Raised By Wolves delights - then degenerates

RIDLEY Scott knows science fiction. As the director of Blade Runner (1982), The Martian (2015) and three Alien films (1979 - 2017), he's extremely adept at creating striking, surreal backdrops for stories set in the future.

At 82 years old, the former set designer and commercials director hasn't lost his touch. His new HBO TV series, Raised By Wolves, is a grandiose saga taking place on a faraway planet filled with wondrous sights and sounds. Though ostensibly a desert, it has strange trees, craggy mountains, giant holes and creepy threats to conjure the illusion of an alien world.

The 10-episode series begins astonishingly, with the first two episodes helmed by Scott himself. The trouble is, Scott then passes the baton to other directors - including his son Luke - for subsequent episodes. From then on, the show starts to lose its bite.