There’s more Conflict for the Star Cops as their latest investigation poses the possibility of a monster in space… but monsters aren’t real, are they?
Set in the near-future, Star Cops generally kept its moon boots firmly in the realm of science fiction, save for one glorious example in the show’s final television episode ‘Little Green Men and Other Martians’.
However, as the audio series returns from its summer break, continuing the Conflict storyline with increasing international tensions, there’s a tinge of horror. As the ISPF crew reel from the loss of one of their number – and don’t read on unless you’re up to date – a hi-jacked cargo shuttle drifts into orbit and raises the prospect of a monster on board.
Adrift
Unable to raise the stolen shuttle on comms, Commander Nathan Spring and Inspector Paul Bailey head out to investigate. What they find is the aftermath of an attack, with three lacerated corpses and a traumatised survivor who raves about a monster.
Returning to Moonbase, Paul (Philip Olivier) soon becomes convinced that they brought something back with them. He’s on edge and starts jumping at shadows, while Nathan begins to hear voices…
Adrift comes from writer Georgia Cook whose background is in horror fiction, including the modern-day found-footage sequel podcast to Dracula, The Holmwood Foundation. Lately, she’s lately brought her sensibilities to numerous Doctor Who audio dramas, as well as penning the Fifteenth Doctor novel ‘Ruby Red’.
While the series briefly flirted with the potential of life on other worlds onscreen in ‘Adrift’ takes a different approach. The team are still reeling from the loss of one of their own and it was unnerving to hear David Calder play the usually level-headed, pragmatic Nathan as faltering and even more tetchy than usual!
In the guest cast, Rebecca Yeo was believably manic as the survivor Julia Zheng while James Gordon impressed as the representative of the cargo company.
In Summary
‘Adrift’ provides an entertaining and unusual investigation, and it was fun to play with the genre conventions. As ever, terrific sound design from Steve Foxon and taut direction from Helen Goldwyn kept the episode from staying too far, while giving us a taste of something darker.
It was also important to have the crew still reeling from the aftermath of ‘Prisoner and Escort’. It also provides another dangling thread for the series’ final two instalments. In the background, Kenzy’s relationship with the smooth, supportive Howard Lesser (Ben Miles) still bubbles away… is he too good to be true? Plus, there’s the ongoing friction between Nathan and the politically savvy new Moonbase Co-ordinator (Jessica Martin) too.
Star Cops – Conflict: Adrift is available now on download to own from Big Finish.
The series continues with ‘Tick Tock’ in October and concludes with ‘Final Gambit’ in November 2026.
Catch up on out reviews of Conflict – ‘Suspicion and Sabotage’, ‘Shadow of the Moonlight’ and ‘Prisoner and Escort’. For more Star Cops, check out our coverage of previous audio releases – as well as Paul Watts’ terrific book on series ‘Above the Law‘.