Upfronts 2013: Science Channel Orders Challenger Movie

Karl Pilkington to star in new series without Ricky Gervais

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/4/2013 1:22:56 PM

Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2013

Science Channel has ordered its first scripted feature, a movie about the aftermath of the space shuttle Challenger disaster starring William Hurt to premiere in November 2013.

73 Seconds: The Challenger Investigation follows physicist Richard Feynman (Hurt) as he cuts through cover-ups and red tape to uncover the disaster's true cause. Brian Dennehy, Bruce Greenwood and Joanne Whalley star in the BBC coproduction.

Hurt will also narrate a companion documentary The Genius of Richard Feynman, which features interviews, archival footage and commentary on the physicist.

Science will launch a new series with Karl Pilkington without his partner Ricky Gervais from An Idiot Abroad to premiere in January 2014. In The Moaning of Life, Pilkington explores how various cultures deal with middle age.

In the new series This Changes Everything, premiering November 2013, actor James Woods explores the emerging technologies of today that could change the ways humans live in the distant future.

Keeping with its science DNA, the network is also planning live coverage of the Ison Super Comet when it arrives in late 2013.

Returning series include How It's Made, How Do They Do It?, Oddities, Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman and a third installment of extraterrestrial programming event Are We Alone? in March 2014.