Welcome to the Steampunk Store blog. If you're here by chance, steampunk is a literary movement that, as it grew in popularity, began to spread to all forms of art in general. Inspired by the works of writers such as Jules Verne and HG Wells, the style is obsessed with technology and Victorian aesthetics.
This article will focus on television, and more specifically on the best Steampunk TV series with this TOP 10. Of course, these works are not all claimed to be Steampunk, but the retro-futuristic elements or their atmosphere in general leave no doubt about their inspirations.
10- The mysteries of the west
The oldest among us will surely remember this series that mixed fantasy and the Wild West. Before the drama of its remake in film (which should be forgotten), and even well before the term steampunk even existed, CBS aired this TV series. The story is about secret agents fighting against science gone mad in the Old West.
In The Wild Wild West, James T. West (Robert Conrad) and inventor Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin) battle various megalomaniacal villains, foremost among them Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless (Michael Dunn) - a boy genius with enormous criminal ambitions. The series also contains all sorts of steampunk madness: from steam-powered cyborgs to seismic machines.
The Wild Wild West premiered on CBS in 1965 and ran successfully for four seasons. When the network finally canceled it, it was not because of low ratings, but because of the government's growing concern about media violence following the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, Jr.
The cult series was briefly revived in two made-for-TV movies in the late 1970s. Finally, in 1999, as I mentioned earlier, Barry Sonnenfeld directed a remake with Will Smith as West and Kevin Kline as Gordon. However, it turned out to be a dismal failure in theaters. You can see our TOP 20 Steampunk Movies where you can see the trailer at the very bottom, in the films to avoid...
9- Legend
Legend tells the story of a mad (or at least eccentric) scientist and a novelist who join forces to fight evil in the Wild West. Ernest Pratt (Richard Dean Anderson - Stargate SG-1) is a writer of cheap Western novels whose personal life is a disaster. That changes when he meets Janos Bartok (John de Lancie - Star Trek: The Next Generation), a brilliant European scientist who is a big fan of Pratt's most famous creation - Nicodemus Legend. Together, they hatch a bizarre plan: Pratt will pretend to be Legend while Bartok provides him with all the gadgets he needs to defeat his enemies.
Heavily inspired by Wild Wild West, Legend was created by Michael Piller, an American screenwriter best known for his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Legend first aired on UPN in 1995. Unfortunately, the show did not attract enough viewership and was canceled after its first season.
8- The Legend of Korra
In a world where people have the power to bend the four elements—air, earth, fire and water—to their will, Korra (Janet Varney) is an Avatar: the only person capable of manipulating all four elements at once. While her predecessors battled fantastical monsters and nefarious warlords, Korra faces a very different challenge. It is the time of an industrial revolution, and the modern society of factories and airships collides with the mystical traditions and ancient spirits of the land. It is Korra's duty to try to restore balance to the world.
Throughout its run, the animated television show "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has proven to be a surprising hit not only with children but also with their parents. The Legend of Korra continues that story two generations later, as a world inspired by medieval Asian cultures becomes increasingly fashionable. Co-created and executive produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, The Legend of Korra first aired on Nickelodeon from 2012 to 2014.
7- Sanctuary
For someone born in the mid-19th century, Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) is a remarkably lively modern scientist who studies the abnormal – fantastical creatures hiding among us.
Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) is a forensic psychiatrist who accidentally stumbles upon this secret world of gods and monsters. He joins Magnus on his quest to help the Abnormals and discovers the strange steampunk inventions created by Magnus' Victorian friends and foes - from the melancholy Jack the Ripper (Christopher Heyerdahl) to the mad scientist Nikola Tesla (Jonathon Young) who specializes in electrically reanimating the dead.
Sanctuary is a show about hidden monsters with a Lovecraftian vibe , crazy science, and the secret history of the world. The series began in 2007 as a web series produced by Amanda Tapping, who is best known for her role as Dr. Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. After 8 webisodes, Sanctuary was picked up by SyFy, where it premiered in 2008 and aired for 4 seasons until 2011.
6- Murdoch's investigations
Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) of the Toronto Mounted Police is a man ahead of his time: in 1895, he is at the forefront of investigative techniques such as fingerprinting and evidence searching. In addition, Murdoch invents new technologies such as sonar and the fax machine for the needs of investigations.
With such brilliant cops, it's no wonder Canada's crime rate is so low! Despite his obvious genius, Murdoch doesn't solve cases alone: he's assisted by Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), young constable Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and pathologist Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy).
Also known as The Artful Detective, the Canadian television show Murdoch Mysteries is loosely based on a series of detective novels written by Maureen Jennings, which were in turn loosely based on John Wilson Murray, a 19th-century detective who, in 1875, became the first government detective in that state. Murdoch Mysteries first aired in 2007 and is currently in its thirteenth season.
5- Warehouse 13
Warehouse 13 revolves around a secret government facility that houses some of the strangest and most powerful artifacts in history. After Secret Service agents Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) and Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) stumble upon one of these artifacts, they are quickly reassigned to the titular warehouse.
Under the tutelage of Artie Nielsen (Saul Rubinek), a warehouse agent in charge, Myka and Pete are tasked with seizing, packaging and labeling as many of these dangerous objects of myth, magic and science as possible in a very Steampunk style.
While not strictly a steampunk TV series, Warehouse 13 nonetheless featured plenty of steampunk gadgetry, such as the suppressed inventions of Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and television inventor Philo T. Farnsworth. Part Raiders of the Lost Ark and part X-Files, Warehouse 13 first aired on SyFy in 2009, where it proved quite popular among viewers. It aired for five seasons, until 2014.
4- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
An anime that is already in our TOP 10 Steampunk manga.
Alphonse and Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Set in a world where the Industrial Revolution was sparked as much by alchemy as by technological inventions, Fullmetal Alchemist follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric (voiced by Romi Pak and Rie Kugimiya in the original and Vic Mignogna and Aaron Dismuke in the English dub). These two alchemist prodigies seek a way to restore their bodies with the legendary Philosopher's Stone. Instead, they uncover a conspiracy by powerful artificial beings known as homunculi who have turned their country into a military dictatorship and begun a long war with a distant desert land.
Based on a manga by Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist was first made in 51 episodes. It aired in 2003 while the original manga was still being published and thus it created its own ending to the epic story of the Elric brothers. In 2009, Arakawa more or less completed his manga Fullmetal Alchemist which was then faithfully adapted into a new anime series, called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
3- Doctor Who
Doctor Who is both a television show and a franchise created by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
It centres on a time traveller called "the Doctor", from a race of beings known as Time Lords. They travel through space and time in a time machine they call the TARDIS. This ship, which resembles a small box on the outside, has almost infinite dimensions on the inside. Since Doctor Who's revival in 2005, it has been produced primarily in Wales by BBC Wales, and its soundtrack has been regularly performed by the BBC's National Orchestra of Wales since 2006.
In order to accommodate the changing cast, the story allows the Doctor to regenerate into an essentially new person on occasion. The cast is rounded out by one or more "companions", often women. On average, the main cast changes completely every three or four years, which is a significant factor in the programme's longevity.
The show had two - some say three - major production periods. The original series ran from 1963 to 1989 and is often referred to as the "classic series" or "classic Doctor Who". Although fans of a certain age remember the classic series fondly, the new series has been much more popular with British audiences.
The franchise includes dozens of distinct lines of spin-offs in television, audio and print media.
2- Carnival Row
If it weren’t for the success of Game of Thrones, Amazon Prime ’s new fantasy epic would probably have remained just a project. Carnival Row is a delirious steampunk mash-up set in an alternate universe of Victorian London fantasy called Burgue. The creepy Cara Delevingne, a former model, plays an Irish fairy and her ex-lover, Lord of the Rings’ Legolas, Orlando Bloom, a bowler-hatted detective.
The film is brimming with magic and thrills, from Cara Delevingne's CGI fairy wings to Orlando Bloom's Vinnie Jones accent. Perhaps most impressive of all is the fact that it's all on your screen.
Alas, the stardust doesn't quite catch on, though it's still very entertaining. Vignette Stonemoss, is a "pix" fairy, part of a race of life-sized bells driven from their home island by the nefarious humanity. Vignette has a quasi-Dublin accent.
They are also convinced racists who do not hide their desire to see the migrant fairies return to where they came from.
Delevingne has never looked less than edgy in any of her on-screen performances. The eyebrows of terror are deployed early here and remain ever-present. But she is otherwise impressive as the devious Vignette, right down to the Irish accent.
"Philo is a former soldier who left Vignette stranded during the colonial wars, after promising her his eternal love. Years later, fate brought them together in the town of Burgue.
Vignette found herself in this cesspool of humanity after fleeing war in fairyland. Here, the parallels with the flight of 19th-century Irish migrants after the famine are drawn with aplomb. There is also racism towards the Pucks, satirical creatures with hooves and horns, played largely by black actors.
A refreshing series to watch for its original universe with fabulous settings.
1- Penny Dreadful
With the mist and the tortured and mysterious universe of a particularly dark Victorian London, Penny Dreadful really has it all. Intrigue, magic, monsters, science without conscience, mediums, mysticism and characters full of color (and darkness). It's a tasty mix that draws on the best elements of classic Victorian horror stories.
In the first season alone, we can see Dorian Gray ( Reeve Carney ), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his monster (Rory Kinnear). All will be involved in a story about Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), possessed by a demon. We also find the experienced explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton). The gang will deal with the henchmen of Dracula who in this season does not appear but whose involvement is deduced.
Penny Dreadful was written and created by American screenwriter John Logan, who has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work on the films Gladiator (2002), The Aviator (2004), and Hugo (2011). Logan also serves as the show's executive producer alongside Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes. Penny Dreadful premiered on Showtime in May 2014 and has run for three seasons.
That's it for our TOP of Steampunk series, we could have mentioned other series like Da Vinci's Demons or Last Exile. But hey, you have to make choices and you will understand that no list or top would be perfect.
See you soon Vaporiste for another article on the exciting world of Steampunk!