I enjoyed Star Cops when it was show in the late 1980's on PBS. What I liked about it was that it was science fiction and set in the future, but not real distant future. Even my parents and siblings who aren't sci fi fans enjoyed it because it focused more on humans branching into space with the technology we had. However with a lot of sci fi Star Cops had no strange space aliens. S.C. was enjoyable because you had mix of different characters from different nations. You saw all their strengths and weaknesses. Also some of the cops and non cops where either good, bad or indifferent. The latter 2 got chances to redeem themselves. The political intrigue that also came in the series was relevant to the stories and the time the television series was produced. To paraphrase I believe Harlan Ellison, "Producers think that sci fi is coming up with all this great technology and creatures. What is really all about is showing that humans invented this stuff and how we grow, learn and go forward." Now that time has passed and the world has changed a bit I'd love to see this series brought back to see how it would play out now. I think this time it would get a better reception.

OK, it is a bit dated (the USSR still around). And the effects are not terrific - but for what I am sure was a minimal budget, not bad, in fact if what I've seen was basically the pilot, pretty decent. Especially for 1986-7 TV. Come to that, the movie *Outland* with Sean Connery in 1981 is the only one I've seen to outdo *2001*, made in 1968 (they at least knew that you cannot see into a shadow without a light - that is still being done wrong in 2005)! And it is a cop show, not a science fiction show. So if you're expecting a space opera, forget it. But if you like cop shows, this is pretty darn good - at least episode one, which is all I've seen so far. And as a computer programmer since 1965, I know whence the lead character's skepticism comes - Hello son!

This was sci-fi at its best. No hard-nosed, crew-cut heroes, this was full of people with flaws (I.E. real people). This had everything, politics, corruption...oh and BOX!!!!!!!I want box! I do not care about any other invention, I want the world's scientists to make one for me now :)Aside from that, this is a series that made me like sci-fi again, after the rubbish mainstream offerings from Hollywood with their weak plots and special effects-driven scenarios. I am glad I got the videos when they escaped from the BBC archives a few years ago and still enjoy the shows as much as I did when they were first shown.It's truly sad that Star Cops never got its second season. It was signed up for one, but with A TV technicians strike cutting the first season down to nine epidodes (the last one was also hugely amended after Erik Ray Evans took ill and David Calder replaced him (hence the strange romance bits between him and Pal) and with Calder moving on to another show, there was no realistic possibility of the crew getting back together to make another 13 episodes.Truly a classic.

Star Cops rose above the average in a way that rarely happens: by being more average. How was this? Well, from the start, it's so average, it's. different! It had average theme music - well average for something other than SF. Kind of laid back. Style wise, in the SF arena, it has only recently been matched by the rather less pleasantly warbling intro for the appalling 'Enterprise'. Very laid back.Acting wise, everyone does a competent job. David Calder is a high point but none of the rest are Patrick Stewart. But they don't need to be. They seem to be either actors playing hard at being `regular Joe's' or - failing that - they're just fairly average actors. Either way, it doesn't seem to matter. The actors play 'space' like it's no big deal. Like they don't want to be there but do want to do their jobs. Even when they are only just on the ball, it's still terribly convincing because it all looks so 'run of the mill'.The plots aren't overly clever or dramatic. They don't involve saving the earth every week. No vast alien flotillas hove into view to crush all resistance before them. No labyrinthine plots of shape shifters or invisible aliens. Just regular greedy, lazy people and average nut cases doing what they do in the real world: being avaricious, slack and mad - just, it's in orbit! (well, or on the moon as well).The effects show nice attention to detail but are pretty run of the mill BBC fare. So they're 'effects' but not 'special effects', if you see what I mean, but it's enough. The modelling's quite nice and pretty believable. The script never gets caught up in easy to film stuff like artificial gravity (except the spin on the space station Ronald Regan!), or plot accelerators like faster than light drives.I know this may sound stupid but, the mix of accents, the run of the mill mundanity. I love it! Why doesn't someone bring it out on DVD or - at least - show the thing on the TV again!