Journey Through Sci-Fi

About Journey Through Sci-Fi

A film history podcast that takes one big science-fiction idea and follows it through the decades. Hosted by James 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 Part of the EOH Network

Publisher

James Payne

Category

tv & film · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

22 Aug 2019

Latest episode

23 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

4 of 335 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   23 Sept 2026

   The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 & 2008): Come in Peace, Or Else

   The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and its 2008 remake. The alien who comes in peace and brings a threat with him. Journey Through Sci-Fi continues We Come in Peace, our series tracing the history of friendly aliens on screen. This time, the foundational one. A saucer lands on a Washington baseball field, a man walks out with a gift and a message, and he is shot for it inside a minute. Klaatu is polite, patient and 78 years old in a 35 year old body. Behind him stands Gort, seven foot seven of rubber suit and near limitless force. We get into what 1951 audiences carried into the cinema with them, why a film about world peace was built from a short story that had nothing to do with world peace, and how much of the friendly alien playbook starts right here. Then 2008. Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, a swarm of nanobots and a McDonald's. The nuclear threat becomes an environmental one, Klaatu arrives having already decided we are not worth saving, and the remake we both expected to be terrible turns out to be an admirable attempt at updating the classic sci-fi movie. In this episode: Flying saucer mania Farewell to the Master: Harry Bates' 1940 story, and the twist Fox threw away Michael Rennie's charm offensive, and the two separate times he gets gunned down Gort's little pants, circus strongmen and the Superman connection Who would you take an alien to today? Brian Cox or Martin Lewis Milk, milkshakes, and the day the American dairy industry stood still GORT as an acronym Old Testament orbs, arks and biblical locusts Is humanity worth saving? Asked and answered in a McDonald's car park Also discussed: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, A Message from Mars, Destination Moon, The Man from Planet X, The Twilight Zone, War of the Worlds (2005), The Happening, WALL-E, Armageddon, The Matrix, John Wick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Alien: Romulus, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Disclosure Day. Gort or GORT? Tell us which robot you would rather meet in a field. Next time: It Came from Outer Space (1953) and Warning from Space (1956). Hosted and produced by James Payne and Matt Willcock. Edited by James Payne. Bonus episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/journeythroughscifi Join the JTSF Logbook, our free newsletter: https://journeythroughscifi.beehiiv.com Full back catalogue and everything else: https://journeythroughscifi.com Follow the show so you never miss an episode, and if you can, a review or a share costs nothing and helps a lot. Journey Through Sci-Fi is part of the EOH Network.

2. 

   9 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   A Message from Mars (1913): The First Friendly Alien

   Hosts James Payne and Matt Willcock explore the origins of the friendly alien trope, starting with the 1913 film "A Message from Mars" and its enduring influence.

3. 

   26 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   We Come in Peace! Series Trailer

   Hosts James Payne and Matt Willcock explore the evolving cinematic portrayal of friendly aliens across film and television history.

Inside a recent episode

A Message from Mars (1913): The First Friendly Alien

Published 9 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Because like you said, they're massive. They're ridiculously big. And yeah, for them, it's just like, why are you doing this? So I think it's, again, it's all these sort of moral questions that come up. Like it's a thought experiment. It gets into all that sort of philosophical territory. And it's a very interesting story. early depiction of what a friendly alien visitor might look like and in this one they look very tall yeah i love the idea of just a giant alien just coming to earth to have a philosophical debate with a boat full of philosophers and then just kind of letting them on their way i mean i'd watch that i'd definitely watch that i mean it feels a bit gulliver's travels but that's just the the big small of it all yeah Or small, big. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

193,631

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

25 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

70 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 78 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

87

Social presence

0

YouTube

82

Engagement

92

Pitching Journey Through Sci-Fi

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting pitches.

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