The TV Set: The Top Five Sci-Fi/Fantasy Alternatives To Under The Dome

Sci-fi hit Under The Dome was created as a US network summer filler. The networks don't like spending money on summer scheduling and so fill their airtime with reality, talent shows and repeats of hit-coms and police procedurals. According to Vulture, Dome only exists because it was cheap to make thanks to deals struck ahead of production. Through various streaming and international distribution deals, plus a wad of “product integration”, even if Dome had flopped it was in profit.

But it hasn't flopped. In the US it's the number one show and here it's bringing Ten just under a million viewers a week. Yet fans didn't rejoice in the news of the show being picked up for a second season. Some Dome-bodies admitted they were looking forward to closure and having the mystery fully explained at the end of what was thought to be a limited-run series. Others who were happy to ironic-watch admit they will have moved onto the next pop culture joke by then - many of those have already jumped the Sharknado to flex their irony-dar on the sea-schlock genre. [At the time of publishing, some had even begun scouting the next-big-post-Ian-Ziering-comeback-thing (hint: Slide Show).]

But remember a time when we love-watched shows (even like-watching was acceptable back then)? It could happen again with any one of these sci-fi/science-fantasy alternatives to Under The Dome:

REAL HUMANS

Who is under it: It's another of those Scandanavian dramas that US networks can't remake fast enough. An English language remake is already in motion  - rights were bought by Kudos, makers of Broadchurch, The Hour and Spooks.

“But there's no dome”: But there are 'hubots'. In the future, these androids will replace blue collar labourers, domestic servants and sex workers. And then, just like those darned apes are going to do in an alternative future, an uprising is planned. But there are also anti-hubot terrorist plots afoot. By the way, did we mention the sexbots?

How to escape 'The Dome': Series one of Real Humansscreened earlier this year on SBS1, it is now available on DVD. Series two is set to air in Sweden before year's end.

Users who enjoy this may also like: Being Human. The UK original may be about preternaturals rather than 'synthetic organisms' but theses vampires, werewolves and ghosts also struggle with acceptance as human equals while trying to survive those who would put them down. [And it taught us to double bag a change of clothes ahead of your next thread-shredding werewolf transformation.]

THE FADES

Who is under it: This British one-season wonder was penned by Jack Thorne – he brought his Skins sense-of-fun and his This Is England sense-of-tension together for a biblical apocalypse. The axed 2011 BBC Three series features two of the best Skins graduates in Jack Dempsie (now in Game Of Thrones) and Daniel Kaluuya (a sci-fi pro after Doctor Who and Black Mirror roles).

“But there's no dome”: But there are scary-as-fuck creatures (the Fades) falling out of the ether to devour humankind.

How to escape 'The Dome': Was screened on ABC2, iView and UKTV but can now be found on DVD. Post-Fades nightmares involving being served up on a Fades' menu is less sufferable than watching a full season of Dome.

Users who enjoy this may also like: Supernatural. This long-running beast-avenging adventure-dy from the US CW network displays a good-humoured mix of classic hard rock, meta-writing and apocalyptic battles that dare pitch God as a villain.

MISFITS

Who is under it: This comedic UK sci-fi was created by Howard Overman, who had previously adapted Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently into a short-lived (but still-remembered) TV series. It also gave the world actor Iwon Rheon – Game Of Thrones season three torturer with a taste for cock amputation. Initially it was Irish actor Robert Sheehan who was expected to be the breakout star. Sheehan left to pursue Hollywood work after two seasons of providing one of TV's greatest comedic performances – his first blockbuster The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones drops soon.

“But there's no dome”: But there are super powers. And laughs – intentional laughs, unlike Dome's unintentional ones. Misfits has more in common with 2008 UK super-com No Heroics than US action series Heroes.

How to escape 'The Dome': Warning: start at the beginning. Misfits peaked in its first two seasons. After Sheehan's unexpected exit, series three suffered from last-minute rewrites. It then went-through the exit of another cast member after criminal conviction and while also suffering a lack of character development. Following two more cast exits, upcoming series five will be the last. It screens here on ABC2 and is available on DVD.

Users who enjoy this may also like: The aforementioned No Heroics. Less dark, more fnar fnar. It's so noughties that the superhero who controls machines with her voice is called Electroclash.

THE RETURNED

Who is under it: It's a French TV adaptation of 2004 zombie flick Les Revenants. It's got English TV fans frothing in the same way they did for The Wire and The Killing.

“But there's no dome”:But there are Zombies. French zombies.

How to escape 'The Dome':Move to France, England or Sweden, the only countries to have broadcast it so far.

Users who enjoy this may also like: The Walking Dead. Although these days, the Dead heads are acting like there is a dome over that freakin' jailhouse they can't seem to draw themselves away from.

SYFY (nee SCI FI)

Pictured: Blake's 7

Who is under it: There is more to this cable network than Dinocroc Vs Supergator and Stonehenge Apocalypse. Like their B movie productions, Syfy shows are low budget but, unlike their Killer Mountain and Mega Piranha films, their series aren't always low on quality as well. Julie Benz and Grant Bowler star in the aliens-living-on-earth series Defiance; Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Battlestar Galactica (BSG) writer/producer Jane Espenson steers supernatural procedural Warehouse 13; and even their talent competition Face Offis centred around FX make-up for the sci-fi and horror genres.

“But there's no dome”: But there are women. And, not in a supporting-girlfriend role, window-dressing way. This is the network that gave us the strong female cyborgs of BSG while Defiance can deliver Bechdel Test-worthy scene-after-scene of female characters sharing dialogue that isn't discussing the men in their lives (it's rarer than you realise). Syfy has also hosted cultish hits Eureka and Sanctuary. Syfy are also now developing a remake of '70s hi-camp Brit hit Blake's 7.

How to escape 'The Dome': Again, move. To the US this time. Foxtel's SF (formely Sci Fi too) is affiliated but does not broadcast the same schedule as its American sister network (Sharknado was broadcast on Universal here). Shows eventually will appear but they could land anywhere between a late night multi-network digital channel screening or straight-to-a-DVD-booth outside your local Safeway. [SF are lucky that sci-fi buffs are the last people on earth to possess the know-how to obtain these shows before they appear here - the obviously wait patiently and then dutifully flock to the network in the dozens to watch these shows.]

Users who enjoy this may also like: Haven. It's the best from both sides of the Dome - it's a Stephen King adaptation that screens on Syfy (Universal here). Most importantly it has kept Eric Balfour in work after his It Boy status faded post-24/Buffy/Six Feet Under/The OC.