An intergalactic prison break
Intergalactic is a fun-filled female-led, futuristic Con Air, finds James Croot.
Those of a certain vintage will find it hard not to spot a similarity in premise between Sky’s new space drama Intergalactic (which debuts on Neon and Sky Go today) and a certain 1997 blockbuster.
Strip away the sci-fi trappings, female-led cast and special effects and this eightpart tale about a wrongly convicted law enforcer who is caught up in the overthrow of a prison ship is essentially a glitzy riff on that beloved Nicolas Cage action-thriller Con Air.
Ash Harper (Savannah Steyn) is an accomplished pilot and sky cop. Having just apprehended a long soughtafter cybercriminal, she’s ordered by her boss to relax and celebrate and look forward to a commendation.
But instead, she is accused of stealing evidence, a crime in the Commonworld of 2143 punishable by deportation to an off-world prison colony.
Protests of innocence fall on deaf ears, especially when there appears to be damning video footage. Even her illustrious mother Rebecca (Parminder Nagra), the head of galactic security, can’t prevent her being shipped off, at least until any trial takes place.
‘‘This is a mistake – and I will do everything I can do to fix it,’’ Rebecca tells her petrified daughter, before arguing with officials that the legislation she wrote was ‘‘for terrorists, hardened criminals and enemies of the state – not high-scoring cops’’.
‘‘She won’t survive long enough to make the trial.’’
Joined on the GCC Hemlock by an intimidating collection of mutants and malicious ne’er-do-wells, the only thing seemingly keeping Ash from harm are the individual cells and less-thanstellar security. Naturally, neither hold out for very long.
Former Coronation Street and Secret Diary of a Call Girl scribe Julie Gearey’s creation might lack true originality or any degree of dramatic subtlety, but there’s a fair bit of fun to be had with the Suicide Squad-meets-Orange is the New Black conceit. And if the effects look a bit ropey and the action reminiscent of early-80s sci-fi like Blake’s 7, then at least the makeup and production design look slick.
Crawl’s Steyn and Bend it Like Beckham’s Nagra are perfectly fine as our heroes, but it’s the actors playing the bad seeds who really stand out.
Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson is virtually unrecognisable as the forktongued, dreadlocked Candy Skov-King, while Peaky Blinders’ Natasha O’Keeffe is suitably enigmatic as Intergalactic’s ‘‘Cyrus the Virus’’ Dr Emma Grieves. Both look menacing and resplendent in their seemingly crocheted blue-and-yellow jumpsuits.
While the stop-start action – this is clearly designed with ad breaks in mind – can be a little frustrating, there’s enough seeds of intrigue and potential deception sown in the opening episode to likely tempt back many audience members for more Intergalactic adventures.
Intergalactic is streaming on Sky Go and Neon from today.