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SFF: Big Finish's Star Cops: Mother Earth
First, I'm not entirely sure I've ever really talked about Star Cops before? Like, I know I touched on it during the last post, but I don't have a Star Cops tag.
Anyway, Star Cops was a late-80s SF show written by Chris Boucher (of Blake's 7/Doctor Who, yes, that Chris Boucher), about cops in space which was dedicated to being Very Grounded In Almost Reality, and while it was all right, it had Issues, and only lasted the one season.
It was something my father really liked (his favorite Annoy The Children joke related to Star Cops was to call it Space Cops)
Thirty years later, and Big Finish have got hold of it, and of three of the original actors.
So, Mother Earth is two box sets, and eight episodes in total and feels very much like one series/season of Star Cops. This is great in that it has a natural start/stop, and also in that I feel like I have most of the story.
BTW, my biggest letdown (aside from the spoiler at the end) is that they didn't get the song (It Won't Be Easy, sung by Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues) from the original series to play as the theme tune. I fucking love that song, and it encapsulates both Star Cops and that 80s SF feel that the series is meant to be.
I'm going to admit up-front that I don't remember as much about the first box set, but I did like it. They ground the series in Nathan Spring and Colin Devis (which is understandable, they were the grounding for the original series along with Kenzy and Theroux (whose actor is dead, sadly)), who are both on form as themselves. There are a couple of other old hands from the original, and they introduce three new characters:
Priya - I liked her a lot, she feels very New, though, despite having quite a bit of experience. She also trained as a doctor, which echoes Anna Shoun, though they're quite different.
Paul - He's a little more jaded, he's been doing undercover work for a while, but he's very dedicated to the job. And gay. Devis even gets him a gay porno mag when he's laid-up. Not that Paul appreciates it (Devis might, though).
Shayla - Replacing the Alexander Krivenko position of administrator, I found her brisk and admin-y, and as frustrated with Nathan as Krivenko used to get, though she does appreciate that he's attempting to do his job.
Most of the first couple of episodes is establishing the above as part of the team, re-introducing the team, and kicking off the background radiation of the trouble of policing in a multi-national place like space where no one wants to listen to the cops, and everyone is out for a buck.
There's also some attempt to keep it very grounded in Earth and current-era politics (which are depressingly not much changed from the original series). And a bit of pointed commentary on diversity in space, etc. Devis sticks his foot in it more than once, but gets called on it, which I found nice (there's also a LOL DEVIS NO moment that I just remembered in, I think, the third episode that is so perfectly Devis). They toned him down a little for the next series outside of the banter with Paul.
In the last episode of the first box set, they get Pal Kenzy back (partly because they discovered someone could find Linda Newton, and partly due to wanting her back), and she and Nathan and Devis still have cracking chemistry in spades.
It's actually a bit disturbing how easily all three slip right back into their characters.
The second box set picks up a little after the first, and since I just listened to it, I have notes on each of the episodes.
5. Dead and Buried - So much of this is perfection, from Devis' complaints to solving everything by beating it with a hammer to Kenzy being terrible at dull police work. The end note with the assassin is chilling, but expected. That said, I love the idea that the security services might 'kill' covers and hide bodies of completely different people this way.
6. The Killing Jar - The is unsurprisingly the John Dorney-written episode, as there are a couple of heart-rending moments and Dorney is quite dedicated to breaking my fucking heart. That aside, I liked this episode and found the multiple plotlines well-balanced. I did start to notice the lack of Shayla, though - she wasn't in the first, and she and Priya were both barely used in this one.
7. Lockdown - This one is the Kenzy & Devis road show and is terrible (seriously, Nathan could not have picked a worse team for undercover work) but hilarious. It also shows how difficult it is to juggle the multiple main characters, as Paul is off sick and barely in it. Priya returns either in this one or the previous and she and Kenzy have some sparkage (in the not trusting/disliking each other, which is a Kenzy characterization through-line: she didn't like Anna Shoun, either, because Anna was new; nor did she like Devis though that had more to do with him busting her for blackmail with menaces). Not a lot to say on this episode otherwise, I thought it was a bit predictable but fine.
But it IS totally worth it for Devis and Kenzy 'undercover' (yes, it's as terrible and awful as it sounds).
oh, oh, also, for Priya being smart and using her doctor skills to crack the case.
8. Hostage - The good: Kenzy and Priya team up and work incredibly well together, up to and including getting each others' little tells/signals; so grateful they did that.
Sarah Sutton shows up as a Bad Guy, and gets to play not!Nyssa, and does so quite well.
Shayla gets to be smart, clever, and a badass.
Paul and Devis are great backup, as is Nathan.
Nathan gets to threaten the bad guy, and does so quite well, and I love that he is angry as fuck over Shayla and that's why he's being such an asshole.
The middle meh: The plot from all eight episodes wraps up in a terribly predictable fashion as to Who Was Behind It (and if you didn't realize who the bad guy was in Lockdown, you weren't thinking very hard; then again, I assume anyone who wants the Cowboy Golden Years back where they can harass women for sex and they have no recourse is a republican asshole who needs to be shot).
The terrible: listening to the behind the scenes commentary as they explain that they hoped Shayla's death would be dynamic, interesting, a shock, etc., and that it would remind the listener that No One Is Safe.
Shayla's death is also terrible, but she went out like a hero, and I can respect that.
Let's tackle their commentary:
- Dynamic, shocking; Uh, no. Shayla was a) clearly the least useful in the juggling act, of course she was the first that would be culled--she is part of the action the least, after all. And shocking? Babe, black women die in media all the fucking time, they are like second only to black men in cannon fodder. Don't fucking try this dynamic, shocking, bullshit with me.
- No One Is Safe; It's fucking 2017/18 when this was recorded. Media had already had 24, Spooks and Torchwood and hundreds of other things showing that No One Is Safe, so this justification is fucking bullshit, too. FFS, there's even a fake-out for Paul dying in the 6th episode.
And I'm not saying you can't kill black women, btw, without the commentary I would have been upset, but I would have moved on. But trying to justify it with these bullshit reasons is pointless. Just admit that you realized you needed to thin down the cast as the chemistry (bullshit) wasn't there with Shayla and the rest, and that it was harder to link her into the actual plots.
Because that happens! Sometimes, you create this great character and you slot them in, and they just. don't. work.
In the case of Star Cops, six main characters is one too many. Even the original series had this problem, and the juggling was less noticeable as it was easier to have people in background shots. But the original series still fucking tried - Anna Shoun got a great deal of focus despite the miss-steps, Kenzy got to shine, even Theroux did.
That all said, though, I will continue on as I do like the series.
The one other thing I noticed while listening, though, was the Copaganda of it all. Like, I don't think they're wrong in this instance, but it is absolutely buckwild listening to them say things like, "Trust the police, they're always right." - something that happens at least once an episode.
Anyway, Star Cops was a late-80s SF show written by Chris Boucher (of Blake's 7/Doctor Who, yes, that Chris Boucher), about cops in space which was dedicated to being Very Grounded In Almost Reality, and while it was all right, it had Issues, and only lasted the one season.
It was something my father really liked (his favorite Annoy The Children joke related to Star Cops was to call it Space Cops)
Thirty years later, and Big Finish have got hold of it, and of three of the original actors.
So, Mother Earth is two box sets, and eight episodes in total and feels very much like one series/season of Star Cops. This is great in that it has a natural start/stop, and also in that I feel like I have most of the story.
BTW, my biggest letdown (aside from the spoiler at the end) is that they didn't get the song (It Won't Be Easy, sung by Justin Hayward from the Moody Blues) from the original series to play as the theme tune. I fucking love that song, and it encapsulates both Star Cops and that 80s SF feel that the series is meant to be.
I'm going to admit up-front that I don't remember as much about the first box set, but I did like it. They ground the series in Nathan Spring and Colin Devis (which is understandable, they were the grounding for the original series along with Kenzy and Theroux (whose actor is dead, sadly)), who are both on form as themselves. There are a couple of other old hands from the original, and they introduce three new characters:
Priya - I liked her a lot, she feels very New, though, despite having quite a bit of experience. She also trained as a doctor, which echoes Anna Shoun, though they're quite different.
Paul - He's a little more jaded, he's been doing undercover work for a while, but he's very dedicated to the job. And gay. Devis even gets him a gay porno mag when he's laid-up. Not that Paul appreciates it (Devis might, though).
Shayla - Replacing the Alexander Krivenko position of administrator, I found her brisk and admin-y, and as frustrated with Nathan as Krivenko used to get, though she does appreciate that he's attempting to do his job.
Most of the first couple of episodes is establishing the above as part of the team, re-introducing the team, and kicking off the background radiation of the trouble of policing in a multi-national place like space where no one wants to listen to the cops, and everyone is out for a buck.
There's also some attempt to keep it very grounded in Earth and current-era politics (which are depressingly not much changed from the original series). And a bit of pointed commentary on diversity in space, etc. Devis sticks his foot in it more than once, but gets called on it, which I found nice (there's also a LOL DEVIS NO moment that I just remembered in, I think, the third episode that is so perfectly Devis). They toned him down a little for the next series outside of the banter with Paul.
In the last episode of the first box set, they get Pal Kenzy back (partly because they discovered someone could find Linda Newton, and partly due to wanting her back), and she and Nathan and Devis still have cracking chemistry in spades.
It's actually a bit disturbing how easily all three slip right back into their characters.
The second box set picks up a little after the first, and since I just listened to it, I have notes on each of the episodes.
5. Dead and Buried - So much of this is perfection, from Devis' complaints to solving everything by beating it with a hammer to Kenzy being terrible at dull police work. The end note with the assassin is chilling, but expected. That said, I love the idea that the security services might 'kill' covers and hide bodies of completely different people this way.
6. The Killing Jar - The is unsurprisingly the John Dorney-written episode, as there are a couple of heart-rending moments and Dorney is quite dedicated to breaking my fucking heart. That aside, I liked this episode and found the multiple plotlines well-balanced. I did start to notice the lack of Shayla, though - she wasn't in the first, and she and Priya were both barely used in this one.
7. Lockdown - This one is the Kenzy & Devis road show and is terrible (seriously, Nathan could not have picked a worse team for undercover work) but hilarious. It also shows how difficult it is to juggle the multiple main characters, as Paul is off sick and barely in it. Priya returns either in this one or the previous and she and Kenzy have some sparkage (in the not trusting/disliking each other, which is a Kenzy characterization through-line: she didn't like Anna Shoun, either, because Anna was new; nor did she like Devis though that had more to do with him busting her for blackmail with menaces). Not a lot to say on this episode otherwise, I thought it was a bit predictable but fine.
But it IS totally worth it for Devis and Kenzy 'undercover' (yes, it's as terrible and awful as it sounds).
oh, oh, also, for Priya being smart and using her doctor skills to crack the case.
8. Hostage - The good: Kenzy and Priya team up and work incredibly well together, up to and including getting each others' little tells/signals; so grateful they did that.
Sarah Sutton shows up as a Bad Guy, and gets to play not!Nyssa, and does so quite well.
Shayla gets to be smart, clever, and a badass.
Paul and Devis are great backup, as is Nathan.
Nathan gets to threaten the bad guy, and does so quite well, and I love that he is angry as fuck over Shayla and that's why he's being such an asshole.
The middle meh: The plot from all eight episodes wraps up in a terribly predictable fashion as to Who Was Behind It (and if you didn't realize who the bad guy was in Lockdown, you weren't thinking very hard; then again, I assume anyone who wants the Cowboy Golden Years back where they can harass women for sex and they have no recourse is a republican asshole who needs to be shot).
The terrible: listening to the behind the scenes commentary as they explain that they hoped Shayla's death would be dynamic, interesting, a shock, etc., and that it would remind the listener that No One Is Safe.
Shayla's death is also terrible, but she went out like a hero, and I can respect that.
Let's tackle their commentary:
- Dynamic, shocking; Uh, no. Shayla was a) clearly the least useful in the juggling act, of course she was the first that would be culled--she is part of the action the least, after all. And shocking? Babe, black women die in media all the fucking time, they are like second only to black men in cannon fodder. Don't fucking try this dynamic, shocking, bullshit with me.
- No One Is Safe; It's fucking 2017/18 when this was recorded. Media had already had 24, Spooks and Torchwood and hundreds of other things showing that No One Is Safe, so this justification is fucking bullshit, too. FFS, there's even a fake-out for Paul dying in the 6th episode.
And I'm not saying you can't kill black women, btw, without the commentary I would have been upset, but I would have moved on. But trying to justify it with these bullshit reasons is pointless. Just admit that you realized you needed to thin down the cast as the chemistry (bullshit) wasn't there with Shayla and the rest, and that it was harder to link her into the actual plots.
Because that happens! Sometimes, you create this great character and you slot them in, and they just. don't. work.
In the case of Star Cops, six main characters is one too many. Even the original series had this problem, and the juggling was less noticeable as it was easier to have people in background shots. But the original series still fucking tried - Anna Shoun got a great deal of focus despite the miss-steps, Kenzy got to shine, even Theroux did.
That all said, though, I will continue on as I do like the series.
The one other thing I noticed while listening, though, was the Copaganda of it all. Like, I don't think they're wrong in this instance, but it is absolutely buckwild listening to them say things like, "Trust the police, they're always right." - something that happens at least once an episode.