{ "id": "epw7ap13fp", "slug": "the-feed", "title": "The Feed", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "label": "Genre and subject-scripted series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.science_fiction_series", "label": "Science fiction television series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.science_fiction_series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.science_fiction_series.near-future-tech-and-thriller-series", "label": "Near-future tech and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.science_fiction_series.near-future-tech-and-thriller-series" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: Genre and subject-scripted series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres", "label": "Genre and subject-scripted series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Feed (2019) is a British near-future sci-fi thriller series, also known by its source novel title The Feed by Nick Clark Windo, about a brain implant sharing thoughts and emotions; developed by Channing Powell, co-funded by Virgin Media and Amazon for over $40m, cancelled after one season.", "snippet": "The Feed (2019) is a British near-future sci-fi thriller series, also known by its source novel title The Feed by Nick Clark Windo, about a brain implant sharing thoughts and emotions; developed by Channing Powell, co-funded by Virgin Media and Amazon for over $40m, cancelled after one season.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_genres.science_fiction_series.near-future-tech-and-thriller-series", "markdown": "# The Feed\n\n**The Feed** is a British near-future science fiction thriller television series of ten 60-minute episodes, developed by Channing Powell for Virgin TV Ultra HD and Amazon Prime Video and based on Nick Clark Windo's 2018 novel of the same title. Set in London, it centers on the Hatfield family, whose company created a brain implant, also called the Feed, that is implanted into nearly everyone and lets people share information, emotions, and memories instantly. When the technology is compromised and users begin acting murderously, the family is driven apart as it struggles to control what it unleashed.[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-feed) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) • [3](https://www.libertyglobal.com/check-out-our-new-psychological-thriller-the-feed/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | 10 scripted episodes of 60 minutes; drama, science fiction, thriller[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) |\n| Source | Adapted from the novel *The Feed* by Nick Clark Windo (Headline, 2018)[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-feed) • [4](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/amazon-and-virgin-media-back-sci-fi-series-feed-729251) |\n| Developer / showrunner | Channing Powell, a writer on *The Walking Dead*[3](https://www.libertyglobal.com/check-out-our-new-psychological-thriller-the-feed/) |\n| Financing | Co-funded by Virgin Media and Amazon at more than $40 million (£29 million)[5](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/08/virgin-media-deal-sci-fi-series-amazon-the-feed) |\n| Broadcast | Virgin TV Ultra HD, Mondays at 21:00, UK premiere September 16, 2019; Amazon premiere November 22, 2019[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-feed) • [6](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-feed-showrunner-channing-powell-interview) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) |\n| Principal cast | David Thewlis (Lawrence), Michelle Fairley (Meredith), Guy Burnet (Tom), Nina Toussaint-White (Kate)[7](https://canneseries.com/en/series/the-feed-1) |\n| Status | Ended after one season; 57% Tomatometer (7 reviews), 70% Popcornmeter[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_feed/s01) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nIn the near future, people's brains are directly connected to the Feed, a network through which every interaction, emotion, and memory can be shared instantly. With the power of thought alone, a user can speak to a partner, call a doctor, or order a pizza. The technology was invented by Lawrence Hatfield, whose company is run by his wife Meredith as chief executive. Their son Tom, a psychologist, resists the Feed and has kept apart from his family for most of his adult life; with his wife Kate, who is pregnant, he tries to build a life outside his father's system. The crisis begins when something, or someone, starts accessing people's minds through the Feed and taking them over: loved ones wake up as someone else, someone who wants to kill them.[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) • [6](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-feed-showrunner-channing-powell-interview) • [7](https://canneseries.com/en/series/the-feed-1)\n\nShowrunner Channing Powell said she wanted the series to carry a feeling of lost self-control: is it you or the machine making a decision, having a thought? The idea of consent recurs, since people born into the world of the Feed never chose it, and Tom's attempt to carve out a life apart keeps being dragged back by his father's world. Powell has said she was initially skeptical that anyone would accept such an invasive implant, then found that comparable brain-interface technology was already in development, and that younger people she polled responded enthusiastically to the idea of an iPhone in the head.[6](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-feed-showrunner-channing-powell-interview)\n\n## Production and financing\n\nThe project was announced in February 2018 as a partnership between [Virgin Media](https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-media), which struck its first co-funding deal with a US streaming service, and Amazon. The Guardian reported a budget of more than $40 million (£29 million) for the ten-part series, set in London in the near future with filming expected in Manchester. [Liberty Global](https://www.edgepedia.org/liberty-global), Virgin Media's parent, partnered with All3Media International and Amazon; the series streams across Liberty Global's international platforms and as a Prime Original in the US, Canada, and Latin America, with All3Media International distributing elsewhere.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/08/virgin-media-deal-sci-fi-series-amazon-the-feed) • [3](https://www.libertyglobal.com/check-out-our-new-psychological-thriller-the-feed/)\n\n**Studio personnel.** Powell developed the series and served as showrunner, with Susan Hogg (*Three Girls*) and Stephen Lambert of Studio Lambert as executive producers. The lead director was Carl Tibbetts (*The Woman in White*, *Black Mirror*, *Humans*); other directors were Tinge Krishnan, Jill Robertson, and Misha Manson-Smith. Writers besides Powell included Rachel Delahay, Tom Moran, and Michael Clarkson, and Nick Clark Windo was among the executive producers. The production was Studio Lambert's next scripted show after *Three Girls*.[3](https://www.libertyglobal.com/check-out-our-new-psychological-thriller-the-feed/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_feed/s01) • [9](https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/drama/the-feed-virgin-media/amazon/5142870.article)\n\n## Adaptation of the novel\n\nThe first season restructures its source. In Windo's novel, events begin to unravel on about page 12, but after discussions with Amazon, Powell decided that season one would effectively be the backstory to the book: a slow burn showing the world in which the Feed, described by the production as an Apple/Facebook/Amazon/Google mash-up that controls everything, works wonderfully well before it starts to glitch. Actor [Guy Burnet](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-burnet), who read the novel before filming, put the shift in scale differently: the first season covers roughly the first ten pages of the book, after which the novel jumps ahead to a further, dystopian future. The Feed's corporate headquarters, called the Hub, was designed with what the production called the futuristic appeal of an iPhone, sited beside the Thames in a high-tech east London of tomorrow, realized largely with green screen.[9](https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/drama/the-feed-virgin-media/amazon/5142870.article) • [10](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2019/11/25/guy-burnet-interview/)\n\nBecause the early episodes show characters depending on the implant to communicate, manage daily life, and find information, the Feed's on-screen digital interface appears frequently and its design was a production priority. Powell described the goal as an interface as realistic and as simplistic as possible.[11](https://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2019/11/27/the-feed-look-adaptation-amazon/)\n\n## Cast\n\n[David Thewlis](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-thewlis) plays Lawrence Hatfield, the inventor of the Feed, and [Michelle Fairley](https://www.edgepedia.org/michelle-fairley) plays Meredith, its corporate chief executive. Guy Burnet plays Tom and [Nina Toussaint-White](https://www.edgepedia.org/nina-toussaint-white) plays Kate, the millennial couple at the story's center. The wider cast includes Clare-Hope Ashitey as Evelyn Kern, Osy Ikhile as Max Vaughn, Jeremy Neumark Jones as Ben Hatfield, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah as Danny Morris, and Tanya Moodie as Sue Cole.[7](https://canneseries.com/en/series/the-feed-1) • [2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed)\n\n## Reception\n\nOn Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 57% Tomatometer from 7 reviews, with 4 fresh and 3 rotten, and a 70% Popcornmeter score from more than 50 audience ratings.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_feed/s01) Critics split over what the story accomplishes. John Anderson of The Wall Street Journal called it a cautionary tale and a kind of cybernetic *Succession* with more likable characters and the same degree of family intrigue; LV Taylor of AwardsCircuit rated it 3.5/4 as a relatable story about what people do to protect the ones they love. Kevin Yeoman of Screen Rant argued that the length does the central ideas a disservice, spreading the story too thin over the runtime, and Joel Keller of Decider wrote that the show offers little that cannot be read in existing articles about social media addiction, despite strong performances.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_feed/s01)\n\nCommon Sense Media gave the series 3/5, calling it an uneven dystopian tech thriller with sex, violence, and language, rated TV-MA and recommended for ages 16 and up. Its review found that the series underscores the dangers of letting companies control powerful networking technology but does not explore the larger political, social, and economic implications of universal access, spending much of its time instead on the Hatfields' dysfunctional family relationships. Reviewers in the German and British press repeatedly measured it against *Black Mirror*, generally finding it fell short of that series.[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-feed) • [12](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/serie-the-feed-menschen-wie-maschinen-100.html)\n\n## Cancellation\n\nThe series ran as a single season. TVmaze lists its status as ended, with the tenth and final episode airing November 18, 2019 on Virgin TV Ultra HD, and trade coverage tracked the show as canceled rather than renewed for a second season.[2](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed) • [13](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-feed-cancelled-or-renewed-for-season-two-on-amazon-prime/comment-page-1/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Feed – Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-feed)\n2. [The Feed, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/34815/the-feed)\n3. [Check Out Our New Psychological Thriller 'The Feed', Liberty Global (8 February 2018)](https://www.libertyglobal.com/check-out-our-new-psychological-thriller-the-feed/)\n4. [Amazon and Virgin Media back sci-fi series of The Feed, The Bookseller (9 February 2018)](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/amazon-and-virgin-media-back-sci-fi-series-feed-729251)\n5. [Virgin Media signs deal to make sci-fi series with Amazon, The Guardian (8 February 2018)](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/08/virgin-media-deal-sci-fi-series-amazon-the-feed)\n6. [The Feed showrunner Channing Powell created a tech dystopia on Amazon, SYFY WIRE (31 October 2019)](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-feed-showrunner-channing-powell-interview)\n7. [The Feed, CANNESERIES program page](https://canneseries.com/en/series/the-feed-1)\n8. [The Feed: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_feed/s01)\n9. [The Feed, Virgin Media/Amazon – Behind The Scenes, Broadcast (12 September 2019)](https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/drama/the-feed-virgin-media/amazon/5142870.article)\n10. [Guy Burnet Talks Amazon's 'The Feed' and Visions of the Future, Awards Daily (25 November 2019)](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2019/11/25/guy-burnet-interview/)\n11. [How THE FEED's Team Got the Look of its Digital Interface, Give Me My Remote (27 November 2019)](https://www.givememyremote.com/remote/2019/11/27/the-feed-look-adaptation-amazon/)\n12. [Serie „The Feed\" – Menschen wie Maschinen, Deutschlandfunk (2 December 2019)](https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/serie-the-feed-menschen-wie-maschinen-100.html)\n13. [The Feed on Amazon Prime: cancelled? season 2?, TV Series Finale](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-feed-cancelled-or-renewed-for-season-two-on-amazon-prime/comment-page-1/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Science fiction television series › Near-future tech and thriller series*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Feed\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Feed](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Feed\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feed. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Feed is a British near-future sci-fi thriller series, also known by its source novel title The Feed by Nick Clark Windo, about a brain implant sharing thoughts and emotions; developed by Channing Powell, co-funded by Virgin Media and Amazon for over $40m, cancelled after one season." }