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Star Cops #2.1
Star Cops: Mars Part 1
It's the near future, and mankind has expanded its presence in space. Maintaining law and order beyond Earth is the responsibility of the International Space Police Force, known colloquially as the Star Cops. Their leader is Commander Nathan Spring.There are no Star Cops on Mars, and Nathan Spring intends to put that right. He travels to the red planet hoping to rally the colonists' support for setting up an ISPF office, but he faces resistance from those who feel Mars has no need of police. Soon, though, Nathan and his officers are involved in incidents of theft, violence and murder. They may get the chance to prove they're needed, if they can get through their investigations alive. Contains three 2.1 The New World by Andrew Smith. Nathan, Devis and Kenzy arrive on Mars after a six-month journey from Earth. They've come to set up a Star Cop base, but Mars is a very different environment from the one they're used to on the moon. 2.2 The Shadow of This Red Rock by Una McCormack. Nathan and Kenzy find themselves marooned in the Martian desert with a prisoner whose friends will soon arrive to attempt a violent rescue. Help arrives in the form of a reclusive colonist. Soon they're all being chased across the desert by the prisoner's friends, who seem able to anticipate every effort to shake them off. Meanwhile, Devis has his own troubles. An attempt to come to his friends' rescue goes wrong, and he finds himself at the mercy of colonists who hold his life in their hands. Matters will come to a head in a perilous stand-off on the four-mile-high cliffs of the Mariner Valley canyon. 2.3 Whatever Happened to Gary Rice? by Guy Adams. After the Star Cops receive a cryptic message about a man who may once have worked at a colony in the Argyre Basin, they make their way there to investigate. They find a co-operative community that thrives by growing an organic food source, which it sells to other colonies. But no-one seems to remember the man the Star Cops are looking for. Nathan visits a neighbouring scientific research base, where nutritionist Dr Julienne Grainger has information that may resolve the mystery of the missing colonist. As the Star Cops get closer to discovering the truth, there are those who are prepared to kill to keep it secret. David Calder (Nathan Spring / Box), Trevor Cooper (Colin Devis), Linda Newton (Pal Kenzy), Heather Coombs (Kristin Mendelson / Cara Hopkins), Oliver Dimsdale (Jean Arnaud), Andrew James Spooner (Doctor Jess Romay), Emma Jay Thomas (Doctor Stephanie Thrower), Elizabeth Uter (Grace Kavanagh), Issy Van Randwyck (Barbara Holmberg), Jake Wardle (Martin Jeffries/LRI Technician), Carla de Wansey (Doctor Julienne Grainger). Other parts played by members of the cast. Star Cops features some mild swearing and content which may not be suitable for younger listeners.
- GenresScience Fiction
Audio CD
Published January 31, 2020
4 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Smith
58 books8 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Andrew Smith wrote the Doctor Who television story Full Circle and its novelisation. At the time of initial broadcast, he was the youngest writer to contribute to the TV series.
Smith submitted his work to more than one Doctor Who script editor. They replied with "positive criticism". Finally he sent The Planet that Slept, which became Full Circle.
Shortly afterwards, he became a police officer, spending a long time in that career.
Smith was approached by Big Finish and displayed interest in writing for them. Because he had started the trilogy with Full Circle, they asked him to write a Companion Chronicles story set in E-Space. The Invasion of E-Space was released in October 2010.
Andrew Smith wrote the Doctor Who television story Full Circle and its novelisation. At the time of initial broadcast, he was the youngest writer to contribute to the TV series.
Smith submitted his work to more than one Doctor Who script editor. They replied with "positive criticism". Finally he sent The Planet that Slept, which became Full Circle.
Shortly afterwards, he became a police officer, spending a long time in that career.
Smith was approached by Big Finish and displayed interest in writing for them. Because he had started the trilogy with Full Circle, they asked him to write a Companion Chronicles story set in E-Space. The Invasion of E-Space was released in October 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 10, 2022
When Chris Boucher, the original producer of the Star Cops television series was asked what he would have done had a second season been commissioned, he replied that he would like to have taken the characters to Mars. That finally happens in this, the first half of a two-part, six-episode, audio series. All three surviving members of the original cast appear again, although the two new characters introduced in the previous audio series do not. Nonetheless, there are enough connections with the prior series that it makes sense to listen to the two in order.
The New World/The Shadow of This Red Rock – in a break from the format of the previous two volumes, the first two episodes of this collection are essentially a single story, separated by a cliffhanger, rather than two stories fitting within an arc. The first half, of course, is setting the scene, with the Star Cops having been sent on a six-month preparatory mission to try to establish a police force on Mars. The exposition about how Martian society is set up is well done avoiding the large info-dump approach, and we’re soon off to Olympus Mons to investigate some thefts on the verge of turning violent. That leads to an effective police procedural whodunnit that plays on tensions amongst the colonists.
Following the cliffhanger, the style of the story switches to suspense and a struggle to survive as Nathan and Kenzie are placed in danger as a direct result of events in the first half. Devis, meanwhile, is somewhere else entirely, equally endangered but in a different way; this is clearly a sub-plot setting things up for later, since the events pose far more questions than they answer. Even in this half of the story, however, we have exploration of how different people have coped with living on Mars, with an interesting guest character as well as some nice references to remind us how different Mars is from the ‘high frontier’ setting of the usual series. 5 stars.
Whatever Happened to Gary Rice? – The title is the contents of a mysterious message received by the main characters at the beginning of this story. It leads them to an investigation at a couple of bases where it’s clear that somebody is hiding something, but not initially what or why that might be. Although this sounds like the basis of another procedural, that’s not really what we get, with the story flipping between exposition and action sequences once the antagonists realise they have been discovered. It drags a little in places, despite some good lines that add a bit of humour, and isn’t one of the stronger entries in the “season”. The larger plot arc hinted at in the previous two-parter returns at the end, creating a cliffhanger that leads into the second volume. 4 stars.
The New World/The Shadow of This Red Rock – in a break from the format of the previous two volumes, the first two episodes of this collection are essentially a single story, separated by a cliffhanger, rather than two stories fitting within an arc. The first half, of course, is setting the scene, with the Star Cops having been sent on a six-month preparatory mission to try to establish a police force on Mars. The exposition about how Martian society is set up is well done avoiding the large info-dump approach, and we’re soon off to Olympus Mons to investigate some thefts on the verge of turning violent. That leads to an effective police procedural whodunnit that plays on tensions amongst the colonists.
Following the cliffhanger, the style of the story switches to suspense and a struggle to survive as Nathan and Kenzie are placed in danger as a direct result of events in the first half. Devis, meanwhile, is somewhere else entirely, equally endangered but in a different way; this is clearly a sub-plot setting things up for later, since the events pose far more questions than they answer. Even in this half of the story, however, we have exploration of how different people have coped with living on Mars, with an interesting guest character as well as some nice references to remind us how different Mars is from the ‘high frontier’ setting of the usual series. 5 stars.
Whatever Happened to Gary Rice? – The title is the contents of a mysterious message received by the main characters at the beginning of this story. It leads them to an investigation at a couple of bases where it’s clear that somebody is hiding something, but not initially what or why that might be. Although this sounds like the basis of another procedural, that’s not really what we get, with the story flipping between exposition and action sequences once the antagonists realise they have been discovered. It drags a little in places, despite some good lines that add a bit of humour, and isn’t one of the stronger entries in the “season”. The larger plot arc hinted at in the previous two-parter returns at the end, creating a cliffhanger that leads into the second volume. 4 stars.
December 20, 2022
Not sure I'm really going to be able to judge this until I finish up "Mars, Part 2" which I expect to explain how what seem like disparate plot threads all tie together. On we go!
March 21, 2023
Deducted one ⭐️ do to length of last two stories being too short for the price.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews