Have you ever wondered what Fallout might look like if it relocated from a post-apocalyptic America to the Lake District? Well, in 2025, Oxford-based video game developers Rebellion gave us the answer with Atomfall, a first-person action survival joint set in an alt-history 1960s wherein the very real Windscale nuclear disaster actually turned England’s north-west into an active quarantine zone. A title driven more by its story, character work, and beautiful pastoral presentation than its actual gameplay, Atomfall is a prime candidate for the lavish TV adaptation treatment. And that’s exactly what it’s getting, from The Assassin and The Tourist duo Harry and Jack Williams — aka Two Brothers Pictures — no less.
The recipient of the Best British Game gong at this year’s BAFTA Game Awards, Atomfall — which boasts a player base of almost four million gamers — has no shortage of existing TV series and film comparisons to recommend it for the streaming series treatment. Its set-up, which sees players assume the role of an amnesiac who wakes up in the quarantine zone and finds themself piecing together what has happened, harkens back to The Walking Dead and 28 Years Later. Elsewhere, the game’s blend of sci-fi and folk horror draws favourable comparisons to everything from the aforementioned Fallout to The Last Of Us, The Wicker Man, Threads, and even The League Of Gentlemen. All of which is to say that an Atomfall TV series makes a lot of sense.
“Atomfall has such a distinctive British tone and setting, and it’s been a real joy developing it alongside the Rebellion team – especially as two brothers working alongside two brothers (Jason and Chris Kingsley),” said the Williams brothers in a statement accompanying today’s announcement. “There’s something very exciting about expanding this strange, unsettling story for television.” Added Rebellion co-founders Jason and Chris Kingsley in their own statement: “It is always exciting to work with people who share the same passion for creating and telling great stories and we are sure that this partnership will help to deliver a television series that will delight fans of the game and beyond.”
Atomfall doesn’t have a streaming home just yet, and with no cast or further creative team members announced just yet, we suspect it may be a little while before the fictional post-apocalypse arrives in the UK (the jury remains out on an actual apocalypse coming for Blighty in the meantime). Still, with Fallout and The Last Of Us having kept us glued to our screens in shock and awe in recent years, consider us ready to head into our doomsday bunker for a bit of Atomfall just as soon as it’s ready. Watch this space!
