The biggest new sci-fi TV show on the block is here in the form of the Fallout TV show, adapted from the popular video game series, and the series came out earlier than expected on Wednesday, April 10.
Streaming: Prime Video
Release date: Wednesday, April 10
Episodes: 8
Free trial: 30-day
Originally, Fallout's release date was set one two days earlier, and it's been brought forward not once but twice. Confusing, but at least it means that prospective fans can watch the show earlier than they thought! The show is now streaming, and no TV release is expected.
Featuring some big new names in TV as well as the creative team behind Westworld, the Fallout TV show might be your next binge watch as it adapts the world of a long-running video game series onto the small screen.
In Fallout we follow Lucy, a young woman who lives in an underground survival vault to outlast the post-apocalyptic and dangerous America above ground. However she's forced to leave the vault to find something important, which puts her in harm's way. She has to team up with an irradiated human called The Ghoul and a member of the Brotherhood of Steel vigilante militia in order to find what she's looking for.
If that sounds up your street, here's how to watch Fallout, and also which games to play if you need a catch-up.
How to watch the Fallout TV show
You can watch the Fallout TV show by using Prime Video, the streaming service owned by Amazon. The show won't be coming to TV channels or other streamers, as it's an original production for Prime Video.
You'll be able to watch the show from 9 pm ET/6 pm PT, which is 2 am on Thursday, April 11 in the UK.
Prime Video is one of the many facets of an Amazon Prime subscription, which costs $14.99 / £8.99 per month or $139 / £95 per year. In some regions you can also sign up to Prime Video alone, but not all regions offer that option. By default, Prime Video has commercials, but we've got a guide on how to remove adverts from Prime Video.
There are eight episodes in the Fallout TV show, and each of them are landing on Prime at the exact same time on Wednesday, April 10. This is a change of plan from what was originally expected, with the release date initially one day later.
How to watch the Fallout TV show for free
If you've not claimed it already, Amazon Prime offers a free 30-day trial to its services, which includes streaming video from Prime Video at no cost. This will let you watch Fallout without paying any money.
You have to enter your billing details for the free trial, and if you don't cancel before it expires it rolls into a full paying membership though. Also bear in mind that this trial is only valid for people who've never signed up to Amazon Prime before.
Do you need to play Fallout first?
Many people are wondering whether you need to play the Fallout video games to enjoy the Fallout TV show.
The answer is 'no', according to What to Watch team members who've both played and watched, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. They're (mostly) modern hits, enough to justify the TV treatment. They're all role-playing games, where you explore an unforgiving wasteland and can go about missions and exploration as you please, but over time the series has morphed from being top-down isometric games to full 3D ones (with a few exceptions).
The first four games: Fallout, Fallout 2 and the two spin-offs Fallout: Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel are quite old at this point, though they remain the richest in terms of world-building which might help you appreciate the world of the story more.
The early 3D games are Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, which remain arguably the two most popular entries in the series, though they too are showing their age at this point. There's also the free mobile game Fallout: Shelter which lets you run a survival vault and make decisions about it.
More recently we've seen Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, the latter being an online-only version of the games which was maligned upon release though is receiving favorable judgements nowadays.
How to watch Fallout everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup to a country without Prime Video but still want to watch Fallout, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite show, sport or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is NordVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
