The story
Long before the world knew her as a great poet, young Emily Dickinson is a restless, rebellious daughter in a respectable household, resisting her parents' attempts to marry her off, battling her father's disapproval of her writing and quietly in love with her best friend, Sue. Told with modern slang, pop music and knowing anachronisms, the show follows Emily's fight to be heard.
Why it matters
One of the first series on Apple TV (then Apple TV+), Dickinson became the service's first show to win a Peabody Award. Its playful, anachronistic take on a nineteenth-century poet – and Hailee Steinfeld's lead performance – suggested the new streamer was willing to back distinctive, idiosyncratic voices alongside its star-led dramas.
Notable facts
- Apple gave Dickinson a straight-to-series order in May 2018. (source)
- Rapper Wiz Khalifa plays Death in a recurring role. (source)
- It was the first show from Apple TV (then Apple TV+) to win a Peabody Award. (source)
- Its third and final season holds a Metacritic score of 91. (source)