Muldwych Star Cops was a brilliant fusion of speculative and crime fiction unfortunately cut down in its prime. The nine episodes it does have to show for itself are well worth your time, engagingly portraying as they do a pretty credible look at what life might be like a couple of decades from now when mankind takes its first steps into space and establishes a permanent presence there. In the new frontier, where the laws have yet to be codified and the interests of corporations and rival governments can be pursued without consequence, Earth-bound authorities soon realise the need for a dedicated police force to be stationed where the action is. Seasoned terrestrial detective Nathan Spring is sent skyward to take charge of this very first attempt at extraterrestrial law enforcement - disparagingly nicknamed the Star Cops. With a team comprising members from across the globe, the Star Cops discover that while the base motivations for things like murder, espionage, kidnappings and fraud are little different in zero gravity, the rapidly different environment in which they take place and the technology affording extraterrestrial habitation allow them to be conducted in a variety of new ways, from sabotaging space suits or atmospheric decompression to alien hoaxes. It's far easier to make people disappear, far simpler to traffic drugs and far harder to receive any help when it's millions of kilometres away.The show is a genuine attempt at speculative fiction based on real-world foundations, making it more Doomwatch than Doctor Who, the former based around extrapolations of the real science of the day. Meanwhile, the production team constructed models and sets that didn't stray too far from what we are rapidly seeing in the space stations of today and perhaps the moonbases of tomorrow. Help was even supplied by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now part of Boeing) to incorporate real flight simulators, giving the series that extra touch of authenticity. Actors were suspended on wires to simulate weightlessness, though in time, dramatic license prevailed - it's hard to look dignified when you're floating. An excellent cast headed by David Calder breathed life into the disparate characters who initially take time to trust each other, but bonds are developed even over the short span of the series.The show was not without its faults, some of which are only more evident in our more politically-correct age. Sexism, particularly on the part of Colin Devis, the rough, slightly misogynistic, but nonetheless caring and likable detective inspector hired by Spring in episode 2. While such behavior is even less likely to be tolerated in 2027, when the action takes place, it does at least underscore the fact that Star Cops was not meant to be Star Trek - this was not the enlightened 23rd Century. Equally more jarring today are the racial stereotypes - the Americans are cowboys, the Italians are all in the mafia, the Japanese are excessively polite, and so on. It's a welcome indicator of at least one way in which television has progressed in the decades since - even if the actual content hasn't. None of this however greatly detracts from all the things Star Cops gets right - solid storytelling, and great characterisation. Humanity is at the core of the series, good and bad.Unusually for a series of this nature, the incidental music is neither synthesised nor orchestral, but rock-based, through the talents of Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward, who himself sings the theme tune. You'll find it hard to meet someone who thought any of this was a good idea (not even the show's creator), but I'll go at least halfway by saying that I do like the theme, though 80s rock instrumentals do not work to underscore the drama any more than 'Yakkety Sax' would work in a documentary about the First World War. However, I applaud experimentation - Evan Chen's unusual score for 'Crusade' was a far better attempt at something completely different.Star Cops is generally considered to have failed due to conflict behind the scenes, constant rescheduling by the BBC and its inability to find an audience: it wasn't 'ET' enough for sci-fi fans and too much so for lovers of crime fiction. It was an attempt at something new, which didn't sit well with a Britain that had in the late 80s grown tired of what they considered sci-fi to be (now that opinions have turned 180 degrees, maybe it's time for someone to carry on where the series left off). The title itself doesn't help either, bringing to mind images of ray guns and spandex. Trust me - you won't come across any of that here. All of which is a great shame, and as time has passed, it's become more favourably re-appraised. I certainly give it the thumbs up and recommend it to the curious.

Chung Mo This came on New York television via a local public television station. Not the main one but a smaller station on the UHF band. It was in the early nineties. If my memory is correct the only sci-fi television at the time was Star Trek: The Next Generation. This was not a watchable show for me and I avoided it. By chance I saw a TV listing and there was this mystery show, "Star Cops". No description given. In fact I don't know if the station ever publicized the program. I tuned in and was very happily surprised. Here was a sci-fi show with a brain although with a slant towards hard-boiled 40's noir. Nine weeks, a few more of repeat enjoyment then it was gone.Three elements hold the show together:The unique art direction and design that is probably the only time anyone picked up on the "2001" style and elaborated. The way space is portrayed and the design of the hardware is unlike anything out of the U.S. entertainment machine. Believable and beautiful at once. The special effects, while clumsy at times, are bolstered by the art direction. Who cares if the space station and the background move out of sync for a second or so. The overall intent overwhelms the defects.The smooth music by Moody Blues member Justin Heyward and David Bowie producer Tony Visconti gives the show a unique feel. A good comparison would how the country music instrumentals worked on "Firefly". It shows that Kubrick had figured something out. The dense and complex story lines lift the program out of the pedestrian and grade school level space opera typified by "Star Trek:TNG" or the boring "Stargate" franchise. The writers really tried to imagine what the real world politics would be when private business and different countries move into space.The drawbacks to the show mainly are due to the below average acting from some of the regular cast and the low budget. There are too many screwy American accents coming out of British actors' mouths then I like to hear. A number of the bad guys are just awful. Bad acting is unusual to see in a serious British drama but compared to the amatuerville from many of the Star Trek spinoffs, I shouldn't complain. David Calder is an exception on this show, he was always on. The regular cast seemed to be falling comfortably into their roles by the last episode. The exception was Erick Ray Evans who comes across more as a very likable tennis coach than a hard-boiled cop. He never seemed to be able to expand his range. But he's seems to be a nice guy.It's too bad that fate cut this show off after nine episode, I really think that a second set of episodes would have solidified the program.A very interesting experiment that should be repeated.

john-994 Star Cops rose above the average in a way that rarely happens: by being more average. How was this? Well, from the start, it's so average, it's. different! It had average theme music - well average for something other than SF. Kind of laid back. Style wise, in the SF arena, it has only recently been matched by the rather less pleasantly warbling intro for the appalling 'Enterprise'. Very laid back.Acting wise, everyone does a competent job. David Calder is a high point but none of the rest are Patrick Stewart. But they don't need to be. They seem to be either actors playing hard at being `regular Joe's' or - failing that - they're just fairly average actors. Either way, it doesn't seem to matter. The actors play 'space' like it's no big deal. Like they don't want to be there but do want to do their jobs. Even when they are only just on the ball, it's still terribly convincing because it all looks so 'run of the mill'.The plots aren't overly clever or dramatic. They don't involve saving the earth every week. No vast alien flotillas hove into view to crush all resistance before them. No labyrinthine plots of shape shifters or invisible aliens. Just regular greedy, lazy people and average nut cases doing what they do in the real world: being avaricious, slack and mad - just, it's in orbit! (well, or on the moon as well).The effects show nice attention to detail but are pretty run of the mill BBC fare. So they're 'effects' but not 'special effects', if you see what I mean, but it's enough. The modelling's quite nice and pretty believable. The script never gets caught up in easy to film stuff like artificial gravity (except the spin on the space station Ronald Regan!), or plot accelerators like faster than light drives.I know this may sound stupid but, the mix of accents, the run of the mill mundanity. I love it! Why doesn't someone bring it out on DVD or - at least - show the thing on the TV again!

possum-3 No matter how many times I think about it, 'Star Cops' is still quite possibly the greatest science-fiction show ever on television.The premise is simple--cops in space, something that sounds like a recipe for schmaltz, but it's the execution that makes it rise head and shoulders above the capsule description. The characters, through the space of nine episodes, show more depth and range than a decade of latter-day 'Star Treks'. They have moments of irritability, seething rage, intense fear, mild annoyance and sheer terror, played out over plots that challenge the viewer to keep up. This is a show that improves exponentially with repeated viewings, with complexities opening up and incidental moments gaining significance as you become able to correlate them. The characters are often unlikeable, quarrelsome, and rude--much like real people.Dialogue is sometimes cryptic, requiring another viewing for you to understand the joke or the significance of the remark. Often, characters speak over each other's lines, much like real people.The plots, while often standard mystery fare, offer spins new to the science-fiction format, requiring a little knowledge of human nature rather than of physics or chemistry. It's never the science, or a simple whodunit--it's always the motive. The human element is always what is at issue.And NO SF SHOW has ever been so firmly within the possibilities of REAL SCIENCE, requiring no long explanations or technobabble justifications. It is, without a doubt, the most scientifically probable program that has ever been on the air.There are only nine episodes, and that's a pity. Blame the BBC for their infinite lack of wisdom. But at least there are NINE, and that's wonderful.