''Space Precinct'' is a British television series that was first broadcast from 1994 to 1995 on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1 ...

and later on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

from 1995 to 1996 in the UK, and in first-run

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Many US stations scheduled the show in late night time slots, which resulted in low ratings and contributed to its cancellation. The series was based on a 1986 55 minute pilot film entitled ''Space Police'' starring

Shane Rimmer Shane Rimmer (born Shane Lance Deacon; May 28, 1929 – March 29, 2019) was a Canadian actor and screenwriter who spent the majority of his career in the United Kingdom. The self-proclaimed "Rent-A-Yank" of the British entertainment industry, he ...

that was made but never aired. The series was created by

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

and was a mix of

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

and

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

that combined elements of many of Anderson's previous series such as '' Space: 1999'', '' UFO'' and '' Thunderbirds''.

Premise

The series is set in the year 2040 and stars American actor Ted Shackelford as former

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

detective Patrick Brogan, now a lieutenant with the Demeter City police force on the planet Altor in the

Epsilon Eridani Epsilon Eridani ( Latinized from ε Eridani), formally named Ran, is a star in the southern constellation of Eridanus, at a declination of 9.46° south of the celestial equator. This allows it to be visible from most of Earth's surfac ...

system. Brogan and his partner Jack Haldane (played by Rob Youngblood) must adjust to living in another solar system, and investigating crimes being committed by aliens as well as humans. Also co-starring was

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

actress

Simone Bendix Simone Bendix (born 26 September 1967) is a Danish actress. Bendix trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In addition to the 1994 Gerry Anderson science-fiction drama '' Space Precinct'', in which she played the regular role of Officer ...

as Officer Jane Castle, Haldane's love interest (Brogan was happily married with a wife, daughter and son who made the move to Demeter City with him). All other major characters were played by actors wearing complex make-up that also included elements of puppetry in order to depict the different alien races.

Characters

Brogan family

* Ted Shackelford as Lieutenant Patrick Brogan * Nancy Paul as Sally Brogan * Nick Klein as Matthew 'Matt' Brogan * Megan Olive as Elizabeth 'Liz' Brogan

Demeter City Police

Humans

* Rob Youngblood as Officer Jack Haldane *

as Officer Jane Castle * Joseph Mydell as Officer Lionel Carson

=Creons

= *

Jerome Willis Jerome Barry Willis (23 October 1928 – 11 January 2014) was a prominent British stage and screen actor with more than 100 screen credits to his name. Willis had a leading role in the ITV drama series ''The Sandbaggers'' as Matthew Peele. He ...

as Captain Rexton Podly *

Lou Hirsch Lou may refer to: __NOTOC__ Personal name * Lou (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Lou (German singer) *Lou (French singer) * Lou (surname 娄), the 229th most common surname in China * Lou (surname 楼), the 269th most common ...

as Officer Silas Romek * Richard James as Officer Hubble Orrin * Kieron Jecchinis as the voice of Officer Hubble Orrin *

Tom Watt Thomas Watt may refer to: *Thomas Watt (politician), South African politician *Tom Watt (ice hockey), Canadian ice hockey scout and coach *Tom Watt (actor), English actor, writer and broadcaster * Tommy Watt, Scottish jazz bandleader *Thomas Watt, p ...

as Officer Beezle (four episodes) * Gary Martin as the voice of Officer Beezle (four episodes)

=Tarns

= *

Mary Woodvine Mary Louise Woodvine (born 14 July 1967) is a British people, British television actress who appeared as Mary Harkinson in the BBC soap ''EastEnders'' in 2003. Her father is the actor John Woodvine. Life and career Woodvine was born in Queen Ch ...

as Officer Aurelia Took * Colette Hiller as the voice of Officer Aurelia Took *

David Quilter David Quilter (born 11 June 1942) is an English actor who has made numerous appearances in British television plays and series since the mid-1960s. Early life and family He was born in Northwood, London, and attended Bryanston School, Dorset. ...

as Sergeant Thorald Fredo

Others

* Gary Martin as the voice of Slomo - Station 88's Robot computer.

Other characters

Rob Thirtle Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob (s ...

as Various Guest Aliens * Leigh Tinkler as Various Guest Aliens *

Andy Dawson Andrew Stuart Dawson (born 20 October 1978) is an English former professional footballer and coach. He is part of the coaching staff at Hull City. As a player he was a defender from 1997 to 2015. Having left Nottingham Forest as a youngst ...

as Various Guest Aliens * Joanna Berns as Various Guest Aliens * Wayne Forester as Various Guest Aliens * Alexa Rosewood as Various Guest Aliens *

Ken Whitfield Ken Whitfield (1930 – 1995) was a footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in ...

as Various Guest Aliens *

Will Barton William Denard Barton III (born January 6, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Memphis, where he was named the Conference US ...

as Various Guest Aliens

Production

The series was one of the highest-budgeted shows Anderson produced, and was relatively popular in Europe. However, in a repeat of the situation that '' UFO'' encountered 25 years earlier, American broadcasters were uncertain what to make of the series that looked on the surface to be aimed at younger viewers, yet featured adult-oriented storylines and was usually played straight despite the bizarre storylines and make-up. As a result, ''Space Precinct'' was often scheduled in late-night/early morning time slots. The subsequent low ratings led to its cancellation after just one series.

Episodes

Pilot

The idea for ''Space Precinct'' predated the series by nearly a decade. In 1986 Anderson produced ''Space Police'', a 55-minute

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

film that featured Anderson regular

as Brogan. The series failed to sell at that time and the pilot was never broadcast. The pilot, which has since circulated on video and online, features many differences. Brogan is a much older character than that played by Shackleford, and is a bachelor. His partner—and the only other apparently human character in the pilot—is Sgt. Cathy Costello, who is revealed to be a

gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Name A gyno ...

capable of shifting between human appearance and a more robotic look for dangerous missions. The aliens featured in the pilot are catlike rather than the more exotic aliens in ''Space Precinct''. The only character other than Brogan to transfer from the pilot to the series is the robot Slo-Mo. The pilot, which is more comedic in nature than the somewhat serious series that followed, combined live action, full-size prosthetics, puppetry, and Supermacromation techniques.

''Space Police'' (1986)

Home media

''Space Precinct'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in the UK but, as of 2015, is out of print. It was released on DVD in North America on 23 November 2010. As of July 2017 ''Space Precinct'' is available in the US on streaming service Amazon Prime. In November 2018, the complete series was rereleased as a DVD box set in Region 2, by Network DVD.

References

External links

* {{Sky One 1990s British police procedural television series 1990s British science fiction television series 1994 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings AP Films British television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows Fiction set around Epsilon Eridani Fiction set in 2040 First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Flying cars in fiction Sky UK original programming Space Western television series Television series about extraterrestrial life Television series produced at Pinewood Studios Television series set in the 2040s Television series set on fictional planets