SFX September 2021

first contact

BROKEN WATCH Rob Graham, email As a fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels I was very disappointed with The Watch. The cast did their best with what they had with impressive visual effects, but it’s a poor shadow of the books and a very mediocre fantasy series, like a wannabe Game Of Thrones with laughs. The Sky One adaptations were better and I’d much rather have more of those, as at least they were more faithful to the books. A shame, as there is a missed opportunity for a fantastic Discworld comedy fantasy series out there if done right. Dave Roberts, email This is the first time since 1997 I’ve felt the need to register my feelings with you about a genre presentation of something I love so much. I’ve just seen the…

rants & raves

DARREN SCOTT EDITOR RAVES →Spooky season is almost here! The Night House got me in the mood – and certainly got me thinking… →Really looking forward to the Chucky series. →The return of Star Trek: Lower Decks means it’s entirely likely we’ll have new Trek every week right through until next year now. Hurrah! RANTS →If you don’t like a new version of an old show or film, you can always just go back and watch the original – leave people to enjoy what they like. IAN BERRIMAN DEPUTY EDITOR RAVES →Pleased to see that an Arrow Video restoration of 1960 Italian horror Mill Of The Stone Women is on the way. →Looking forward to the animation of ‘60s Doctor Who “Evil Of The Daleks”. Well, unless it’s been motion-captured. RANTS →Bit underwhelmed by the first Who series 13 trailer. There’s not…

captain’s log

I must say, I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation. As I write this, it’s San Diego Comic-Con weekend. Once again, it’s all online – a smaller in-person event is planned for late November – and I’m missing being there in person terribly. While I’m sick to the back teeth of anything ‘virtual’, I’m glad that it’s still managing to reach a global audience – but there’s really something to be said for being in a convention hall and seeing the absolute love of fans from all over the world. It’s genuinely electric. I’m longing for the day that’s a ‘regular’ thing again – comics have been such a huge part of my life, and to share that love with other like minded people is a wonderful thing. Comics…

family ties

SCI-FACT Peter Filardi wrote the screenplay for the now cult favourite witchcraft tale The Craft. →GIVEN THE PANOPLY of film and TV adaptations of Stephen King books, it’s a little surprising that the “King of horror” hasn’t given us a lot of gothic tales to choose from. The fact that most of his stories are contemporary explains the dearth, and is exactly why Chapelwaite, a 10-episode series based on his 1978 short story “Jerusalem’s Lot”, is so intriguing. Set in 1817, it stars Adrian Brody as Captain Charles Boone. He was born in Maine but left his deeply dysfunctional family for a new life as a whaling captain. In Japan, he marries happily, but tragedy leaves him a widower with three children. Willed a sawmill back in Maine, Boone brings his family…

sleeper hit

JED MERCURIO’S latest police procedural is set in space. But it’s not for TV, at least not yet – the acclaimed screenwriter behind Line Of Duty and Bodyguard has switched to the medium of comics to bring us Sleeper, co-written with Prasanna Puwanarajah and drawn by Coke Navarro. “I’d wanted to develop something in this kind of subject area,” Mercurio tells Red Alert in a four-way Zoom chat with his collaborators. “I knew that Prasanna was a fan of the sci-fi genre and I thought we’d probably come at it in the same way – we both come from scientific backgrounds, we’re both interested in the how as much as the why of things.” “I’m a child of the ’80s,” adds Puwanarajah, “so I was thinking about cartoons and that sci-fi territory.…

news warp

→Antonio Banderas heading for fortune and glory in Indiana Jones 5. →Scarlett Johansson producing bigscreen version of Disney theme park ride Tower Of Terror. →Ron Perlman voicing Optimus Primal, leader of the Maximals, in Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts. →Helstrom’s Sydney Lemmon joining the Blumhouse take on Stephen King’s Firestarter. →Love And Monsters’ Matthew Robinson scripting Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. →WandaVision’s Matt Shakman directing Star Trek 4, set to hit warp 9 in June 2023. →Joseph Kosinski to helm adap of graphic novel Chariot, a “synthwave sci-fi thriller” no less. →Javier Botet cast as Dracula in The Last Voyage Of The Demeter. →Animated remake of Night Of The Living Dead coming to Blu later this year, Josh Duhamel and Katee Sackhoff in the voice cast. →Jerry Bruckheimer producing Secret Headquarters for Paramount.…