Star Cops
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| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Star Cops |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Chris Boucher |
| Date(s): | July 6 – August 31, 1987 |
| Medium: | TV series |
| Country of Origin: | UK |
| External Links: | Wikipedia, IMDB |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Star Cops is a British science fiction television series first broadcast on BBC2 in 1987. It had a total of nine episodes.
Its creator, Chris Boucher, was also a creator of Blake's 7, so there was some fannish drift because of that.
Canon
Set in the year 2027, a time where Interplanetary travel has become commonplace, it starred David Calder as Nathan Spring, commander of the International Space Police Force—nicknamed the “Star Cops"—who provide law enforcement for the newly developing colonies of the Solar System. The series follows Spring and the rest of his multinational team as they work to establish the Star Cops and solve whatever crimes come their way.
Fandom
Fannish Reactions
On a related topic, another BBC SF series (Star Cops, 1987) also had "cheesy" (I like that term) FX, but I think this is one of the best SF I have ever seen. Apart from spaceships that can do U-turns, and apparently limitless energy for Earth-Moon shuttles (*that* is why the spaceship can afford to do a U turn ;-) ), the acting and characterisation, as well as some of the issues technology can raise (raiding a sperm bank to use the spermatoza as hostage) made it compulsive viewing - as soon as I saw the videos I bought them!
Shame only 9 episodes were made :-( Anyone know where I can get a working "box" ? :-)
I think this is where the BBC excells; cheesy FX but great storylines (compare Star Wars - great FX, dodgy storyline). Nowadays, with FX being so cheap to produce with computer aid (TNG, QL), "futuristic" effects are easy to incorporate (still wouldn't be of any use in program such as Star Cops). [1]
STAR COPS is wonderful. 9 episodes is too few. I have them on tape from an airing on our local public PBS channel. I began taping the show because the scripts are so well written: characters are filled out, plots are interesting. The conclusions are usually stunning. I especially like the cowboy commander from the Ronald Reagan getting his come-uppance.
But I first watched STAR COPS at local conventions. I remember (rather dimly) that there was an episode about drug smuggling where the American cop got killed in an airlock. I was surprised that it didn't play on the PBS airings. Am I thinking about another show or did I see a "British" (or whatever) version and my TV station showed an edited version. [2]
Fanworks
Zines
Fannish Links
- The Star Cops Site (wayback)
- Star Cops.com (wayback)
- Star Cops (TV) at Archive of Our Own