This fortnight, Nick and Alastair are looking at exciting new space-ship show Star Trek: Discovery!

But first, other recent intake – Nick went on a Baltimore drug scene binge with HBO’s renowned series The Wire and related book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighbourhood, by series producers David Simon and Ed Burns.

Alastair, meanwhile, is here with his annual report back from London Film Festival, covering films such as Tiger Girl, The Final Year and Downsizing – which Nick saw with him, so cue the inevitable mini-review.

Then they finally crack into Star Trek: Discovery (8:22), with talk (and spoilers) spanning the first five episodes. Alastair’s seen loads of the previous Trek shows, Nick barely any – will this affect their judgments?

For the follow-up question this time, prompted by the first f-bomb in Trek history, they ask: are there any franchises that shouldn’t go full adult? (23:40) You may not be surprised to hear that the conversation eventually turns to Batman.

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This fortnight, much to Alastair’s excitement, it’s time to tackle long-awaited sci-fi sequel Blade Runner 2049!

But first, Nick and Alastair update you on their other cultural consumptions, specifically The Furthest Station, a new Rivers of London novella by Ben Aaronovitch, and the album Exile in the Outer Ring by EMA.

And then, at last, they dig into Blade Runner 2049 (6:30). Can it live up to the original? Should it even try? And how will Nick’s lukewarm reaction to the original Blade Runner in MFV #38 pay off here? (No specific spoilers this time beyond the first few scenes, though some very vague chat about how the ending made us feel.)

Finally, this fortnight’s related point: are humanoid robots a good idea? (24:28) Which ends up sprawling into a wider chat about whether they’re even plausible and what humanity should probably worry about before we get to that. Deep, man.

Download the podcast directly in mp3 here!

Listen on YouTube over a static image here!

Subscribe on iTunes! Reviews welcome!

Listen on Stitcher! Reviews also welcome!

Subscribe in multiple Android podcast apps here!