Star City, on Apple TV+

When Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon, he proclaimed it was a step “for all mankind.” In this alternate history, the Soviets are not so inclusive or unifying. They explicitly identify that step is of and for the Soviet Union. Yet, the KGB and security apparatus routinely surveil, interrogate, and even purge the very scientists and Cosmonauts who made that triumph possible. Despite their success, there is no more toxic workplace than the Gagarin Cosmonaut Center in co-creators Ronald D. Moore, Ben Nedivi, and Matt Wolpert’s Star City, their spinoff from For All Mankind, which premieres today on Apple TV+.

Landing on the Moon was huge moment, so the Party carefully scripted the landing speech. The mission was such a coup, the Party immediately orders another mission, to land the first woman. Yana Akhmatova (a fitting name, if you know your Russian literature) should be that woman, because she is the best Cosmonaut in Star City. However, one of the drones working for KGB security chief Lyudmilla Raskova in dreaded “Building 12” uncovers information that calls her loyalty in question. Naturally, a confession is quickly beaten out of her and she is scrubbed from the mission.

The Party—but decidedly not the director of the Soviet space program, known simply as “The Chief Designer”—select Anastasia Belikova as her replacement. Her loyalty is beyond reproach, but her competence is highly suspect. Not surprisingly, fellow Cosmonauts Valya Mironov and Sasha Polivanov bitterly resent her selection. However, they warm to her after she flubs her but speech, but subsequently helps avert disaster on the return-trip home.

Fortunately, Belikova’s prominence protects her, at least temporarily. However, nobody is safe while Raskova conducts her mole hunts. Recent Building 12 recruit Irina Morozova sees her boss’s ruthlessness first-hand. The transcriber-turned-operative impresses her boss with her intelligence and initiative, but she knows she is playing with fire.

If you have not seen For All Mankind (you’re not alone), but the first five episodes provided for review (out of eight) easily stand alone for viewers with no prior familiarity. Perhaps it might be preferable, since several roles were recast with English thesps replacing their Russian predecessors (including Morozova and Belikova), which might be distracting for the previous audience.

Regardless, Moore, Nedivi, Wolpert, and the battery of directors (including Nick Murphy, who also helmed the underappreciated The Awakening) do a nice job recreating the paranoia and mandatory hypocrisy of the Brezhnev era. The surveillance is constant and freedom of thought is non-existent. Indeed, the series was produced with a good deal of historical insight, such as the rapid disillusionment of Lakshmi, a scientist from “non-aligned” India, who immediately finds her apartment bugged and her professional credibility tokenized.

Rhys Ifans is terrific as the world-weary Chief Designer, who forthrightly admits he made a Faustian bargain with the Party. Anna Maxwell Martin is utterly chilling as Raskova, while Solly McLeod probably delivers his career-best performance as the swaggering Polivanov. Guest-star Niamh Algar is also tragically memorable is ill-fated Akhmatova. In contrast, Alice Englert and Agnes O’Casey arguably best represent the grim reserve the years of living under Soviet Social have beaten into Belikova and Morozova.

Clearly, one of the intended ironies that comes through, with crystal clarity, is the suggestion that rigid Soviet oppression holds the Chief Designer and his colleagues back from greater accomplishments, rather than facilitating them. Consequently, the series presents fascinating alternate history, as well as a good deal of grabby cloak-and-dagger suspense. Highly recommended thus far, Star City starts streaming today (5/29) on Apple TV+.