Alien on Stage is an excellent, uplifting documentary that first launched in 2020. Directed by Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer, it’s just had a wider online release (December 2024) and you can stream it on YouTube etc.

It’s an unusual story. An amateur dramatics set of bus drivers from Dorset, South West England, set their sights on an ambitious production. You’ve all heard of Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror masterpiece Alien. Well, the bus drivers of Dorset decided to act it all out live on stage.

After an opening show failed dismally, it was taken to London’s West End and this documentary was created to document the zero to hero moment. And it’s fantabulous!

Onstage Triumphs and Chest Bursters in Alien on Stage

There were a lot of schlocky, low-budget, unintentionally amusing sci-fi films from the 1970s. The thing about Alien is, in the hands of a lesser director, the thing may well have been mediocre of awful.

Era defining film that it is, if you get a low-budget bunch of amateurs to recreate it onstage and you’re at the point where we return to schlocky B movie roots.

That’s exactly what Alien on Stage channels. Much of the script from the 1979 film is in action here, but with a dodgy (in a great way) looking set and untrained actors… it’s all suddenly very amusing.

Take this intense, brilliant scene with Sir Ian Holm and Tom Skerritt.

At the end of the scene, Captain Dallas (Skerritt) says he’s willing to remove the thing from Kane’s face—even if it kills him. Brilliant actors as those two were, with the music and high production value props it’s unnerving.

Transported to a low-budget stage production with awkward acting and, suddenly, Dallas’ willingness to “take that chance” seems psychotically, idiotically cavalier. It gets lots of laughs from the audience and even the actors (bus drivers in their day jobs) realise it’s inherently absurd and try not to laugh.

That’s all part of the joy of Alien on Stage.

There’s a new way of looking at the film’s script (from a B movie perspective—check out Rob Hill’s Bad Movie Bible for more on that), plus the often ingenious solutions to several of the film’s key plot developments.

The Road to Alien on Stage in the West End

The documentary perfectly channels the have-a-go-heroes nature of amateur productions.

According to production notes, this all took place in 2013 in Dorset. This is from the director’s statement:

“The story centres around a family spanning three generations, seriously obsessed with the film Alien. They convinced their amateur dramatic group, of co-workers and friends mainly composed of employees from the Wilts and Dorset Bus Company, to ditch doing another pantomime like Sleeping Beauty or Robin Hood and try something new.”

The shift to Alien was considerable! And initially met with only 20 people attending their first show. Our understanding is one of the directors got wind of the story and helped get the production a run in London’s legendary West End.

Alien on Stage’s first half follows the build-up to the momentous occasion, with details on how the small crew went about recreating those iconic Alien moments. Like this!

A few clever tactics with bits of string and fog leads to quite impressive results!

The second half of the film has a big chunk of the live performance, but this time with a PACKED small theatre. With backstage access to see how the play’s director (Dave Mitchell), and actors, handle the situation (not very well—nervous beyond belief, as you would be).

This is where it all gets most excellent, as you see the cast and crew get into the performance, riff off the audience’s delighted reactions, and just really enjoy the experience. Very uplifting stuff!

We get highlights such as seeing Ash’s head knocked off, Kane giving birth to the alien, and the xenomorph!

Ostensibly a simple documentary, it’s glorious viewing—from no hopers to a rousing reaction from the audience and the team were invited back in 2014 to perform the show once again.

There’s something very enjoyable about seeing have-a-go-hero type underdog stories. This is a new one to add to the canon! A weirdly uplifting film that’ll (probably) put a joyous step into your Christmas spirit.