Having barely survived crash landing amid the towering, chocolate box glaciers of an alien world, as temperatures plunge Judy (Taylor Russell) is trapped in the ice with merely’barely minutes of oxygen left; enormous’vast’massive’tremendous -brained matriarch Maureen (Molly Parker) has passed out care of a broken leg, which untrained middle-spawn Penny (Mina Sundwall) has recently had to operate on; and anything pop John (Toby Stephens), hefting around his lacerated pride, comes up with is of no use at all. Meanwhile, the youngest, thus far meekest member of the clan (Maxwell Jenkins) has not merely’barely been separated from the others but is up a tree in a blazing in/with regard to’concerning’regarding est sharing a fragile branch with a confused alien robot of unknown origin. No two ways with regards to’concerning’with respect to it — danger, Will Robinson!###What gives Netflix’s high-end reboot of Irwin Allen’s sixties TV romp — itself a sci-fi spin on Johann David Wyss’ 19th century expedition Swiss Family Robinson — such innocent, head-on pleasure is the fact it is hardly a reboot at all. Developed by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, rather than labouring over the kind of twisty-turny, self-significant’essential’critical’vital’crucial’indispensable’imperative report on the human condition that demarcates enormous’vast’massive’tremendous telly, they possess’own’nurse simply reopened the old playreserve — a shipwrecked family escape an endless medley of perils in paradise. In this case an unknown planet, trillions of light-years from home that bears an uncanny resemblance to the pine in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ests within driving distance of well-priced studio space in Vancouver (there are bizarre similarities to Alien: Covenant, but thankfully none of that deadpan, pseudo-profound huggermugger with regards to’concerning’with respect to creation).###Sensibly, gone are the cheesy grins and tin-foil costumes, the uncomin/with regard to’concerning’regarding table emphasis on a white-bread American family unit.###But with the addition of intense’fierce’exquisite production values, the grit of rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent stuntwork in hardscrabble locations, a fine cast, a hatful of decent directors — including Neil Marshall and Cube’s Vincent Nattali — here is a buoyant commitment to Saturday-morning serial, edge-of-the-sofa thrill in/with regard to’concerning’regarding thrill’s abundant sake.###Gone are the cheesy grins and tin-foil costumes, the uncomin/with regard to’concerning’regarding table emphasis on a white-bread American family unit.###Eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully tribulation met by the Robinsons in this in/with regard to’concerning’regarding tuitously habitable but treacherous place unleashes a skilfully overwrought cascade of crisis. Eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully episode turns hilariously life or death. Tune in next week… Or hang on five seconds if you’re in the market in/with regard to’concerning’regarding an easy binge.###Not that we don’t also acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure plenty of family dysfunction. Stephens’ grumbling, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mer black-ops type John and Parker’s obstinate super-scientist Maureen are doing a mightily poor job of disguising the fact their marriage was on the skids even bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e they launched in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a fresh start in the colony on Alpha Centuri — where merely’barely the best and brightest are given a shot. By the third time the squabbling parents acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure stranded toacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure her to mull over their differences, you embark on hope the tar pit will swallow them up.###The in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ward thrust is merely’barely mildly’faintly waylaid by flashbacks to pre-expedition Robinson tribulation, the sinister attack on the mothership that landed them and sundry other survivors on this planet (with its own imminent trajectory into the maw of a black hole — but how are they going acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure away without any fuel?) and the murky origins of stowaway Dr. Smith (who might not be a doctor at all).###Genders possess’own’nurse been smartly flipped in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the requisite pantomime nasty to a splendid Parker Posey, who plays Smith’s manipulations as a subtle pathology of survivalist cunning, messing with minds like a stray Hannibal Lecter whose improbably convoluted schemes can run episodes ahead. When oh when will the dopey Robinsons realise she is up to no rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent ?###There is some shun able mid-season drag. Jettisoning the headlong excitement of Marshall’s marvellous opening two episodes in/with regard to’concerning’regarding limp camp politics and slow-burn romances involving both Judy and Penny. Still, giving Ignacio Serricchio’s hotshot Don West, Judy’s luckless paramour, so unashamed a glint of Han Solo’s scoundrel glamour (hey, he’s smuggling whiskey to the new world) leaves no doubt that the series sees itself as a top quality covers band doing riffs on the old greats.###One of the chief triumphs of the new, enhance’promote’polish up d but happily unambitious Lost in Space is that they do grossly rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent robot indeed. The sixties clockwork-cute automaton (detoken ed by Robert Kinoshita without venturing far from his iconic Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet) has been elevated into a mightily impressive insectoid warrior-droid with a glowing oval screen in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a face, whereby his limited but telling emotional range is reported via the colour of the bubbling pixels. He (it?) is soon established as the heart of the story. Still warbling that token ature line — “Danger, Will Robinson!” —and providing tireless assistance in acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ting his disaster-prone charges out of their latest, multi-storey snafu —despite the growing suspicion he might be harbouring a dark past — there is something genuinely affectionate in this one boy and his seven-foot killer-robot relationship. It’s like Kes retold with Cylons.