Forget 'Severance,' This Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Mystery Deserves Its Own TV Adaptation

15 hours ago 10

Published Aug 27, 2026, 9:36 PM EDT

Kendall Myers is a Senior Author with Collider. As part of the TV and Movies Features team, she writes about some of the most popular releases before, during, and after they premiere. In three years, she has written over 900 articles with topics ranging from classic sitcoms to fantasy epics.

Sci-fi covers a lot of ground, but some stories use the genre's elements so cleverly that they are impossible to ignore. Streaming has embraced sci-fi in recent years, leading to a major renaissance on television, and each new series has carved out a unique niche, including everything from aliens and technology to dystopian disasters. One of the most fascinating examples is Apple TV's Severance. Its unique concept makes it undisputedly sci-fi, but it also draws characters and viewers alike into the mysteries surrounding the sinister Lumon Industries.

While sci-fi has a growing presence on TV, one of the most exciting entries in the genre is a book that has yet to make it to the screen. Stuart Turton's The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was published in 2018 and quickly became a bestseller, even coming close to getting a Netflix adaptation. With a time-loop murder mystery that's tailor-made for episodic television, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle deserves its own miniseries.

What Is 'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' About?

The sci-fi genre thrives on futuristic settings, whether the story takes place in a dystopian world or one with advanced technology, but The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is unique in that it takes place in the English countryside in the 1920s, making it akin to a period drama without sacrificing any sci-fi elements. The story follows Aiden Bishop, a man with amnesia who arrives at Blackheath Manor in time for a party, but the event quickly turns dark when the host's daughter, Evelyn Hardcastle, is killed that night.

The bigger twist comes the next morning, when Aiden wakes up as a different guest in the manor and relives the same day. Then, he learns that he is competing with two other individuals to solve Evelyn's murder, and only the winner gets to leave. With only eight chances to uncover the identity of Evelyn's killer, he relives the same day on a loop, each time getting a different perspective on the impending tragedy. While this conceit could risk becoming repetitive, the book's setup allows for new narrative revelations with each cycle. With memorable characters and plenty of surprises, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a thrilling whodunit, perfect for fans of period stories and murder mysteries with a sci-fi twist.

'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' Deserves Another Shot at Adaptation

Previously, Netflix saw the potential of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and announced a television adaptation in 2020, but it was canceled a few years later. Though it's unclear why the series was scrapped, the book has unique adaptation challenges, given the likelihood that eight different actors would be portraying the story's main character. While these elements are unconventional and would undoubtedly require creative solutions, any adaptation has the potential to instantly distinguish itself in the overcrowded TV landscape.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle's unique format also lends itself to an episodic adaptation. Many shows, especially in the sci-fi genre, struggle to tell their story on streaming, but this novel is set up to be the perfect miniseries, with its time-loop structure perfectly dividing a season into eight distinct episodes. Like Severance, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle keeps the reader guessing with its combination of sci-fi and mystery, telling a story like no other in a genre that is rapidly becoming more dominant on the small screen.