The Challenger
BBC2, Sunday 11th May 8pm - 9:30pm
Repeat: BBC Two HDWilliam Hurt doesn’t always use his considerable star-power to best effect. Here he reminds us what a warm, persuasive actor he is in the right project, playing legendary physicist Richard Feynman.
Towards the end of his life, sick with cancer, Feynman is invited to join the presidential inquiry into the 1986 Challenger disaster. The space shuttle
has exploded after launch, killing the seven crew on board and throwing the space programme into doubt: no one knows what went wrong.
Feynman has to turn detective: he’s wary of politics and hates the cant of Washington (after Reagan’s famous speech he mutters, “I personally doubt they’re touching the face of God”), but he’s well placed to cut through the vested interests and get at the truth. Hurt takes what could be a dry, technical story and makes it an inspiring drama about the place of science in a world of spin and greed. In the end, it’s heart-rending.
Fact-based drama about American physicist Richard Feynman's determination to reveal the truth behind the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. When the craft exploded 73 seconds after lift-off on January 28, leading to the deaths of all seven crew members, it was the most shocking event in the history of US spaceflight, and a presidential commission was immediately convened to investigate what went wrong. Starring William Hurt, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Dennehy, Kevin R McNally and Joanne Whalley.
Cast
Richard Feynman William Hurt
Chairman Rogers Brian Dennehy
Gen Kutyna Bruce Greenwood
Gweneth Feynman Joanne Whalley
Larry Mulloy Kevin R McNally
Sally Ride Eve Best
Dr Weiss Henry Goodman
Director James Hawes
Executive Producer Mark Hedgecoe
Executive Producer Rocky Collins
Producer Laurie Borg
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