Star Cops - Mother Earth Part 1

Star Cops was a TV show that ran for a single season on the BBC back in 1987. While I have fond memories of it, it was largely ignored at the time – explaining the lack of a second season. Apparently, it has undergone something of a re-evaluation in recent years, as a seminal piece of hard SF that had the misfortune to be made at a time when the BBC was turning away from science fiction in general and so suffered from irregular scheduling and under-promotion.

This is the first of four audio releases re-uniting all the surviving members of the original cast. While there are references to the original show, no knowledge of it is required, with the first episode filling in the few blanks a new listener might wonder about. Set in the far-off world of 2028 (not that the audio version ever mentions the date...) when mankind has permanent bases on the Moon and multiple space stations in orbit, it chronicles the work of the nascent police force created to patrol the high frontier. I'll note that this carries an “adult material” tag, which is due to mild swearing, sexual references, and the existence of Inspector Devis.

• One of Our Cops is Missing – The first episode concerns an undercover policeman who has gone missing while investigating a drugs gang in London and is later briefly spotted on the Moon. While Nathan investigates that, Devis is sent off to look into a spacesuit malfunction. It's the latter that has the real connection to the story arc for the 8-episode ‘season', although here, the focus is on the seemingly more important case. The episode primarily serves as a scene-setter for what's to come, laying out the setting and re-introducing the three returning characters (Pal has a very brief scene, seemingly only added to remind us she exists) as well as bringing in the new ones. In that respect, it's functional, and works for what it's trying to do. 3.5 stars.

• Tranquility and Other Illusions – Next, we move to a murder at Tranquility Base, in the shadow of the preserved Apollo 11 Lunar Module. Devis is more the focus than Nathan here, and it's worth noting that the writers don't attempt to change him dramatically from the sexist, slightly bigoted, character we saw on TV. Now, though, it's less played for laughs, and it's clear that the setting is no longer “the ‘80s in space”, where people might turn a blind eye to such things. In fact, how this is done is as much a strength of this episode as the central plot. Like Star Trek, the original show featured an African-American and a Russian among the major characters (both actors have since died), but the inclusion of gay and Muslim characters here brings a more modern sense of inclusivity, as does the larger number of women in the cast. 4.5 stars.

• Lockdown – Nathan attends a conference in Paris where a mystery new piece of technology is to be announced that may put the Star Cops out of business. Naturally, something goes wrong and much of the rest of the story takes place inside the sealed building as he tries to figure out who is behind it. Because of the Earthbound setting, the main part of the story is a regular thriller, that would work almost unchanged if it were set in the present day. However, SF elements are added as the investigation into one of the suspects leads back to India's orbital space station. This wouldn't have worked earlier in the set, but, here it's an effective contrast of the sort the setting allows (and did sometimes on TV). 4 stars.

• The Thousand Ton Bomb – The villains of the season's story arc finally come to the fore in the concluding episode of the set. Here, they are threatening the opening of a new space station and suddenly turning a lot more violent than the glimpses of them we've seen so far have suggested. The episode is also notable for bringing Pal back as a proper character, having not appeared in the previous two episodes at all. Her feisty nature is played up, and the writers seem to have some difficulty fitting her in, but it helps that she's no longer the only female main character (new character Priya Basu isn't in this one much, but she's been very much a focal point in the previous three). In addition to the criminal shenanigans and a segment of Earthbound investigation that turns rather violent, there is an excellent climactic scene at an orbital construction site that manages to work well despite the lack of visuals. 4.5 stars.