Why are we so obsessed with the multiverse right now?

We seem particularly fascinated by the concept of the multiverse at the moment, perhaps it’s because this reality sometimes seems just so awful, writes David Barnett

‘Life After Life’ asks what if you could have your time again – would you do things differently? (BBC/House Productions/Sally Mais)

The idea that there are infinite variations of this world is both an enticing and terrifying consideration. On the one hand, there may be a version of reality where you are in fact reading this on your luxury yacht moored off St Tropez with a glass of champagne in hand and your butler standing attentively to one side ready to serve your every need, you having won the Euromillions last month. Or there may be one where that twist of fate that caused your parents to meet never happened, perhaps by dint of a cancelled train or sudden emergency, and you were never actually born and aren’t reading this at all.

We’re talking about the multiverse, the concept that there are infinite dimensions that cater to every single possibility that could ever have possibly existed. In one universe, perhaps, there was a devastating nuclear war in 1986 and the versions of us that survived are scrabbling in the ruins for food. In another, the dinosaurs were never wiped out and remain the dominant form of life on Earth. In yet another, life is exactly the same as it is in this world except Bucks Fizz never won the Eurovision Song Contest.

We seem particularly fascinated by the concept of the multiverse at the moment, with various strands of popular culture investigating through different media this evergreen idea.