Thursday 8 December 2011

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 25

Funniest sci-fi (intentional or otherwise)

It feels like it should be hard to think of an SF comedy, but actually there are quite a few -- Red Dwarf, Hitchhikers' (on radio, in print, on TV and in film!), Back to the Future, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Galaxy Quest -- and those are just some of the good ones.


Penned by now-showrunner Steven Moffat for Comic Relief back in 1999, this is easily the most affectionate Who spoof ever. Not only is it a very funny take on the show, it's very funny fullstop; and not only is it very funny, but it actually creates a great deal of nostalgia for the real thing -- some of the ending is only a short step away from the kind of sentimentality we've seen in the revived series.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this was in some way instrumental in bringing the show back to TV properly. Considering it was made for zero money (as it was for charity), I think it shows that a Who series was viable in '99 -- sure it might look dated now, but it looks pretty much as good as any other late-'90s SF.

Other series and films may show more longevity and consistency -- this one only lasts for about 20 minutes after all -- but it's the one I'm most likely to re-watch again. And again.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

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