A star rating of 5 out of 5.
Not all spin-offs are created equal. Some are terrible, others are good, and a select few prove better than the original show they are based on. It’s on that final list that Star City deserves a place.
The new cosmic Apple TV drama is a prequel to For All Mankind (season 5’s finale airs Friday 29 May). Part alternative history, part political thriller, it’s a gripping drama that explores what would have happened had the Soviet Union not only won the Space Race, but never stopped venturing out into the stars.
Worlds away from its parent show and led by powerhouses Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland, Ludwig) and Rhys Ifans (House of the Dragon), creators Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert and Ronald D Moore return for an intriguing dive into the secrecy and surveillance that defined the Soviet space programme.
While For All Mankind focussed more on the American astronauts and their legacy, this prequel takes us back to the 1970s and through the Iron Curtain to tell the tale from the cosmic heart of the Soviet Union.
Set in the military town at the centre of the space race programme, the eight-part series gives a glimpse into the lives of the cosmonauts, engineers and intelligence officers risking everything by having their sights squarely set on the moon and beyond.
Maxwell Martin and Ifans are two sides of the same coin: she is Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova, the ruthless head of KGB intelligence, tasked with uncovering any small act that may jeopardise the Soviet Union; he is the shadowy and nameless Chief Designer – the brains behind the space programme and the man who must remain shrouded in mystery.
They are supposedly on the same side, yet fight at every turn. Ifans brings a beautifully understated energy to his determined genius, but it’s Maxwell Martin who delivers a truly standout turn as the woman with eyes everywhere. As a duo, they carry the show; their loaded two-hander scenes being by far the best thing about Star City.
This is a much darker, grittier drama than For All Mankind ever was. Although no prior knowledge is needed of the latter, fans of the original show will be able to enjoy it on a deeper level.
Various characters return, including Agnes O’Casey, who shines as a younger and ever so slightly softer version of returning character, KGB handler Irina Morozova (originally played by Svetlana Efremova), while Josef Davies takes over from Piotr Adamczyk, delivering a convincing younger version of hardworking engineer Sergei Nikulov.
Meanwhile, the series also delves into storylines only hinted at in For All Mankind, including Anastasia Belikova’s (Alice Englert) experience as the first woman on the moon, and the unexpected consequences that came with it.
And that’s perhaps the most absorbing facet of this drama: some plots are plucked straight from Soviet history, as the writers beautifully blend fact and fiction. The state arranging marriages for its cosmonauts in a bid to control them and missions landing off-course in Siberia’s wilderness serve as a reminder that, sometimes, reality can be more astonishing than fiction.
Star City is worlds away from For All Mankind – and is all the better for it.
Star City will premiere on Apple TV+ on Friday 29 May.
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