IF YOU LIKE YOUR SCIENCE FICTION TV to feature dense world-building, heady themes and massive scale, then Foundation, the Apple TV+ adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s book series of the same name, surely ticked every box. Developed and showrun by David Goyer, Foundation was the veteran sci-fi screenwriter’s attempt to translate Asimov’s “unfilmable” world into the one medium where it felt possible to undertake it: television.
Season one did a lot of work in terms of setting up the core details about a 1,000-year battle of wills to prevent the imminent collapse of the Empire. Two key characters are Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), the creator of the branch of mathematic study called psychohistory, and his brilliant new protégé Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell).
The pair can predict the Empire’s fall because of four centuries of poor rule by an uninterrupted cycle of regenerating genetic clones made from Emperor Cleon I, known as Brother Dawn (Cooper Carter), Brother Day (Lee Pace) and Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann).
Told in a non-linear format, with complex storylines and brand new material (like the Clones) for the series, season one was well-received by both Asimov fans and general sci-fi fans, even if it wasn’t a literal translation of the books. Season two, Goyer tells SFX, will continue to be a mixture of the original texts and their own creations.
This story is from the July 2023 edition of SFX UK.
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This story is from the July 2023 edition of SFX UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Making Alien - Jaws in Space - Forty-five years on from its original release, Alien continues to terrify. We dissect what arguably remains the most chilling instalment in the saga
The seven-strong crew of the commercial mining spacecraft the Nostromo seal their fate after reluctantly responding to a mysterious distress signal on a hostile planet. Here, a face-hugging alien from a derelict ship impregnates and later kills executive officer Kane (John Hurt) after its offspring is birthed onboard. After being unleashed, the fearsome newborn with acid for blood proceeds to dispatch the remainder of the crew.Ridley Scott's much more convoluted prequels have yet to reveal how the knowledge that led to this initial interception was acquired. However, the premise of the original Alien is perfect in its uncomplicated purity.
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Ghouls Allowed
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