Supernova

Fun light weight comedy enjoyable & a amazing cast!

It's really interesting to read what others have said about this program. It could be because i'm Australian, but i really didn't see what was so great about this program. I'm a huge fan of Rob Brydon, and usually i find his comedy hilarious, as well as that i've enjoyed work by many of the Australian actors in the show, but to me it seems like a lot of corny jokes and bad attempts at laughing at Australian outback culture. I'm not getting on my high horse because i'm Australian either, i love making fun of Australian culture particularly bush culture (that sounded horrible of me), but it has to be done properly, and i just didn't think this was. It just seemed to me that the writing was a big let down for an idea that could have been amazing.

The above review is misleading. After a slow start, BBC2's quirky comedy improved steadily throughout its first series, not just by giving Rob Brydon the space needed for him to show his talents, but also to give room to his more than able co-stars.

The second series, currently showing on BBC2, hit the ground running - without the need to establish the characters or introduce new ones, the entire cast seemed to have moved up a gear. The plots are more ridiculous and far-fetched, the budget, which stretches to racing camels in one episode, improved and the scripts give all the actors the opportunity to shine.

If there's one criticism, its that six episodes in a series is not enough - roll on series 3!

The show is set around a deep space observatory in Central Australia and the personalities of those who work within.

The facility is staffed by Aussies except for one English interloper and it is he who adds a delightful twist to many a circumstance.

The eclectic group that staff the facility is highly intelligent, extraordinarily dedicated and personally insecure.

The facility is located not too far from a small outback Aussie town. ( A Pub, a shop and a couple of houses )

This creates a beautiful dynamic between the staff, internally at the facility and the staff with the locals of the town.

This interplay makes for much light hearted humour, very little seriousness and a jolly good time.

The Aussie outback shines almost as much as the delightful performances, the whacki humour and the night sky.

A comedy about Astronomy professors in an observatory?

Yup that is exactly what it was! I enjoyed the sheer wackiness of this brilliant little gem.

Some of its humour comes from clever in-jokes about matters astronomical - some from the cultural interplay between the English professor and his Australian colleagues and some from the lovable eccentricity of all seven characters.

Occasional contrived situations did occur but the excellent cast carried them off with verve.

The BBC decided that the show might have limited appeal only and so, giving it little publicity, consigned it to a graveyard slot on a minority channel.

What a shame they hadn't the guts to substitute Supernova for one of their multitude of prime-time soaps - they might have got a pleasant surprise.