National Geographic’s “The Right Stuff” is a brand new live-action historical drama series, that can only be found on Disney+.  This show tells the incredible story of the early days of the U.S. space program and is set at the height of the Cold War, newly-formed NASA selects seven of the military’s best test pilots to become astronauts. Competing to be the first in space, these men achieve the extraordinary, inspiring the world to turn towards a new horizon of ambition and hope.

In the first two episodes, we get to see each of the seven’s journey through the selection process, as they are whittled down to the final 7 and learn more about the lives, the families and the struggles of each of the seven astronauts.

This new series is based on the iconic bestseller by Tom Wolfe, which was also made into a movie by Warner Brothers in the 1980s, however by becoming a series, they are able to take much longer in establishing the characters and their families, which really helps expand on who these astronauts are.

The show has a great cast, with “Suits” Patrick J. Adams starring as “Major John Glenn”, Jake McDormanas as “Lieutenant Commander Alan Shepard”. These two characters are the main focus of the show, with them all having different issues to deal with and all being very different. “Once Upon A Time’s” Colin O’Donoghue’s also stars in the show as “Captain Gordon Cooper”, who also gets plenty of screen time to develop his character and family issues. While there are seven members of the Mercury Seven, it focuses primarily on these three characters.

One of the great things about this series, is that it feels like you’ve been transported back to the 1950s and 60s. I love the music from this era and bringing in so many classic songs, really helps set the tone, along with the use of classic cars, the costumes, sets and hairstyling, just really set this show apart from anything else I’ve been watching recently. The special effects of the show are extremely well done, especially the test aircraft scene in the first episode is fantastic.

“The Right Stuff” is exactly what Disney+ needs, more mainstream drama series that adults and families can watch together. This is a show that could have been released on any network or streaming platform, this isn’t tied to a larger franchise or brand, like almost everything else on Disney+.

It’s a high-quality historical drama series that deserves people’s attention and could easily be found on HBO, the BBC or Netflix. It’s unlike anything else that’s on Disney+ right now and ultimately more people need to watch this show to get more original mainstream content like this.

I really enjoyed the first two episodes of the show, instantly wanting to jump into the next episode. This show is going to be one of the highlights of Disney+ Originals and I would recommend it to anyone who loves drama series. I can’t recommend this series enough to any adult who has Disney+, as it sits on the same level of quality as Star Wars: The Mandalorian in my eyes.

Rating 5 out of 5

The first two episodes of “The Right Stuff” will be coming to Disney+ on Friday 9th October, with new episodes dropping weekly afterwards.

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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