Star Cops was one of those series which seemed to arrive a decade early. Set in near Earth orbit, it followed Commander Nathan Spring (David Calder), a police officer too good (and too tactless) to be allowed to stay on Earth. Promoted to the ISPF or Star Cops, Spring found himself faced with unique crime and a wildly eccentric group of officers to deal with it. Nine episodes long, the show varied between wildly inventive and ambitious and just plain odd and remains something of a cult classic.

The first volume of Big Finish’s revival opens with One of Our Cops is Missing by Andrew Smith. With construction of the largest space station in orbit nearing completion, Nathan is asked to find a missing officer by an old friend while sidekick Devis (Trevor Cooper) reluctantly helps out veteran Star Cop Priya Basu (Rakhee Thakrar) with an odd engineering problem…

This is a great start to the series, cleverly reintroducing the characters and at the same time changing the status quo. Priya is a great addition to the team as is Paul Bailey, played by Philip Olivier. The first is a precise, focused woman with a whip-smart sense of humor. The second is an expert undercover officer who is about to do a Nathan Spring and become too good for his job. Together, their energy drives the script along and brings it into land in a manner that’s as neat as it is satisfying. Plus Andy Secombe must surely now hold some kind of record for playing the same supporting character in two different media, as Nathan’s old colleague from Earth.

Ian Potter’s Tranquility and Other Illusions is a cracking locked(ish) room mystery featuring an apparently impossible murder and a ghost from a Star Cop’s past. It’s a welcome chance for everyone to stretch their wings and cleverly marries wild west and mystery novel plot beats to an SF core. It also gives Devis some excellent stuff to do and explores the bad reputation the ISPF still have to great effect.

That comes to a head in Lockdown by Christopher Hatherall. By this stage, Earth-first terrorist group Mother Earth have made themselves very known and Nathan and Priya are called to Earth to Tech Tower, a state of the art conference facility to discuss how to counter the threat. A threat that becomes all too real when Mother Earth lock the building down.

Hatherall cleverly gives Nathan a sparring partner in the private security specialist who wants to take his job and also cleverly hides a heist inside a heist. This is old fashioned detective fiction at a breakneck modern pace and its immense fun from top to bottom. Or in this case, lobby to roof.

Finally, the always impressive Guy Adams brings this boxed set into land with The Thousand Ton Bomb. A lead uncovered by Devis leads to Paul going back undercover and discovering something unspeakable; with the station nearing completion Mother Earth have stepped up their game. And their body count.

What’s obviously impressive here is the action packed climax which involves, among other things, a space station being thrown at another space station, a punch being thrown at a Prime Minister and some decidedly underhand tactics from the ISPF. What’s subtly fun here is the way Adams lets the format tell the story. The best scene, by far, is Paul newly arrived on Earth at his cover identity’s house, talking himself into it. Everything Philip Olivier does impresses but this, especially the accent shift, is a real standout.

Verdict: This is the best possible return fans of the show could have wished for. It’s driven, urgent, curmudgeonly at times and fiercely dedicated, much like the organization it focuses on. The new characters fit right in, the new sense of urgency is perfect and the show’s special effects are much better in audio. An essential for fans and a perfect place to start for newcomers. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart

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