes. No one uses the bathroom alone, sleeps alone, or does anything alone. For someone who struggles with human interaction… that might not be the most fun I’ve ever had! But, as above, the fear of a violent death is a pretty good way to keep me motivated!

With all that being said, facing off against an intelligent and efficient predator like this, one with such a perfect ability to mimic animals and people… I don’t think the odds are especially high!

Survival Chance: 2/10

Option #5:
Alien

Still frame from Alien: Earth showing someone trying to hide from a Xenomorph. — Hiding from a Xenomorph.

In space, no one can hear you scream… so let’s *try* not to have to scream! I think our survival chances in the world of Alien improve significantly if we’re on the ground – a colony or settlement – rather than aboard a spaceship or space station. But either way, the Xenomorph is coming for us, driven by little more than a desire to feed and breed.

If we have enough room, I’d try to put as much distance between us and the infection site as possible. We could try to commandeer a vehicle – like one of the ground transports seen in Aliens. Or, if trapped aboard a ship, sneakily trying to use an escape pod might be a viable option. Remember, we just have to survive for 72 hours – so getting as far away from the Xenomorph as possible should be top priority!

Promo screenshot for Alien: Isolation showing the Xenomorph. — *Alien: Isolation*.

If escape isn’t an option, though, and we’re in a worst-case scenario aboard a cramped slow-moving spaceship, then I think – as the films and series have repeatedly shown – we’re pretty much screwed! If we catch the infection really early, and can kill the facehugger or infant Xenomorph, maybe things would look a lot brighter. But by the time we’ve passed the chest-burster stage and the little bugger has disappeared, our best bet is honestly to run to the escape pods.

I’ve recently been playing Alien: Isolation, and it’s genuinely one of the scariest games I’ve ever played – and perhaps second only to the original Alien film in terms of how terrifying the Xenomorph feels. Playing it was part of the inspiration behind this piece, as I honestly struggle to survive in the world of Alien – so it made me wonder which other horror properties might be equally as unforgiving!

Survival Chance: 2/10

Option #6:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Still frame from Buffy the Vampire Slayer showing two Season 1 vampires. — Vamps!

Gosh, where do we start with this one? There’s a lot more to Buffy than just vampires – so you can expect to be contending with werewolves, witches, ancient demons, and many other supernatural baddies! Honestly, just holding your own against vampires for 72 hours would be a stretch, but if other entities also join the hunt? This could be a very short challenge!

The flip side to all of that is, unlike in every other scenario we’ve examined so far, there’s a gang of people dedicated to hunting down and stopping the vampires and other creatures of the night. We wouldn’t even need to meet or befriend Buffy, Giles, Willow, or anyone else – if supernatural shenanigans are going down in Sunnydale, they’re probably already on the case. It might be too late for us if we’re the first victim of a new monster, but what are the odds of that happening in the first 72 hours?

Still frame from Buffy the Vampire Slayer showing the gang in the library. — The Scooby Gang.

Okay, you’re right – I guess seeking shelter at The Magic Box might not be a terrible idea! If we could make it there in the daylight, and explain we’re in danger… all we gotta do is hang out with the gang and wait! But if there’s no slayer, no Magic Box, and just a plethora of vampires and monsters terrorising Sunnydale… I think we’re in a lot of trouble. Stay inside, lock the door, and maybe try to get some kind of really strong UV lamp!

Because Buffy ran for seven seasons, the show sank its teeth into all kinds of monsters, vampires, and ghouls. Sunnydale is a very dangerous place, it would seem. If Buffy and the gang are there and willing to help, this could be a cakewalk. But if we’re unlucky and Buffy’s gone on vacation, we might’ve accidentally stepped into one of the most dangerous, monster-infested settings out there!

Survival Chance: 4/10
(8/10 with Buffy and co., 2/10 without)

So that’s it… for now!

Stock photo of Halloween-themed food. — Halloween snacks!

I hope this has been a bit of Halloween-y fun! I actually really like this “hypothetical question” idea, and it’s one I’d love to revisit in the future – both in horror and non-horror contexts. I’m already brainstorming more questions and scenarios to write about, so if you enjoyed this idea… watch this space!

But I suppose we should pick one of the six options, shouldn’t we, as the answer to the hypothetical posed at the beginning?

I think I’m still leaning towards A Nightmare on Elm Street. I’m confident that I could go 72 hours without sleep, even if it was 1984 and there were no energy drinks or caffeine pills, and all I had was coffee. I know it’s a bit of a sneaky answer, but the objective was to survive 72 hours in a horror setting – not defeat every demon and monster that inhabits it!

Still frame from A Nightmare on Elm Street showing Freddy and Nancy. — I’m choosing *A Nightmare On Elm Street* for this hypothetical!

So that’s gonna be my pick. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was tempting, but I think it’s only really survivable if you’re able to team up with the Scooby Gang as soon as you arrive. If you get to nightfall in Sunnydale without support – and without a place to hide – you’re toast. So A Nightmare on Elm Street it is.

As I think I said last time, this year, October has turned out to be a stupidly busy month, so I haven’t had time to write all of the horror and Halloween articles and columns that I’d originally planned. Such is life, I suppose! Some will undoubtedly have to go on the back burner until next Halloween. By the way, is that the first time you’ve heard someone talk about Halloween 2026?

Still frame from The Rise of Skywalker showing Rey and ghost Luke. — A spooky ghost!

As I said above, this piece was partly inspired by the video game Alien: Isolation, which I’ve been slowly working my way through. Trying to survive in that world is genuinely tense and terrifying, and it got me thinking about other horror settings and how long I might last! I think the basic ground rules made for a fun thought experiment, at any rate.

So if I don’t catch you again before the 31st, I hope you have a fun and appropriately spooky Halloween! If you missed it, I wrote up a list of five seasonally-appropriate TV shows that you might want to check out before Spooktober comes to an end – you can find that piece by clicking or tapping here. And if you want a more personal look back at some of my Halloween memories, I wrote about that a couple of years ago – you can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

All films, TV shows, and video games discussed above are the copyrights of their respective studio, broadcaster, distributor, developer, publisher, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Five Spooky TV Shows For Spooktober

Wed 01.10.25Dennis

A horror-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

Happy Spooktober, friends!

To celebrate the arrival of the spookiest, scariest, most horrifying month of the year, I thought we could take a look at five horror-themed television shows that could be fun to watch as Halloween gets closer.

If you know me, you’ll know I’m not exactly a horror aficionado! I’m a big softie and a total scaredy-cat, so horror isn’t usually my genre of choice, whether we’re talking about TV shows, films, or video games. But every now and then, a horror title comes along that feels like a must-watch, or where some element of the production appeals to me.

A stock photo of a man wearing a Star Trek costume at Halloween, surrounded by Jack-o-lanterns. — The kind of Halloween costume I can get behind!

Horror is enjoying its time in the spotlight right now. When I was a kid, horror was very much a niche genre at the cinema – and there really weren’t very many television offerings. The only horror or horror-adjacent shows I can really remember from the late ’80s and early ’90s are things like The Addams Family and the Ghostbusters cartoon. When I was a teenager, the nerdy friendship groups I moved in definitely saw horror as somewhat of a rite of passage, so being able to boast about having seen a particularly scary film was definitely enough to score you some bragging rights (even if I watched from behind a pillow half of the time!)

But these days, horror is much more mainstream – and there have been some great television programmes with a horror theme, too. The genre is no longer exclusive to the cinema!

A stock photo of a skull on a dark surface. — It’s about to get spooky…

As always, a couple of caveats. Firstly, it’s been a while since I watched some of these shows! I don’t regularly watch a ton of horror, and some of these programmes I’ve only seen once, during their original run. If that makes my take less valid to you… that’s fine. But I thought I should be up front about it. Secondly, everything we’re going to talk about is the entirely subjective, not objective, opinion of just one person. If you hate all of my picks, disagree with some of what I’ve got to say, or if I miss your favourite horror television show… that’s okay! There are plenty of horror TV shows out there, and a wide range of opinions on which ones are the best.

I’ve picked five horror or horror-adjacent television shows that I enjoyed and I’m happy to recommend. I’ve tried to avoid major narrative spoilers, but minor spoilers may still be present.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at my selections!

TV Show #1:
The Strain (2014)

Stylised promotional poster for The Strain. — Promo poster for *The Strain*.

There have been a lot of shows and movies set during or after a zombie apocalypse, but The Strain is the first series I can remember in which vampires, not zombies, were the main threat. I especially enjoyed the first season of The Strain, which slowly built up to the arrival of an ancient vampire in the United States, and the actions of a team from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as they attempted to piece together what was happening – and fight back.

David Bradley (of Game of Thrones and Harry Potter fame) puts in an especially entertaining performance as an elderly vampire hunter, conveying his knowledge of the outbreak to the rest of the characters. And as the vampire disease propagates, there are some genuinely shocking jump-scares, as well as plenty of gut-wrenching moments.

Still frame from The Strain showing a vampire. — Yikes.

The Strain was based on a book by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, who also are credited with creating this television adaptation. Del Toro is a master of the horror genre, and his take on vampires – partially inspired by ancient European legends and folklore – really succeeds at making the blood-sucking creatures scary. After the likes of Twilight had done a lot to run vampires’ reputations into the ground, that’s no mean feat!

There are some tense moments, some very claustrophobic scenes set in safehouses, skyscrapers, and the tunnels beneath New York City, and a surprisingly emotional storyline, too, as the vampires try to stake their claim to the new world. If you missed The Strain during its original run, or you’re just looking for a different kind of monster after burning out on the same old zombies, I definitely think it’s worth a watch.

TV Show #2:
Alien: Earth (2025)

Still frame from Alien: Earth showing a woman being stalked by a Xenomorph. — In space, no one can hear you scream…

Alien: Earth premiered just this summer, and I reviewed it here on the website not too long ago. I really enjoyed Alien: Earth, which I think does a fantastic job of expanding the world of Ridley Scott’s Alien beyond just the Xenomorphs. After repeated appearances in multiple films and games, I was beginning to worry that the Xenomorphs were running out of steam. Adding new alien creatures to this world has given it a much-needed boost.

I won’t say too much lest I spoil anything, but one episode of the season in particular stands out to me as recapturing the magic of the original Alien (from 1979) in a way that none of the sequel films or spin-offs ever did. It was a slow burn, building up the tension masterfully, before reaching an explosive conclusion. The rest of the season was solid (well, mostly), but that one episode in particular really excelled.

Still frame from Alien: Earth showing Boy Kavalier. — *Alien: Earth* expanded the lore and mythos of the franchise.

I’m surprised that, at time of writing, a second season still hasn’t been officially greenlit. It’s my hope, though, that Alien: Earth has been the expansion that the franchise has been needing for a long time, successfully re-establishing the Xenomorph as a terrifying and dangerous threat while also adding new, equally frightening creatures to the world.

Being set on Earth gave Alien: Earth a new frontier to explore. We got to learn a lot about the corporate dystopia that governs this vision of the future, as well as some rather timely commentary on artificial intelligence, too. Definitely not one to miss if you were a fan of the original Alien.

Don’t miss my review of Alien: Earth, which you can find by clicking or tapping here.

TV Show #3:
The Terror, Season 2 (2019)

Promo poster/banner for The Terror Season 2. — Promo banner for *The Terror’*s second season.

The first season of The Terror is fantastic – as I’ve noted more than once here on the website. But Season 2 tends to get overlooked, which I think is a bit of a shame. Season 2 goes for much more of a supernatural “ghost story” angle, and there are a few jump-scares that genuinely caught me off-guard and are still burned into my memory six years later! There’s still the same mystery tone as in the first season, but jumping across to a whole new cast of characters gives it a completely different setup.

Season 2 of The Terror takes place during the Second World War, and focuses mainly on Japanese-Americans in an internment camp. George Takei, of Star Trek fame, plays a supporting role – and he had actually been interned as a young man in the 1940s. The setting isn’t just a backdrop, though – it’s integral to a story which takes Japanese folklore as a starting point to tell a genuinely unsettling and frightening tale.

Still frame from The Terror Season 2 showing two characters in conversation. — George Takei in *The Terror* Season 2.

As the mystery at the heart of the story unravels, we get to learn more about the haunting and why it’s affecting the main characters. The war also comes into play in a big way, informing character decisions and motivations, as well as providing a setting that most of the cast are unable to escape from. Although the show’s first season was outstanding, and Season 2 arguably doesn’t quite reach that same high bar, I still found it entertaining and frightening.

A third season of The Terror has belatedly been greenlit. I expected to see it in 2025, but we’re already in October – prime spooky season – and there’s been no word on a release yet. Still, one to keep an eye on. Who knows, maybe it’ll be something to watch next Halloween!

TV Show #4:
The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Still frame from The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) showing Bruce Greenwood's character. — Bruce Greenwood in *The Fall of the House of Usher*.

This miniseries is a modern-day (and fairly loose) adaptation of the gothic horror stories of Edgar Allan Poe. I found it to be genuinely riveting stuff, and a creative way to weave together a selection of unconnected stories into a single, cohesive narrative. Creator Mike Flanagan did an excellent job of bringing together many of Poe’s best-known works, while giving them a modern twist.

There are a few jump-scares, but what shook me the most with The Fall of the House of Usher were some of the show’s more brutal moments. Some of these weren’t hidden from us as the audience; there was a slow build-up to an inevitably gory or gruesome death or maiming, and that tension was really well-conveyed by the show. There were also some spectacular performances from Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, and an unexpectedly dark and villainous role for Mark Hamill, too.

Still frame from The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) showing a woman in a hospital bed, covered in bandages. — That’s gonna leave a mark…

In my review a couple of years ago, I described The Fall of the House of Usher as akin to “Succession meets Final Destination;” effectively a slasher film taking aim at the children of a wealthy and successful business mogul. Edgar Allan Poe was a master of building up tension, and if there’s one thing I can say about The Fall of the House of Usher, it would be that it really succeeds at translating that feeling to the small screen.

With Netflix’s money behind it, The Fall of the House of Usher looks fantastic. Its storyline bounces around, encompassing different moments in the main characters’ lives, with each episode building to a grisly conclusion – and another shocking revelation, too. It’s dark, gothic, and tense – perfect for this time of year!

Be sure to check out my review of The Fall of the House of Usher, which you can find by clicking or tapping here.

TV Show #5:
Fortitude (2015)

Promo photo for Fortitude. — A promotional still from *Fortitude*.

When I first sat down to watch Fortitude, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. I genuinely thought it was gonna be another crime/murder mystery type of show – but it goes in a completely different direction, despite having an opening act very similar to other crime dramas that were on TV in the mid-2010s. As the story unfolded, though, it went in much more of a thriller and then horror direction, with the end of the first season really leaning into body horror and creepiness in a big way.

Fortitude stands out for its Arctic setting, which is loosely based on the Norwegian island of Svalbard. Just a normal murder mystery in that setting would’ve been something different (and a ton of fun, probably), but Fortitude managed to have twists and turns in store to keep me on my toes throughout its run.

Still frame from Fortitude (2015) showing two female police officers walking across an icy landscape. — Two police officers.

It’s hard to say too much more about the story without giving away something important, so I’ll just say that Fortitude surprised me in the best way possible. I really didn’t expect the series to go the way it did – but that can be part of the fun, right? It’s not full of jump-scares, so if that’s what you’re on the lookout for, be aware that Fortitude is more mysterious and slow-going. As it builds up, though, it tells a genuinely fascinating – and occasionally gruesome – tale.

I liked the frozen setting, and there were some fantastic performances from big-name stars like Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, and Dennis Quaid. If you missed this one when it was new – which was, to my great shock, now a decade ago already – I really hope you’ll give it a try.

So that’s it!

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 showing a zombie. — Is that… a *Klingon* zombie?!

We’ve taken a look at five spooky television shows to kick off the spookiest, scariest month of the year! I hope this has been a bit of fun, and that maybe I’ve chosen one or two that you might’ve overlooked when they were new, or just hadn’t considered for your Halloween binge-watching!

Earlier in 2025, I reviewed the horror film 28 Years Later – click or tap here to check out my thoughts on that. And between now and Halloween, I have a couple of other ideas for some seasonally-appropriate content. So please check back throughout Spooktober… I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to say!

Until then… don’t have nightmares!

All of the television shows discussed above are the copyright of their respective broadcasters, studios, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Alien: Earth – Season 1 Review

Sat 27.09.25Dennis

An Alien-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: Beware spoilers for Alien: Earth and other films in the Alien series.

The original Alien film (the one from 1979) is one of my absolute favourite sci-fi/horror titles. The claustrophobic atmosphere, the masterful way director Ridley Scott built up the danger and tension, and of course, the titular alien itself, were all absolutely incredible. The film is a classic of cinema – but that’s kind of where my attachment to Alien as a franchise ended… until now.

I liked Aliens, but not as much as the first film. And subsequent entries in the franchise – in my subjective opinion, of course – got progressively less interesting. None of them were out-and-out bad – at least, none that I’ve seen – but I really started to get the sense that Alien should’ve been a one-off; the Xenomorph just felt like a one-trick pony. And I was content to leave Alien there, revisiting the first film for occasional viewings every once in a while, but without really broadening my exploration of this world. I haven’t seen Prometheus or Alien: Covenant, and while I’m pretty sure I watched Alien Versus Predator, I genuinely can’t remember a thing about it.

Promo photo for Alien: Earth (2025) showing Joe holding a torch. — Let’s examine *Alien: Earth*.

So why Alien: Earth, then? And is my take on a series in this franchise even valid? You’ll have to answer that – no hard feelings if a review from an occasional fan isn’t right for you! But I wanted to be up front about my feelings on the Alien franchise as a whole. Alien: Earth appealed to me, to be blunt about it, because it’s a big-budget sci-fi show in a franchise I’m at least partially familiar with. I’m always on the lookout for new and engaging sci-fi to enjoy, and I thought there was a chance, at least, that Alien: Earth might be worth a watch. Here in the UK it’s on Disney Plus, which is a subscription I dip in and out of, and during one of the months I was paying for it I thought I’d check out the series.

Here’s the headline: I thoroughly enjoyed Alien: Earth, and I’d rank it only slightly behind 1979’s Alien if I were to make a “tier list” of everything I’ve seen in the franchise to date. I binged the entire show over a couple of evenings, because I found once I got started I didn’t want to put it down. Alien: Earth managed to thread the needle: growing the world and lore of its franchise while staying true to the original themes and tone. And if I may be so bold… I think it’s set the stage for an expansion of the Alien franchise in a way no entry before it managed to do.

Behind-the-scenes photo from the set of Alien: Earth showing director Noah Hawley on the Maginot set. — Behind the scenes during production.

A couple of years ago, I took a look at the video game Aliens: Fireteam Elite here on the website. And I wrote then that there was “an odd duality” to the Alien franchise, with some films presenting a single Xenomorph as an unstoppable killing machine… while others depicted whole legions of them as being little more than cannon fodder. I wrote then that Alien really only had one alien… and diminishing it too much would risk making future projects feel less frightening and less intense.

Alien: Earth introduces several new alien species to the franchise – and they’re a genuine breath of fresh air. If there are to be more Alien films or TV shows, the franchise will need to expand beyond just the Xenomorphs and fill out its galaxy with more life-forms to terrorise (and occasionally bond with) our protagonists and antagonists. For me, Alien: Earth took a massive and incredibly important step in that direction, creating brand-new creatures – at least one of which was arguably more frightening than the original Xenomorph. If Alien remains in production, we may come to look back at Alien: Earth as a major turning-point, revitalising the franchise and keeping it fresh.

A trio of promotional posters for Alien: Earth. — A trio of promotional posters for *Alien: Earth*.

Alien: Earth depicts a future ruled by corporations. This corporate dystopia has been a theme going all the way back to the original film; Weyland-Yutani’s single-minded desire to capture a Xenomorph was revealed to be the driving force behind that story. Given that Alien: Earth (and the rest of the franchise) is now owned by Disney, one of the biggest corporations on the planet… there’s an irony there which wasn’t lost on me. The anti-corporate tone, criticisms of oligarchy, and the general depictions of both Weyland-Yutani and Prodigy as being horribly corrupt… it doesn’t land quite as hard, perhaps, because of the real-world ownership and money behind it!

However, I found the messaging interesting – once I got past all of that. We spent a lot of time with Prodigy, and its founder, and we got to see more than I think we’ve ever seen before of this vision of humanity’s corporatist future. At one point, Joe explains to the kids how democracy “didn’t work,” so it was overthrown and replaced with the corporatocracy that the series depicts, and the whole thing really was fascinating. Sci-fi is usually as much a commentary on the world today as it is on the future, and there are parallels to the rise of real-world corporations and their power that were intentionally unsettling.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Boy Kavalier. — Boy Kavalier, the owner/founder of Prodigy.

In terms of individual episodes, the fifth episode of the season, In Space, No One… was by far my favourite – and a damn good reimagining of the original 1979 Alien, in my opinion. It was the only episode set entirely in space, aboard the doomed USCSS Maginot, and the story unfolded in such a tense and exciting way. I’m so glad that Alien: Earth introduced new alien life-forms, because along with the Xenomorph, these were all fascinating and frightening in their own ways – and I could see the eyeball alien in particular being an incredibly intense antagonist in a future story.

Everything about this episode just worked. The damage to the ship, the slow reveal of the saboteur, and the sense of impending doom as the crew came to realise they were on a collision course and running out of time. Then, the breaches in the containment labs, with facehuggers, blood-sucking parasites, and the octopus-eyeball… it was just a masterful buildup of horror and tension. As in the original Alien, gore wasn’t the primary focus, and the Xenomorph itself spent most of its time off-screen, leaving the situation and the tension to carry the story. For me, as a fan of the original film, In Space, No One… was far and away the best episode of the season – and a riveting watch in its own right.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Morrow and his assistant aboard the Maginot. — Just a fantastic episode.

I’ve recently been looking into the development of artificial intelligence, and I’ve talked about one A.I. research paper here on the website. Themes connected to the fast-moving world of A.I. were present in Alien: Earth, and I found the show’s approach to be genuinely interesting. Alien: Earth doesn’t launch headfirst into the A.I. apocalypse in the way something like Terminator or Battlestar Galactica have done, but the theme of A.I. outsmarting and outmanoeuvring humans was key to the story. And, as in the 1979 original, the idea of incredibly wealthy and powerful humans programming their A.I. systems to act not in the common good, but to sacrifice lives to achieve objectives… that was here, too.

We saw it in the synthetic characters. We saw it in “Mother,” the A.I. system installed aboard the Maginot. And we saw it with the hybrids, too, and how they changed and developed after they were installed into synthetic bodies. Kavalier, in his quest to develop and launch a revolutionary A.I. product, felt like a stand-in for any number of real-world A.I. evangelists and entrepreneurs, talking up the benefits of his new hybrid model… before getting distracted with the alien specimens he’d commandeered!

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Wendy's creation. — Creating the first hybrid.

Because A.I. is such a big topic right now, I found this aspect of Alien: Earth to be genuinely interesting. The show takes a nuanced approach, depicting A.I. itself as kind of neutral – at least at first – with its “morality,” or lack thereof, contingent on the whims of its creators and owners. Some synths appear to be completely loyal to their masters, but others, like Kirsh, seem to have a lot more freedom to operate independently, even if that meant doing things like lying, concealing the truth, or even getting into dangerous situations.

At first, I thought Alien: Earth was going to come down on the side of the hybrids being fully human, but as the series progressed, it became clear that the hybrids – human “minds” transferred to synthetic bodies – were no longer fully human. We’re a long way away from “mind uploading” here in the real world (at least, I think we are!) but again, the question of where to draw the line between a machine and a person – and whether there even *is* a line, or if it’s more of a gradient – was absolutely riveting stuff.

Photo of the Alien: Earth cast at the show's premiere. — Most of the main cast at the *Alien: Earth* premiere.

Since we’re talking about the hybrids, I thought they were an interesting collection of characters. I’m not sure whether the original intention was for these roles to be taken by actual child actors, which could have been interesting (as well as leaned into the “creepy kids” horror trope), but I found the idea of children in adult bodies to be an interesting one. It was also another commentary on the whole A.I. concept that we were talking about a moment ago. The performances which brought the characters to life were, for me, a bit hit-and-miss – not so much because of the actors, but rather the way some characters were written. Marcy/Wendy, Jane/Curly, and Isaac/Tootles were much less child-like than their peers, at least most of the time, and while that could be okay, it kind of detracted from the idea of these being kids struggling to come to terms with their new minds, bodies, and abilities.

In contrast, Aarush/Slightly, Rose/Nibs, and Christopher/Smee were all very child-like in the way they came across almost all the time – and I think all three performers deserve a ton of credit for bringing that feeling to life. The way they’d stand and sit, swinging their arms, touching leaves or walls, the awkwardness with which they’d move or approach each other… basically the entire range of all three performances really nailed, for me, the feeling that these were still children at heart, even though they were in adult bodies. There was some great directing and acting (and probably some fantastic coaching, too) that brought this feeling to life.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing the hybrid kids at the end of the series. — The hybrids.

The others, as mentioned, didn’t lean as much on the child-like side of things, though each of them got some moments of childishness scattered through the story. Jane/Curly had her quest to become Kavalier’s “favourite,” which felt very childish, as did her moment near the end of the season with Dame Sylvia. But then, in between, she’d be a dedicated scientist, as was Isaac/Tootles, and the contrast was kind of obvious. In their cases, the transition from child to adult felt more abrupt, I guess, rather than like a slow burn across the season. That’s not necessarily a criticism, just an observation of the way these characters differed from the other, more child-like hybrids.

As the main protagonist, Marcy/Wendy was in focus much of the time. I think maybe the choice to have her kill an adult Xenomorph came too early in the story; it was at the beginning of the third episode, and showing her raw power and capabilities so early was a risk. However, she was a truly interesting character to get to know, and we saw her coming to terms with her new status as a hybrid in different ways as the story progressed. Her fixation on her brother was observed by the Prodigy team, but they deliberately didn’t interfere, even granting her the wish to chase after him when he was in danger. As a way to communicate that she’d retained her memories and personality after the transfer, I think that worked incredibly well.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Joe and Marcy Hermit. — Joe and Marcy.

Alien: Earth made a concerted effort to lean into the aesthetic of the original film – a visual style that I’d call “very ’70s.” This is still a very late ’70s vision of the future, with plenty of brown and orange tones to the furniture and bold patterns and prints on some shirts and outfits. Whether you like this or not is very much a subjective thing! Where I was less keen was when it came to retro technology – I just have a hard time buying that this is supposed to be “the future” where A.I. exists and there are sentient robots if all computers look like the BBC Micro that I used in my first-ever I.T. lesson back in school!

CRT screens and monitors, black-and-white cameras, handheld camcorders, computer systems with text-only interfaces and green-on-black screens, cassette tapes… none of it feels like the future, and I think it’s indicative of a trend in some sci-fi franchises where the desire to perfectly recreate everything that came before overwhelms common sense.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing the Mother A.I. interface. — A CRT monitor with an out-of-date interface.

Think about it: why did the original Alien depict computers with text interfaces, CRT monitors, and tapes? Because, in 1979, that was what the future of technology looked like. There are ways to modernise the way technology is represented in a franchise like Alien without sacrificing everything about it – updated screens, faster computers, graphical and visual interfaces can (and I would argue should) be able to exist in this world. It wouldn’t be immersion-breaking, and for me, I think it would be more interesting and a more realistic depiction of a far future setting where the kinds of fantastical technologies depicted in the series exist. You’re telling me the world of Alien invented artificial gravity for spaceships… but not flat-screen displays or a graphical interface?

There could’ve also been an opportunity to show the passage of time and the contrast between the world Morrow and his crew left behind and the one he returns to. Alien: Earth seems to depict a world where technology is stagnant – 65 years ago, when Morrow left, his ship was presumably on the cutting edge, yet by the time he returns, technology looks and feels basically the same. If the USCSS Maginot had had the old-school retro stuff, but the research facility and other Earth locales had had more modern technology, it could’ve done more to hammer home just how long Morrow had been away and how much had changed in that time.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Morrow. — Morrow on the phone.

Morrow was an interesting character, and not the pure antagonist that I expected based on his actions in the premiere. In fact, you could make that case for most of the characters, really – Alien: Earth gave pretty much everyone some moral complexity. For Morrow, the revelation about his daughter’s death was heart-wrenching, and learning about how he came to have his cybernetic arm – and that it basically constituted a “life-debt” to Weyland-Yutani – also did a lot to soften, or at least explain, his characterisation. I can’t be the only one who heard “paging Mr Morrow, Mr Tom Morrow” when I first heard his name, though… can I? (If you’re a Disney World fan, you’ll get the reference!)

That leads me into a point about some of the characters’ names. Mr Morrow is already a bit of a weird one, but then we have Boy Kavalier. Really? On the nose much? Dame Sylvia’s also a bit of an odd choice of name, if you think about it, as are Joe and Marcy Hermit. Maybe I’m misremembering… but weren’t most character names in Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and so on a bit less… weirdly literal? I mean, you had names like Ripley, Burke, Clemens, Dillon, Dallas, Kane, and Brett. I’m not sure why these unusual names were chosen. For synthetic and hybrid characters, it made sense – and for the hybrids in particular, names were a big narrative point. But for someone to be named (or name themselves) Boy Kavalier… it just felt a bit odd, I guess.

Behind-the-scenes photo from the set of Alien: Earth showing the Xenomorph being adjusted/touched up. — A glimpse behind the scenes.

There were definitely echoes of Jurassic Park in Alien: Earth’s top-secret research facility on a jungle island! The main facility itself, with its lab full of glass and metal cages, reminded me a lot of the labs seen in the Jurassic Park/World franchise, too. Later in the season, when Joe, Marcy/Wendy, and Rose/Nibs were trying to escape, I really got hit with that Jurassic Park vibe. Being stalked through the vegetation, first by the Xenomorph and then by various factions of soldiers, really contributed to that feeling. It wasn’t intentional, I’m sure, just a coincidence! But having seen Jurassic Park back in the day, I was surprised to be reminded of it in a completely different franchise some thirty-plus years later.

If I were to make one criticism of the jungle scenes, though, it would be this: I don’t think Alien’s titular Xenomorph benefits from being shown off in bright sunlight. The creepy monster works best, for me, when it’s obscured in shadow, when it has places to hide, and while the vegetation definitely provided hiding places… seeing the creature so well-lit and from all angles was, in my opinion, somewhat diminishing. There was some creative cinematography here, and the incredibly fast motion of the Xenomorph still makes it feel threatening. But over-exposure can, in some cases, be detrimental to a villain or a monster, and I think that’s true here.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing the Xenomorph outside the facility, surrounded by green vegetation. — The Xenomorph in the jungle.

I also worry, at least a little, about the effect of creating a “friendly” Xenomorph. It was never explained how or why Marcy/Wendy could communicate in the Xenomorphs’ language, which is something I’d have liked to get a bit more information about. We saw other characters talking about “learning” languages simply by having them uploaded to their new hybrid brains… but Wendy didn’t get that, did she? And as far as I know, no one in the Alien franchise has ever known the Xenomorphs’ language. In fact, until Alien: Earth, wouldn’t you have said the Xenomorphs are more akin to non-sentient animals than sentient life-forms capable of language? They’re apex predators, sure, but so are lions or sharks – and we can’t just download their “languages” and chat to them.

But to get back on topic, Marcy’s “pet” Xenomorph… how do we feel about that? I’m worried that, if the Alien franchise does this kind of thing, it’s going to diminish that all-important fear factor the next time a writer wants to make a story like In Space, No One… or 1979’s original film. As I said above with some of the video games turning the Xenomorphs into cannon-fodder, when there aren’t a lot of other antagonists or monsters, you have to treat the ones you have with care. And while I’m hopeful for a second season of Alien: Earth that will provide a narrative payoff to Marcy befriending the Xenomorph, I feel a little concerned that having a Xenomorph ally could detract from how frightening the monster should be.

Behind-the-scenes photo from the set of Alien: Earth showing Sydney and Alex posing with the Xenomorph. — Sydney Chandler (Wendy) and Alex Lawler (Joe) posing with the Xenomorph during filming.

Alien: Earth had some wonderful practical effects as well as some spectacular CGI. If you know me, you’ll know I adore physical props, costumes, and puppets in my sci-fi, and for my money, the show excelled in that department. Obviously we have the Xenomorph, recreated for Alien: Earth using a performer in costume, but there were so many other wonderful props that really brought the world of Alien to life. The obligatory chest-buster scene was less shocking, perhaps, because we knew what was coming, but I can’t deny that it looked fantastic. As did the gore used to depict dead (and half-dead) victims of the Xenomorph and other entities.

CGI was also incredible. Shots of the Maginot in space stand out to me as looking better than anything we’ve seen in modern Star Trek, for example, and I think you can really see Alien: Earth’s animation budget being put to good use. Several of the other alien creatures – the blood-suckers, tadpoles, and eyeball-octopus – were also CGI creations, and they also looked fantastic. Seeing the blood-suckers drain a person of life in moments was especially gruesome.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing Zoya hiding from the Xenomorph. — Hiding from the Xenomorph…

The eyeball creature was, for me, the surprise standout monster in Alien: Earth. Its first appearance – in the eye of a poor kitty cat – was shocking and brutal, and the way it tried to attach itself to Nibs was genuinely frightening, really hammering home how dangerous it could be. But then, as the story progressed, we came to realise that this creature is surprisingly intelligent. As I said above, I could absolutely envision a future film or series in which the eyeball creature serves as a major antagonist.

Because Alien: Earth left things open at the end of the season, with the kids seemingly in control of the facility and the eyeball monster having escaped, possessing the corpse of poor Arthur… maybe that’s what’ll happen next time! I’d certainly be interested to learn more about this creature, its connection to the Xenomorphs, and what – if anything – its objectives or goals might be. The Alien franchise has needed a new creature like this for a long time.

Still frame from Alien: Earth (2025) showing the eyeball alien. — The eyeball creature.

So, after all of that, where do we stand with Alien: Earth?

I had a genuinely wonderful time with this series. It felt closer in tone, most of the time, to 1979’s classic Alien than to any of the lesser spin-offs or sequels that I can remember sitting through, most of the main characters felt complex and compelling, and there were new additions to the franchise which I think have a ton of potential to expand Alien beyond the Xenomorphs – which, for reasons discussed above, is going to be important! My favourite episode was In Space, No One… which was set aboard the claustrophobic USCSS Maginot, and really succeeded at recapturing the feel of Alien for me.

But the rest of the season was interesting and exciting, too. It was fun to get a look at Earth in this vision of the future, and while I’d argue some of the anti-corporate message is blunted when you know who funded production, Alien: Earth’s exploration of a future dominated by mega-corporations felt timely and engrossing.

I’ve recently started playing Alien: Isolation – the survival/horror game from a few years ago. I’m a big old scaredy-cat, though, so I’m not sure how far into the game I’m gonna get before I have to put it down for a while! So far, it’s been a fun way to continue my exploration of the world of Alien. Stay tuned, because a write-up of that game (or part of it, perhaps) is possible in the weeks ahead.

So that was Alien: Earth. A great show, a fun sci-fi adventure, and a much-needed expansion of the Alien franchise. There were genuinely interesting characters, complex themes touching on prescient real-world issues, and more than a few scares for the horror aficionados out there! I’m happy to recommend Alien: Earth to fans of the original film, sci-fi and horror fans, and really just anyone looking for an engaging and high-tempo adventure.

Alien: Earth is available to stream now on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ around the world. Alien: Earth will also be released on DVD/Blu-ray in the future. The Alien franchise – including Alien: Earth – is the copyright of 20th Century Studios and the Walt Disney Company. Some promo photos courtesy of IMDB. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

We’re Halfway Through 2025!

Mon 30.06.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

You’ve made it to the halfway point! That’s right: by my reckoning, the end of June marks the halfway point of the year, which I think makes it a great moment to look ahead and think about some of the entertainment experiences that await us. This piece isn’t for dishing out made-up awards and trophies; that’ll come at the end of December! No, what we’re gonna do today is take a look at five films, five games, and five TV programmes that are scheduled to arrive between now and New Year’s Eve.

Has the first half of this year gone by quickly? I think it’s a bit of a cliché to complain about the passage of time, but it really doesn’t seem like it’s been six months since I was taking down the Christmas tree! And yes, we’ll be thinking about Christmas again before you know it.

Stock photo of Santa Claus' hand holding a cookie in front of Christmas decorations. — I’m already thinking about it…

But until then, we’ve got a summer and an autumn to get through – with plenty of interesting-looking entertainment experiences lying ahead. As I said, I’ve picked five films, five games, and five TV shows that I think could be fun as the second half of 2025 gets underway.

As always, I have a couple of caveats. Firstly, this list is just one person’s subjective opinion, so if I recommend a production you don’t care for or miss something that you think should’ve been obvious… that’s okay! There are plenty of things to be excited for this year, and we won’t always agree on which ones look best! Secondly, all titles below are on the schedule for 2025 at time of writing, but with everything going on in the world, some or even all of them might miss their intended release dates. Finally, I’ve grouped the list into three categories, but the individual productions are listed randomly, not ranked in order of what I’m most keen on!

With all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the list.

Film #1:
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Promo still for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere showing the title character.

Biopics of musicians have been all the rage in recent years. After Bob Dylan, Elton John, Elvis Presley, and other performers have had their lives dramatised… in 2025 it’s the turn of Bruce Springsteen. I’m a pretty big Springsteen fan; his folk album We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) is one of my absolute favourite albums, though of course he’s better-known for his rock stuff!

Deliver Me From Nowhere is set during the creation of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska – the album that spawned Atlantic City. I think it has the potential to be an interesting re-telling of an important chapter in the singer’s life, as well as an entertaining film to boot. If nothing else, it’s gonna have a great soundtrack!

Film #2:
I Know What You Did Last Summer

Promo photo/behind-the-scenes photo from the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025 version) showing the famous hook and a clapper board.

Do we call this a sequel? A remake? A squemake? Whatever it is, I’m cautiously interested! The original I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was released in 1997, is one of those not-so-great films that had an impact on me because of when I watched it! I went to the cinema with some friends, with no plans for what we were gonna watch, and we picked this horror/slasher film at the last minute, not really sure what to expect. I found I Know What You Did Last Summer to be riveting stuff as a teenager, and even though I don’t think it makes such a good impression these days, it has a place in my heart for that reason.

Whether this adaptation/sequel will recapture the magic remains to be seen – but I think there are some reasons to be hopeful. Returning characters from the original, combined with a new story, could make for an interesting film… but we’ll see.

Film #3:
Brick

Promo still for Brick showing two characters and the titular bricks.

I really don’t know what to expect from this German-language mystery-thriller – but the premise alone has me intrigued. Some people awaken to find their apartment building surrounded by an apparently impermeable wall, with no way in or out. The trailer showed several different characters in various apartments, some of whom may know something about what’s going on and why.

The film definitely feels “Netflixy,” if you get my meaning. But I think there’s enough of an interesting premise to carry the story, and it could end up being something of a sleeper hit. Maybe I’m wrong about that – but I’m eager to find out.

Film #4:
Zootopia 2

Promo still for Zootopia/Zootropolis 2 showing Nick, Judy, and another character.

Disney is still really into its sequels, eh? A follow-up to 2016’s smash hit, Zootopia 2 will see Judy and Nick back in action – this time both as members of Zootopia’s police force. The story will involve a renegade snake… and that’s about all we know so far! The original Zootopia was fun, though I admit I haven’t seen the Disney+ miniseries from a couple of years ago. Still, a return to this world could be entertaining, especially for the little ones.

In 2016, Zootopia and Moana seemed to clash, but this time Disney has managed to keep their sequels a year or so apart – which is good! Whether either of those films really needed sequels, though… well, I guess we’re about to find out.

Film #5:
In Your Dreams

Promo still for In Your Dreams showing two characters (and a teddy) riding on a bed through the clouds.

Another animated film now. In Your Dreams has a creative premise: two kids entering the dream world, looking to find the Sandman. I’m getting kind of a Spellbound vibe here, insofar as both films deal with kids trying to help their parents. The trailer was cute, and Netflix has done well with some of its animated pictures in recent years – so there’s definitely reason to be hopeful!

I just think the film looks great, and with Disney – as mentioned – focused on sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, there’s plenty of room for a studio like Netflix to muscle in and stake a claim in the animated realm. Last year’s Spellbound was one of my favourite films of the year, so In Your Dreams has the potential to build on that success.

Video Game #1:
Donkey Kong Bananza

Promo image for Donkey Kong Bananza showing DK punching the ground.

I don’t have a Switch 2, so chances are I won’t play Donkey Kong Bananza this year! And there are reasons to be sceptical of the game; I’m getting “double-A,” kind of mid-tier vibes from everything I’ve seen so far. However… as a big fan of DK’s last 3D adventure – Donkey Kong 64, which was more than a quarter of a century ago! – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued. A recent trailer showing off Pauline – who appeared in the original arcade game and has recently become a mainline Super Mario character – has also piqued my curiosity.

As I said when discussing the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2: this isn’t the game you buy an expensive console for. But if I eventually get my hands on a Switch 2, I can absolutely see myself picking up Donkey Kong Bananza if for no other reason than to have another 3D adventure and maybe get some of those nostalgic Donkey Kong 64 feels!

Video Game #2:
Mafia: The Old Country

Promo still for Mafia: The Old Country showing the interior of an Italian villa.

I remember the original Mafia on the Xbox – I expected it to just be a ’30s Grand Theft Auto III clone! The game was a lot of fun in its own right, though, with a strong, engaging story populated by fun characters, not just film noir caricatures. Mafia: The Old Country is going to step back in time and hop across the Atlantic to Sicily, focusing on the growth of the Cosa Nostra at the turn of the last century. I really like this idea; not only the time period but the Sicilian location seem like they could be a ton of fun – and something a bit different.

The Mafia trilogy was remade from the ground up a few years ago, and the remakes are also well worth playing for any fan of third-person action-adventure games. It’s my hope that The Old Country will be in the same vein, and will tell an exciting and compelling crime story. I don’t want to fully board the hype train for any unreleased title… but I have high hopes for this one!

Video Game #3:
Crimson Desert

Promo screenshot of Crimson Desert showing a mounted character overlooking a lake or ocean.

At time of writing, Crimson Desert is still on the schedule for later this year. However, it’s been a while since we heard much about the game, though some journalists got to see it at one of the recent games industry events. In short… I’m not sure if we should expect a delay! But the game looks fantastic; a large fantasy open world that promises plenty to do and different ways to play.

Developers Pearl Abyss are well known for Black Desert Online, which is now over a decade old but still has a dedicated community. I think there are plenty of reasons to look at Crimson Desert with optimism… though, as mentioned, I wouldn’t be shocked if a delay pushes it back into 2026. Of all the games we’ve talked about today, this feels like the most likely one to miss its release window.

Video Game #4:
Terminator 2D: No Fate

Promo screenshot for Terminator 2D: No Fate showing a character being punched.

Playing through the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day in a game that looks like it was made for the SNES? Sign me up, that sounds perfect! Everything I’ve seen of Terminator 2D: No Fate just gives me the nostalgic feels; like I’m a kid again, playing my SNES after school with some licensed side-scrolling game like Alien 3 or Super Star Wars. The graphics look perfect, the gameplay looks like a lot of fun, and it’s an officially licensed game based on a solid film. What could go wrong?

Alright, fine – maybe I’m getting over-excited! But it’s been a while since I saw a project quite like this one, and something about the visuals and the style of gameplay just really struck a nostalgic chord for me, even just from looking at the trailer. I really can’t wait to try it for myself.

Video Game #5:
Copa City

Promo screenshot of Copa City, showing a top-down view of a fan zone.

Copa City fills a niche I didn’t realise existed! It’s a football game where the objective isn’t to score goals as a player or take charge of the team as a manager, but where you set up the infrastructure around the matches. It sounds like a “tycoon game” where you’re managing different aspects of the football event: things like transportation, setting up fan zones, and the like.

I think it’s a really creative concept – and there are already a handful of officially-licensed teams and stadia on board. Whether Copa City can make good on a neat core idea remains to be seen, but I like what’s been shown off so far, and I’m curious to try it for myself. I don’t see it eclipsing the likes of EA FC and Football Manager, but it could easily find its own niche as a football game with a twist.

TV Series #1:
Fallout Season 2

Render from the credits sequence of Fallout Season 1 showing the New Vegas skyline.

The first season of Fallout was creative and fun – even if it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever watched. The cliffhanger ending was compelling enough for me to want to see the next chapter, though, for Lucy, the Ghoul, and… everyone else. You know… those characters whose names I can’t call to mind right now! Bringing the world of the Fallout video game series into live-action was a good idea, and I can see why the series has been generally well-received.

It seems as if Fallout Season 2 is heading to the city of New Vegas – so fans of the game which was set there can expect plenty of callbacks and references to those events. Maybe I should finally and belatedly play New Vegas before the new season arrives in December? Don’t hold me to it, but I might give it a go if I can find the time.

TV Series #2:
King of the Hill

Still frame from the King of the Hill revival trailer, showing an older Peggy, Bobby, and Hank.

King of the Hill was one of those shows that I used to watch occasionally, when it was on. It was never a favourite, but I usually cracked a smile or two at the antics of Hank, Bobby, Peggy, and the rest of the characters. I can’t say I’m surprised to see King of the Hill being revisited; revivals and reboots are all the rage right now, so why not step back to the show and see if it can connect with a new audience?

I’m not sure what to expect, really. As with the recent Phineas and Ferb revival, King of the Hill is stepping forwards in time – by quite a ways, judging by Bobby’s age in the recent teaser! That could open up new storytelling ideas… but it could also take something away from the show and what made it so appealing to fans in the first place. Will it be soulless corporate slop… or was there a genuinely good idea for a revival? Let’s find out!

TV Series #3:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Promo still for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showing a character wielding a sword.

Call me overdramatic if you like, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is basically Westeros’ last chance to win me over! I enjoyed Game of Thrones… until it went off the rails toward the end. But I wasn’t especially keen on House of the Dragon, and I kind of drifted away from that show after a handful of episodes. With a focus on a different group of characters in a new era and setting, though… could A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms be the series that drags me back into the world of Westeros?

Maybe? I mean, why not, right? I’m not sure Game of Thrones really needs all of these spin-offs, but given how popular the original show was in its prime, I can’t exactly blame HBO for trying to recapture some of that magic. Will it work, though? And will this series succeed where Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon didn’t? I guess we’ll find out later in the year.

TV Series #4:
Alien: Earth

Cropped promo poster for Alien: Earth showing a Xenomorph wrapped around planet Earth.

I’m not at all caught up on all of the recent movies in the Alien universe, so I hope this TV series won’t lean too heavily on those for its main narrative arcs! A story like Alien seems well-suited to a big-budget TV show instead of just a film, so I’m certainly interested to see what kind of stories and characters we’ll see in a new format. The series taking place on Earth is an interesting idea, too, as exploring this future version of Earth is something none of the films have done.

I’m not sure I’d have chosen to make Alien: Earth as a prequel, though. My other concern is this: are the Xenomorphs still scary, and will they be scary enough to carry this new television format? Some recent Alien projects have, I would argue, degraded the Xenomorphs’ fear factor somewhat. Still, I’m curious and perhaps even hopeful that Alien: Earth can do something creative and a little different with this sci-fi property.

TV Series #5:
King and Conqueror

Promo still from King and Conqueror showing William the Conqueror, a rowing boat, and the sea.

I thought we were going to see King and Conqueror earlier in the year; filming wrapped ages ago and it seemed primed for a spring broadcast. Never mind! The series, set during the Norman Conquest of England, is set to be broadcast sometime before the end of the year. Starring Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror, the series looks like it has a lot of potential to be a fun, interesting, and entertaining re-telling of an important chapter in history.

Every British schoolkid learns about the Normans in history class – but I can’t remember a big-budget adaptation of these events like this. In that sense, I think it’s going to be really interesting to see the Norman Conquest brought to life. I hope it isn’t over-dramatised, with love interests and soap opera-style personal drama getting in the way of things! But I have confidence in the BBC and American collaborator CBS to bring the story to life in a fun and engaging way.

Bonus: Star Trek!

Promo poster for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 showing the main characters walking across an alien landscape. — Captain Pike and the crew are returning soon!

It wouldn’t be a Trekking with Dennis list without some Star Trek, eh? We have Strange New Worlds’ third season coming up very soon, and I’m really looking forward to another set of adventures with Captain Pike and the crew. Some folks have suggested that Starfleet Academy could also be broadcast before the end of the year; personally, I don’t think that’s especially likely… but you never know, I guess!

For me, Strange New Worlds has been the absolute highlight of modern Star Trek; a largely episodic series focused on exploration and adventure that brought the franchise back to its roots. Starfleet Academy, with its focus on teenage and young adult characters, could be a way into the Star Trek fan community for new, younger viewers – exactly the kinds of people the franchise needs to attract in order to shore things up. With the 60th anniversary next year, I’m hoping Paramount is holding something back to celebrate – but until then, we’ve at least got ten Strange New Worlds episodes to be sinking our teeth into!

So that’s it!

Stock photo of a little girl playing a video game. — Are you excited to play a particular game later this year?

We’ve taken a look at a few of the entertainment experiences that lay ahead of us over the next six months. I think there are plenty of fun ones and things to get excited about – and I’m sure there are others that will seem to come out of nowhere and catch me off-guard! That always seems to happen.

So we’re already at the midpoint of the year… and I’m still catching up on some of the things I missed in 2022, let alone 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025! I’m getting old… which probably explains why I have my own website instead of a TikTok page, or something! In any case, I hope this has been a bit of fun and an interesting look ahead to some of the things we might enjoy between now and New Year’s Eve. Speaking of which… I’d better make sure I’ve got all of my Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s decorations ready. If the first half of the year is any indication, the holidays are going to sneak up on me with lightning speed!

Have fun out there!

All titles mentioned above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, distributor, broadcaster, etc. Some photos and promotional art courtesy of IMDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.