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The Man Who Fell to Earth is an American science fiction drama television limited series created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. It is a sequel to the 1976 film starring David Bowie. The series stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as an alien who arrives on planet Earth and Bill Nighy, playing the role originally played by Bowie in the 1976 film. It debuted on Showtime on April 24, 2022. A portion of the series was shown at SXSW on March 12, 2022. The series was canceled after one season.
Contents
Premise
The future of the planet is in the hands of an alien who arrives on Earth at a pivotal moment in history.
Cast
Main
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Faraday
Naomie Harris as Justin Falls
Annelle Olaleye as Molly Falls
Clarke Peters as Josiah Falls
Bill Nighy as Thomas Jerome Newton
Jimmi Simpson as Spencer Clay
Kate Mulgrew as Drew Finch
Sonya Cassidy as Edie Flood
Joana Ribeiro as Lisa Dominguez
Rob Delaney as Hatch Flood
Recurring
Tanya Moodie as Portia
Juliet Stevenson as Sister Mary Lou Prescott
Art Malik as Henning Khan
Josh Herdman as Terry Mannch
Laurie Kynaston as Clive Flood
Guest
Martha Plimpton as Officer K. Faraday
Zoë Wanamaker as Watt
Victoria Smurfit as Penny Morgan
Episodes
Each episode is named after a David Bowie song.
Production
A television adaptation of Walter Tevis's novel The Man Who Fell to Earth, moved from Hulu to CBS All Access in August 2019. It was created by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman. It had been in development at Hulu for over a year, and was moved as a result of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, as disagreements over co-production could not be resolved.
In February 2021, Chiwetel Ejiofor was cast to star in the series, playing the role of the alien/Faraday. The next month, the series moved to Showtime, with Naomie Harris, Jimmi Simpson and Clarke Peters added to the cast. Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Joana Ribeiro, and Annelle Olayele would join in April. In August, Kate Mulgrew joined in a recurring role. In January 2022, Bill Nighy was cast to play Thomas Jerome Newton, the role David Bowie played in the film. In October 2022, it was reported that Showtime would not renew the series for a second season.
Major part of the filming was done in the University of Hertfordshire.
Filming began on May 3, 2021, in London.
Release
The series was initially planned for a 2021 release on Paramount+. It premiered on April 24, 2022, on Showtime and on Paramount+ internationally.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 30 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Man Who Fell to Earth may not be out of this world, but a commanding Chiwetel Ejiofor gives this space oddity an earthy gravitas." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".