Lost In Space finds its way back
LOST IN SPACE
NETFLIX, FROM TODAY
OF all the kitschy, psychedelically shiny 1960s show that left their mark on the zeitgeist, Lost In Space was always a bit of a puzzle.
After all, the whole thing was as camp as Adam West’s Batman andas flimsy as the sets on HR Pufnstuf.
Once a staple of late night repeats, the original TV version hasn’t been seen on the small screen for quite some time, and there has never been a clamour of complaint at that omission.
Similarly, the 1998 big screen version was a mess and despite a stellar – sorry – cast, including the likes of Matt LeBlanc, Gary Oldman, William Hurt and Mimi Rogers, it wasn’t so much lost in space as missing at the box office.
But now, in its neverending quest to answer questions nobody has asked and reboot the things nobody particularly wanted to reboot, Netflix has gone and gussied up the Space Family Robinson family for yet another jaunt to the stars.
This is darker – of course – than the original TV show and sees a ship of space colonists crash landing on a planet near Alpha Centauri and trying to do their best to survive the harsh conditions, a mysterious robot and the devious machinations of Dr Harris, played here by Parker Posey.
The problem with trying to put a modern twist on shows from this genre is that they will always wilt in the shadow of Battlestar Galactica, which went from being a substandard 1970s Star Wars rip off to its reboot in the noughties, which ripped up the rule book and went on to become quite simply the greatest TV sci-fi show of all time.
Let’s put it this way, Galactica imagined the human heroes as suicide bombers at a time when American troops were being killed by IEDs in Iraq.
Nothing as controversial (and brilliant) as that happens here, but despite the decidedly mixed reviews in the States, there is enough on offer to make it worth a cursory glance.
Have I Got News For You (BBC1, tonight, 9.30pm) has been in the wars recently over the lack of lady presenters, but the always brilliant Victoria Coren Mitchell is in the hot seat tonight. Of all the regular guest presenters, Coren Mitchell is by far the best, so it will be interesting to see if she mentions the controversy.
The rather irregularly scheduled BBC arts show, Front Row Late (BBC2, tonight, 11.05pm) sees Mary Beard and guests discuss a variety of arty subjects.
Most interesting will be their discussion about the forthcoming musical, The Assassination of Katie Hopkins.
The creator of the musical, Chris Bush, has denied hating Hopkins and insists that she takes ‘no pleasure in imagining her death’.
Call me cynical, but I find that rather hard to believe.