BBC’s ‘Dark and Mysterious’ War Thriller The Sentinels Has Viewers Bingeing All Eight Episodes — And Its WWI Story Comes With a Sci-Fi Twist

A very different kind of First World War drama is attracting attention on BBC iPlayer, blending brutal battlefield action with espionage, science fiction and a striking steampunk aesthetic.

French series The Sentinels has been climbing the platform’s most-watched chart after arriving on the BBC, with some viewers racing through all eight episodes and praising its atmospheric cinematography and unpredictable storytelling.

Based on the graphic novels Les Sentinelles by Xavier Dorison and Enrique Breccia, the series follows a badly wounded French soldier who is given an extraordinary second chance — but at a frightening cost.

Instead of returning to the battlefield as an ordinary man, Gabriel Ferraud becomes part of a secret military experiment designed to create enhanced soldiers capable of changing the course of the war.

‘The Sentinels’ takes World War I into unexpected territory

Set around the outbreak of World War I, the story centers on Gabriel Ferraud, played by Louis Peres.

After suffering devastating injuries, Gabriel is recruited into a highly classified French military program with an ambitious objective: create the ultimate human weapon.

Scientists inject him with a mysterious serum that dramatically alters his physical abilities.

Gabriel emerges with extraordinary strength, speed and resilience, transforming him into something far beyond an ordinary soldier.

He subsequently joins an elite group known as the Sentinels — augmented fighters created specifically for the increasingly deadly conditions of the front lines.

But becoming more powerful doesn’t necessarily mean Gabriel understands the forces controlling him.

As the conflict escalates, he begins uncovering a disturbing truth that could have enormous consequences for the war.

It’s part war drama, part superhero story and part espionage thriller

That premise immediately separates The Sentinels from more conventional dramas set during World War I.

Rather than attempting a straightforward historical recreation, the series uses the era as the foundation for an alternate-history thriller.

The familiar imagery of trenches, soldiers and military operations is combined with secret experiments, enhanced humans and covert conspiracies.

The result has been billed as an “adrenaline-drenched steampunk-style thriller,” with science fiction and action sitting alongside espionage and the horrors of warfare.

That unusual combination appears to be one of the reasons viewers have responded so strongly.

Some viewers have already binged all eight episodes

Reaction since the drama landed on BBC iPlayer has been enthusiastic.

One viewer described the series as “very dark and mysterious,” capturing the sinister atmosphere surrounding Gabriel’s transformation and the secret program behind the Sentinels.

Another viewer said they had already watched all eight episodes, praising both the storytelling and the show’s visual presentation.

“I really enjoyed the storytelling and the atmospheric cinematography,” they wrote, describing the results as “absolutely stunning.”

An IMDb user similarly called the show “a wild, stylish series that surprises at every turn.”

Its growing audience has helped push The Sentinels up BBC iPlayer’s most-watched rankings.

Critics have praised its originality

The series hasn’t only found support among viewers.

The Guardian awarded The Sentinels four stars and praised the show as “exciting” and “propulsive.”

The review also highlighted something increasingly valuable in television: the feeling that audiences are watching a story that isn’t simply recycling another familiar entertainment franchise.

For a genre that frequently leans toward historically grounded drama, introducing speculative technology and enhanced soldiers gives The Sentinels an unusual identity.

It also allows the series to explore familiar themes of military power and human sacrifice through a more fantastical lens.

Gabriel may have extraordinary abilities, but those abilities exist because the military has transformed him into a weapon.

That raises a darker question beneath all the action: how much of the man who went to war remains after the experiment?

Louis Peres leads the cast as Gabriel Ferraud

Louis Peres takes the central role of Gabriel, the wounded soldier whose life changes after he becomes part of the clandestine program.

The wider ensemble includes Thibaut Evrard, Kacey Mottet-Klein, Nastya Golubeva Carax, Carl Malapa, Olivia Ross and Ouassini Embarek.

Golubeva Carax plays Gisèle, another figure within the increasingly complicated world Gabriel encounters as the true nature of the military experiment begins to emerge.

Across eight episodes, those characters inhabit a version of World War I where the struggle isn’t limited to what is happening openly on the battlefield.

Secrets behind the front lines could prove equally dangerous.

BBC iPlayer has plenty more for war-drama fans

Viewers drawn to The Sentinels can also find several very different war stories on BBC iPlayer.

War and Peace, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, follows Pierre Bezukhov, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky and Natasha Rostova through love, loss and upheaval during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Paul Dano, James Norton and Lily James lead the cast.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, starring Jacob Elordi and Ciarán Hinds, follows Dorrigo Evans across different periods of his life, including a passionate relationship with Amy Mulvaney, his experiences as a prisoner of war and his later career as a respected surgeon.

For viewers wanting something closer to modern military action, Dark Hearts follows an elite French Special Forces unit undertaking a dangerous extraction operation in Iraq ahead of the battle for Mosul in October 2016.

‘The Sentinels’ is streaming now

All eight episodes of The Sentinels are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Its combination of World War I history, secret military experiments, espionage and superhuman soldiers means this isn’t likely to be mistaken for a traditional period drama.

And with viewers already describing the series as dark, mysterious and visually stunning, its rise through BBC iPlayer’s most-watched chart suggests that its unusual gamble is finding an audience.

For anyone who likes their war dramas with a far stranger and more unpredictable edge, The Sentinels offers exactly that.