Episode 15: WALL-E, Resident Alien, Fate: The Winx Saga, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Game Of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Matrix 4 and more

Robby The Robot’s Waiting: The Sci-Fi Podcast

It’s the end of the world as we know it – and he feels fine! The story of a bleak dystopian future Earth was always unlikely subject matter for an animated movie, but if anyone could make it work, it’s Pixar.

In the latest episode of your sci-fi and fantasy podcast, your regular Robby The Robot’s Waiting team are joined by Radio Times journalist and Disney expert Jo-Anne Rowney to talk about WALL-E, aka R2-D2: The Movie. How were a pair of binoculars integral to the movie’s origins? Has WALL-E shown us the actual future of the human race? And how much do we want to experience the joys of a cupcake in a cup? Never has a film about a big pile of rubbish been quite so captivating.

Elsewhere, we check out new shows Resident Alien (Now TV/Syfy) and Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix), wonder if Star Trek: Lower Decks (Amazon Prime Video/CBS All Access) has got the right balance between geekery and gags, and give not-really-fantasy sitcom Dead Pixels (E4/All 4) a free pass.

And for anyone who remembers the days when UK TV screens were jam-packed with the genre likes of Doctor Who, Primeval, Torchwood, Misfits, Being Human and, er, Hyperdrive, we ask where all the British sci-fi telly has gone.

Beyond all that, we remember late Babylon 5 star Mira Furlan, wonder if the world needs more Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones, get excited about a Wakanda TV show, and debate the title of the upcoming Matrix 4. There’s all this and more in Robby The Robot’s Waiting, the podcast that cleans up the mess while you’re away.

Episode highlights:

0:00:48 – Fate: The Winx Saga, Resident Alien, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Dead Pixels

0:13:42 – Where did all the British sci-fi TV go?

0:24:15 – Robby The Robot's Writing. Your words, not ours!

0:26:50 – Guest writer Jo-Anne Rowney’s genre faves: WandaVision and Superman

0:33:02 – Rewind: our retro section revisits WALL-E

0:55:16 – The news! Featuring Babylon 5’s Mira Furlan, Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones, Wakanda TV show, more movie release date delays, Epic (aka Once Upon A Time 2), Willy Wonka: The Early Years, The Suicide Squad and The Matrix 4.

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If you want to help us choose the Rewind topic for our March episode, send your suggestions for classic sci-fi/fantasy movie, TV episode, book (delete as appropriate) to @Robbyscifi on Twitter – and tell us why we should talk about it. Our favourite suggestion will be immortalised by the Robby team.

Your podcast pals:

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. https://twitter.com/BoxDaveB

SPECIAL GUEST! Jo-Anne Rowney is a journalist for the Radio Times and also a Disney uber-fan. https://twitter.com/JoAnne_Rowney

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