Episode 9: Moonraker, The Mandalorian, Tim Burton, Willow, Sean Connery, Avatar 2 and loads more - a podcast by Richard + Dave + Tanavi

Wherever Star Wars can go, James Bond can go too. In the latest episode of Robby The Robot’s Waiting: The Sci-Fi Podcast, we open the dossier on 007’s outer space adventure, Moonraker. Released in 1979 as science fiction was proving to be box office dynamite, it took the franchise to new heights – literally, if not artistically. We’re joined to talk about spies, shuttles and space stations – and whether they mix – by writer and James Bond connoisseur Nick Setchfield. 

While we were preparing to record the episode, it was announced that Sean Connery had died aged 90. The actor was famous for playing James Bond in seven films, as well as other sci-fi and fantasy roles, including Indiana Jones’s dad, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez in Highlander, and Zed in Zardoz. We look back on a career spanning over 50 years. 

Could there be such a thing as too much television? With streaming services everywhere – and too much out there for any one human being to watch – we wonder if we’ve reached peak TV. We also enthuse over The Mandalorian’s season 2 premiere, scare ourselves silly with Pegg and Frost’s new ghost series Truth Seekers, check out a few teen monster stories including A Babysitter's Guide To Monster Hunting, and contemplate all the latest trailers and news. 

There’s all this plus Battlestar Galactica, Moon Knight, Willow, and plenty of kookiness, spookiness and ookiness in Robby The Robot’s Waiting, the podcast that's out of this world...

Episode highlights:

1.00 – What we've been watching: A Babysitter's Guide To Monster Hunting, Vampire Academy, Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Mandalorian season 2 premiere and Truth Seekers season 1.

14.47 – Is there too much TV? We discuss how big the streaming bubble can grow – is there room for everything?

25.03 – Our special guest, writer Nick Setchfield, chats about his books: The War In The Dark, The Spider Dance, and Mission Statements: James Bond At The Movies (details at www.nicksetchfield.com/books).

29.13 – Remembering Sean Connery, who died aged 90 just before we recorded the episode.

33.32 – Rewind: our regular rewatch segment takes us back to a different James Bond, Roger Moore, and the 1979 spy-fi adventure Moonraker.

54.20 – News Round-Up: Tim Burton's bringing The Addams Family to TV, Battlestar Galactica’s getting a(nother) reboot, Oscar Isaac will star in Moon Knight, a Willow TV show, the game series Assassin's Creed somersaulting onto TV, Kate Winslet's breath-holding exploits on the Avatar 2 set, and more...

Doing the talking:

Richard Edwards: film and TV journalist and former editor of SFX magazine. https://twitter.com/RichDEdwards

Tanavi Patel: entertainment reporter for SFX and Digital Spy, panel moderator for MCM, FanExpo and more. https://twitter.com/tanavip

Dave Bradley: writer, gamer, book reviewer and another former editor of SFX magazine. https://twitter.com/BoxDaveB

SPECIAL GUEST! Author and SFX’s editor-at-large, Nick Setchfield. https://twitter.com/nicksetchfield

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