Hyperdrive

I have long been a fan of Red Dwarf. Compared to the very best of Red Dwarf (3rd and 4th seasons) Hyperdrive does not measure up. But there are not a lot of comedy writers out there who could follow the team of Grant & Naylor and expect to compare favorably.

As many here have already observed Hyperdrive does not attempt to be the same sort of comedy as Red Dwarf. I find it to be a send up of the pomposity found in the Star Trek universe. If you come to the show looking for that kind of satire then Hyperdrive will prove to be very very entertaining. At least watch it long enough to see the Cadet Ball scene. You'll see what I mean.

For starters, I don't get what the big deal is comparing this show to Red Dwarf. Aside from both being British sci-fi series set in space, Hyperdrive is hardly a ripoff. If you ask me, it's more like Star Trek than anything else, albeit a twisted, bureaucratic, hilarious Star Trek set in a less-than-perfect-future. Exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly sell stuff where no man has sold stuff before! :) And even if the concept may not be the most original in the history of scifi, the characters more than make up for that. York is just deliciously evil, Jeffers is perfect as the wannabe-badass, Teal is just plain cheerful and fun, and Sandstrom... well, I just like her because she reminds me of Radical Edward. :D

The crew of the ship Camden Lock search the stars on behalf of Great Britain to represent it as a country and promote the country as a great place to do business. Promoting places like Tipton and Milton Keynes was never an easy task even on a national level but on a galactic level it is even tougher. To carry out this task a brave crew is assigned led by the Brentish Commander Henderson. He is supported by the warlike and slightly insane First Officer York, the Commander-adoring Teal and the offhand Jeffers with only the remote guidance of Space Commander Clarke.

I'll leave all the comparisons to Red Dwarf to the army of fans that can do it much better than I can but suffice to say that personally I don't bend myself out of shape comparing two things that happen to share a genre. This sci-fi comedy uses the basic frame of the British ship in space to create something that is much closer to the downbeat humour of The Office than it is Red Dwarf. It mixes the British sense of the downbeat with the exaggeration of the sci-fi and I found it quite amusing even if it is a bit inconsistent. The plots are more like a series of ideas cobbled together rather a solid series narrative but it doesn't really matter because I was laughing just about enough to make it worthwhile. The general air of amusement carries it more than anything because I was never rolling with laughter but I did chuckle quite a lot.

The cast are mixed but are mostly good enough to do the job. Frost is funny but at times he is too close to David Brent for my taste at times. That said his was still a good character and I enjoyed the very British sense of bad management that he gave. Eldon may have a similar character but it worked for me and I was amused by him throughout the series. Hart, Antopolski, Evans and Massey are solid enough and Joseph made for quite a famous face in a minor role. Generally the cast all buy into the material and their delivery compliments the material even if it rarely lifts it. The effects are pretty good for a BBC2 comedy and Henderson has a healthy feel for the genre.

Overall this is not a great comedy but I found it consistently amusing. The cross between sci-fi and The Office isn't exactly original or inspiring but it does work for the most part and produces a very British sense of humour. The cast match this and compliment the material without really making it better than it is. Generally though, an amusing British sci-fi comedy.

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!

I can't believe how many very lazy reviewers here are comparing this show negatively to Red Dwarf. Just stop it alright? Nothing except Red Dwarf will ever be as good as Red Dwarf. Having said that, the characters in this show are based a good deal less on stereotypes that those in Dwarf. The humour is frequently more zany than Dwarf, the stories are less predictable than Dwarf. One or two story ideas do fall a bit flat, but many are very funny, especially the shows that feature the alien race Queppu. Overall the humour here is very Brit, which is why I think many Americans just don't get it (which is fine by me, I don't laugh at The Big Bang Theory). The actors are all very good TV actors (Craig Charles was more of a poet than an actor when he started in Dwarf) and have been well cast for their roles. Nick Frost is of course well-known, but at least two of the others have had their own comedy shows. It's a shame this only got two series, but I'm grateful for them and it still makes me laugh on rewatch.