Space Cadets (game show)


Space Cadets was a British comedy panel game broadcast on Channel 4 in 1997. It was presented by "High Commander" Greg Proops with Bill Bailey and Craig Charles as the "Space Captains". It ran for just one series with ten episodes.
Like the BBC's Have I Got News for You, the contestants were celebrities and the show was played mainly for laughs. Bestselling author Terry Pratchett once appeared as a guest. When the contestants were asked who was Britain's most shoplifted author, Pratchett immediately answered "I am!" which was the correct answer.

Opening sequence text

The following text appeared on the screen in the opening title sequence : 3 Cosmic Comics, On A Voyage From Planet Mirth To Combat Against The Weird, The Unthinkable, The Unknown. They Are Space Cadets.

Rounds

These are only some of the rounds used on the show. It is unknown if any other rounds were played in episodes 8 or 9.
  • Doctor, Who Am I? has each team captain standing center stage and being "morphed" into a character that may or may not be related to sci-fi. They then ask their teammates questions which can only be answered with "negative" or "affirmative" in order to decipher their "new identities".
  • Space Oddities has each member of a team giving explanations of what they think a given object is, with only one being right. The opposing team must guess which is correct. This round was based upon the long-running panel game Call My Bluff.
  • The War of The Words is like Film Dub on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but with a sci-fi clip.
  • What Happens Next? has each team guessing what happens next in a sci-fi film shown to them.
  • Photon Photos has the teams guessing what is happening in a still photo and what movie it is from.
  • How Did They Get Out of That? has each team watching a clip of sci-fi characters in peril and guessing how the characters get out of peril.
  • Mind Your Klingon has Proops giving a phrase in the Klingon language and the players must translate the phrase into English.
  • Bill Shatner or not Bill Shatner has Proops read a series of facts purporting to pertain to William Shatner. Teams, including William Shatner himself, respond 'Bill Shatner' or 'Not Bill Shatner' according to whether they believe it to be true or not.
  • Final All-Comers Trivia Scan has Proops asking the teams sci-fi trivia questions until time runs out.

Episode guide

The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the shows:
EpisodeAir DateCraig's GuestsCraig's Team NameBill's GuestsBill's Team NameScore
01x0115 July 1997Kim Newman and Ford KiernanMeteorsHattie Hayridge and William ShatnerComets
01x0222 July 1997Sara Cox and Walter KoenigBlobsJohn Moloney and Claudia ChristianThings
01x0329 July 1997Ford Kiernan and Sophie AldredOmegasFred MacAulay and Sylvester McCoyAlphas
01x045 August 1997Trevor Neal and Armin ShimermanQuarksSimon Hickson and Max GrodénchikRoms
01x0512 August 1997Ford Kiernan and William ShatnerLeiasAngela Rippon and Bruce DickinsonLukes
01x0619 August 1997Ben Miller and Kim NewmanStingraysGareth Thomas and Alexander ArmstrongThunderbirds
01x0726 August 1997Felix Dexter and Ed BishopAstronautsRonni Ancona and Rob GrantCosmonauts
01x082 September 1997Terry Pratchett and Fred MacAulayJetsonsElaine C. Smith and Sylvester McCoyRocketeers
01x099 September 1997Claudia Christian and Ed ByrneMorksRobert Llewellyn and Susan MooreMindys
01x1016 September 1997Tricia Sullivan and Kevin DayVulcansJohn Moloney and Chloë AnnettKlingons