If you’re pining away for a TV drama to fill the gaping chasm left by Game of Thrones, your prayers have been answered by the new HBO drama, Westworld.

Premiering exclusively in Australia on Foxtel, Monday 3 October, at midday, the new prestige series promises all the thrills, twists and turns we’ve grown to expect from today’s sophisticated TV dramas, along with the usual dose of HBO titillation.

Back to the future

Based on the 1973 Michael Crichton (writer of Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain) film of the same name, Westworld tells the story of a Wild West-themed amusement park, where artificial humans (robots) portray all manner of townsfolk – friendly or deadly ‘hosts’ – and theme park guests play out their ultimate fantasies, exploring all manner of vice, excess and sin.

Like stepping into a lucid dream, guests can stroll the streets of Westworld with their sweetheart on their arm, drink rye whiskey in the salon until a card fight breaks out, indulge in the company of a lady of the night or strap on some iron and challenge a host to a gunfight.

All the while, they’re unaware of the growing robot consciousness unfolding around them.

Welcome to Westworld. Photo: HBO

What’s more, it’s all set 30 years after the events of the 1973 film, in the very same park. What could possibly go wrong?

In a case of art imitating life, the trouble begins after an operating system update results in hundreds of ‘hosts’ developing bugs and glitches, and generally misbehaving.

This simple mistake in coding results in horrendous consequences for various hosts and guests, transforming Westworld’s usual Groundhog Day scenarios into random, twisted and occasionally blood-drenched parables.

As Westworld technicians scramble to control hosts and rectify their faults, the guests begin to suspect the growing menace. Naturally, the viewer has a birds-eye view of it all, giving rise to an extreme sense of impending doom.

Westworld can be anything you want it to be. Photo: HBO

There’s a storm coming

At its heart, Westworld is a cautionary tale of technology gone wrong – a cliché, yes, but one that delves into the existential nature of being via the prism of Artificial Intelligence.

Rather than a simple analysis of moral compass, Westworld delves deeper, albeit sometimes in a brutal and twisted fashion, posing questions about the very reality of humanity.

What price is enough to indulge your ultimate fantasy? If the beings used to live out our sin aren’t real, does our humanity ever really suffer?

Watch the trailer for Westworld below:

A-list talent

Produced by Warner Bros. and Bad Robot Productions (J.J. Abrams), the cast list for Westworld comprises more top talent than you would normally expect from a TV drama – a welcome trend in prestige TV.

Ed Harris (A History of Violence, The Truman Show) plays the appropriately named Man in Black, dripping sinister intentions and zero remorse as he plays out his mysterious machinations.

Ed Harris as the ‘Man in Black’. Photo: HBO

James Marsden (X-Men, Superman Returns) captures the qualities of a man caught between two worlds with equal measures vulnerability and tortured courage.

Continuing the theme, the tragic Dolores, played by Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood, The Wrestler), is haunted by past events that could not have transpired, posing a dilemma of artificial intelligence insanity.

Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores. Photo: HBO

Even Anthony Hopkins (Thor, Hitchcock, Silence of the Lambs) steps in as The Creator; the man responsible for the creation of the park and hosts, and ambivalent instigator of the escalating calamity.

Supporting roles are played by Thandie Newton, Luke Hemsworth, Rodrigo Santoro, Angela Sarafyan and Jeffrey Wright – all perfectly cast and executing their roles with a slick talent.

Apart from the obvious, epic fantasy chronicles from Westeros, Westworld is an excellent reason to consider a Foxtel subscription. Especially for the pianola version of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’.

All hell breaks loose in Westworld. Photo: HBO

Westworld airs weekly from 3 October on Showcase, available through Foxtel.