You may have heard of the “listicle”: an article in the form of a list, or a list purporting to be an article. The first episode of Tomorrow’s Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction (22 November) was what you might call a “listumentary”: a handy catalogue of the kind of space films you can find in the bargain rack at HMV or available to download for pennies. The BBC billed this as “the definitive television history of science fiction”, which should have been wonderful. This first episode, dealing with space exploration, was not. For a start, it was really only about films and television; and obvious Hollywood productions at that. Each of the blockbusters mentioned came with a little interview, in which big-name actors, directors or
27 November 2014, The Tablet
Listing to port
Tomorrow’s Worlds, BBC2
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