Upfronts 2013: Science Channel Orders Challenger Movie

CompleteCoverage: 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.