6-Part 'Westworld Meets Philomena Cunk' BBC Series Is Quietly One Of 2026's Best Shows

Published Sep 12, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

While a comedic version of Westworld starring Cunk on Earth's Philomena Cunk herself might sound like an absurd premise, this is exactly the plot that saw one new BBC comedy series sail to success. It’s a great time to be a fan of sci-fi TV. While Netflix’s cyberpunk thriller Altered Carbon might have arrived a little too early to cash in on the subgenre’s rising popularity, the upcoming Apple TV William Gibson adaptation Neuromancer and Prime Video spinoff Blade Runner: 2099 prove that cyberpunk is enjoying a moment in the pop culture spotlight.

That said, cyberpunk isn’t the only sci-fi subgenre that is currently experiencing a renaissance on the small screen specifically. For fans of space operas, there is Apple TV’s ambitious Asimov adaptation Foundation, a sci-fi spin on Game of Thrones set in the far future. Somehow, the team behind this critically acclaimed modern classic managed to take Asimov’s infamously dry, dense series of source novels and turn them into a thrilling saga with interpersonal stakes, high drama, and thrilling twists.

Of course, just because sci-fi shows are killing it on streaming at the moment doesn’t mean every experiment in the genre is guaranteed to go well. For every big hit like Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, there is an ambitious flop that tries to do too much. On paper, a sitcom that mixes the humanoid robots of Westworld with the deadpan comedy of Diane Morgan’s character Philomena Cunk would probably sound like one such overly ambitious mashup. However, the resulting series, Ann Droid, has instead proven a cult hit.

Diane Morgan's Robot Performance Nails The Balance Between Believable And Hilarious

Set in the very near future of 2029, Ann Droid focuses on Sue Johnston’s Sue Bevan, a bored older woman whose lazy adult son Michael buys her a “pre-loved” robotic assistant, Morgan’s AnnDroid Z58/100 Basic Eldercare Robot Linda, to keep her occupied during her retirement. Since Sue has been somewhat despondent after her husband’s death, she gradually bonds with Linda despite her initial reticence around the presence of a robotic helper in her home.

This setup might seem familiar to anyone who has seen M3GAN, Subservience, Companion, or any of the other many robot-centric thrillers that have cropped up in the wake of the AI boom. However, like the prescient British thriller Humans, Ann Droid is less interested in revealing that its titular robot is secretly evil and more interested in exploring the shortcomings of its human characters, and the ways they use technology to paper over them.

A frequent collaborator with Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker, Morgan brings a healthy dose of cynicism to the BBC sitcom, but most of the show’s ire is aimed not at the AI itself, but rather the human characters who use it to do the work they aren’t interested in handling on their own. Sue’s relationship with Linda gradually reveals the ways that her grief has impacted her life since losing her husband, and the ways her kids have fallen short of helping her navigate this emotional terrain.

Ann Droid Is One Of 2026's Most Unique New TV Shows

While the show might have a premise that is suited to an ambitious futuristic sci-fi series, Ann Droid is a warm domestic sitcom at heart, and this makes the series a unique and eminently watchable genre mashup. One of the most original new shows of the year, Ann Droid filters fears about AI obsolesce through dry British wit, and there is a human heart at the core of the show’s tech-centric plot.

Although it’s technically the story of a woman gradually growing to connect with her robot companion, Ann Droid is just as much a funny, unexpectedly uplifting meditation on loss, grief, and moving on as it is a barbed satire of humanity’s reliance on tech. While Cunk on Earth crossed with Westworld might sound like a wild pitch, Ann Droid proves the idea is a lot stronger than that mashup may suggest.

Cast

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  Sue Johnston

  Sue

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  Diane Morgan

  Linda

• Paul Ready

  Michael

• Leila Hoffman

  Lady in Advert