Foundation (television series)

Foundation is an American science fiction television series based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation series. It premiered 24 September 2021 on Apple TV+.^[1]

Summary[]

When psychohistory predicts the end of the Galactic Empire, Hari Seldon creates a Foundation to replace it.

The first season covers "The Psychohistorians" and "The Encyclopedists" in Foundation. The second season covers "The Mayors", "The Traders", "The Merchant Princes" and parts of Foundation and Empire.

Development[]

It was reported 27 June 2017 that Skydance Television was developing a television series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science fiction book series Foundation with David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman serving as the production's writers. At the time of the report, the production company was in the midst of closing a deal with Asimov's estate for the rights to the book series.

On 10 April 2018, it was announced that Apple, through their Worldwide Video Unit, had bought the series and put it into development with the potential for straight-to-series order. Goyer and Friedman were also expected to serve as executive producers and showrunners. Other executive producers announced included David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross. On 23 August 2018, it was announced that Apple had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. It was also announced that Asimov's daughter, Robyn Asimov, would serve as an executive producer. On 18 April 2019, Josh Friedman left as co-writer and co-showrunner.

It was revealed 28 July 2019 that Troy Studios in Limerick, Ireland, would host production of the show. Troy Studios previously hosted productions of the Syfy series NightFlyers. Filming of the ten-episode series is set to begin in Ireland.^[2]

On 22 October 2019, it was announced that Lee Pace and Jared Harris were to be cast as "Brother Day" and "Hari Seldon", respectively. In addition, David Goyer was confirmed as the sole official showrunner for the series. On 4 December 2019, five additional cast members were announced: Lou Llobell stars as Gaal, a mathematical genius from a rural, repressed planet. Leah Harvey will play Salvor, the protective and intuitive warden of a remote outer planet. Laura Birn will star as Eto Demerzel, the enigmatic aide to the Emperor of the Galaxy. Terrence Mann will star as Brother Dusk, the eldest living member of the ruling family. Cassian Bilton will play Brother Dawn, the youngest living member of the ruling family and next in line to be Brother Day.

Filming was temporarily suspended 12 March 2020 because of coronavirus fears.^[3] On 29 June, it was given the go-ahead to resume production.^[4]^[5] On 6 October, production was resumed.^[6]

Differences from the books[]

The television series is only loosely inspired by the books. It uses some ideas and names of characters, places, concepts but it is actually quite unsuitable for anyone who wants to know what happens in the novel Foundation series.

Three of four main characters apart from the emperors are gender-swapped, Gaal Dornick, Salvor Hardin and Demerzel. Many things are also completely made up for the series, like whole planets, cultures, plots, conflicts and so on. Several terms have a different meaning, for example Spacer. The Galactic Empire is not ruled by Cleon I or any subsequent emperor, but instead by a trio of his clones of different ages. They are titled Brother Dawn, Brother Day and Brother Dusk, with Brother Day being middle-aged and dominant. Many characters have their lifetime shifted as the series strives to put events resembling events from the books into a shorter timeframe.