''The Spaceship'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

set in the year 2104 and onwards that premiered on

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

over the course of five days during the last week of June 2005. It was written by Paul Barnhill and Neil Warhurst and was directed by Sally Avens. A second series of ''The Spaceship'' began broadcasting on 25 February 2008, with the first series repeated again in the week prior to broadcast. In this series the ''Really Invincible'' was upgraded to version 3.2.8. ''In the year 2104 a fleet of research cruisers were launched into space. Their mission: to seek out new life. With every moment on board preserved by wall-to-wall monitoring and transmitted over time back to Earth, we’ve been allowed access to one of these ships: The Really Invincible III, Macclesfield Division. What you are about to hear took place, live, four years ago, seventy thousand light years from home.''

Characters

*Captain Gordon "Flashdance" Taylor (

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim-w ...

) – Gordon is captain of ''The Really Invincible III'' and has a tendency to throw cheese and wine parties at a moments notice. *Melissa Paterson (

Emily Joyce Emily Sian Joyce (born 12 April 1969) is an English actress best known for playing the role of Janet Dawkins in the BBC comedy series '' My Hero'', between 2000 and 2006. Early life Joyce is the youngest of three sisters, all of whom are in ...

) – Despite being the ship's security officer, Melissa never wears the regulation uniform. *Karen Trex (

Rosie Cavaliero Rosalind Cecilia Cavaliero (born 27 November 1967) is a Brazilian-born English actress. She has appeared in numerous television roles. Filmography Theatre work * ''Dracula'' at the Everyman, Cheltenham – Florrie (February 1995) * ''Airswi ...

) – Ship's Communications Officer, Feng Shui expert, and all-round nice person. *Stuart Jackson (Paul Barnhill) – Stuart is the ship's engineer and newest member after the last engineer was accidentally ejected into space. *Clive 55 (Neil Warhurst) – As one of 137 clones, all called Clive, created in a lab just outside

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, he is the ship's Chief Medical Scientist. *Narrator (Nick Bolton) – Guide to events on board ''The Really Invincible III''. *E3007 Series II Yakamoto – The ship's robot that has been malfunctioning since launch and is locked in a perpetual loop of

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

. Its only current use is that of an iron for the crew's clothes.

Episode guide

''The Spaceship''

*Episode 3002: ''Lost'' – The crew is responsible for taking care of the princess of the Urg. *Episode 3003: ''Indestructible'' – Why does ''The Indestructible III'' explode for no reason? *Episode 3004: ''Monster'' – Who or what is in the hold of ''The Really Invincible III''. *Episode 3005: ''Dirty'' – Clive 55’s experiment with

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

goes awry. *Episode 3205: ''Enemies'' – The crew prepare to meet the Duhwop-eye.

''The Spaceship II'' (Second Series)

*Episode 1: ''Hole'' – While dealing with the unpleasant consequences of the first ever incident of travel through a

black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...

, the crew faces a race of call-centre operative plants. *Episode 2: ''Manhood'' – Scientist Clive 55 reconstructs a dead space pirate and before long he's running the ship. *Episode 3: ''Rude'' – The crew have some space tourists on board, but it turns into a holiday from hell. *Episode 4: ''Sick'' – The crew contract a mystery virus which makes them age at an alarming rate. *Episode 5: ''The End'' – The End: The crew find themselves at the end of the universe.

External links

''The Spaceship'' section at Nebulous City
(via Wayback Machine).
British Comedy Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaceship, The BBC Radio comedy programmes Science fiction comedy Works set in the 22nd century British science fiction radio programmes Fiction set in the 22nd century BBC Radio 7 (rebranded) programmes