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Intergalactic, episode 1, review: in space no one can hear you yawn

Savannah Steyn as Ash Harper in Intergalactic - Des Willie
Savannah Steyn as Ash Harper in Intergalactic - Des Willie

Sky One’s new sci-fi drama, Intergalactic, begins promisingly. We are thrown straight into a fast-paced police chase in the year 2143 with Ash Harper (played by Savannah Steyn), a budding space-cop, making a smooth high-profile arrest. Then a quickfire transition into what looks like an extraordinarily ordinary space-cop workplace, and a heart-warmingly human work night out; a neat hybrid of space sci-fi and domestic drama.

The decline and disappointment, however, is imminent. After about five minutes insided a vaguely futuristic nightclub-bar, where Harper is having a celebratory drink with her boss, Wendell (Neil Maskell), and discussing a potential move to Shanghai, Harper is arrested and the drama never really recovers. She has been framed for the theft of the "Aurum" – something which is a heinous crime in the Commonworld, a future realm of Earth to which all nation states have devolved power. Quite why it is heinous is not clear (a recurrent theme in the show).

Fair trials, apparently, do not exist in the Commonworld and Harper was swiftly sentenced to exile on a prison colony in outer space. Neatly, she was joined on the prison transport ship by the convict she arrested in the opening scene. Laying low and attempting to hide her identity on a spaceship full of hardened criminals doesn’t seem to occur to our space-cop and at the first opportunity she snitches on her fellow prisoners, who are staging a mutiny, and offers some helpful tips to the prison officers on how to do their jobs.

Unsurprisingly, she is unpopular on all fronts and is promptly Tasered by the guards. The prisoners greet this with a highly original chant of: “pig, pig, pig”. Given the show’s creator, Julie Gearey, wrote Prisoners’ Wives, you would think that some slightly better prison dialogue would be on offer.

Though set in 2143, it feels a bit more like 2003 in terms of production and effects. The lighting in particular is gaudy and makes the whole show look like a budget photoshoot. Female fugitives in 150 years will apparently resemble Bananas in Pyjamas if these outfits are anything to go by. The hair stylist should rejoice, however, because despite the female fugitives (who include Eleanor Tomlinson and Sharon Duncan-Brewster) being murderous felons and in possession of contraband, their favourite weapon appears to be their own braids.

Parminder Nagra is a saving grace in all of this mayhem as Rebecca, the disappointed, disbelieving mother of Harper, who also happens to be head of galactic security. Although she “wrote the legislation” she is unable to liberate her daughter from her fated exile to a deathly dangerous spaceship of murderous prisoners. She merely looks solemnly on as her daughter’s death grows more and more likely. At least Harper can be adamant that she has not benefited from nepotism.

About halfway in we were introduced to another allegedly key character, Emma Garvey, who had been wandering the spaceship the whole time. Despite the ship being under surveillance by the intelligence services, this stuns them. There is zero explanation or character development on offer and a lot of wasted potential. Confused pacing lets it down. Why did Wendell frame Harper? Who is Emma Garvey? We should want to know the answers, but it is doubtful we’ll stick around to find out.