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.

On first pass, this sci-fi comedy immediately invites comparisons with Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and even The Office. However, Hyperdrive is really just the everyday working class gone forth, not so much boldly, but just... there.

The commander of the Camden Lock, Henderson, played warmly by Nick Frost, dreams of doing something great for Britain as he commands his ineffectual crew, ineffectually. His intentions overreach his ability, but he's no smarmy David Brent. This is a bloke who shoulders his responsibility, but could easily end up down the pub with the rest of the crew on a Friday afternoon.

This is a good role for Frost, who has previously played second-fiddle to Simon Pegg in such fan-boy classics as Spaced and Shaun of the Dead. Frost proves he is capable of gentle comedic moments, inhabiting his role with subtlety. This may be lost on some of the more rabid sci-fi crowd, who may be irked to find that this is a very different beast than say, the abrasiveness of the Rimmer/Lister relationship from Red Dwarf. It may be a stretch to say that the crew-mates of the Camden Lock enjoy each other's company but they don't actively hate each other.

The rest of the crew is rounded out nicely by Teal, the Alien Liaison officer, who has a crush on Henderson. First Officer York is gleefully homicidal, and Jeffers is note-perfect as the ship's Tech Officer, who displays just the right amount of contempt and long-suffering for his fellow humans. Sandstrom, the ship's "enhanced human" and Pilot (an obvious stab at such pilot roles found in shows like Andromeda or Farscape) provides a little mystery, and curiously, a strange eroticism. Her vacant smile is stunning.

Overall, Hyperdrive is a rewarding comedy, if you're willing to let go of hyper-critical thinking and allow yourself to enter into a far-flung universe that seems more close to home than you may think. Despite some rather average (and rare) script moments, there's enough of a foundation here to build a show that could yet become as revered and loved as a certain crimson miniature.

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.