FIND SPACE FOR THIS SCI-FI SPECTACULAR
Buckle up and prepare to be catapulted into the future with new drama series Intergalactic
SKY’S new sci-fi series is nothing if not ambitious. Set far in the future on the fringes of known space, Intergalactic follows young cop and pilot Ash (newcomer Savannah Steyn), who finds herself set up and wrongly convicted of treason.
She’s set to be loaded on to The Hemlock spaceship to be transferred to a prison colony to serve her sentence – but before the craft makes it there, her fellow inmates stage a mutiny.
After their jailbreak, the inmates go on a rampage, killing the entire flight crew under the order of leader Tula Quik (Sex Education’s Sharon DuncanBrewster), and soon they’re ordering Ash to fly them to the free world – aka Arcadia.
Cut to a wild adventure through space and time as they travel the length and breadth of various planets with the authorities hot on their heels.
While Ash initially flies the group under duress, she’s soon left questioning whether she’s more like them than she realised – a feeling that grows as they band together across eight episodes to fight for freedom.
In addition to its adrenalinepumping plot and eye-popping visual effects, the show boasts an impressive British cast.
The ensemble includes This Is England’s Thomas Turgoose as prison guard Drew and Line Of Duty’s Craig Parkinson as scientist Dr Benedict Lee.
The series also shows Poldark actress Eleanor Tomlinson as you’ve never seen her before, playing Candy – a complicated drug addict with a dark past.
“You meet all these different characters. You meet someone who’s been falsely imprisoned, you meet a technical whizz, you meet a drugged-up headcase,” Eleanor explains. “Immediately, you establish it’s going to be quite bonkers and a bumpy ride.”
Craig adds: “It would be easy to put the label of sci-fi on it, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a strong female ensemble, a prison-break, a dark comedy.” And the co-stars promise there’s plenty of action to keep viewers glued to screens.
Eleanor, who is best known for her role as Poldark’s Demelza, adds: “It’s possibly one of the first times we’ve seen something so female-heavy and female-led that has the action you would see in a male-led sci-fi show.
“It’s so nice to do something different. I’ve done a lot of period drama, but that’s part of what drew me to Intergalactic. It was another time period but set in the future and totally different from other stuff I’ve done.”
Craig says the show’s sets will help to ensure the series stands out from the sci-fi crowd.
“I know when you promote a show, you say, ‘I’ve never seen sets like this before’ – but I’m serious, I’ve actually never seen anything like this before,” he says.
“The size of them! I’m a tall fella and I just felt shrunk by them.
“I don’t know a lot about sci-fi but it’s so exciting, really gripping and funny.
“Filming Intergalactic has given me a taste for more sci-fi.
“I have an eight-year-old boy and we’re constantly moving into other galaxies and I have to go along for the ride. People love tapping into sci-fi because it’s pure escapism – something we need in this day and age.”
■ Intergalactic airs on Fridays at 9pm on Sky One