Hyperdrive

This brand new comedy is a breath of fresh air. It has a great feeling to it and is like a miniature Hollywood production with great sets and costumes. Kevin Eldon and Nick Frost are both well established in sitcoms and the rest of the talented cast are fantastic in what promises to be a great show if given the chance.

Why, the really negative comments from the spotty nerds who compare everything to their love of Red Dwarf, some of these guys have to be well in their 50s by now. I don't know why these people take delight in knocking something that is vastly superior to their beloved Red Dwarf. Maybe it is their age as they were probably almost able to pull a girlfriend in Red Dwarf times and Hyperdrive holds none of the nostalgia.

It is easy, if you don't understand the humour, put your Red Dwarf DVDs on and relax in yesteryear.

I really really wanted to like Hyperdrive, no I truly did and this is why I gave it every chance but unfortunately the conclusion that this BBC space-com is a bit of a dog is unavoidable.

Like many things which sound like a good idea and have most of the right ingredients which Hyperdrive does have, it should have worked. But then, the Titanic was a great idea whilst still in dock at Southampton. Sad fact is that the writing simply isn't up to the job. Too dependent on the futuristic setting and the (fairly obvious) gags arising from that. True, nobody does obsessional like Eldon (though for some reason I keep expecting him to go into his role as the cleaner in Black Books - just me that one I suppose...) and Frost is always watchable but the whole enterprise (no tenuous pun intended...) comes across as something a sixth form drama class might write after watching the original Beeb Hitchikers series.

A generous 4/10 from me.

Nick Frost, Miranda Hart and Dan Antopolski are absolute gems in this series. The rest of the cast are a great deal of fun as well. I understand why people seem to make comparisons to Red Dwarf there is a similar feeling to it but I find it stands well on it's own. I know another series would be a pipe dream at this point, but I would be on board for a third season. Yes it has some cringe worthy moments, but that is part of its charm. It's also an interesting take on global affairs, most often sci-fi has a globalist perspective on the future and Hyperdrive offers up a nationalist point of view that is an interesting change from the norm.

Boris has just launched his Galactic Britain initiative which is, apparently, about "putting the UK firmly in the front rank of the global space industry: Global Britain becoming Galactic Britain".

I feel this is the perfect documentary of what it'll be like! The casting is superb and conveys the "good intent but suboptimal outcome" that Nick Frost manages to embody so well. Everyone seems to be up in arms about this not being another Red Dwarf, but thankfully we have Red Dwarf to be Red Dwarf, leaving Hyperdrive to be its own thing.

The only bad thing I have to say about it is the criminally short run of twelve episodes - we need more of this. Talky Door!

This show shows promise. I think we all hated the first few episodes but for those of us who stuck with it we found out that as the series progressed it started to become genuinely funny. It is a wonderful, detached a quirky comedy with more than a few noticeable flaws. But these are outweighed by other laugh out loud moments the likes of which have only ever been seen on Red Dwarf. The characters, while underdeveloped, are humorous and quirky and add to the hilarity, especially York, the sadistic security officer. I know this show has very definite and profound flaws, but it is these moments of brilliance that make the show worth watching, that make all those cringe worthy flop gags worth cringing for, give this show a chance, you won't regret it.