Fallout TV show news, review, cast, and everything else you need to know
Mar. 22, 2024Your complete guide to season one of Fallout
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The Fallout TV show is now here and is already proving to be a success. That should come as no surprise, seeing as how it’s inspired by some of thebest Fallout games(and set in the same shared universe), and shepherded onto the screen by the likes of Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan, Portlandia’s Graham Wagner, and Captain Marvel writer Geneva Robertson-Dworet.
Post-release, we’re here to take you through everything surrounding the show, including exclusive insight from the cast and creatives about their characters and working in the Fallout universe, as well as some of our own explainers and reviews. On top of that, we’ve got the full cast list, episode count, and more.
Fallout TV show release date and episode count
All eight episodes of the Fallout TV show were released onApril 10on Prime Video.
It’s a big Vault Boy-style thumbs up on from us. Our four-starFallout season 1 reviewcalls the show “a joyous mix of uproarious comedy, physical humor, and gnarly violence.” Our reviewer writes: “Despite its inconsistent tone and overcrowded story, Fallout blows the competition away with a game-accurate, hilarious quest through the Wasteland anchored by plenty of personality and punchy social commentary.”
Not decided yet on whether to watch the Fallout TV show? The trailer should sell you on it, giving viewers a rad-filled taste of the post-apocalyptic LA setting, the faithful recreation of in-game elements like the Brotherhood of Steel and the Vaults, and deeper dives into characters like Walton Goggins' Ghoul and Ella Purnell’s Vault Dweller, Lucy.
The Fallout TV show cast is a star-studded affair, featuring everyone from Yellowjackets regular Ella Purnell and Justified star Walton Goggins taking the leads. Aaron Moten is Maximus, a squire of the Brotherhood of Steel. Then we’ve got performances from heavyweights like Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan. We know that actors like Chris Parnell (30 Rock), Leslie Uggams (Empire), and Zach Cherry (Severance) too. Check out the full cast list below.
The broader strokes of the Fallout TV show plot should be pretty familiar to any of you who have played the video games. But for those of you who are new to the concept, let’s run over the basics: Before the world is consumed by nuclear annihilation, certain members of society are selected to take refuge in experimental fallout bunkers built to preserve humanity known as Vaults.
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The show follows Lucy, a resident of Vault 33, who leaves behind the only life she has ever known to explore an irradiated Los Angeles in an effort to rescue her father, Hank. Out there in the wilds, she’ll need to survive a strange and lawless land, one beset with strange characters, dangerous bandits, and mutated creatures – oh, and contend with the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) a mysterious bounty hunter who holds within him a 200-year history of the Wasteland.
The Fallout TV show takes place in 2296, some 219 years after the Great War of 2077 ended in nuclear annihilation, with the vast majority of humanity succumbing to the fallout. The Fallout TV show draws from several locations, including Vault 33, the L.A. wasteland, and a few game locales we shan’t spoil here.
In the video games, some of the Vaults are actually long-running social experiments, but you’ll have to watch and see if Lucy has been subjected to something similar. Out in the LA wasteland, we head to Western-inspired towns maintained by unlikely survivors, strongholds for key factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, and into areas controlled by Ghouls, Mutants, malfunctioning robots, and deadly irradiated creatures –some of which you may recognize from the videos games.
For more, check out theFallout timeline.
Everything in the Fallout TV show is canon, but this isn’tFallout 5.We know that the next game in the series is in the earliest stages of pre-production, expected to enter development following the release ofThe Elder Scrolls 6, but Howard has stepped in toensure that some of Fallout 5’s big creative concepts don’t appear in the show.
Executive producer Jonathan Nolan (best known for penning the screenplays for some of thebest Christopher Nolan movieslikeThe PrestigeandThe Dark Knight) told our friends at Total Filmthat the goal has always been to create an “original story"that can fit into the wider Fallout timeline, with Geneva Robertson-Dworet telling SFX that the team “felt like that would be the best thing to honor the gamer’s experiences, and the most truthful.” So if you’re wondering why the Fallout TV show isn’t a direct sequel to Fallout 4,or a direct adaptation of something like Fallout 3, now you have your answer.
Ahead of the show’s release, GamesRadar+ sat down with the cast and creators of the series to hear some of their thoughts about what to expect. Take a look through our interviews below:
Once you’ve seen the show, be sure to dive into our Fallout spoiler explainers, such as,
As excited as we are for the Fallout TV show,a second seasonis yet to be confirmed.Signs are looking positive, however. Season one will run for eight episodes, and the series' co-writersays there’s plenty more that can be explored. Graham Wagner says that “there’s piles and piles of stuff we want to do,” although it’s likely that the Fallout TV show will need to be received well by folks in and outside of the Fallout fanbase if more is to be made in the future.
Josh West is the Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar+. He has over 15 years experience in online and print journalism, and holds a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Feature Writing. Prior to starting his current position, Josh has served as GR+’s Features Editor and Deputy Editor of games™ magazine, and has freelanced for numerous publications including 3D Artist, Edge magazine, iCreate, Metal Hammer, Play, Retro Gamer, and SFX. Additionally, he has appeared on the BBC and ITV to provide expert comment, written for Scholastic books, edited a book for Hachette, and worked as the Assistant Producer of the Future Games Show. In his spare time, Josh likes to play bass guitar and video games. Years ago, he was in a few movies and TV shows that you’ve definitely seen but will never be able to spot him in.
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