Daredevil: Born Again boss explains controversial choice for Jessica Jones return
Dario Scardapane and Sana Amanat discussed the character's return – and whether we can expect a power upgrade.
Daredevil: Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane has addressed a sure-to-be controversial choice for the reintroduction of Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter). Fans have already waited years for the character to reappear, following the cancellation of her Netflix series in 2019 and the subsequent absorption of certain elements into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) shows on Disney+. Alas, they're going to have to be patient for a little while longer, as Ritter's no-nonsense private investigator and vigilante is notable only by her absence in the early episodes of Daredevil: Born Again season 2. It's a creative choice that holds the potential to frustrate some viewers, but showrunner Dario Scardapane told Radio Times that it was essential to make sure the return was done right. "Jessica Jones coming into our world needed to be, for lack of a better word, part of the story," he began. "You have a situation where vigilantes are being hunted... What's the reaction that particular vigilante is going to have to being hunted?" View Green Video on the source website Scardapane continued: "If you've seen to the end of episode 4, you kind of have an idea of what's happening. We needed to get to a certain part of the story before Jessica coming in would make perfect sense." Born Again season 2 takes viewers back to New York City under the tyrannical rule of Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), better known by his criminal pseudonym Kingpin. Although his public image remains carefully curated, Fisk hasn't laid any of his grudges to rest, with an anti-vigilante task force being founded at the end of season 1 to keep the likes of Jessica and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in check. Jessica is, in theory, one of the more powerful characters on Marvel's "street-level" hero roster, although you may not have got that impression from her Netflix series, where feats of strength mainly involved breaking locks and doors. Scardapane, who previously worked on Netflix's two-season The Punisher series, confirmed that Born Again does indeed have a larger budget than its precursors on the rival streaming platform – but will that result in flashier powers for Jessica? "Everything feels a bit more grounded [in Born Again]," said executive producer Sana Amanat. "And we intentionally want to do that. We don't want to necessarily start having bright magic, shiny powers running around." That said, Amanat did promise that "we're going to do some cool things" with Jessica Jones, including some "story-specific" exploration of what precisely her superhuman abilities are. Daredevil: Born Again is the second live-action MCU project of the year, following January's Wonder Man and preceding this summer's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which remains shrouded in total mystery. Daredevil: Born Again launches on Disney+ UK on Wednesday 25 March 2026. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month. Add Daredevil: Born Again to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Classic Doctor Who screening confirmed for newly found episodes with special guests and more
The two newly found episodes will be screened alongside middle chapter, Day of Armageddon.
Following the recovery of two classic episodes of Doctor Who, which had long been missing, further details have been confirmed about an upcoming screening. The screening, hosted by Film is Fabulous!, will take place at Riverside Studios on Saturday 4 April, with the first three instalments of 12-part story, The Daleks' Master Plan, being shown. This includes the two recently recovered episodes, The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet, as well as the middle chapter of the three, Day of Armageddon. The screening will also include introductions and special guest panels, with the exact list of guests yet to be confirmed. Information about the screening, including how to purchase tickets, can be found on Riverside Studios' website. For those who can't attend the screening, they will still get a chance to see the episodes soon, as Film is Fabulous! has collaborated with BBC Archives to ensure that the original 16mm telerecordings are restored, and will be available in the best possible condition on BBC iPlayer soon. After the episodes were recovered, Sue Malden, who was the BBC's first archive selector, and has been working on the recovery of missing Doctor Who episodes and other vintage television for decades, spoke exclusively with Radio Times. View Green Video on the source website Malden, who now works with Film is Fabulous!, said: "Someone from Film is Fabulous! rang me yesterday to say what a fabulous time it was. It was so emotional. "Apparently, Peter [Purves] was quite overwhelmed. He must have been absolutely stunned, suddenly to find why he'd been lured there. But the memories it must have brought back for him would have been fantastic." Film is Fabulous! is a charitable trust run by film collectors, cinema lovers and vintage television enthusiasts which is dedicated to preserving vulnerable film collections across the UK, helping collectors, and educating about film as a medium. Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
What time will Invincible season 4 be released on Prime Video?
It's almost time for Mark Grayson's (Steven Yeun) return in Invincible season 4! The upcoming instalment will follow Mark as he and the rest of the world recover from the devastating events of season 3. But massive new threats are incoming, including the long-awaited General Thragg (voiced by Lee Pace), plus a completely original story involving returning character Damien Darkblood. Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, co-showrunner Robert Kirkman said: "We always change things and enhance things and lengthen stories and shorten stories, so there’s a lot of big differences in this show. But to have something that's completely original and completely new, you know, hasn't happened a lot in the series up to this point. "And so this is something that you know is wholly original to the show. And I think that's going to be really cool, how it fits into the story, and how it weaves into the overall tapestry of the Viltrumite War. You'll just have to find out." But what time will new episodes of the show come our way? Here's what we know so far. What time will new episodes of Invincible season 4 be released? We're expecting new episodes of Invincible to be released at 7am GMT on 18 March. That works out to the following times around the world: 3am ET (USA) 2am CT (USA) 12am (midnight) PT (USA) 8am CET (Central Europe) 3pm AWST on Sunday (Australia) 5pm AEST on Sunday (Australia) Invincible season 4 will begin on 18 March on Prime Video - you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
The Last of Us season 3 confirms major new castings and big changes for returning stars
The cast of The Last of Us has received a major shake-up ahead of season 3, with two new faces joining a cast of returning regulars. The HBO series, which adapts the hit video game series from developer Naughty Dog, has been widely acclaimed by both critics and fans across its first two seasons. Now, as reported by Deadline, Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever will be joined for season 3 by Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring) and Jason Ritter (Matlock). Wilson will be portraying Jerry Anderson, Abby's father, while Ritter will be playing an original character, Washington Liberation Front soldier Hanley. Alongside these two new additions, three returning faces have been promoted to regular roles. Mel (Ariela Barer), Nora (Tati Gabrielle) and Owen (Spencer Lord), who were introduced as part of season 2, will all be core characters of season 3, with the story set to focus more heavily on Abby than Ellie. The trio join fellow returning cast members Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna and Jeffrey Wright, as well as already-announced newcomers Clea DuVall and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. View Green Video on the source website Following the runaway success of its first two seasons, Craig Mazin – who served as co-showrunner alongside Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann – is set to take over as sole showrunner for season 3, with Druckmann leaving the show to focus on the upcoming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Mazin has also recently been confirmed for a second video game jaunt, with the veteran writer and director set to take charge of HBO's adaptation of 2023 smash hit Baldur's Gate 3. The Last of Us season 2 is streaming on Sky Atlantic and NOW with an Entertainment Membership. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on this week. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who icon David Tennant returns as the Tenth Doctor for 15 brand new adventures with Big Finish
Three of the new adventures will be multi-Doctor stories.
As fans wait for Doctor Who to return on screen at Christmas, some exciting news has just arrived – David Tennant will be returning as the Tenth Doctor. Tennant's return will not be on-screen (that we know of) but he will be back in audio form, playing his original incarnation of the Time Lord in 15 new Big Finish audio adventures. Twelve of these new adventures will be released bimonthly from summer 2027, while the other three will comprise a new box set in which the Tenth Doctor teams up with some of his other incarnations. The release date for that box set is yet to be confirmed. On returning as the Tenth Doctor, Tennant said in a statement: "Big Finish makes it dangerously easy – you turn up, have a lovely time, and suddenly you've saved the universe again." Meanwhile, Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish’s creative director, added: "We’re always on the look-out for David to return. He is such a busy, in-demand actor, sometimes it’s just not possible for him to find the time to come to the studio. "But we’re always ready and waiting with new stories to tell and now he’s back and we’re loving every minute of it. Get ready for a rollercoaster ride during these new adventures. They’re fast, funny, scary audio dramas with surprises from the very first episode." View oEmbed on the source website The initial 12-part series of The Tenth Doctor Adventures is available to pre-order now for £9.99 per story as digital downloads, or £13.99 with a collector’s edition CD at www.bigfinish.com. A complete series multibuy bundle is available to pre-order for £102 (digital download to own) or £132 (download to own and collector’s edition CD). Meanwhile, the box set of the final three episodes is available to pre-order for £19.99 (digital download to own) or £29.99 (download to own and collector’s edition CD). Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. While Tennant is not currently expected to return to the TV series, having last been seen playing the Fourteenth Doctor in 2023's 60th anniversary specials, we know that his co-star from his Tenth Doctor years, Billie Piper, will be. The most recent episode of the series ended with Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor regenerating into Piper – although there is still a question mark over whether she is actually playing the Doctor, or whether something else is going on. Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
For All Mankind aged its 46-year-old star up by 40 years with a painstaking process – here's how they did it
Makeup and prosthetics artist Jason Collins reveals how he transformed 46-year-old Joel Kinnaman into a convincing 80-year-old.
Physical transformations for film and TV are becoming increasingly impressive, but ageing an actor to look decades older is still one of the trickiest feats to pull off convincingly. While some productions turn to CGI, others rely on incredibly talented make-up artists and prosthetics experts to work their magic and add on the decades. Now, one of the most impressive transformations in TV has seen 46-year-old Joel Kinnaman aged up to play 80-year-old veteran astronaut Ed Baldwin in the upcoming fifth season of Apple TV sci-fi For All Mankind. Here, Jason Collins, head of make-up effects company Autonomous FX, explains the painstaking process behind ageing up an actor. Making magic When I was 12 my mother took me to a magic store in Los Angeles where I found a book about make-up effects. It felt like actual magic! That led to me setting up my own company, Autonomous FX, 20 years ago. Now I perform magic tricks every day. Such as making Joel Kinnaman look 80 years old! One small step for man One of the big challenges on For All Mankind is that the story jumps forward 10 to 12 years every season, so the characters have to age gradually across decades. The key was not pushing the aging too far too quickly. Otherwise you leave yourself nowhere to go in later seasons. In season 3 we started introducing subtle aging across the cast — wrinkles, thinning hair, small prosthetic pieces. Interestingly, some viewers thought the characters weren’t aging enough, even though many of them were already wearing several prosthetic appliances! By the time we reached the latest season, Joel Kinnaman’s astronaut character Ed had to be in his early eighties, which meant a much bigger transformation. Ageing-up To make an actor look elderly, you have to study the ageing process. With Joel, we started by looking at his facial features and seeing where he was ageing. I looked at his nasolabial folds (smile lines), which are pronounced already. Joel is never going to be the guy that's going to sustain a lot of weight and a lot of gravity in his face. He has a very pronounced jaw line and cheek bones, so I built off those and created hollows in his cheeks because I know he’s going to age there. I didn’t put a lot of weight below his chin because Joel is tall and lean. He’s not going to have a lot of sagging. Mould to fit To age Joel up, we started by having him come into my studio, where we took a three-dimensional scan of this head. From that scan, we can build a hydrocal bust – a plaster copy of his head – and begin to sculpt wrinkles and skin texture on it in clay. Once we like the sculpt, we cut it into smaller sections. You can’t apply one big piece or it looks like a mask. Real skin moves, so breaking it up – the forehead, cheeks, neck wrap, chin and so on – lets the prosthetics move naturally around the eyes and mouth. The pieces are designed as overlapping appliances. For example, the cheeks and neck go on first, and the other pieces are built to sit over them seamlessly. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2026/03/FAM502S00740F-3cc566b.jpg" width="4240" height="2832" alt="Joel Kinnaman having prosthetics applied to his face on the set of For All Mankind, with Jason Collins directly behind him having prosthetics applied to his face on the set of For All Mankind" title="Joel Kinnaman having prosthetics applied to his face on the set of For All Mankind, with Jason Collins directly behind him having prosthetics applied to his face on the set of For All Mankind" /> Skin deep Once the moulds are ready, we inject them with silicone, which is great because it can be tinted and made slightly translucent so it reacts to light like real skin. For realism, we even hand-punch individual hairs into the prosthetic hairline, so you can see scalp through them, and then the wig starts further back. We want a really convincing hairline with Joel, because we’ve established in season four that Edward is losing his hair. The mould-making alone takes about a month, and ideally the whole build takes six to eight weeks. More than meets the eye One of the things I consider when ageing up an actor is that you never want to lose their face in the make-up. The audience have to see that it is still them! We often try to dull down the eyes, for example, when ageing up because as people age the outer edges of their iris start to fade. But Joel has these intense, piercing eyes and you don’t want to cover them up and take away from that, because that's his relationship to the audience. Up close and personal Once the prosthetics were made, we then had to apply them to Joel every morning in the make-up chair. He’d arrive, shave any overnight stubble, and we’d apply a barrier cream to protect the skin before attaching the prosthetics. It is an intimate, collaborative process. We are literally inches from each other’s faces! And Joel will let us know if something doesn’t look right. By the final week, he can probably do it himself. He’ll say, ‘Oh, this is too close to the eye today,’ or ‘I think we have the hairline slightly too far back’. An old head on young shoulders It is a surreal sight! At the end of the process, Joel is sitting there shirtless with the head of an 80-year-old man. He looked like Benjamin Button! I remember when we first did it, he looked in the mirror. He was like, ‘this is insane! This is trippy, man! I can really move in it and express myself.’ I don't know if we all want to be reminded that that's how we're going to look as we get older. But you do need to make them look like themselves so they can really grab onto that really. The trick is to get the illusion to be as perfect as it can be. It has to look like we’ve transplanted Joel 30 or 40 years into the future. Wake up call There were about 40 shoot days for the new season, which meant that we did 40 sets of prosthetics. Applying them took about three hours every morning. Often, we’re starting at about four in the morning, so nobody really wants to talk to each other until they get a lot of coffee. Some actors fall asleep, but Joel mostly passed the time looking at his phone. Sometimes I have to ask him to put it down for a minute because I need him to look up! The power of prosthetics I’m not against AI. But prosthetic make-up gives actors something technology can’t: a physical transformation that feeds the performance. When actors spend hours becoming the character, it makes them fully present in the moment. Acting is about the energy between people on set and those small, spontaneous moments that happen during a scene. AI, by comparison, struggles to capture the little human details that make a performance feel truly alive! For All Mankind season 5 will premiere on Apple TV on Friday 27 March 2026. Seasons 1-4 are available to stream on Apple TV, sign up now with a 7-day free trial. Add For All Mankind to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Iconic Doctor Who companion reveals his picks to play the next Doctor – including Riot Women star
The Rory Williams actor has had his say.
Doctor Who legend Arthur Darvill has revealed his top picks for the next Doctor – and won't someone get Andy Pryor on the phone?! The Reality War, the last episode of season 15, saw Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor regenerate into returning star Billie Piper in a twist that will hopefully be explained in this year's Christmas special. But Piper has never been credited or referred to as the new Doctor, leading everyone to wonder if there's more going on with her role, including fellow former companion Darvill. While the Rory Williams actor said Piper taking over the role would be an "extraordinary move", he had some suggestions for if another actor is cast when sitting down for an in-depth interview for Radio Times' Doctor Who Insiders. View Green Video on the source website "There's so many," he told us. "Lorraine Ashbourne, I think, would be amazing. Nick Mohammed, I think, would be amazing." Joking, he added: "Alan Carr would be amazing – it’s just because I’m watching Traitors at the minute!" "David Threlfall, I think, would be brilliant. Yeah, there's loads of brilliant people. Mawaan Rizwan would be incredible," he went on to say. And, of course, with a new Doctor must also come a new companion. Asked whether he has any advice for the next actor to take on the role, Darvill added: "Just enjoy it. It's such a gift of a show to be on. "I think about this a lot because it's such a mad idea. It's really sci-fi and really detailed, and has its own law and its own rules and its own amazing fandom who care so much about it and it's this really specific type of British television." "I can't think of another example that does what this does, because it manages to straddle that sci-fi thing with being also Saturday night TV," he pointed out. "It shouldn't work as an idea, but it does. It works so brilliantly well. And, when you're on the show, I think the only thing you can do is try and enjoy it as much as possible, because there's nothing else like it, and every script's completely different. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. "As a companion, you will spend a lot of time just saying the word 'Doctor' and standing in the background, and that's fine, but when you do get to do stuff, it's going to be really exciting, brilliant, challenging stuff, and you have to take it as seriously as any other job and any other role and immerse yourself in it. "But it's just so much fun. So yeah, my advice for anyone is just enjoy what you're doing. It's really easy to get bogged down in all the stuff that we actors have to complain about, but it's such a gift." Arthur Darvill's full interview will be published later this month. Missing Doctor Who? Register now for Radio Times's Doctor Who Insiders club for exclusive interviews with Doctor Who legends every month. Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Firefly animated series with original actors teased by star Nathan Fillion – but there's an obstacle to solve
Firefly could return as an animated series, according to star Nathan Fillion, whose production company is attempting to get a reunion show picked up
Few sci-fi shows can boast as large an impact with as few episodes as Joss Whedon's Firefly, which might finally be getting its long-awaited revival – albeit, not in the form initially imagined. The cult favourite series premiered back in 2002, introducing viewers to 26th century space captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his ragtag crew, as they explore a new star system in the years following a devastating civil war. Although it only aired 11 of its 14 total episodes before original broadcaster Fox pulled the plug, Firefly has remained a cultural touchstone for sci-fi aficionados for more than two decades. The lingering enthusiasm led to a 2005 film continuation, titled Serenity, but the franchise has been limited to novels and comic books since that effort majorly underperformed at the box office. Excitingly, original star Fillion – also known for TV dramas The Rookie and Castle, plus James Gunn's Superman – announced over the weekend that an animated series was in the advanced stages of development, set between the events of Firefly and Serenity. Fillion took to panel stage at Washington DC's Awesome Con for a live podcast recording with co-stars Alan Tudyk (Andor), Gina Torres (Suits), Jewel Staite (Resident Alien), Morena Baccarin (Deadpool), Sean Maher (Arrow) and Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). All of them, plus absent original co-star Adam Baldwin (The Last Ship), were attached to the developing Firefly animated series, which is being overseen by writer-producers Marc Guggenheim (of DC's now-retired Arrowverse) and Tara Butters (Agent Carter). Firefly creator and Avengers director Joss Whedon is not involved in the project, although Fillion claimed that it had his blessing. Whedon's career has been quiet since allegations of toxic work environments on his sets, which he denies. View Green Video on the source website Concept art was revealed, evidencing how far along in development the proposed series is, but there remains one crucial obstacle to overcome: the small matter of finding a broadcaster or streaming platform. As a project of 20th Television Animation, a production arm of the Disney-owned ABC, it could make sense for the show to land somewhere in the media giant's vast entertainment empire. Notably, Hulu/Disney+ is currently the home of another 2000s-era animated sci-fi revival in the form of Futurama, so there's a precedent for such fan-friendly fare thriving in the new age of streaming. View oEmbed on the source website Fillion's production company Collision33 will be presenting the assembled package to potential buyers in the short-term, and gave Deadline his view on why its important that the show goes ahead. "The dedication of Firefly fans has kept this 25-year-old show relevant. Clearly, the return of Firefly is something the fans want. More importantly, it's something they deserve," he said. We'll bring you more updates on the Firefly revival as they come in. Firefly is available to stream on Disney Plus UK. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month. Add Firefly to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Pluribus star Rhea Seehorn reacts to Vince Gilligan's scrapped hive-mind idea: 'Oh my God. Can you imagine?'
There were some major costume decisions to be made about Pluribus.
While we all wait patiently for the second season of Pluribus, series creator Vince Gilligan has now revealed that the show almost had a very different look to it – quite literally. Speaking during a panel at SXSW, the Breaking Bad screenwriter disclosed that his initial plans for Pluribus included a very naked hive mind. He said (via Variety): “We talked about [how] they didn’t need to wear clothes at all, but we’re not working for HBO. But then we thought, we can’t do that to all these extras. We can’t all be naked.” Gilligan added: “We figured, they strictly wear clothes for protection against the sun and against cold or whatnot. But we talked hours and hours and hours about all that kind of stuff.” Rhea Seehorn, who leads the cast as Carol – one of a handful of people on Earth somehow immune to a global virus – was also on the panel and joked: "Oh my God, thank you … Can you imagine if I had to try to act with 300 naked people?" While the hive mind aren't naked in Pluribus, there were other costume decisions made to help encapsulate their lack of individualism. Costume designer Jennifer Bryan said of their appearance in the series: “Eventually days pass, and obviously, people have to change clothes. And then all of those mores for clothing disappear. There’s no reason for them to impress you with their clothes.” Read more: Invincible boss teases season 4’s "completely original" story in major change from comics Vera icon Brenda Blethyn reveals big difference filming A Woman of Substance: "I didn’t rule the roost so I had to behave!" The Apple TV series quickly became the talk of the town upon its release and was subsequently renewed for a second season, but if fans are hoping for new episodes to come quickly then they'll have to exercise a bit of patience. When speaking at Apple TV's press day last month, Gilligan said: "We appreciate everybody’s patience. But it ain’t gonna be The Pitt, coming back every year. I wish it would be because it’s an awesome show that’s old-school, like we used to do The X-Files [when] we’d come back the same month every year. "It will not be like The Pitt. We’ll come back the same month – just the question is what year." Pluribus is available to stream on Apple TV. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast. Add Pluribus to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Invincible boss teases season 4’s "completely original" story in major change from comics
Along with the Viltrumite War arc and the long-awaited debut of Dinosaurus, Invincible season 4 will see the return of a character in a change from the comics that's 'completely original to the show'. In preparation for the big reveal, series co-showrunners and executive producers Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa, have given us a tease about its great importance. In season 1 of Invincible, demon detective Damien Darkblood was part of the show’s initial storyline about investigating Omni-Man (Nolan Grayson) as the prime suspect for murdering the Guardians of the Globe. His part in the television adaptation ended a bit differently compared to the comics. In the show, Cecil sent him back to Hell to stop him from interfering with his own plans; originally, Darkblood was more of a gag character in the comics, and naturally disappeared from the story once Omni-Man's guilt was revealed. View Green Video on the source website Years after a slight tease during a post-credits scene of his final season 1 episode, and confirmation with a new scene at the end of season 3 where he speaks to Satan, Damien Darkblood will be making his Invincible return in season 4 — via a new storyline that’s completely original to the show. As gathered from snippets of Invincible’s season 4 trailers so far, Darkblood’s new story seems to be set in Hell — it appears that we'll see him don intimidating armour to take on a powerful enemy, and pull Mark Grayson into the fray. When asking Kirkman and Racioppa about how this will affect and fit in with the Viltrumite War Arc — the main plot of season 4 — both were keen to share that this wasn’t skippable content, and is still important to the show, both for comic fans and those who only know Invincible through the series. "We always change things and enhance things and lengthen stories and shorten stories, so there’s a lot of big differences in this show. But to have something that's completely original and completely new, you know, hasn't happened a lot in the series up to this point," Kirkman said. "And so this is something that you know is wholly original to the show. And I think that's going to be really cool, how it fits into the story, and how it weaves into the overall tapestry of the Viltrumite War. You'll just have to find out." To hone in on the importance of this new storyline, despite not being featured in the comics, Racioppa added: "But we can promise you there's no episode of Invincible that you can skip. Everything's connected. Everything affects our characters. Everything changes the story as it goes forward. So it's definitely an important episode in the season." If the last seasons are anything to go by, both Kirkman’s and Racippa's words will definitely run true. Thanks to the comic’s original creator being so involved with the series adaptation, appropriate adjustments that improve the storytelling but still hold true to the source material can easily be made. For instance, Nolan and Debbie’s relationship in season 1 was given much more weight before the big fight between Omni-Man and Mark — giving the fallout a far larger impact at the time and in later seasons. View oEmbed on the source website Even recently, gender-swapping Shrinking Rae for the show, changing her fate to survive her original death by the Lizard League’s Komodo Dragon, ended up becoming one of the best changes, thanks to her new character development shown in season 3. Despite season 4 going deeper into some of the comic’s bigger and wackier stories; Dinosaurus, Universa, the preparation for the Viltrumuite War with the Coalation of Planets; if anyone could make an extra story about Damien Darkblood fit into an already packed bunch of episodes, it's Kirkman and Racioppa. Invincible season 3 is available to stream in full now on Prime Video – you can sign up now for a free 30-day Prime Video trial. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who fans stunned by game-changing 13 and Yaz moment in new story
Despite plenty of chemistry, heartbreaking confessions, and touching moments, Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill) and the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) certainly faced a bumpy road throughout their blossoming – but ultimately bittersweet – romance in Doctor Who. Following the slow burn will-they-won’t-they arc throughout season 13 (Doctor Who: Flux), the pair finally admitted the true nature of their feelings in the subsequent 2022 specials Eve of the Daleks and Legend of the Sea Devils. However, despite this, the pair never officially kissed on screen. But Thasmin fans will certainly be pleased to know that their pair’s latest audio adventure – in Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Violet Hour – has finally resolved that with a game-changing moment. In The Violet Hour, the fifth instalment in The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures by Big Finish, the Doctor and Yaz travel to 1920s London to investigate the puzzling murder of a medium. And in one key moment, Yaz seemingly kisses the Doctor to try to bring her back from another dimension. “A surprise?” Yaz is instructed. “OK. One surprise coming up!” followed by the sound of a kiss. “Oh, I say!” a male doctor responds. "My mouth feels funny... Did you punch me or something?" 13 exclaims as she wakes up, while Yaz retorts: “Yeah, something like that." There’s no denying that many fans were left disappointed with how the Thasmin storyline ended in the live-action series, with the heartbreaking revelation in Legend of the Sea Devils seen as a last-minute, tokenistic development between the pair. Despite the emotional "I wish this could go on forever" beach scene, there was a disheartening lack of a major romantic moment for the Doctor and Yaz, with the sapphic sci-fi love story – the first for the iconic character – falling flat in its depiction. This reflects an all-too-common trend that queer love stories often face, particularly in sci-fi and fantasy. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. However, Thasmin fans are undoubtedly overjoyed with the latest development between the duo, with plenty taking to social media to share their surprise and delight. One fan commented: “Yaz kissed 13!!! We did it thassies! WE GOT A THASMIN KISS!!💙💙” Another added: “thasmin kiss in 2026 but 13 doesn’t know it happened and yaz will never tell her oh the yearning lesbianism of it all i missed them.” While another shared: “I’m actually never getting over this btw & 13 asking is she was punched… IF SHE ONLY KNEW!!!” Whovians have clearly been enjoying the pair’s latest adventures in the full-cast audio dramas, which are set between series 12 and 13 of Doctor Who, with many praising how Big Finish have “given Jodie and Mandip some justice” following their heartbreaking TV ending. Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker previously teased this possibility in an earlier interview with Radio Times, commenting: "And I think also it's just, never say never! We’ve got adventures to do." She went on to joke: "We could be [kissing] in the background!" In other words – Thasmin fans might want to keep the TARDIS doors open… just in case. Big Finish's Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Violet Hour is available now. Doctor Who will return at Christmas and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who icon Peter Purves reveals frustration and relief as lost episodes found: "My flabber has never been so gasted"
It’s a Hartnell-shaped surprise for Doctor Who stars and fans alike!
Doctor Who legend Peter Purves has reacted to the incredible recovery of two of his long-missing episodes after more than 60 years. The rediscovered episodes, which were found in a "ramshackle collection" of vintage films donated by a collector, both star William Hartnell, the first incarnation of the Doctor, and Purves, and are the first and third episodes from the third season of Doctor Who. The first episode, titled The Nightmare Begins, aired back in November 1965, while the third episode, Devil’s Planet, aired two weeks later. They were part of a “dark and gritty” 12-episode arc called The Daleks’ Master Plan, written by Terry Nation – the creator of the Daleks. This follows the discovery of the second episode, Day of Armageddon, by a BBC engineer back in 2004 – meaning the opening three episodes of the arc have finally been recovered. The BBC has since confirmed that restored versions of the episodes will be released on BBC iPlayer this Easter. Alongside Hartnell, the episodes also star Purves as the Doctor's companion Steven Taylor, Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon, Adrienne Hill as Katarina, and Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen. To mark the occasion, the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester invited Purves to view the recovered two episodes – originally under false pretences. Purves commented on the surprise reveal: "My flabber has never been so gasted." Purves added after the screening: "I'm speechless, knocked out. I'm not sure I even saw those programmes go out originally – I remember the stories, but having seen them, the pictures are unfamiliar to me. "I didn't remember the first one when I was still almost comatose following the injury I received fighting in Troy in the wonderful Mythmakers – which of course is missing." The former companion has previously spoken to Doctor Who Magazine about how he "gave up long ago" on the hope that missing episodes would ever be found. This reveal is therefore a particularly heartwarming moment for the actor. As of writing, a total of 95 episodes from the show's first six years are still missing, after the BBC notoriously erased or reused tapes between the 1960s and 1970s in an attempt to save on storage space and costs. Purves and Doctor Who historian Toby Hadoke – who originally lured the star to Leicester for the event – both noted that the rediscovery of these classic episodes will undoubtedly reignite fans’ interest in the earlier seasons of the iconic British sci-fi show. "It was the fourth appearance of the Daleks and it'll be exciting to fans for a lot of reasons," Purves explained. "The fans of Doctor Who are legion, and they seriously love the classic times. "I'm astonished these two wonderful episodes have finally turned up. So many of my episodes are missing – it's heartbreaking to me.” Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. The recovery is thanks to Film is Fabulous! (FIF), a charitable trust that preserves private historic film collections in the UK. This discovery marks the first missing episodes of Doctor Who to be announced since 2013. "These are gems in what was an eclectic and ramshackle collection, a lot of which hadn't been looked after as well as the Doctor Who had,” professor of cinema and television history at Leicester's De Montfort University, Justin Smith – chair of trustees at FIF – told the BBC. "The collector did recognise what he had, but how he acquired them has been lost to time. A lot of the films had suffered water damage and the cans had corroded.” These two historical episodes are particularly notable as the arc The Daleks’ Master Plan was not sold by the BBC to overseas broadcasters, as censors deemed it too violent. As a result, it was only originally broadcast in the UK. The two restored Doctor Who episodes will be screened at a special event organised by the FIF team on Saturday 4 April, with Purves as guest of honour. Fittingly, it will take place on the same day as the restored episodes become available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer. Doctor Who will return at Christmas and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Inside the incredible recovery of two missing Doctor Who episodes – archive expert "optimistic" more will be found
After two previously missing Doctor Who episodes were found this week, former BBC archive selector Sue Malden breaks down what led to the recovery.
After more than 60 years, two missing Doctor Who episodes have officially been recovered and will soon be made public. It's an announcement that Doctor Who fans worldwide have been awaiting – but not many have been waiting longer than Sue Malden, who was the BBC's first archive selector, and has been working on the recovery of missing Doctor Who episodes and other vintage television for decades. Now, Malden works with Film is Fabulous, a charitable trust run by film collectors, cinema lovers and vintage television enthusiasts which is dedicated to preserving vulnerable film collections across the UK, helping collectors, and educating about film as a medium. This week, Film is Fabulous announced that it had recovered two previously missing episodes of the Doctor Who story The Daleks' Master Plan – The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet – which will both be made available on BBC iPlayer in April. The two episodes were discovered in a private collection after the death of its owner, who will remain anonymous. Incredibly, it's the first discovery of missing Doctor Who episodes since 2013. Speaking exclusively to Radio Times after the news, Malden said: "Oh, it's so exciting. I've spoken so many times about Doctor Who and people always ask, 'Do you think there are any more to be found?' "You go from saying, 'I don't know, I think this is the last,' to, 'Well, they were all recorded, so actually they've got to be somewhere,' and then these pop up. View Green Video on the source website "Actually, it was six [episodes] that were found, but four of them are already in the BBC archive – but it's possible that they're better quality than the ones at the BBC. They're going to go back to the BBC anyway and be checked for that. But there's two of them that definitely are not there, which is incredible." The other four episodes that were found, which already exist in the BBC archive, are: The Survivors (episode 2 of The Daleks), The Escape (episode 3 of The Daleks), The Web Planet (episode 1 of The Web Planet), and The Executioners (episode 1 of The Chase). They will be returned to the BBC archive in the coming weeks. Now, a total of 95 of 253 episodes from the show's first six years are missing, leaving 26 stories incomplete, because the BBC erased or reused tapes in the 1960s and 1970s to save storage space and costs, before archiving policies were in place. So, how did these two episodes survive? "Basically, we found out that these are what were called cutting copies," Malden explained. "They were struck from the original negative to view the technical quality and see if anything could be improved, and to check and see if there's anything in them that might have caused offence to another broadcaster. "BBC Enterprises, as it was at the time, now BBC Studios, were always hoping to sell programmes, but they didn't want to cause offence. In particular, a lot of BBC material was sold in Australia, but stuff would be censored. And when these two cutting copies were viewed, the perception was that the Australians would find it too frightening. It's amazing to think that now!" Malden adds that the worry was that too many cuts would be made in the episodes, so the BBC did not attempt to sell them in Australia. "So these cutting copies were just, presumably, put aside, and who knows what happened to them then?" she adds. "They probably were part of the holdings of the team who worked in Villiers House for the BBC, whether they put them in a skip, left them in a cupboard, gave them to someone to take, who knows? How they got from there to this old collector, we don't know how he acquired them, but we know they're probably last seen in about 1965 in Villiers House." In an amazing full-circle moment, Peter Purves, who stars as Steven Taylor in the two episodes alongside William Hartnell's First Doctor, was invited to view them this week, initially under false pretences. It was only when he arrived that he discovered the news, and he later told the BBC: "My flabber has never been so gasted." Malden said: "Someone from Film is Fabulous rang me yesterday to say what a fabulous time it was. It was so emotional. Apparently, Peter was quite overwhelmed. He must have been absolutely stunned, suddenly to find why he'd been lured there. But the memories it must have brought back for him would have been fantastic." Purves has been open about his frustration with the BBC for erasing the episodes – and it's a feeling that Malden understands and shares. "[It's] incredibly frustrating, not just about Doctor Who but about many of the productions that the BBC put out, particularly in the '50s, '60s, even in the '70s, things that weren't saved," she explained. "But through other work with the International Federation of Television archives, I've realised the BBC wasn't alone. Every broadcaster was faced with the same issues and problems, that the videotape could be recorded over. It would save money if you did that." She adds: "You can understand why they made those sort of decisions back then... It doesn't make it any better that these programmes haven't survived, but at least we know why, and can understand what the processes were in the past, and hopefully we've all learned now. "And, with so many channels and opportunities to re-show programmes, the whole scenario has changed now. So I think most programmes in television archives are going to be kept, but it's so sad that some weren't." For Malden and the rest of the Film is Fabulous! team, it's crucial that the episodes are going to be made publicly available on BBC iPlayer. "To us, it's really important, because we know people have collected things, and if they do hand them over, there's a huge frustration that there isn't an opportunity to see them and again for the fans," she points out. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. "So that's quite an important part of Film is Fabulous's philosophy, that if things are found, we try and do as much as we can to make sure they're seen. So we do put on events where found programmes are shown. This is the first time that something that's been found is being shown on iPlayer and that's absolutely brilliant. "It's really quite an achievement to be able to publicise that these have been found, to whet people's appetite, and then they can see them [in April], which I think is brilliant." And, while there are still 95 episodes missing, Malden is holding out hope that all of them could one day be recovered. "I'd like to hope that," she said. "I'm sure they were all recorded at some time, so there's a strong chance that they're about the place somewhere, and the sooner we can find them, the better." As for how that could happen? Malden is hoping that the news of this recovery will encourage collectors to look closely at what they have in their collections. "Obviously, collectors are human beings with all their different foibles or whatever, but certainly from talking with collectors and using this as an example, quite often people don't really know what they've got in the collection," she points out. "This is where John [Franklin, of Film is Fabulous!] and I started from in the first place – that collectors were not making lists of what they'd got. "So if they became ill, their family had nothing to go on. All they could see were piles of cans and would be tempted to throw them away. So I suspect there could well be people with stuff in their collection that they don't know what it is. "And the other thing, which is incredibly frustrating, is sometimes people just re-can things, so the label on the can might not actually be what is in the can. So for Film is Fabulous, we have to spend a lot of time double checking what the film is." She adds: "So I think it is quite likely that they could be in collections everywhere, and people not know what they've got. And with all this excitement, maybe it'll get collectors scurrying off making lists of what they hold, which is what the whole objective of Film is Fabulous was at the start. "Television people used to use film laboratories a lot for processing content, printing and developing negatives. It's possible there's piles of stuff in some old film laboratory somewhere. Who knows?" Looking to the future, Malden went on to say of this discovery: "It fills me with optimism that there is the possibility now of finding more, maybe not just Doctor Who, but other great television programmes that are missing." Doctor Who's recovered episodes, The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet, will be made available on BBC iPlayer in April. Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 release schedule – when is episode 4 on Apple TV?
The Monsterverse series is back for a new run of episodes.
We're now three episodes into the second season of Monsterverse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, with the latest instalment seeing Shaw, Keiko, Hiroshi and Kentaro going rogue in an attempt to find Titan X. Meanwhile, the episode also saw Cate struggling with feelings of guilt, and a long-buried secret being exposed. This second season, which once again stars father-son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell in a shared role across two timelines, has been helping to fill in the gap between big screen Monsterverse releases for fans, following Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and ahead of Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is coming next year. Joining both Russells in the series are Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Joe Tippett and Anders Holm, all of whom have returned from season 1. But when will the show's next episode be released on Apple TV, how many episodes are there in season 2 and what is the rest of the schedule for the full season? Read on for everything you need to know about the release schedule for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2. When will Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 4 be released? Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 is working to a weekly release schedule, and began on Friday 27 February on Apple TV. This means that episode 4 will be released in the on Apple TV on Friday 20 March. How many episodes will there be of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2? There will be a total of 10 episodes in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2. This is the same number of episodes are there was in season 1. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 release schedule Episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 will be released weekly. With the season having started on Friday 27 February, this means the finale will be released on Apple TV on Friday 1 May. The new season is arriving just over two years after season 1, which debuted its first episodes in November 2023. Here's a full breakdown of the release schedule for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 on Apple TV: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 1 – Friday 27 February 2026 (out now) Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 2 – Friday 6 March 2026 (out now) Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 3 – Friday 13 March 2026 (out now) Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 4 – Friday 20 March 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 5 – Friday 27 March 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 6 – Friday 3 April 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 7 – Friday 10 April 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 8 – Friday 17 April 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 9 – Friday 24 April 2026 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 episode 10 – Friday 1 May 2026 View Green Video on the source website Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 will continue on Apple TV on 20 March 2026 - sign up to Apple TV+ now. Add Monarch: Legacy of Monsters to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Classic Doctor Who lost episodes found at last after 60 years - and they will be available to watch in mere weeks
The episodes are both from the season 3 serial The Daleks' Master Plan.
In major news for Doctor Who fans, two of the sci-fi show's long missing episodes have just been uncovered, found in a deceased enthusiast's private collection. The episodes, both of which star William Hartnell as the First Doctor, were recovered by Film is Fabulous!, a charitable trust run by film collectors, cinema lovers, and vintage television enthusiasts. The primary objective of Film is Fabulous! is to ensure that vulnerable film collections held in the UK are preserved, when private film collectors and former industry professionals pass away, and since 2023, the team have preserved many private film collections. The two episodes which have been newly found are The Nightmare Begins, which was broadcast on 13 November 1965, and Devil’s Planet, which was broadcast on 27 November 1965. The estate of the deceased owner wishes that he remains anonymous. View oEmbed on the source website Both of these episodes were from the season 3 serial The Daleks’ Master Plan, written by Terry Nation, which also starred Peter Purves as Steven Taylor, Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon, Adrienne Hill as Katarina and Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen. The recovery of these episodes reduces the number of missing instalments to 95, and means that the first three instalments of a once totally missing 12-part story now exist. The two episodes will be screened at an upcoming special event, taking place on Saturday 4 April, with full details to be published shortly. Meanwhile, Film is Fabulous! have collaborated with BBC Archives to ensure that the original 16mm telerecordings are restored, meaning viewers will be able to watch them in the best possible condition on BBC iPlayer soon. The synopsis for The Nightmare Begins says: "The TARDIS lands on the planet Kembel and the Doctor goes to find help for his injured companion, Steven. He discovers that the Daleks are on Kembel and, together with the Guardian of the Solar System, Mavic Chen, are planning to conquer Earth." Meanwhile, the synopsis for Devil's Planet reads: "Having stolen the vital taranium core from the Daleks, the Doctor and his companions have escaped the planet Kembel in Mavic Chen’s spaceship. However, the Daleks immediately pursue them to Desperus, the penal planet, where mortal danger abounds." Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Invincible boss addresses major actor absence in season 4
Aaron Paul won't be returning as Powerplex.
Season 4 of Invincible is once again set to up the ante with the start of the Viltrumite War saga and its other unique stories, adapted from the comics. But one major change is coming in the shape of Aaron Paul, who won’t be rejoining the show as Powerplex — and the franchise’s creator has given us a bit more insight behind it all. Voiced by the Breaking Bad actor since the character's debut, Powerplex (aka Scott Duvall) was one of the show's most tragic figures. After being on a war path of revenge against Mark Grayson’s Invincible for the deaths of his sister and niece, Powerplex ends up going too far with his electrical powers against the hero, and accidentally kills his wife and infant child as well. Powerplex had lines in episodes spread throughout the rest of season 3, and it was initially assumed Aaron Paul would be back to voice the character in season 4 of Invincible, if the villain was returning. However, Paul revealed in a late 2025 episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast that although he was asked to come back for season 4, he declined the offer due to playing the character being "just way too grueling on [his] psyche". He even added that, due to the actor’s dedicated approach to the character, being Powerplex was a "skin [he] didn’t feel comfortable in". View Green Video on the source website When Radio Times asked Invincible co-showrunners and executive producers, Robert Kirkman (also Invincible’s creator) and Simon Racioppa, if they were surprised about Paul’s departure, they suggested that the actor declined to return based on logistics. Kirkman said: "Animation is a different animal. In live action, a lot of times, you have to change how things are written to expand roles and things to maintain having an actor stay on for a role. "In animation, there’s a little bit more freedom in following the actual story." Continuing, he added: "I think that if you look at the Powerplex character, he's still present, and he, you know, pops up from time to time, but having a real meaty episode that focuses on him, that's something where you can get Aaron Paul to come in and do a great performance — but it is sometimes difficult to have that same actor come in just for, you know, a scene or two here and there, mainly because of scheduling." "It's really difficult because you can't lock an actor in for animation and, you know, control their availability. So you're kind of at the whim of whatever movie or television show or other thing that they're doing, and our cast is filled with massively in-demand actors, and so there are going to be times here and there where, you know, they're just not going to be available." Across it's run, Invincible has become packed with incredibly famous actors, including Steven Yeun (Mark Grayson), JK Simmons (Omni-Man), Sandra Oh (Debbie Grayson), Walton Goggins (Cecil), Gillian Jacobs (Eve) and Seth Rogen (Allen the Alien). The animated series has become one of Amazon's most celebrated properties, with a fifth season already commissioned for release in 2027. In addition, a video game titled Invincible VS will release on 30 April, 2026, with the gameplay trailer giving us our first impression of how the newly cast Powerplex might sound. Invincible season 4 will be made available to stream on Amazon Prime from Wednesday, 18 March 2026. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Doctor Who writer explains how new revamp of "unloved" Peter Davison story will address "failings" of original version
Pete McTighe reveals how his team have revamped 1984's Warriors of the Deep to create a new, enhanced viewing experience.
Pitting the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) against the united force of the Silurians and the Sea Devils onboard an undersea military base, against the backdrop of a looming nuclear war... it sounds like perfect fodder for a classic Doctor Who adventure, but 1984's Warriors of the Deep has long been considered one of the weaker entries in the show's long history. It's possible that could be about to change, though – with a new special edition of the story available on the Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 21 Blu-ray set looking to repair its reputation by retroactively addressing some of the issues which impacted its production 42 years ago. Speaking at a BFI Southbank screening, Pete McTighe – writer on Doctor Who and spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, who also oversaw the revamp of this story – called Warriors of the Deep "quite an unloved story", adding that it was "was kind of crying out [to be revisited], purely because I actually felt there's a really, really good story buried in [...] the original version." McTighe explained: "We know from the history books that they were so challenged in terms of time in the studio. Pennant Roberts, the director, didn't have enough time to get all the coverage he wanted, so the battle scenes were just locked-off wide shots. They didn't have time to get the lighting right, so there's lots of issues… "In my opinion, a lot of the failings of it happened because they were so under pressure in the studio to to actually just finish the thing." The original plan for the special edition was simply to use modern visual effects to replace the Myrka – one of Doctor Who's less-convincing monsters – but this soon expanded to encompass a more thorough reworking, including shooting new footage. "Looking at the story, I felt there was so much more we could do with it," said McTighe. "It could be re-edited to be tighter. A lot of the battle sequences in Warriors of the Deep, they weren't able to get the coverage – so we decided that we would go back and reshoot bits… “There's a lot of really subtle fixes in there. There's a lot of shots in [the original] Part Four where Sea Devil heads are literally falling off in the background... they didn't have time to go and quickly straighten them, they had to keep shooting. So we've done things like cut around those, and replace heads where we needed to… there's a lot of shots in there that are kind of invisible as well as the obvious. “So it was a three-fold thing: replacing the Myrka, editing to just make the whole thing tighter, and then just spicing up the action sequences. So obviously the original is still there on the disc, because we all love the original, but there's an alternative viewing experience for you now, which is something quite different." McTighe also revealed that he and VFX supervisor Chris Thompson "spent a lot of time going back and forth" about the new version of the Myrka, for a surprising reason... "Chris's initial effects were actually a bit too good!" McTighe said. "I didn't want it to be a Jurassic Park monster suddenly turning up in Doctor Who, I wanted it to be something that felt like it could have actually been on the studio floor." The upcoming Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 21 Blu-ray includes a wealth of new bonus material, with several stories featuring updated special effects, including The Awakening, Frontios, Resurrection of the Daleks and The Caves of Androzani. Additional features include behind-the-scenes documentaries on Resurrection of the Daleks and The Twin Dilemma, a new audio commentary for The Awakening, and an In Conversation special with Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson and Matthew Waterhouse, hosted by Matthew Sweet. Fan favourites return too, including Behind the Sofa and a new instalment of The Doctor Who Escape Room. Other highlights include Look Who’s Boating with Peter Davison and Janet Fielding, 48 Hours with Fielding, Tales of the TARDIS (a 2023 re-edit of Earthshock), The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot with new commentary, plus HD galleries, info text, PDF archives and selected archive DVD extras. View oEmbed on the source website Doctor Who: The Collection: Season 21 set is currently scheduled for release on 16 March, 2026 and is available for pre-order now. Add Doctor Who to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" class="x_OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Star Trek is struggling to find its moment – and it might need to face up to a hard truth
As the franchise marks its 60th anniversary, its optimistic vision feels out of step with the current political mood.
Add Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to your watchlist There’s a scene late in the 1991 movie Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country where old warhorses Kirk and Spock wonder whether they’ve outlived their own usefulness. The film itself is a Cold War allegory that sees the once-adversarial Klingons brokering for peace, a situation that leaves the Enterprise crewmates confronting a galaxy that may no longer need them. It’s a sobering moment in a story that serves as a swan song for the original team. But it’s also a question that echoes today, not just for Kirk but for Star Trek itself. The underwhelming performance of latest offshoot Starfleet Academy in early Nielsen ratings, and the fact that no new series is currently in production, suggest a once-dominant sci-fi brand is struggling to capture the public imagination. Streaming fragmentation muddies the numbers, but the cultural temperature feels far cooler than in previous eras. A show that once defined television science fiction now feels strangely peripheral. But this could be more than just franchise fatigue. It may be that Star Trek’s worldview is simply out of step with the political mood. Because historically, the franchise tends to flourish at one particular kind of time: moments when the United States feels confident about the future. Just consider when Star Trek has previously thrived. It arrived amid the optimism of JFK’s “reach for the stars” rhetoric. It soared again with The Next Generation during Reagan’s “Morning in America” resurgence of the late 1980s and the post-Cold War triumphalism of Clinton’s 1990s. In short, Star Trek chimes when America believes the future belongs to it. Contrast that with the periods when it’s struggled. In the 1970s, distrust of institutions runs high after the Watergate scandal – and Star Trek exists mostly in reruns until the films revive it. Once we hit the 2000s and George W Bush’s war on terror, Star Trek again stumbles with the lacklustre Enterprise, which is axed after four seasons. There’s a sense here that when the prevailing culture becomes anxious or cynical, the show’s utopian tone can feel naïve and irrelevant. The exception is '90s spin-off Deep Space Nine, the one show willing to test Star Trek’s ideals rather than just celebrate them. With later seasons set during a time of war, Captain Benjamin Sisko is seen questioning the extent to which the Federation ought to sacrifice its principles to survive. View Green Video on the source website There’s real moral ambiguity here, but with Deep Space Nine airing alongside The Next Generation and later Voyager, the optimistic core of Star Trek was being protected elsewhere. Deep Space Nine could push boundaries because it wasn’t the shop window. Today, there’s no such protective glass. All of which brings us to 2026 and Donald Trump’s more aggressive posture on the world stage. With opinion polarised and faith in governments waning, Starfleet’s assumptions – cooperation, decency, consensus – feel increasingly distant from political reality. It may sound churlish to point this out in the year when Star Trek is marking its 60th anniversary, but none of the recent series (Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Starfleet Academy) have left a deep cultural footprint. Might this be because the Federation looks suspiciously like a benevolent superpower extending its reach across the galaxy – liberal internationalism with warp drive? At a time when US influence is contested, that metaphor leaves us with a prickle of unease. There’s a paradox at the heart of this. Yes, Star Trek can feel like an imperialist project, but it’s also aspirational. It shows what humanity might become. But optimism works best when it feels attainable. In moments where we feel jaded and sceptical, a perfect future can feel less like hope and more like denial. And so, just as the original Enterprise crew realised it was time to hand over the future in The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek perhaps ought to come to the realisation that it needs a pause. The franchise has survived dormant periods before and then returned when the public was ready to believe in its values once more. Perhaps the most Trek thing the brand could do right now is wait patiently for the future to catch up with it again.
Spoilers, sweetie! Why Doctor Who fans need to learn the joy of waiting
Fans are already fretting about casting and Christmas plot details. But the long wait is not a problem that needs solving.
Add Doctor Who to your watchlist It’s the early hours of Christmas Day 2007 and I’m woken by the sound of paper being torn in my son’s bedroom. Stumbling half-dazed to where he ought to have been sleeping, I’m met instead by the sight of discarded wrapping and an action figure of David Tennant clutched triumphantly in my young child’s hand. So excited was he by the prospect of Doctor Who toys arriving that he couldn’t wait until morning. But he was of primary-school age, so that anticipatory thrill was understandable – if slightly taxing for his dad, who’d been wrestling with Sellotape and gift tags until close to midnight. At the time, I did, admittedly, feel robbed of precious sleep. But looking back, I should have been grateful that the youngest Doctor Who fan in our house had at least managed to contain his excitement until the clock ticked over to the 25th of December. Because in 2026, Doctor Who fandom is in danger of hyping itself into a state of insensibility a full nine months before Christmas. Granted, the most recent episode of the BBC sci-fi series – which saw Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper – left audiences with several questions. Chief among them: whether Piper, who was once companion Rose Tyler, is really playing the Doctor at all. Answers will no doubt arrive in December. But already, a faint air of online panic hangs over claims that the script for the upcoming Christmas special exists in several different versions. Theories about surprise regenerations fill speculative “news” articles, while a supposed casting delay is seized upon as proof that the show must somehow be in disarray. It has become a depressingly familiar pattern. The moment there is a gap in information, the vacuum fills with confident declarations that Doctor Who has entered the disaster zone – a conclusion eagerly amplified by sections of the press whose broader mission is to do down the BBC. But dare we consider the possibility that the production team may simply want to keep hold of its secrets, especially with such a long stretch between this year’s festive special being crafted and broadcast? These days, though, patience from the public feels about as likely as the Doctor landing the TARDIS exactly where he intended. We expect entertainment instantly. Entire seasons arrive in a single streaming drop. Autoplay hustles us into the next episode before the credits have barely got going. And the words “Coming soon”, which once carried a delicious sense of anticipation, now sound intolerably vague. Uncertainty used to feel like part of the production process. Now it’s treated as a system failure. Casting needs to be confirmed immediately. The moment an episode begins shooting, plot details are expected to enter the public domain. And if a Christmas special is still months away, the alien threat and the emotional pay-off ought to be announced in a press release before a director has even yelled, “Action”. Yet it wasn’t always like this. The gap between initial announcement and broadcast used to be where the pleasure lived. Before an episode aired, it existed in a state of pure possibility. But we seem to have forgotten how to relish a plotline that might still fizz off in any number of directions. Maybe Piper really is playing the Doctor and not Rose. Or perhaps Rose and the Doctor somehow changed places when he regenerated. The current instinct, though, is not to enjoy this imaginative liminal zone but to exterminate it – like a Dalek on a rampage. The sooner a mystery is solved, the better. Which is slightly counterproductive when you consider that stories are built around the thrill of not knowing. And look, I get it. Doctor Who has always been an immersive jigsaw and its fans have grown used to piecing together its long history in fragments. Coupled with lingering uncertainty about the show’s next phase following the end of the BBC’s production deal with Disney, it’s understandable that dedicated viewers are now leaning into the future, impatient for the next milestone to arrive. But suspense isn’t a problem that needs fixing with the wave of a sonic screwdriver. Stories – like life – are destined to unfold in time (and space). And the hush that surrounds a Christmas special isn’t a frustrating broken link. It’s the moment when anticipation grows and imaginations spark. People are forever wishing their lives forward. Children want to be older; adults can’t wait for the weekend. But perhaps we should heed the warning of River Song, whose catchphrase of “Spoilers!” is a rebuke to the Doctor whenever he gets too curious about his own future. Instead of demanding answers, we might try revelling in this brief stretch where we all become co-writers of the Time Lord’s next adventure. Because once the Christmas special airs, that creative space collapses. A thousand possibilities streamline into a single version of events. Speculation gives way to the dreaded star rating. What worked? What didn’t? And then comes the familiar, slightly hollow realisation: now we have to wait all over again. The finished episode can only unfold in one way. What we have now is the unwatched version – the one that still contains every permutation our minds can conjure. And perhaps that’s the real gift. Back in 2007, my son couldn’t bear to leave his Doctor Who presents untouched until dawn. The excitement of what might be inside proved too much to resist. But sometimes the unopened package is where the magic lives. And maybe – just maybe – the rest of us should learn to leave the wrapping paper intact for a little longer.
Silo season 3 release window teased by Rebecca Ferguson after filming wraps on entire series
The best is still to come in the Apple TV sci-fi.
Silo season 3 has been a long time coming, but star Rebecca Ferguson has hinted that the wait might finally be over soon. The wildly popular Apple TV sci-fi follows the inhabitants of an underground silo who have no idea how they came to be there, or what they survived in the outside world. Ferguson plays Juliette, a mechanic intent on discovering the truth. We know that season 3, which will move the series into a new chapter, is coming this year, but when asked specifically when we can expect it, Ferguson teased: "Maybe in the middle of this year." Ferguson's interview with Collider also confirmed that she has now wrapped on the fourth and final season of the show, with the actress adding: "I'm emotionally grieving, and I don't talk about it because I'll probably break down crying. I’m pushing it down." Season 3 is set to adapt Shift, the second book in Hugh Howey's Wool trilogy, which goes back in time to focus on how the silos were originally built, becoming a prequel to the first novel. The end of season 2 gave us a glimpse at where the story is going to go, introducing us to a journalist and a congressman who, if the series follows the novels, will be incredibly important to the story going forward. View Green Video on the source website However, Ferguson's involvement in season 3 suggests the show might diverge a little from what's in the novel, considering Juliette only appears very briefly in Shift. Previously speaking to RadioTimes.com, showrunner Graham Yost confirmed that we'll find out more about how exactly the silos came to be in future seasons, saying: "You'll also see something in the final episode that gives you just a hint of where we hope to go in the rest of the story, which is finding out how this happened." And, for anyone who's read the books, they'll know that the best is still to come. Silo seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Apple TV. Add Silo to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
It’s the early hours of Christmas Day 2007 and I’m woken by the sound of paper being torn in my son’s bedroom. Stumbling half-dazed to where he ought to have been sleeping, I’m met instead by the sight of discarded wrapping and an action figure of David Tennant clutched triumphantly in my young child’s hand. So excited was he by the prospect of Doctor Who toys arriving that he couldn’t wait until morning. But he was of primary-school age, so that anticipatory thrill was understandable – if slightly taxing for his dad, who’d been wrestling with Sellotape and gift tags until close to midnight. At the time, I did, admittedly, feel robbed of precious sleep. But looking back, I should have been grateful that the youngest Doctor Who fan in our house had at least managed to contain his excitement until the clock ticked over to the 25th of December. Because in 2026, Doctor Who fandom is in danger of hyping itself into a state of insensibility a full nine months before Christmas. Granted, the most recent episode of the BBC sci-fi series – which saw Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper – left audiences with several questions. Chief among them: whether Piper, who was once companion Rose Tyler, is really playing the Doctor at all. Answers will no doubt arrive in December. But already, a faint air of online panic hangs over claims that the script for the upcoming Christmas special exists in several different versions. Theories about surprise regenerations fill speculative “news” articles, while a supposed casting delay is seized upon as proof that the show must somehow be in disarray. It has become a depressingly familiar pattern. The moment there is a gap in information, the vacuum fills with confident declarations that Doctor Who has entered the disaster zone – a conclusion eagerly amplified by sections of the press whose broader mission is to do down the BBC. But dare we consider the possibility that the production team may simply want to keep hold of its secrets, especially with such a long stretch between this year’s festive special being crafted and broadcast? These days, though, patience from the public feels about as likely as the Doctor landing the TARDIS exactly where he intended. We expect entertainment instantly. Entire seasons arrive in a single streaming drop. Autoplay hustles us into the next episode before the credits have barely got going. And the words “Coming soon”, which once carried a delicious sense of anticipation, now sound intolerably vague. Uncertainty used to feel like part of the production process. Now it’s treated as a system failure. Casting needs to be confirmed immediately. The moment an episode begins shooting, plot details are expected to enter the public domain. And if a Christmas special is still months away, the alien threat and the emotional pay-off ought to be announced in a press release before a director has even yelled, “Action”. Yet it wasn’t always like this. The gap between initial announcement and broadcast used to be where the pleasure lived. Before an episode aired, it existed in a state of pure possibility. But we seem to have forgotten how to relish a plotline that might still fizz off in any number of directions. Maybe Piper really is playing the Doctor and not Rose. Or perhaps Rose and the Doctor somehow changed places when he regenerated. The current instinct, though, is not to enjoy this imaginative liminal zone but to exterminate it – like a Dalek on a rampage. The sooner a mystery is solved, the better. Which is slightly counterproductive when you consider that stories are built around the thrill of not knowing. And look, I get it. Doctor Who has always been an immersive jigsaw and its fans have grown used to piecing together its long history in fragments. Coupled with lingering uncertainty about the show’s next phase following the end of the BBC’s production deal with Disney, it’s understandable that dedicated viewers are now leaning into the future, impatient for the next milestone to arrive. But suspense isn’t a problem that needs fixing with the wave of a sonic screwdriver. Stories – like life – are destined to unfold in time (and space). And the hush that surrounds a Christmas special isn’t a frustrating broken link. It’s the moment when anticipation grows and imaginations spark. Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google. People are forever wishing their lives forward. Children want to be older; adults can’t wait for the weekend. But perhaps we should heed the warning of River Song, whose catchphrase of “Spoilers!” is a rebuke to the Doctor whenever he gets too curious about his own future. Instead of demanding answers, we might try revelling in this brief stretch where we all become co-writers of the Time Lord’s next adventure. Because once the Christmas special airs, that creative space collapses. A thousand possibilities streamline into a single version of events. Speculation gives way to the dreaded star rating. What worked? What didn’t? And then comes the familiar, slightly hollow realisation: now we have to wait all over again. The finished episode can only unfold in one way. What we have now is the unwatched version – the one that still contains every permutation our minds can conjure. And perhaps that’s the real gift. Back in 2007, my son couldn’t bear to leave his Doctor Who presents untouched until dawn. The excitement of what might be inside proved too much to resist. But sometimes the unopened package is where the magic lives. And maybe – just maybe – the rest of us should learn to leave the wrapping paper intact for a little longer. Doctor Who will return at Christmas and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Rick and Morty season 9 premiere date for Adult Swim confirmed – won't be "AI slop"
"Just Grade A organic slop, made by real humans."
If life doesn't feel chaotic enough right now, we've got good news for you – Rick and Morty will be back in full force for season 9 very soon. The premiere date for the new season of the adult animated comedy has been confirmed, and fans don't have too long to wait. New episodes will begin on Adult Swim on Sunday 24 May. The official synopsis for the new season teases: “Rick and Morty is back, baby! Season 9 is all certified bangers. No AI slop! Just Grade A organic slop, made by real humans with real human traits like back hair and cysts. Please watch, or we’ll have neglected our families for nothing.” Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim, added: “I know it’s my job to say that this show just keeps topping itself, but it also has the benefit of being true. "It’s kind of scary what this show unit is doing season over season – just pouring an absurd amount of talent and brilliance into these episodes. "From the first frame, you’re going to see great high‑concept insanity with some of the best character writing ever done. Again, it’s my job to say that, but it’s also true.” Some suitably chaotic first-look pictures have also been released for the upcoming instalment, which will see the return of voice actors Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, who have been at the forefront of the show since season 7. In the US, fans will be able to purchase new episodes from digital retailers the day after they air on Adult Swim. However, season 9 won't be available to stream until 31 August. When it launches in the UK and Ireland on 26 March, HBO Max will become the new home of Rick and Morty, taking over from Channel 4. Rick and Morty season 9 will begin on 24 May on Adult Swim. Add Rick and Morty to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 release date speculation and latest news
The first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has officially come to a close, and fans already have good news about the future of the series. A second season was renewed early, with the announcement made during the Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con back in 2024. With the two-part finale finally bringing back Tatiana Maslany as Anisha Mir, we can expect to see an even more conflicted Caleb heading into his sophomore year at Starfleet Academy. As executive producer and showrunner Alex Kurtzman originally mapped the series out to emulate a four-year college experience, the cadets will undoubtedly face bigger challenges – and new foes – in their second year aboard the USS Athena (NCC-392023). While we wait to see whether Paramount+ will greenlight a third season, here’s everything we know so far about Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2. Starfleet Academy season 2 release date speculation As of yet, there hasn’t been a confirmed release date for the second season of Starfleet Academy. However, production has now wrapped on the sophomore season at the Star Trek Stage at Pinewood Studios in Toronto, with the main cast sharing a number of emotional messages and behind-the-scenes videos on Instagram. Paramount+ has yet to announce official release dates for either Starfleet Academy season 2 or Strange New Worlds season 4. However, judging by the streamer’s previous staggered release schedules for the franchise, season 2 of Starfleet Academy is likely on track for an early 2027 release window. That would suggest a mid-to-late 2026 premiere for Strange New Worlds season 4, particularly as Paramount+ has historically scheduled its Star Trek offerings so that one show airs between January and March, with another running in the summer or autumn – avoiding two live-action series overlapping. Who could star in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2? While specific plot details have been kept closely under wraps, we do know that Alex Kurtzman wrote the series to emulate a four-year college experience for the cadets. That means season 2 will focus on the cadets’ sophomore year at Starfleet, so we can expect the main ensemble to return. Thanks to actor Karim Diané’s (Jay-Den Kraag) wrap video on Instagram, we also know that fans can look forward to more Tig Notaro, as the Discovery character will feature more prominently in the second season. Paul Giamatti also confirmed in an interview on the D-Con Chamber podcast that villain Braka will not appear in the second season. However, he did note that he “would love to return” if a third season is greenlit. The cast we’d expect to see return for Starfleet Academy season 2 is as follows: Holly Hunter as Captain/Chancellor Nahla Ake Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe Kerrice Brooks as Series Acclimation Mil (Sam) Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal Tig Notaro as Jett Reno Robert Picardo as The Doctor Gina Yashere as Lura Thok Oded Fehr as Admiral Vance Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly Tatiana Maslany as Anisha Mir Becky Lynch as Lieutenant McKenzie Ya Stephen Colbert as Starfleet Academy’s Digital Dean What could Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 be about? Following the explosive finale, there were certainly plenty of threads running throughout season 1 that could be further explored. Chief among them is the mystery of Anisha Mir and what really happened to her following her arrest by Starfleet, her subsequent escape, and her time on the run. We know that Braka was involved in her escape – but what really happened while Caleb was growing up? Speaking of Caleb, his divided loyalties will most definitely be tested going forward. Will he be forced to choose between his birth mother and his found family aboard Starfleet Academy? Another major question revolves around whether the Federation will forge a path to reunite with the wider universe – and whether it can help shift its reputation in the process. Meanwhile, with the pirate-esque Nus Braka out of the picture, the second season will undoubtedly introduce a new “big bad” for our cadets – and the Federation – to face. Speaking to TrekMovie.com about the show’s second season, star Bella Shepard (who plays cadet Genesis Lythe) commented: “Oh my gosh, so many things have changed, almost as a reflection to what our cadets went through in season 1. Our cadets are more tight knit in season 2 because their relationships are deeper, and I think we’re all experiencing that now in real life as well, because we’ve known each other for longer now.” While the series has currently only been greenlit for two seasons, it certainly seems that those working on the show aren’t planning on neatly wrapping things up just yet. Series creator and executive producer Gaia Violo also teased to TrekMovie.com: “It’s such a shocking ending, you do not want it to [end] – no, no!” When asked whether the season 2 finale - which Kurtzman directed himself - was written in a way that could tie up the series in case it wasn’t renewed, co-showrunner Noga Landau added: “Absolutely not. We have so much story to tell. If anything - yeah, it is not the end.” Is there a trailer for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2? Seeing as the second season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has just wrapped filming, there's no trailer just yet. However, we’ll update this page as soon as it drops! Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is streaming on Paramount+. Sign up to your seven-day Paramount+ free trial. Add Star Trek: Starfleet Academy to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 ending explained – How does the trial end?
Everyone is now back aboard the USS Athena, but that doesn't mean anyone is safe.
School's almost out for summer, or whatever constitutes a summer break aboard Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's USS Athena. This semester has flown by, especially as the final two episodes of the season are actually a two-parter that reunites Caleb (Sandro Rosta) with his mother after 16 years apart. As seen at the very start of the season, Caleb was separated from Anisha (Tatiana Maslany) when he was just a kid due in part to Holly Hunter’s officer Nahla Ake. That's why the captain has gone out of her way to help Caleb all season, to make up for this awful past trauma. By the end of last week's episode, Anisha was wounded after she helped Caleb's fellow cadets escape execution. Everyone is now back aboard the USS Athena, but that doesn't mean anyone is safe, not with Paul Giamatti’s obnoxious baddie Nus Braka back on the scene. And where does Anisha's allegiance really lie? Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 ending explained — How does the trial end? Braka has everyone's favourite crew on the ropes when the finale begins. Overlapping mines have prevented the ship from escaping, and there are 240 inhabited planets in the blast radius if one should go off. Not even the USS Discovery could jump through this using Mycelium Spores because that would trigger the bombs too. The skeleton crew that remains aboard surmises that the energy field surrounding these mines is being controlled by one signal. If they can isolate it and jam it, they can deactivate the entire network of bombs. They just need to do so without disrupting it, because that would lead to one big BOOM. The Venari Ral warp in then with Braka at the helm. Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) hides the first year cadets below deck as the ship's shielding is pummeled to breaking point, allowing Braka to teleport onboard. "It was always going to be me in this chair," he laughs, leaving his stinkiness all over Nahla's nice Captain's furniture. Braka is very surprised to see Anisha still alive, and what's even more shocking is that she's not saying much of anything. "You were awfully chatty when I busted you out of prison two years ago," he points out before adding: "What are the only two people in the universe who hate me most doing together?" Before Braka takes Anisha and the Captain away, Nahla leaves the Doctor (Robert Picardo) with a cryptic message: "Leap clear of all that is corporeal and make yourself greater." Braka is obviously an idiot because this all passes him by. That's just as well because Nahla was actually telling the Doctor to run training mission Hermes 19. What is that? We don't have time to figure it out because the Venari Ral open fire then and destroy the USS Athena completely. Boy, that was a short finale… Except, the show's title card suddenly appears over the debris as it's revealed all the broken pieces of ship that remain are actually holograms initiated by Hermes 19. The decoy worked. Everyone on board is still alive and the Venari Ral have left without realising their mistake. The ship itself has seen better days, however, as its structural integrity continues to fail. As if that wasn't bad enough, there's something wrong with the Doctor. He's malfunctioning, repeating weird strings of words like "There's glue in the shoe." The gang come together to try and come up with solutions, spearheaded by Reno who uses this life and death situation as a teaching moment. Never mind the "trillions of lives" at risk. Teachers are still gonna teach, damnit! Meanwhile, the Captain finds herself on trial, even appearing on a Venari Ral news broadcast that's being sent across the quadrant. Before shit goes down though, she reassures Anisha that Caleb is safe. Braka recounts a story from his childhood, one which explains his hatred for the Federation and how he ended up the way he did. Basically, Braka's father sent flares up to Federation ships who hit his family with missiles in return. "From my colony, eight of us survived." "So today," Braka continues, "We’re putting the Federation on trial for their lives and crimes against democracy. I never got a real trial and neither did the woman next to me (Anisha)." Braka decides that Anisha alone "will decide if the Federation deserves a reprieve," presumably so he comes across as impartial. Of course, Braka knows that Anisha hates The Federation and Nahla especially because she's the one who separated Anisha from her son. As Giamatti showboats it for the cameras, Nahla pushes back, claiming that Braka's opening statement is wrong because The Federation would never attack civilians. "But who writes the history?" asks Braka. Oh, good point. "Liberators don’t take hostages," counters Nahla. Oh, also a good point. "But you took a kid and put him in the uniform of his mothers jailers." Ooh, snap! Nahla quickly changes the subject by pointing out that Federation shuttles "had to make hard choices in impossible times". Anisha chimes in then, attacking Nahla for her role in separating mother and son at such a young age: "I want you to have no shelter from this [guilt], to feel it every day like cold or hunger or broken bones. I want it there when you close your eyes, when you’re laughing or grieving. I want you to see me. It's the only way I get justice and the only way I get to dance on your grave." Back on the USS Athena, the cadets bond in the face of death, and in doing so, they suddenly find a solution. It turns out The Doctor has been trying to communicate a solution this whole time, even though he can no longer articulate sentences properly. With surprising speed, they surmise Doc was referring to Ruben particles. View Green Video on the source website By reducing these particles, simulations show a way to transmit the algorithm so they can bring down the wall of the signal completely. They just need the right frequency. Oh wait, Tarima (Zoë Steiner) just found it. As the others try to find a way to narrow down Braka's location, Caleb and Tarima get cutesy in a psychic room together. Just your everyday Betazoid fling, really. During their chat, Caleb reminds Tarima how she used her psychic ability to connect with his mother. "Can you find her again through me?" asks Caleb. "Then we can find Braka." Everything's coming together, which makes this the perfect moment for Reno to chip in with an inspiring speech: "As far as final exams go, this is a doozy. Pass we live, fail, we're all dead." Oh. OK. We then cut back to the trial, which is already ending apparently. "You wanna dance on my grave?" asks Nahla. "There’s another grave… The pilot you killed," she points out, reminding Anisha of what she and Braka got up to on that ship together all those years ago. "He was from Earth, Hawaii," Nahla continued. "We served together… He was a lousy singer. That supply ship was supposed to be his last rotation before he retired. What did you think was gonna happen when you boarded that shuttle? You both had weapons and were prepared to use them." Braka claims he shot the pilot in self defence, so Nahla continues to interrogate Anisha instead, asking if she could have stopped him. "'Maybe' is not enough. In that moment, you changed the lives of his kids as well, and your son’s life. So did I. We have to live with it, Anisha claims to hate Nahla still, proclaiming her guilty at the trial (even though she's supposed to represent The Federation? It's all a bit of a mess, if we're being honest.) Caleb shows up then, just before the trial is about to end. Braka lets him talk to save face in front of all the cameras broadcasting everything as it unfolds. He's there to save Nahla, yes, but he's also buying the Athena crew time to finish deactivating the mines. "Mum," says Caleb. "I would ask at this minute for you to listen… I can be more than just a 'space rat' or a 'lost son.' I can be part of a community." Accepting this community at Starfleet Academy felt like a betrayal at first, a betrayal to his mother and everything she stood for. But the lessons he learned there, the friends he made… "I've laughed more in the last year than in my entire life. But I was a coward and I fought them. I did horrible things and they deserved so much better. I tried to push them away, but they didn’t let me because they all live for something bigger than themselves." To be fair, this is all coming from a genuine place, as is Caleb's respect for Nahla. "[Nahla] believed in me, mum. She’s never given up on us. She listens… I know what happened 16 years ago. She taught me I can’t stay there forever. I can be part of this world without forgetting where I come from, forgetting you... I’ve been searching for you my whole life, looking for a home for so long and now I think I finally found it." Anisha cries, realising that her son has finally found happiness in his life. Sensing that the tide is shifting, Braka tries to laugh it all off as brainwashing. Nahla then brings up strontium, of all things, a fuel source that could be found on Braka's planet. Caleb explains that it's cheap, but lethal, burning red when it explodes. Earlier on, Braka mentioned that The Federation rained down "red hellfire" on his settlement, but their weapons are always green. As such, Nahla realised that The Federation didn't attack. It was the weapon used by Braka's father which burned up the atmosphere because it was made of strontium. "Vicious lies!" screams Braka. "Lies! Lies and propaganda!" "You were a kid," says Nahla. Then she turns to the cameras using Holly Hunter's trademark charisma and husky voice. "Is this the person you want to follow into the future? An angry child with a finger on the trigger whose entire worldview is based on a lie?" Spectators watching the trial in person begin to leave, presumably to go rewatch Anatomy of a Fall instead. Braka gets desperate, threatening to blow up all the mines with a trigger. What he doesn't know, however, is that the Athena's crew are doing all they can to deactivate them at the same time. We see a counter reach 93 per cent, and then he presses the button. That's a misdirect, obviously, because a Star Trek show like this was never going to casually wipe out trillions of people in one fell swoop. Yep, the counter reached 100% before Braka pulled the trigger, which means that the mine field has been nullified. And with that, other Federation ships are suddenly free to come in and arrest Braka for his crimes against the quadrant. Maybe he would have gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids. Anisha punches Braka as he's led into custody, because her allegiance will flip on a dime, it seems. "Close your eyes and you'll see me in your nightmares!" he screams. And you know what? With all those gross prosthetics he's sporting, Braka might just be right. We then cut to one last sequence where Caleb goes over future summer plans with his mum. "Part of me hopes you won’t wanna come back," says Anisha, "but I know you will". Sounds harsh, but really she's just a bit reluctant about him and the whole Starfleet Academy thing. Anisha tells Caleb how proud she is of him then. "I know this is your home, but you always have another one here." Yep, she touched her heart as she said it. Totes adorbs. Caleb runs off to give his mum the tour then as everyone else at Starfleet Academy enjoys the end of year celebration that's unfolding aboard the ship. He then says some cute stuff about home and trusting people in his first ever cadets log entry as we watch the crew celebrate the end of a successful season year. Don't be scared though. A second season of Starfleet Academy has already been confirmed, so there's plenty more classroom hijinks to come once the summer break comes to an end. Just don't be surprised if this "summer break" takes a year or so to conclude in real time. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is streaming now on Paramount+. Add Starfleet Academy to your watchlist on the <a id="OWA8b702c45-bee9-94e4-f018-57518e78041b" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/download-the-app/?af_xp=custom&pid=website&c=editorial_content&is_retargeting=true&af_reengagement_window=30d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-outlook-id="449c28d9-909e-4aab-b6b8-153454f55d5e" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more. Check out more of our Sci-fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
There’s a scene late in the 1991 movie Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country where old warhorses Kirk and Spock wonder whether they’ve outlived their own usefulness. The film itself is a Cold War allegory that sees the once-adversarial Klingons brokering for peace, a situation that leaves the Enterprise crewmates confronting a galaxy that may no longer need them. It’s a sobering moment in a story that serves as a swan song for the original team. But it’s also a question that echoes today, not just for Kirk but for Star Trek itself. The underwhelming performance of latest offshoot Starfleet Academy in early Nielsen ratings, and the fact that no new series is currently in production, suggest a once-dominant sci-fi brand is struggling to capture the public imagination. Streaming fragmentation muddies the numbers, but the cultural temperature feels far cooler than in previous eras. A show that once defined television science fiction now feels strangely peripheral. But this could be more than just franchise fatigue. It may be that Star Trek’s worldview is simply out of step with the political mood. Because historically, the franchise tends to flourish at one particular kind of time: moments when the United States feels confident about the future. Just consider when Star Trek has previously thrived. It arrived amid the optimism of JFK’s “reach for the stars” rhetoric. It soared again with The Next Generation during Reagan’s “Morning in America” resurgence of the late 1980s and the post-Cold War triumphalism of Clinton’s 1990s. In short, Star Trek chimes when America believes the future belongs to it. Contrast that with the periods when it’s struggled. In the 1970s, distrust of institutions runs high after the Watergate scandal – and Star Trek exists mostly in reruns until the films revive it. Once we hit the 2000s and George W Bush’s war on terror, Trek again stumbles with the lacklustre Enterprise, which is axed after four seasons. There’s a sense here that when the prevailing culture becomes anxious or cynical, the show’s utopian tone can feel naïve and irrelevant. The exception is '90s spin-off Deep Space Nine, the one show willing to test Star Trek’s ideals rather than just celebrate them. With later seasons set during a time of war, Captain Benjamin Sisko is seen questioning the extent to which the Federation ought to sacrifice its principles to survive. View Green Video on the source website There’s real moral ambiguity here, but with DS9 airing alongside the Next Generation and later Voyager, the optimistic core of Star Trek was being protected elsewhere. DS9 could push boundaries because it wasn’t the shop window. Today, there’s no such protective glass. All of which brings us to 2026 and Donald Trump’s more aggressive posture on the world stage. With opinion polarised and faith in governments waning, Starfleet’s assumptions – cooperation, decency, consensus – feel increasingly distant from political reality. It may sound churlish to point this out in the year when Star Trek is marking its 60th anniversary, but none of the recent series (Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, Starfleet Academy) have left a deep cultural footprint. Might this be because the Federation looks suspiciously like a benevolent superpower extending its reach across the galaxy – liberal internationalism with warp drive? At a time when US influence is contested, that metaphor leaves us with a prickle of unease. There’s a paradox at the heart of this. Yes, Star Trek can feel like an imperialist project, but it’s also aspirational. It shows what humanity might become. But optimism works best when it feels attainable. In moments where we feel jaded and sceptical, a perfect future can feel less like hope and more like denial. And so, just as the original Enterprise crew realised it was time to hand over the future in the Undiscovered Country, Star Trek perhaps ought to come to the realisation that it needs a pause. The franchise has survived dormant periods before and then returned when the public was ready to believe in its values once more. Perhaps the most Trek thing the brand could do right now is wait patiently for the future to catch up with it again. Star Trek is available to watch on Paramount+. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/offers/?benefitId=paramountplusgb&ref_=DVM_PDS_CHN_UK_mi_C_mkw_sNynrT7ZC-dc_pcrid_637893181401&mrntrk=slid__pgrid_143491579803_pgeo_9045946_x__adext__ptid_kwd-1210995054370&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAs5i8BhDmARIsAGE4xHwTfGgy5aYKkYxNQV68UYUZhVWUr2bVS4o-EfnvpowOvplyXMbKqXAaArmvEALw_wcB&tag=radtim0b-21&ascsubtag=radiotimes-2191954" target="_blank" rel="noopener sponsored">Sign up to your seven-day Paramount+ free trial. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
For all Mankind season 5 release date, cast, trailer, latest news
The alternate history drama has hooked a loyal fanbase.
Season 5 of For All Mankind is almost upon us, with humanity on the brink of a brand-new frontier as deeper exploration of the solar system becomes a reality. The latest instalment in the alternate 21st-century timeline also ushers in a growing interplanetary conflict between the Happy Valley colony and the nations of Earth, while a brand-new generation takes centre stage. "Our fascination with the Soviet space programme has grown with every season of For All Mankind," said executive producers Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi. "The more we learned about this secret city in the forests outside Moscow, where Soviet cosmonauts and engineers worked and lived, the more we wanted to tell this story of the other side of the space race." "We could not be more excited to continue building out the alternate history universe of For All Mankind with our partners at Apple and Sony." Ahead of the upcoming return mission to Mars, here’s our debrief for For All Mankind season 5. For All Mankind season 5 release date The countdown to launch is officially underway, as the fifth instalment of the hit sci-fi show lands on Apple TV+ on Friday 27 March 2026. For All Mankind season 5 will consist of ten episodes, which will be released weekly, with the series continuing through to the season finale on Friday 29 May 2026. New episodes are typically available to watch from 8am UK time on the streaming service. What will For All Mankind season 5 be about? The next entry jumps another decade into the future to 2012, with the fallout of the Goldilocks asteroid heist further deepening the interplanetary friction, as the trailer teases a growing conflict between the two factions. Happy Valley - the growing base on Mars - is now a bustling colony fighting for independence after acquiring a certain valuable asteroid in the season four finale. And yet, there’s a revolution brewing on the red planet, with an elderly Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) encouraging his grandson Alex Baldwin (Sean Kaufman) to rally the younger generation and take back the planet from Earth’s control - and the Mars peacekeeper security force. Meanwhile, new planets and new frontiers are potentially on the horizon with deeper solar system exploration thanks to the Mars base, with Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) and Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu) looking to the stars. "Our mission is to find life in the far reaches of the solar system" Aleida teases in the trailer. While plenty of sci-fi shows and films have explored interplanetary missions and colonies on Mars and the Moon, with the fifth season of For All Mankind particularly mirroring The Expanse, could the Apple TV+ series finally take one giant leap for mankind and explore the unexplored? "Season 5 is a lot about how that shifting of the decks really changes things," showrunner Matt Wolpert said in an interview with Inverse. "As technology makes Mars more liveable and it becomes a bigger colony, how does that change the dynamics of Mars and Earth and the solar system? I think it’s really going to be an epic season, and I think people will really love it." For All Mankind season 5 full cast With the fifth season of the Apple TV+ sci-fi series jumping ahead another decade, the cast has expanded with several younger additions, as a brand-new generation is set to make their mark on Mars. Longest-serving cast members Joel Kinnaman (as Ed Baldwin) and Wrenn Schmidt (as Margo Madison) will return, with both actors aged up to reflect the series’ latest time jump. Helios founder Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) is also set to return on Happy Valley, alongside Aleida Rosales (Coral Peña) and Kelly Baldwin (Cynthy Wu). Meanwhile, five new series regulars have been added in the form of The Killing star Mireille Enos, The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Sean Kaufman, Bottoms star Ruby Cruz, Homeland’s Costa Ronin and Royalteen star Ines Asserson. The cast of For All Mankind season 5 includes: Joel Kinnaman as Edward 'Ed' Baldwin Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson (will not return as a series regular though) Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldwin Casey W Johnson as Danny Stevens Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales Edi Gathegi as Dev Ayesa Toby Kebbell as Miles Dale Mireille Enos as Celia Boyd Costa Ronin as Leonid "Lenya" Polivanov Sean Kaufman as Alex Poletov Baldwin Ruby Cruz as Lily Dale Ines Asserson as A.J. Jarrett Is there a trailer for For All Mankind season 5? Yes - you can check out the action-packed trailer below: View oEmbed on the source website For All Mankind is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Star City: Release date, cast and latest news for the For All Mankind spin-off
Star City, the For All Mankind spin-off, continues to look promising.
Star City, a For All Mankind spin-off from Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D Moore, is an upcoming sci-fi show from Apple following the premise of an alt-history retelling of the space race. Its original show dared to ask the question: what if the space race ended with the Soviet Union putting the first man on the moon instead of the US? Star City, however, is taking a different approach. Instead of focusing on the space race as a whole, the series will delve into the lives of the people who made it possible for the Soviet space programme to succeed. The risks, the rewards, and everything in between. Everything it took to make it possible for the Soviet Union to take the first big step for mankind. And we finally got our first glimpse at the major players and settings of the USSR in the atmospheric first-look stills. But when will the series arrive on Apple TV? Read on for all we know so far. Star City release date speculation For All Mankind fans won’t have to wait long for the next chapter in the expanding Apple TV franchise, as the series is set to debut with a two-episode premiere on Friday 29 May 2026. That’s right - Star City will launch globally on the same day as the For All Mankind season 5 finale, neatly tying the two shows together. The eight-episode season will then follow a weekly release schedule, continuing through to the finale on Friday 10 July 2026. New episodes are expected to be available to stream from around 8am UK time on Apple TV. Who will be in the cast of Star City? Star City already has a jam-packed cast of star-studded talent going for it, with big names like Rhys Ifans (House of the Dragon) and Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl). Ifans’s Chief Designer is a major player in the series, described as "the driving force behind the Soviet Space Program", while Martin’s Lyudmilla Raskova is another key figure as the head of the KGB surveillance department at Star City. Meanwhile, Sasha, Anastasia and Valya are all cosmonauts within the Soviet space programme, Irina is a recent hire in the surveillance department, and Sergei is a young, brilliant engineer working at Soviet Ground Control. Here's the full cast that we know so far: Rhys Ifans Anna Maxwell Martin Solly McLeod Agnes O'Casey Alice Englert Adam Nagaitis Josef Davies Ruby Ashbourne Serkis Priya Kansara Check back regularly, as we'll be updating this guide with more information about the cast's characters as details about the production, story, and more are announced. What is Star City about? As a For All Mankind spin-off, Star City has already revealed itself to be a show about the space race. However, unlike the original show, Star City will focus more on the Soviets who helped make it possible for the Soviet Union to put the first man on the moon, rather than the US. Described as a "propulsive paranoid thriller," the eight-episode series shifts the viewpoint from the US-centric For All Mankind to the Soviet Union’s perspective. Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and Ronald D Moore explore the story from behind the Iron Curtain, spotlighting the cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers who were integral to advancing the Soviet space programme. The series is expected to delve into the speculative USSR Moonshot and the secret Soviet lunar plan, which remained classified until the 1990s. Is there a trailer for Star City? Not yet! We'll keep this page updated with any footage that comes our way. In the meantime, check out the original show's For All Mankind trailer for the upcoming fifth season. View oEmbed on the source website Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to <a id="menurjqo" class="fui-Link ___1q1shib f2hkw1w f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1s184ao f1mk8lai fnbmjn9 f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1nev41a f1h8hb77 f1lqvz6u f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" title="https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/" href="https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Link The Radio Times Podcast">The Radio Times Podcast.
Star Trek showrunner offers exciting update on potential new spin-off set to revisit iconic era
There are more stories to be told on board the USS Enterprise.
While the future of Star Trek looks a little uncertain at the moment, one of the franchise's showrunners has revealed he's not exactly short of ideas for where it could go. Henry Alonso Myers, who is the co-showrunner of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds alongside Akiva Goldsman, has confirmed that the two of them have pitched their new idea, which they're calling Star Trek: Year One, to Paramount+ and it's now "in their hands". Year One would act as a sequel to Strange New Worlds, following Paul Wesley's James T Kirk on board the USS Enterprise. “Yeah, we we’ve brought them a lot," Myers recently told TrekMovie. "We’ve done a lot to give to them. It’s in their hands right now. They’re taking a look at it, trying to decide it. I mean, there’s a lot of love for our show over there, and obviously a lot of love for Star Trek.” He added: "We think it would be a great [show], it’s the next thing for Star Trek, we think, in the story that we’ve been telling. But it’s out of our hands." Goldsman has previously said that the final episode of Strange New Worlds (which will end with its fifth season) will show Kirk’s first day of command. Year One would then fill in the gaps in his story, before we see him in The Original Series episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. View Green Video on the source website It's thought that other cast members, including Ethan Peck (Spock), Jess Bush (Christine Chapel), Martin Quinn (Scotty), and Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura) could also join the show. Strange New Worlds wrapped on its fifth and final season late last year - although it still has two seasons left to air. Season 4 is expected to air sometime this year. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Rufus Sewell's sci-fi series based on iconic novel finds new streaming home
The four-season sci-fi is based on Philip K Dick's classic novel.
More than a decade after it first premiered, Rufus Sewell's sci-fi series The Man in the High Castle has now found a new home in the UK on Netflix. Loosely based on Philip K Dick's 1962 novel, the alt-history dystopia follows a world in which Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan won World War II and are in control of the United States. But a mysterious film portraying a different world inspires one particular woman to resist. Alexa Davalos stars in the sci-fi, which originally streamed on Prime Video and ran from 2015 to 2019, alongside Rupert Evans, Luke Kleintank, DJ Qualls, Joel de la Fuente, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and Rufus Sewell. View oEmbed on the source website Speaking to Deadline in 2019, when it was announced the show's fourth season would be its last, producer Isa Dick Hackett (who is also the author's daughter), spoke about the prescience of the story. "I think of all times to be dramatising this novel, there may have been no better than now, this anti-fascist tale, and so I think during this fraught time, I think that it has been not lost on anyone on this show that this is a particularly important time to be, you know, having this discourse about the dangers of fascism," she said. Executive producer David Zucker was also asked about whether the series could live on in some way, adding: "It is very provocative to think about what stories may come thereafter. "Whether or not we all get to tell them or they get told in another incarnation in film and television, that's for us to all see. However, I don't think you can look at this as an absolute culmination because of the nature of the stories that we're telling." The Man in the High Castle is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
From season 4 confirms unexpected character return in chilling new trailer
From season 4 is on its way and is already surprising us, with a very dramatic and unexpected return now confirmed in the new trailer. Fans have officially been treated to the first footage of season 4, which shows Harold Perrineau's Boyd Stevens and co facing more nightmarish horrors in the town that never lets them leave. But eagle-eyed viewers couldn't help but notice a brief appearance from Eion Bailey's Jim Matthews - who, by all accounts, died a horrific death last season. In the trailer, Jim's son Ethan is shown running up to his father and throwing his arms around him - so, either Jim has survived, this is a flashback, or Jim appears this season as a ghost or a spectre. Stranger things have certainly happened in Fromville! Check out the trailer below: As a reminder, the season 3 finale showed Jim's death at the hands of the newly introduced Man in Yellow, as a result of Tabitha and Jade's discovery about who they really are (reincarnated versions of Miranda and Christopher). Safe to say, we certainly didn't expect to see him back. The trailer also teases an even darker side to Boyd, and the return of the dreaded Man in Yellow. Season 3 has proven once and for all that the show won't hold back when it comes to killing its darlings - who might be next this time around? Perrineau previously opened up to Radio Times about the questions he still needs answering after the season 3 finale, saying: "We've lost a lot of people this season alone. The town wants to break Boyd, Jade keeps having encounters with all sorts of people, Tabitha may or may not have been here before, we don't know. "I want to know where we are and why we're here, and who's connected to this place. "So I'm really curious about who's connected to this place, why they're connected, and how it's going to help us or hurt us. That's going to be really, really interesting for me." Not long to wait now! From season 4 will arrive in the US on 19 April. From seasons 1-3 are available to stream on NOW. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.