Average Romp, available now

The adventures of space astronaut Richard “Dick” Dixon as he arrives in a world totally alien to his own – Earth, 2077.

As creator Jonathan Morris explained to SFB in the launch announcement, this new audio came out of repeated exposure during lockdown to the worlds of Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica as seen through the creative lens of Glen A. Larson – those late 1970s/early 1980s series that so many of us lapped up at the time, but which, to be kind, don’t always hold up well to scrutiny, particularly in light of the changes in societal mores since that time.

Which potentially makes this very affectionate homage and parody sound a lot more serious than it is. As well as some very sharp observational comedy (where the satire does skirt with being offensive with one particular plotline), Morris’ script also feels like it comes from the era of I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, and even the middle Carry On films (the opening sequence just needs a Sid James larf). He picks up on the tropes not just of the era but of those particular shows – we just know that the lesson from “old Earth” that Buck… sorry, Dick… teaches Gina will come in handy at some critical point…

I’m not going to spoil the jokes – inevitably some work better than others – but there’s some lovely character work from Terry Molloy and director/guest star Toby Hadoke, while Dan Starkey’s B-G (where did those initials come from?!) isn’t just a revamped Twiki… I sense a certain amount of Metal Mickey in there too (I’m sure B-G would have something to say about that!).

This is the first episode of a proposed series, with Morris promising to tackle the many recurring plots of the era. He’s brought together a strong cast – Kieran Hodgson plays everything absolutely straight, with Allyson June Smith’s Gina, Jez Fielder’s Ozzie (at least I hope that’s the spelling!) and Sooz Kempner’s Fox making good foils and setting the tone (the launch bay sequence had me laughing out loud). David Darlington’s sound design hits the right note of familiarity, and Daryl Maclean’s theme is period appropriate, if not quite the Stu Phillips/Glen Larson pastiche I’d expected.

The first episode is free and there’s a Kickstarter running to finance more episodes – which I will be looking forward to hearing.

Verdict: A daft but very well observed look at the era of Disco SF. 8/10

Paul Simpson