Alien: Covenant (2017)

9.00pm, Saturday, Channel 4

“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair”

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012) was an origins yarn that was visually striking but felt bogged down in cerebral musings about the creation of humans and the putative role of aliens in that process. It boasted a central lead character (played by Noomi Rapace) that was di cult to root for in the same way that Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley automatically had audiences in her corner.

Set in 2103, ten years on from the events of Prometheus (the Nostromo will appear in 2122), Covenant employs many of the same tropes that made the original 1979 Alien movie such a hit. It begins with a space crew being diverted from their mission to investigate a curious signal from a planet with Earth-like qualities. This crew includes weak Billy Crudup, wisecracking Danny MacBride and con dent Katherine Waterston, the woman around whom the story unfolds. We also have Michael Fassbender back in android mode, though it would require a spoiler alert to say too much about the Kerryman’s fascinating role.

Covenant will satisfy the sci- fans who enjoy the space bits of the Alien franchise while also appealing to horror fans who relish the gore and look-outbehind-you suspense. But there’s a heart to the movie, too, thanks to award-winning screenwriter John Logan ( Gladiator, Hugo), who came up with the novel idea of making Covenant a colonising ship on which the crew are young couples preparing to set up home in a brave new world. Beautifully shot by Dariusz Wolski, Alien: Covenant features strong turns from Waterston and Idris Elba, but it’s our man Fassbender who steals the show.