There are explosions, trips outside the ship that go wrong, and eventually a decision to investigate the first Icarus when they hear signs of life from the crashed vehicle. As with Alien, the cast list is demolished one by one as the voyage proceeds. With no big stars around, it is a guessing game as to who will go next. There are some moral questions to be answered by the crew, although some have obvious answers – should they abort the whole mission to save one crew member? With the whole world freezing to death and about to expire, it’s a question most sensible people would hardly spend a few seconds on. Boyle does keep things on the boil with cliff-hanger following cliff-hanger and you never know until the final seconds if the mission succeeds. By then, of course, you may have stopped caring with a ship full of tantrums, petulance and stupidity. philkey@dailypost.co.uk | 
