A crew readying for a trip to Mars are told that nuclear missiles are about to reach Earth – do they remain behind and perish or see what waits for them in the stars?

A number of classic Twilight Zone episodes were set in the future, so it was only a matter of time before Jordan Peele’s 2019 iteration delivered its own version, and while it’s no classic in itself, it’s a solid hour.

Director Jakob Verbruggen (Black Mirror) takes the script by Heather Anne Campbell and Glen Morgan (The X-Files) and plays on the claustrophobia of the impressive starship set. Right from the off the crew are irritable with one another and the 300+ day flight time is not going to help. Tempers fray, paranoia sets in… how will it end? Probably not as you’d imagine, and while there’s nothing groundbreaking in the final twist, it’s consistent with what’s gone before.

Callbacks to the original show that I picked up were a Northern Goldstar plane (the same airline used in the old and new versions of Nightmare at 20,000 Feet) and the Bradbury Heavy Mission – Ray’s I Sing the Body Electric was the 100th episode in the original series. There’s also references again to Whipple – this time on the spacesuits.

Thematically, the episode also shares the DNA of classic episodes People Are Alike All Over, Where Is Everybody? and I Shot An Arrow into the Air, and in a way it’s the reverse of The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. Oh, and I spotted recurring reference to 1015, this time in Briefing #1015060816.

Verdict: There’s a great 30-minute episode hidden with this hour, the new 60-minute format struggling to hold your attention on a single beat story. Great production values and a good twist, but just not essential yet. 7/10

Nick Joy