In space, no one can hear you scream. On Earth, however, around 9pm for the last seven or eight Tuesdays, you may well hear some shrieks of terror, emanating from nearby apartment windows – all thanks to one of the boldest and blood-soaked sci-fi shows to grace the small screen in recent memory.

Alien: Earth is the new show from our guest today, Noah Hawley and it’s a masterclass in philosophical sci-fi. You probably don’t need to be told of the cultural significance of the Alien franchise, which began back in 1979 with Ridley Scott’s tale of a crew of space truckers hunted by an extraterrestrial killing machine. You certainly don’t need to tell Noah, who knew precisely the risks involved in bringing Xenomorphs to TV for the first time. Luckily, this is a writer, director and novelist we’re talking about who’s turned major movie IP into surprise TV smashes before. With five seasons of a brilliant TV adaptation of Fargo behind him, the 58-year-old understood the assignment in front of him. 

This week, the first season of the show reached its violent climax, capping the first chapter in the tale of Wendy – a terminally-ill child plunged into the body of a synthetic human adult, and subsequently caught up in a fight between corporations for five dangerous alien specimens. Listen in for Noah’s spoiler-filled revelations about the real-world inspirations behind its power-hungry trillionaire antagonists. Discover more about the huge swing for the fences the show takes in its final two episodes involving Wendy and a Xenomorph. And finally, learn what the future perhaps holds for these characters, with season two as yet unconfirmed…

Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.

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