In 2015 i watched both seasons (2013 and 2014) of the British series “Utopia“. On Amazon Prime I ran into a series with the same title. When I started to watch it, the Amazon “Utopia” appeared to be a remake of the British series. Or would both series be based on the same (graphic) novel?
The original series is an interesting watch. Bright colours, interesting camera work, violently weird situations. The Amazon version is a fairly normal kid’s thriller series. Both series appear to have about the same story.
Some nerds know about an elusive comic (“graphic novel” in the British series) called “Utopia” which would not only predict past and future pandemics, but also present their cures. When a copy surfaces, the group sets out (meeting each other for the first time) to get hold of the copy. They are not the only people after the book though.
Followed by a similarly cold killer in both series, the group tries to find the main character of the comic book in which they eventually succeed. Together they try to prevent the world-ending events to come.
The British series use two seasons to tell the story (12 episodes), the American version one (8 episodes). The American version is much more explanatory, especially towards the end. Both have an open end. This may be due to the fact that originally there would have been a third season, but the project was dropped, so the creator (and author) of the original series (Dennis Kelly) simply did not write more. According to Wikipedia first HBO bought the rights, but when their project fell through, the rights went to Amazon. They made an adapted version of the original series.
The original is better in every regard. Not that the Amazon version is bad or boring though.
