The Peripheral (TV series)

The Peripheral is an American science fiction television series created by Scott B. Smith. Produced by Amazon, it is loosely based on the 2014 book written by William Gibson. Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers, along with Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, and Vincenzo Natali. Set in the years 2032 and 2099, with new technology that has changed society in subtle ways, a gamer is delivered a connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.
The series had its world premiere on October 11, 2022, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022, on Amazon Prime Video. In February 2023, the series was renewed for a second season. In August 2023, the series was canceled by Amazon Prime Video due to the extended duration of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.

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Cast

Main

Chloë Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher
Gary Carr as Wilf Netherton
Jack Reynor as Burton Fisher
JJ Feild as Lev Zubov
T'Nia Miller as Cherise Nuland
Louis Herthum as Corbell Pickett
Katie Leung as Ash
Melinda Page Hamilton as Ella Fisher
Chris Coy as Jasper Baker
Alex Hernandez as Tommy Constantine
Julian Moore-Cook as Ossian
Adelind Horan as Billy Ann Baker
Austin Rising as Leon
Eli Goree as Conner Penske
Charlotte Riley as Aelita West
Alexandra Billings as Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer

Recurring

David Hoflin as Daniel
Hannah Arterton as Dee Dee
India Mullen as Mary Pickett
Miles Barrow as Macon
Gavin Dunn as Edward
Moe Bar-El as Reece
Chuku Modu as Carlos
Harrison Gilbertson as Atticus
Duke Davis Roberts as Cash
Claire Cooper as Dominika Zubov
Poppy Corby-Tuech as Mariel Raphael
Amber Rose Revah as Grace Hogart
Ned Dennehy as Bob
Ben Dickey as Sheriff Jackman
Anjli Mohindra as Beatrice

Production

Development

In April 2018, a TV series adaptation of William Gibson's novel The Peripheral was announced by Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan for Amazon with a script-to-series commitment. It was announced in April 2019 that Joy and Nolan had signed a first look overall deal worth around $20 million a year at Amazon Studios, and the project received a series order in the middle of November 2019, with Joy and Nolan executive producing under their overall deal. Beyond Joy and Nolan, executive producers include Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, and Vincenzo Natali. The show has hour-long episodes, developed by Kilter Films, through Amazon Studios. Warner Bros. Television is also co-financier and producer, with Scott Smith as writer. Smith created the series, while also serving as showrunner and executive producer. Natali directed the show's pilot. On March 30, 2021, Greg Plageman joined the series as executive producer and replaced Smith as showrunner.
The series' first season had a budget of around $175 million.
In February 2023, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season. On August 18, 2023, the second season of The Peripheral was scrapped due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Casting

In October 2020, it was announced that Chloë Grace Moretz was cast in the lead role of Flynne Fisher, with Gary Carr also joining the main cast. In March 2021, Jack Reynor joined the series in a main role. The following month, Eli Goree, Charlotte Riley, JJ Feild, Adelind Horan, T'Nia Miller, and Alex Hernandez were added to the main cast. In June 2021, Louis Herthum, Chris Coy, Melinda Page Hamilton, Katie Leung, and Austin Rising joined the cast in recurring roles. In July 2021, Alexandra Billings joined the cast in a recurring role.

Filming

Principal photography for the series began on May 3, 2021, in London, England. Filming moved to Marshall, North Carolina on September 24. Production on the series wrapped on November 5, 2021.

Release

The Peripheral had its world premiere on October 11, 2022, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022, on Amazon Prime Video. As with other Amazon shows, the episodes aired at midnight Eastern, so technically the release dates were the day before for the Pacific audience. The first season had 8 episodes and ended with a cliffhanger, with Lisa Joy stating, "I would love to have season 2 and season 3 and all the seasons in the world to explore this amazing, amazing novel."

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 78% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 54 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Somewhere on the edges of this sci-fi vision is a compelling narrative, but The Peripheral single-minded focus on its lofty ideas comes at the expense of character or coherence." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 57 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".