TO DATE, fewer than 700 people have ventured into space, but all that is rapidly changing, at least for the seriously wealthy. Humans are poised on the frontier of a new era of space travel — one when the maxim “Whoever rules space rules the world” still has an ominous political charge.
Once Upon a Time in Space (BBC 2, 27 October) is a new four-part series that explores some of the individual stories of space exploration, from the Cold War to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The first episode, punchily titled “America First”, gives a brief overview of the United States’ and Soviet Union’s race to the moon. The programme then picks up the story in more detail with NASA’s pioneering Space Shuttle programme, developed in the 1970s. It was groundbreaking not merely technologically, but socially, too, as for the first time ethnic minorities and women were invited to apply to be astronauts.
At the time, “nurse, teacher, or secretary” were the main career options available to women, Anna Fisher says. Alongside her husband, she applied to the programme, was accepted, and became one of the first female astronauts. As the first mother in space, she experienced a significant amount of judgement as a result — scrutiny that was not levelled at her male counterparts who were also parents.
Ronald McNair was one of the first black astronauts. He was a physicist whose father had dropped out of school in eighth grade and worked as a car mechanic. McNair had grown up under racial segregation; so his achievement was especially remarkable. As his brother puts it, the McNairs went from “slavery to space in four generations”.
This is a fascinating insight into the micro as well as the macro view of space exploration: from the shifting and sometimes volatile US-Russian relations, to the intimate experiences of the people who dared to reach for the stars.
For those of us who also enjoy uncomplicated and undemanding television, a new series of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC 2, Sunday) is a reason to rejoice, albeit quietly, lest we spoil the calming ambience. I am a lifelong fan of both comedians, as well as now a fan of their canine sidekick, Ted, a dog with the most prominent overbite you’ll ever see, but now a star in his own right, after seven previous series of this charming show.
The format is sparse, but it works: two older men with a history of heart disease spend time pottering about in nature, relaxing, doing a spot of fishing, and having the occasional chuckle. That’s it. This first episode includes a search for brown trout, the plight of chalk-stream salmon, and a glorious double rainbow, to complete this curative idyll. Delightful viewing.
