The Days: 8 Similar Shows You Must Watch Next

Following the series of events that lead to an unmitigated disaster, ‘The Days’ depicts the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in detail. With government entities, major players in the economy, and first responders trying to understand the scale of damage and dealing with the nuclear tragedy that follows natural disasters, the historical thriller television show explicitly explores the parallels between man and nature. Based on true events, creator Jun Masumoto focuses on the devastating events that shook communities throughout Japan.

Enacting pivotal roles in the cast are Kaoru Kobayashi, Oji Suzuka, Yuriko Ishida, Ken’ichi Endô, Yutaka Takenouchi, Denden, Yasushi Fuchikami, and Ken Mitsuishi. With a stoic leadership and proactive stance, ‘The Days’ focuses on individuals confronting the unprecedented invisible threat. So, if the compelling account of a nuclear tragedy intrigued you just as much, here is a list of television shows like ‘The Days.’

8. Katla (2021-)

The amalgamation of a natural disaster, sci-fi and folklore, ‘Katla’ follows the aftermath of a volcanic eruption that wipes out the population of a small town named Vik. However, a mystery unfolds when the dead start emerging from the volcano’s adjacent glacier. ‘Katla’ integrates natural disaster elements and pairs them with a riveting story.

Featuring Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð, Íris Tanja Flygenring, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson and Aliette Opheim, the show focuses on how the peace and tranquility of a small town can be upended by a natural disaster. Naturally, if you found the largescale disaster in ‘The Days’ eye-opening, then you’ll find creators Baltasar Kormákur and Sigurjón Kjartansson’s opus equally fascinating.

7. The Swell (2016)

Alternatively titled ‘Als De Dijken Breken,’ ‘The Swell’ follows the story of helpless people warped in the throes of a powerful northwestern storm threatening to break dikes and flood the lower areas of The Netherlands and Belgium. With Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Janni Goslinga, Simone Milsdochter, and Serin Utlu, ‘The Swell’ examines how a natural disaster can undo human progress.

As the Belgian and Dutch leaders try to protect the population, a number of events ensue. Created by Johan Nijenhuis, just like the tsunami that wrecked the Japanese coastline in ‘The Days,’ ‘The Swell’ also features a storm threatening a large-scale natural disaster.

6. The Fire Next Time (1993)

Creator James S. Henerson bases this mini-series on a world twenty-four years from 1993. The show imagines 2017 and a world where the greenhouse effect and global warming have reduced the Earth to droughts, floods and hurricanes. The series revolves around a family striving to survive and features performances by Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Shawn Toovey, Paul Rudd, Richard Farnsworth and Justin Whalin. Outlining the excessive damages that can follow from uncontrolled climatic developments, ‘The Fire Next Time’ looks at the dichotomy of man and nature just like ‘The Days,’ and showcases how the Anthropocene may just be the foreboding of devastation on Earth.

5. The Rain (2018-2020)

The show is created by Jannik Tai Mosholt, Christian Potalivo, and Esben Toft Jacobsen and features Alba August, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard. Despite its post-apocalyptic setting, ‘The Rain,’ also centers on a brutal narrative where humans are reduced to the whims of nature and disasters. After a rain-borne virus wipes out most of Scandinavia’s population, two siblings decide to come out of their hiding shelter and join a band of young survivors to look for safety and answers. Like, ‘The Days,’ this series also follows the fright of an uncontrollable disaster.

4. High Water (2022-)

Based on the 1997 Central European flood and its mitigation by the authorities of Wroclaw, ‘High Water’ follows a hydrologist striving to protect the capital of Lower Silesia from the destructive and deadly flood. The show is created by Jan Holoubek and Bartlomiej Ignaciuk and features compelling performances by Agnieszka Żulewska, Tomasz Schuchardt, Ireneusz Czop, Jerzy Trela, and Blanka Kot. ‘High Water’ also explores the same dilemma of authorities and people trying to assuage the aftermath of a deadly disaster, which is also the central theme of ‘The Days.’

3. Five Days at Memorial (2022)

Created by Carlton Cuse and John Ridley, ‘Five Days at Memorial’ is based on the book of the same name by Sheri Fink. The medical drama follows Dr. Anna Pou, who is accused of euthanizing patients after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent floods. The show undertakes a riveting discovery of the events that led to the death of forty-five people. With Vera Farmiga, Cherry Jones, Cornelius Smith Jr., and Robert Pine, ‘Five Days at Memorial’ also features a disaster on a substantial scale. Like the true story that took countless lives in ‘The Days,’ ‘Five Days at Memorial’ also looks at an alarming contingency.

2. Meltdown: Three Mile Island (2022)

This four-part docu-series focuses on yet another nuclear nightmare and the breakdown of an atomic power plant. Insiders and people present at the time of the disaster in 1979 talk about the supposed cost-cutting measures and reckless tactics undertaken that led to an unmitigated situation. Directed by Kief Davidson and produced by Carla Shamberg, ‘Meltdown: Three Mile Island’ unveils the horror of the worst commercial nuclear disaster that had consumed the state of Pennsylvania on the eve of the ‘80s.

Featuring testimonies from the nuclear plant operator and local residents, ‘Meltdown: Three Mile Island’ also encapsulates the diversified lived realities of people who were at the epicenter of the nuclear disaster, much like, ‘The Days,’ making this the right documentary to watch next.

1. Chernobyl (2019)

The show depicts the debilitating horror of the infamous disaster of Ukraine. Focusing on the lives of individuals in Ukraine in April 1986, ‘Chernobyl’ focuses on the stories of men and women who tried to contain the alarming disaster and worked together to stop a bigger one from emerging. The five-part mini-series is created by Craig Mazin, who weaves a compelling narrative that is further elevated by its historicity.

With Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Adam Nagaitis, Emily Watson, Paul Ritter, Robert Emms and Sam Troughton, ‘Chernobyl’ accurately captures the essence of the time and the efforts of the people on the site. Much like ‘The Days,’ ‘Chernobyl’ also echoes the catastrophe of a nuclear tragedy, making this the right show for you to tune into next.