Nick Frost in Hyperdrive, New BBC Comedy Options

[Raven]

The MediaGuardian have reported that Spaced and Shaun of the Dead favourite Nick Frost has landed the lead role in the forthcoming BBC2 comedy Hyperdrive.

The full article is as follows:

Nick Frost, best known for playing Simon Pegg's sidekick in Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, has landed his first lead role in a TV comedy, playing a spaceship commander in new BBC2 show Hyperdrive.

Frost's character in Hyperdrive, space commander Henderson, is in charge of a 22nd century British spaceship tasked with trying to encourage aliens to relocate their businesses to Peterborough and take holidays in the Lake District.

The comedy, set in 2151, has been described by executive producer Jon Plowman as a "hilarious version of Das Boot in space".

"Hyperdrive is partly about the crew of the HMS Camden Lock trying to persuade aliens to relocate to Britain while the Americans offer Florida, and partly about a group of people being stuck together in a confined space for a long time," he said.

During their space travels, commander Henderson and his crew have to deal with anti-gravity failures, annoying talking doors and wars with aliens.

Commander Henderson is an optimistic but deluded man, who always thinks his orders are open to interpretation.

Hyperdrive, which formerly had a working title Full Power, also stars Kevin Eldon - whose credits include Nighty Night and Big Train - as first officer York, a brilliant scientist and polymath.

Other cast members include Miranda Hart as diplomatic officer Teal, who is in love with Henderson; Stephen Evans as manic-depressive navigator Vine; and Dan Antopolski as insubordinate technical officer Jeffers.

The BBC2 comedy also features Petra Massey as pilot Sandstrom, an "enhanced human", and Paterson Joseph, as the ambitious space marshal Clarke.

Hyperdrive is being filmed in Manchester and is due to go out on BBC2 next year.

The comedy has been written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, who scripted the third series of Black Books. Alex Walsh-Taylor is producing, with John Henderson directing.

Thanks to Chapman Baxter for spotting this!

[Henry Krinkle]

It was okay. I didn't laugh at all, but I smiled a couple of times. I still maintain that Nick Frost is incredibly funny and can raise the status of a dud line with his delivery alone. Unfortunately, there's not a lot else. Eldon, as always, is good. It was a pleasant, safe, half hour. Nothing ground breaking, but certainly not the dire mess some are claiming it to be (not in my opinion anyway).
The Peterborough humour works on me because it's my home town. I have to resist giving a half arsed cheer whenever they mention it's name. Maybe if we all came from Peterborough we'd feel differently.

Surely much funnier to set up a cliched Trek-style Universe and then just have one character who is normal and reacts like a regular person as your lead. Give him/her unreasonable people to bounce off

You're joking, right?

[Clart]

then just have one character who is normal and reacts like a regular person as your lead. Give him/her unreasonable people to bounce off

You're joking, right?

Sounds like 'Red Dwarf', when Mr Whitey puts it like that.