The building sense of horror in "The Feed" grows right out of its "20 minutes into the future" science fiction genre. Other than the whine of electric cars & a few additions to the cityscape, the backdrop is essentially the present (paper & handwriting are still things, to give a small example). The Feed itself flows out of our own push for connectivity & expedience. It just makes sense. Communications, data retrieval, AR, VR, people looking of into the distance as they surf, even Feed addicts, who suffer dangerous DT's if disconnected; traits recognizable, if not quite literal, to our world (yet).
The production itself is solid. The characters are developed over a period of time, which is one of the best things about a series versus a film. None of them, however, seems completely sympathetic. It's a short story, stretched over 10 episodes, instead of, say, five; so we get a lot of similar and prolonged reaction shots, running around pointlessly, reminiscent of classic Doctor Who, and a grim soundtrack that seems to get stuck occasionally. A good deal of the action involves characters needlessly splitting up, or leaving obvious knots untied, and returning to find themselves in the exact same danger as they left. At one point, a major character even says, "This time, we stay together," which seems more ironic than the writers may have intended.
And yes, as critics were reporting before it was dropped, "The Feed" is a close cousin of other modern shows in the "Twilight Zone" tradition: "Black Mirror," "Philip K Dick's Electronic Dreams," etc. There's plenty of room for more. (And I personally, as an American, enjoy Britain featured at the center of crises, tech inclusive; my country has become its own parody, especially in film.)
There is a specific art to telling a short story; sometimes the standard 10-12 episodes is just too much time.
The production itself is solid. The characters are developed over a period of time, which is one of the best things about a series versus a film. None of them, however, seems completely sympathetic. It's a short story, stretched over 10 episodes, instead of, say, five; so we get a lot of similar and prolonged reaction shots, running around pointlessly, reminiscent of classic Doctor Who, and a grim soundtrack that seems to get stuck occasionally. A good deal of the action involves characters needlessly splitting up, or leaving obvious knots untied, and returning to find themselves in the exact same danger as they left. At one point, a major character even says, "This time, we stay together," which seems more ironic than the writers may have intended.
And yes, as critics were reporting before it was dropped, "The Feed" is a close cousin of other modern shows in the "Twilight Zone" tradition: "Black Mirror," "Philip K Dick's Electronic Dreams," etc. There's plenty of room for more. (And I personally, as an American, enjoy Britain featured at the center of crises, tech inclusive; my country has become its own parody, especially in film.)
There is a specific art to telling a short story; sometimes the standard 10-12 episodes is just too much time.