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For Sale Apr 20, 2026 at 11:55 AM

BBC Buys High-Concept French Sci-Fi Series ‘The Sentinels’

Posted by Puzzled-Tap8042

BBC Buys High-Concept French Sci-Fi Series 'The Sentinels'
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BBC Buys High-Concept French Sci-Fi Series 'The Sentinels'
The BBC has acquired eight-part French drama 'The Sentinels,' based on the sci-fi-meets-wartime graphic novels of the same name.
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Accomplished_Key3556 Apr 20, 2026 +175
french sci-fi either ends up being a groundbreaking masterpiece or an absolute fever dream with zero in-between tbh. a ww1 steampunk super-soldier concept sounds unhinged enough to actually work though.
175
djangobhubhu Apr 20, 2026 +33
Can you suggest some groundbreaking french sci fi? I have never seen any.
33
Elegant_Run_8567 Apr 20, 2026 +71
The Fifth Element 
71
Lanster27 Apr 20, 2026 +37
The Fifth Element is a groundbreaking fever dream masterpiece. 
37
SmegmaWarrior0815 Apr 20, 2026 +16
Multipass
16
MelonOfFury Apr 20, 2026 +10
Negative. I am a meat popsicle.
10
escfantasy Apr 20, 2026 +5
I really liked that one.
5
Candid_Ad_9145 Apr 20, 2026 +3
did you know 30-something year old luc bessons 15 year old wife played the diva?
3
loves_grapefruit Apr 20, 2026 +3
This guy listnooks
3
greenistheneworange Apr 20, 2026 +1
The Professional - once you know the back story - makes Lolita look tame.
1
auntie_ Apr 20, 2026 +38
City of Lost Children Fantastic Planet
38
Rumpled_Imp Apr 20, 2026 +17
To add to this, Delicatessen is also worth watching.
17
greenistheneworange Apr 20, 2026 +1
Pigeon....
1
Keisaku Apr 20, 2026 +1
I love coming across movies like this. Such a good one. Also, not scifi but cinema paradiso.
1
Third_Sundering26 Apr 20, 2026 +3
Fantastic Planet is definitely a fever dream
3
travio Apr 20, 2026 +2
Haven't seen City of Lost Children in so long. Such an amazing film.
2
Candid_Ad_9145 Apr 20, 2026 +2
fantastic planet es mejor
2
travio Apr 20, 2026 +1
I'll add it to my list.
1
MIBlackburn Apr 20, 2026 +1
I'll throw in Rene Laloux's other features too. Les Maitres du Temps or Time Masters (with design work from Mœbius) and Gandahar. And to prove the original point about nothing in the middle, Renaissance. Admittedly, I could only see the English dubbed version at the time, but I doubt the French is going to help that much.
1
5213 Apr 20, 2026 +24
Snowpiercer was adapted from a French comic book, though ymmv on how "groundbreaking" it actually is
24
Phormitago Apr 20, 2026 +8
Icebreaking really
8
Gelato_Elysium Apr 20, 2026 +20
Old school french comics were the kings of SF. Snowpiercer, Valerian and the city of 1000th planet, Planet of the Apes are all french
20
PornoPaul Apr 20, 2026 +4
Planet of the Apes? I had no idea!
4
spankybranch Apr 20, 2026 +3
La Planète du singe scientifique
3
HerbsAndSpices11 Apr 20, 2026 +10
I'm not sure if I would consider it very groundbreaking, but Mars Express is really good. If you like stuff like Ghost In The Shell, then I would highly recommend.
10
s3rila Apr 20, 2026 +3
the recent animate movie *Mars express* is awesome that being said , a lot of realy cool/ground breaking french sci fy is actualy comic book form... and installed a lot of movies (hence the fifth element)
3
Triskan Apr 20, 2026 +4
Just to clarify, cause my french pride is piqued... We're talking TV here right? Cause when it comes to literature or movies, that's another beast entirely.
4
djangobhubhu Apr 20, 2026 +1
I was talking about TV. I have seen the French movies mentioned on the replies to my question 😅
1
SnowbearX Apr 20, 2026 +4
Les Revenants is f****** fantastic if you get a chance
4
kswissreject Apr 20, 2026 +1
Watched it and then randomly ended up on the English language one a while later - such a huge difference in quality. 
1
TheLostSkellyton Apr 20, 2026 +2
Anything by Jules Verne, for starters! 😆  Also seconding recommendations for Valerian and Laureline, Mars Express, and I don't think anyone's mentioned La Compagnie des Glaces yet but it's what Snowpiercer was loosely inspired by. It's a whole book series. It's rad.
2
LaughingInTheVoid Apr 20, 2026 +1
Lastman gets pretty wild. I hope they can make the third season.
1
_Molj Apr 20, 2026 +1
Renaissance, mars express.
1
einarfridgeirs Apr 21, 2026 +1
In comics the French are hugely influential, in particular Valérian and Laureline in the sixties and The Incal in the eighties.
1
TacTurtle Apr 21, 2026 +1
Jules Verne.
1
curryandbeans Apr 21, 2026 +1
La Jetee
1
Nurgleschampion Apr 20, 2026 +1
Parisians not being rude. A stretch for sci-fi I know.
1
bleu_ray_player Apr 20, 2026
Transformers
0
eldenpotato Apr 21, 2026 +2
The War of the Worlds (2019) tv series is a collab between UK and France I think. Good first season. Haven’t watched the rest
2
iownlotsofdoors Apr 20, 2026 -4
bot account
-4
Sapmatic Apr 21, 2026
I have more faith in French sci-fi than I have in British sci-fi
0
solarnoise Apr 20, 2026 +17
I thought this show absolutely ruled and hope to see more seasons.
17
K1llswitch93 Apr 20, 2026 +1
Does it hint at a second season?
1
solarnoise Apr 20, 2026 +4
Oh yeah definitely. I would say it's mostly well contained but there's clearly potential for more seasons.
4
Infamous-Mixture-605 Apr 20, 2026 +1
Same. I really enjoyed it.
1
TwoRight9509 Apr 20, 2026
Were you able to watch it in the USA?
0
chameleonmessiah Apr 20, 2026 +5
Okay, this does sound quite interesting & fun, though no real date as yet for it airing. >In the UK, the BBC will launch it on iPlayer and BBC Four later this year.
5
Aevum1 Apr 21, 2026 +5
kind of reminds me how they wasted Valerian on 2 actors with absolutly no charisma or chemisty between them.
5
narfjono Apr 20, 2026 +2
This sounds absolutely amazing and now I need to watch the original French show somehow.
2
MyDearDapple Apr 22, 2026 +1
Watched the first episode. Looks good, but the narrative is a sluggish muddle that gets no assist from a banal music score (the anachronistic pop music insert, for instance, took me out of the show) and a slew of lowkey performances which are as murky as the plot. Maybe it improves?
1
Neo2199 Apr 20, 2026 -4
>At the outbreak of World War I, Gabriel Ferraud – a gravely wounded soldier – is recruited into a top-**secret French military program** designed to create the **ultimate weapon**: **enhanced humans. After being injected with a mysterious serum, Gabriel gains extraordinary strength, speed, and resilience**. He joins an elite unit known as the Sentinels – augmented soldiers forged for the front lines. But as the war intensifies, Gabriel uncovers a terrifying truth that could alter the fate of the conflict. Nothing really new or unique about the story. We have seen several movies and TV shows about Super Soldiers: Captain America, Universal Soldier, Dark Angel, The Boys, The X Files (S08 & S09).
-4
Afferbeck_ Apr 20, 2026 +24
We have seen several movies and TV shows about cops and doctors, won't ever stop those from being made, and some of them are even excellent.
24
Neo2199 Apr 20, 2026 -3
Unlike Super Soldiers movies/shows where we have the same basic premise of a specific group, soldiers, given a secret serum, and fighting for or against their creators, TV shows about doctors & cops cover a wide range of characters and stories from local doc in the countryside to an ER resident doctor, and from beat cops & detectives to FBI agents & other law enforcement agencies.
-3
SpilledKefir Apr 21, 2026 -1
I don’t know that I’d label “captain america, but France” as a high-concept show though
-1
KeremyJyles Apr 21, 2026 +3
Then you don't know the meaning of the term.
3
taylorpilot Apr 20, 2026 +1
Oui oui
1
AimeeM46 Apr 20, 2026 +1
COOL! this sounds great!
1
RudePragmatist Apr 20, 2026
I have found that other countries (i.e. not the UK) tend to be a little braver at stealing ideas from TRPGs and this sounds exactly like the Weird War materials (Dust Adventures, Achtung Cthuhlu etc.) that can be found floating around on the gaming scene. Looking forward to it. :)
0
lindendweller Apr 21, 2026
It's adapted from a french comic series, but I admit I haven't read them.
0
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