For All Mankind

‘What if’ makes a great start to a story

By Nick Hirst

Apple has entered the TV streaming space with Apple TV aiming to compete against the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Among their initial offerings is the excellent sci-fi drama – ‘For All Mankind’. The title provides a pretty definitive clue as to what it’s about – yes the space race between the USA and Soviet Union in the late sixties and seventies.

The Americans were the first to the moon – weren’t they?

Where this differs is in the use of the ‘what if’ device – the premise being what if the Soviets landed on the moon first? The narrative arc then examines what the American space programme would have looked like following such a damaging defeat in the race to get to the moon.

But what if it had been the Hammer and Sickle there instead of the Stars and Stripes?

This reflects the ‘what if’ storyline in the conspiracy thriller novel – ‘The Shape of Rain’. Both storylines touch base with the awful tragedy of Apollo 1, planned to be the first moon landing craft, which suffered a catastrophic fire during a launch rehearsal killing all three crew members.

“their mission to secretly devise a Plan B”

In ‘The Shape of Rain’, the story opens with a group of seven powerful Americans covertly meeting in a rundown hotel in the appropriately named town of Moonstone on the Pacific coast. Their mission to secretly devise a Plan B in the event of any further setbacks so as not to lose out in the race with the Soviets. And what if this creates an unholy alliance between government and media? What if we can’t believe all that we see, read and hear in the press?

The coastline at Moonstone, California, the setting for the opening of ‘The Shape of Rain’

In ‘For All Mankind’ the focus is on the people actually working at NASA and their lives as they constantly recalibrate their aims, priorities and physical limits as they react to the setback of not only Apollo 1 but also being beaten to the lunar surface by the Soviets. Like ‘The Shape of Rain’, it brilliantly mixes real events with believable fiction.

One of the better conceits is signalled early on when we learn from a fleeting view of a news report telling us the Senator Ted Kennedy was unable to attend a party in Chappaquiddick due to political commitments. Then, in episode 6 we learn that he defeated Nixon at the election to become President.

In ‘For All Mankind’ Ted Kennedy makes it to the White House

Starring Joel Kinnaman as one of NASA’s roster of astronauts, the series brilliantly recreates the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. Cars, fashion, houses all look time-authentic and, in Mission Control with it’s row upon row of old, valve-driven, computers, the amount all the operators smoked will probably have you shaking your head as you cough in sympathy!

Mission Control – without the cigarette smoke so prevalent in ‘For All Mankind’

But, possibly the most impressive recreation of the era is how the producers use technology to doctor old news footage. You will really believe Richard Nixon having a telephone argument with Ted Kennedy as we see both antagonists in black and white with Kennedy feet up in the Oval Office.

Richard Nixon is not depicted particularly sympathetically

Yes, ‘what if’ is a powerful and compelling dramatic device as used in ‘For All Mankind’ and ‘The Shape of Rain’. Watch the former and read the latter as a companion piece. The TV series progresses to show us the various strategies the US tries to outmanoeuvre those pesky Russians, while conspiracy thriller ‘The Shape of Rain’ goes on to show us how the Apollo calamity set in train a mechanism that led us to the war in Iraq.

Part of the burnt out command module of Apollo 1. The catastrophe is referenced in ‘For All Mankind’ and ‘The Shape of Rain’

You can get hold of your digital copy of ‘The Shape of Rain’ NOW on the device of your choice. If you live in the UK click here, if you’re in the USA click here.