Ash Harper is the perfect rookie cop. Recently graduated, she had been top of the class. Her mother, Rebecca, has a vitally important role as the head of security for the Commonworld. Ash’s father was a war hero whose death seems to be on the curriculum at school. This is a world 150 years in the future and cops fly mini spaceships, rather than drive round in cars. There is only one problem, Ash Her is framed for a crime she did not commit and sentenced to off world imprisonment.

During transportation, she encounters a terrifying group of female inmates bound for the same fate and guards whose boredom knows no limit. Through an inspired conspiracy, the inmates affect an escape and take over the ship killing all but an ineffectual guard with the most rudimentary flight skills. Thus begins their journey, and ours, as they flee the powers of the Commonworld, and secrets begin to emerge.

This is a serious attempt to create a credible, British sci-fi show for Sky One. It has been created to share American sensibilities in terms of scope and production values and does so effectively. The aesthetics of this show are easily on a par with anything American TV has thrown at us over the years. We have a sassy and sexy ensemble, large-scale settings, global locations and high-quality special effects.

The show wears its ambition on its sleeve from the opening scene as Savannah Steyn’s Ash flies down through a dilapidated “Old London” to make a bust, only to return to the superstructure above – a brand-new and super shiny “New London” unrecognisable to modern inhabitants.

As an ensemble show, Intergalactic presents us with a diverse cast all with interesting back stories and secrets to divest across the series. It was a wise move to ensure that this series has no titular character to dominate proceedings; we can follow the narrative arc of a protagonist, but it doesn’t mean the audience has to remain invested in the progress of a single character.

Criminal duo and mother and daughter Tula and Genevieve provide a terrifying reminder of the fragility of ego that can boil over into psychopathy and murder. Drugs mule and hybridised human, Candy Skov-King played by Eleanor Tomlinson reminds us that even the offspring of the best families can go badly off the rails. Imogen Daines, playing the gender fluid Verona compares the show to Orange is the New Black. She might not be wrong.

Verdict: This may be set in the future, loaded with SFX but its strength is that it deals with people in whose stories we can invest and with whom we can identify. The opening episode does an effective job in world-building, creating a new mythology and intriguing its audience. Its fast, pacey and sexy. It is definitely one to watch. 8/10

Andy Evans