Today Syfy launches the new sci-fi psychological thriller Nightflyers, which is based off the 1980 novella by Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin. The series is set in the year 2093 and follows the crew of The Nightflyer, a colonizing ship that is on a mission to make first contact with an alien race known as the Volcryn in order to learn valuable information to save a dying Earth. The ship’s captain is the enigmatic Roy Eris (David Ajala, Falling Water), who stays confined to his private deck, only interacting with the others via a hologram. Leading the expedition is professor Karl D’Branin (Eoin Macken, The Night Shift), who left his wife and daughter behind to participate in the 2-year mission. Joining him is psychiatrist Dr. Agatha Matheson (Gretchen Mol, Boardwalk Empire), who has brought an L-1 telepath on board to help communicate with the aliens. Members of the crew consider Thale (Sam Strike, EastEnders) to be a monster—his ability to get into people’s minds and play with their thoughts and visions is dangerous and deadly, and they don’t trust him. The crew also includes the captain’s right-hand man Auggie (Brían F. O’Byrne, Manhunt: Unabomber), xenobiologist Rowan (Angus Sampson, Shut Eye), genetically-enhanced mission specialist Melantha Jhirl (Jodie Turner-Smith, The Last Ship), and technician Lommie (Maya Eshet, Teen Wolf), who has the ability to talk to the ship via a Neuro-Port in her arm.

As the series opens we flash forward to some horrific events resembling The Shining in space. Then we jump back to the “present” and the start of the mission. However, it isn’t long before things on the ship start to malfunction, deadly things start to happen, and the suspicion and distrust starts to spread. While the crew is quick to point the finger at Thale, Karl and Agatha try to find out what’s really happening. But this is just the beginning of the horrors that are to come—and there’s nowhere to run or hide in space! Syfy made the first two episodes of the series available early via On Demand. I wasn’t as immediately sucked into this show like I was when I checked out the first episode of YouTube’s similar series Origin. I hope that we get a little more backstory on these characters over the course of the season, but the central mystery of what’s really going on on the ship is certainly enough to keep me initially interested in checking out more of this series. Things look like they are going to get really creepy, and if Game of Thrones is any indicator, we probably shouldn’t get too attached to any of these characters!

Syfy will be rolling out the season very rapidly, with episodes 1-5 debuting Sunday, December 2 through Thursday, December 6 at 10/9c, and episodes 6-10 on Sunday, December 9 through Thursday, December 13 at 10/9c with limited commercial interruption across all platforms. Weekend marathons will give fans an additional opportunity to catch up on the series. In addition, it sounds like all 10 episodes will be made available for streaming in parallel with tonight’s premiere.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got the chance to speak with some of the cast/creators of the series. Check out my interviews from the press room for the series.

In tonight’s premiere, “All That We Left Behind”, a team of scientists join the crew of the Nightflyer on a journey to make contact with alien life.

Tonight I’ll also be watching/recording The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy, Supergirl, Doctor Who, and Camping.