“Star City” is a phenomenal show. It takes the best parts of “For All Mankind” and filters them through the kind of Cold War spy intrigue “The Americans” excelled at. There are still thrilling moments of space exploration and the dangers therein, and plenty of science jargon to satisfy space nerds. But it’s the spy intrigue that makes this show stand out as more than just a prequel spin-off but something unique and justified in its existence.
One of the best characters in the show is one only ever referred to as the Chief Designer. As played by Rhys Ifans, the character is the man in charge of the Soviet space program, the person responsible for landing the first man on the Moon, and who is seeking to land the first woman, too. Ifans’ Chief Designer is shrouded in mystery, commanding a lot of authority and capable of standing up to both politicians and the KGB, but also the character we know the least about in “Star City.”
This, it turns out, has a very good historical reason.
The Chief Designer in “Star City” is inspired by a very real person, Sergei Korolev, who similarly was the chief designer of the Soviet program. Like Ifans’ character, Korolev’s identity was a not well known.
“His identity was extremely secret, so nobody in Soviet Russia knew who he was during his lifetime,” historian Asif Siddiqi told Smithsonian magazine. “If you were employed in his workplace, you were allowed to know who he was. But it’s true that if you picked up a newspaper in the early ’60s, it would say, ‘We have an interview with the chief designer.'”
The Chief Designer is even more important than you realize
Despite being responsible for most of the early successes of the Soviet space program, in our reality, Sergei Korolev died in surgery in 1966. After his death, the program kind of collapsed, and the Soviets never reached the Moon.
This is the crux of the alternate history that makes up not only “Star City,” but also “For All Mankind.” The core idea of both shows stems from the thought that, if Korolev had survived, it would cause a butterfly effect that results in him pushing the Soviet space program forward. It’s a simple idea, but it is the approach to real science that’s got “For All Mankind” a NASA astronaut’s stamp of approval for accuracy.
Before he died, the rocket Korolev had designed to travel to the Moon didn’t work, so eventually plans were abandoned. In “Star City,” the rockets not only work, but they make it to the Moon before NASA.
But because of Korolev’s success, and because the Soviets did reach the Moon, paranoia over maintaining their lead in the space race runs rampant. This is why Rhys Ifans’ Chief Designer has his identity kept as a state secret. It wasn’t just an accident, it’s a very purposeful attempt to make sure the Chief Designer’s life was never in danger, that the Soviet space program was not put in danger by targets on his personal life.
Ifans is the secret weapon of “Star City,” a character that bridges the space excitement with the spy thrills, dealing with politicians while also trying desperately to push for a space mission to Venus. It’s a character who only gets more compelling as the season goes on.
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