Journey Through Sci-Fi: Science Fiction Film History
A film history podcast that takes one big science-fiction idea and follows it through the decades. Hosted by James Frazer Payne and Matt Willcock, Journey Through Sci-Fi traces the evolution of science fiction on screen, from the silent era to the present day. Each episode pairs two films to ask what changed in between: how they were made, what they reveal about the world that produced them, and how science fiction keeps reinventing the same hopes, fears and questions for a new generation. Previous journeys have explored Artificial Intelligence, from Metropolis and The Terminator to Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix and Ex Machina. Space Opera, from the Star Wars trilogies and Dune to Starcrash and the silent-era A Trip to Mars. Plus Time Travel, Dystopias, Virtual Reality and Mad Science, with regular detours into science-fiction television. Next journey: Friendly Aliens, We Come in Peace! New episodes every other Thursday. Bonus episodes, Patron's Picks and franchise deep dives at patreon.com/JourneyThroughSciFi
Episodes
New to Journey Through Sci-Fi? Start here.
Before we launch our next full series on friendly aliens, we're taking a journey back through the archive with a special starter pack episode, featuring some of our favourite clips from past series.
Across this episode, we revisit some of the biggest ideas in sci-fi cinema: the mythic storytelling of the original St...
A little bonus transmission from the JTSF Patreon feed.
We've been chatting about Spielberg's Disclosure Day, and because our next main-feed series is all about the history of friendly aliens in sci-fi cinema, this felt like the perfect thing to share.
In this spoiler-light extract, we talk Spielberg returning to alien territory, why big first-contact movies...
We close out our Mad Science series the only way we know how: with a very serious, deeply prestigious and completely unofficial Mad Science Film Awards.
After 58 films and more than a century of sci-fi cinema, we look back at the scientists, monsters, labs, experiments and terrible decisions that defined the season.
This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we head into the Star Trek universe to explore one of its most enduring mad science taboos: genetic engineering. From Space Seed and the rise of Khan to Enterprise's Augments arc and Deep Space Nine's shocking Bashir reveal, we trace how Star Trek...
What happens when one of sci-fi's oldest stories is reimagined for a modern audience?
In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we return to the origin of mad science — Mary Shelley's Frankenstein — through two new adaptations: Frankenstein (20...
In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we dive into the terrifying idea of mad science controlling the human mind through two modern sci-fi horror films: Get Out (2017) and Possessor (2020).
Jordan Pe...
Two kidnappings and two grotesque transformations.
Listener discretion advised...
This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we head into the grisliest corner of our Mad Science season as we explore The Human Centipede (2009) and
Two Marvel origin stories. Two very different mad scientists. Only one built a cinematic empire.
This week, we revisit Hulk (2003) and Iron Man (2008) to explore the science behind the superheroes and why one experiment failed while the other changed blockbuster cinema.
This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we're heading into murkier, creepier territory as we pair Mimic and Splice - two films that take mad science out of the lab and straight into body-horror nightmare fuel.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro and
We look back at the biggest sci-fi moments of 2025 — franchise returns, standout TV, Marvel's slump, DC's revival, and the auteur films that kept the genre interesting. From Superman and 28 Years Later to Severance and Alien: Earth, we break down what landed, what didn't, and what comes next for JTSF.
This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we revisit Flubber (1997) and The Nutty Professor (1996) to explore how both films became showcases for the 90s CGI boom.
We look at how early digital effects, morphing tech, ILM's rubbery animation, and ambitious makeup and prosthetics reshaped the mad-scientist trope for a family audience. From Eddie Murphy's multi-character...
"Remember, no matter where you go… there you are."
This week on Journey Through Sci-Fi, we're looking at two very different visions of genius at work - one saving the world, the other stealing dreams. We discuss The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) - now ...
We're back with another Future Frontiers episode, covering all the latest sci-fi hitting screens this month.
We chat about Predator: Badlands, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia and the upcoming Read more
"Who's going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow!"
We're diving head-first (literally) into the weird world of Frankenstein's legacy once again, with Re-Animator (1985) and Poor Things (2023). From glowing green serums to brain-swapping brilliance, we explore how both films rewire the Frankenstein form...
To celebrate the upcoming Predator: Badlands and the big-screen re-release of Prey on November 5th (for a very limited cinema run) we're bringing one of our favourite Patreon episodes to the main feed.
In this bonus epsiode we revisit Prey (2022), and&...
What happens when unlicensed nuclear accelerators meet ancient rituals?
This week we look at what happens when mad science collides with the world of ghosts, gods, and monsters. From proton packs in Ghostbusters (1984) - Oh the nostalgia! - to underground experiments in The Cabin in the ...
As we've just revisited Tron and Tron: Legacy, you knew we couldn't resist jacking back into the Grid for Tron: Ares.
This is a spoiler-free sneak peek of our full Patreon episode, where we talk Jared Leto's turn as Ares, the film's take on AI, and whe...
What happens when humanity steps inside the machine?
This week we're diving back into the grid! In anticipation of Tron: Ares, we revisit both Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010). Two landmark films that imagined what...
What happens when mad science pushes the human mind and body to their absolute limits?
Our latest journey through sci-fi takes us from swirling cosmic vortices to larval mind-control worms. We explore how Ken Russell's Altered States (1980) turns science into body horror and how Shane Carruth's Upstream Colour (2013) transforms trauma into an arthouse myste...
Would you kill baby Hitler? That classic moral dilemma sits at the heart of The Boys from Brazil (1978), where Gregory Peck's Josef Mengele pursues a chilling plan to revive the Reich. Adapted from Ira Levin's Nazi-hunter thriller, the film blends real history with speculative science fiction in unsettling ways.&...
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