Trivial Games and Paranoid Pursuits (TV story)

***Trivial Games and Paranoid Pursuits*** was the fourth episode of the first series of *Star Cops*, written by Chris Boucher and directed by Graeme Harper. It was broadcast on BBC 2 on 27 July 1987, and introduced the Moonbase Commander Alexander Krivenko, played by Jonathan Adams.

## Synopsis

Spring attempts to persuade the Americans to allow his "Star Cops" to operate on their space station, the Ronald Regan. When he is asked to investigate the disappearance of Dr Harvey Goodman on the very same space station, he finds the crew stubborn and disinterested. There's more happening on the Ronald Regan, and Spring is determined to find out.

## Plot

A pod, labelled the OMZ13, is floating through space. A woman is celebrating their salvage. A man, more worried, is wondering whether they can safely take their object with them and get it in the hold. We see from behind that they're towing the OMZ13 from their rocket. The two of them debate their trajectory, with the man stating that the rocket will be dropped into the sun if they continue. The man, Marty, is worrying about the whole operation. But the woman reminds him that they're not exactly going to tell anyone where they found the module.

Meanwhile, somewhere in America, children are excitedly running home. A woman is watching her viewing screen, which shows three astronauts standing before a waving American flag, which transitions into a picture of Earth from space. The picture then reveals the insignia of the Ronald Regan space station. An artificial intellgence woman then appears on the communication broadcast, asking how she can help the lady. The woman asks to be connected to OMZ13, to which she is told there is no such section. Confused, the woman asks to be connected to Dr Goodman. She is told that there is no Dr Goodman aboard the station. The woman is now furious, stating that Dr Harvey Goodman has been working on the station for the last nine months. She demands to put through to a human being. She is put through to Pete Lennox. After searching in his records, Lennox states that he can't find a Dr Harvey Goodman - no arrival or departure, much to the woman's chagrin. She tells Lennox that Goodman was working aboard the module OMZ13, to which Lennox states there is no such module, due to 13 being an unlucky number. After Lennox asks whether she has the right station, the woman, Dilly Goodman, snaps and states that knows where her own brother works. She gives up and turns off the monitor.

Back in space, Marty asks Lauter how much longer their operation is going to take. Suited up, Lauter is moving the OMZ13 into the hull of their rocket. In the Moonbase office of the International Space Police Force, Pal Kenzy is telling David Theroux that someone somewhere is committing a crime. Theroux jokes that perhaps it would be a friend of hers. Theroux states he's about to welcome the new Moonbase Commander, to which Kenzy asks why someone already on their crew wasn't given the position, as is customary. She suspects the Russian is up to something. They enter a heated debate about Kenzy's reinstatement to the ISPF, following her outing as a bent cop. As Theroux leaves, Kenzy gets up in a rage and patches herself through to Spring, who is aboard a shuttle heading towards the Ronald Regan. She tells him that she intends to resign. Spring, unmoved, reminds her of the procedure and cuts her off. Patching herself back through saying that she intends to resign if he doesn't give her something more interesting to do. Again, Spring reminds her of the procedure.

## References

* PR Graphics are artificial intelligence, used as an easy interface for people calling outer-space. They had access to information and could answer a variety of questions, including but not limited to data retrieval.

## Continuity

* Kenzy states that it's usually customary to give a promotion to someone within a company. In this example, she is frustrated that Krivenko was made Moonbase Commander over the people on Moonbase. Following the Moonbase Killings, ISPF Commander Nathan Spring would find himself catapulted into the position of Moonbase Commander during the Collective investigation. (AUDIO: *Sins of the Father*, *Dead Air*)
	+ This wouldn't be the first time Spring was forced into taking a promotion. (TV: *An Instinct for Murder*)
* When Kenzy moans about being treated as a secretary for Spring, Theroux reminds her that she was reinstated after her stretch as a bent cop. (TV: *Intelligent Listening for Beginners*)

## Home video releases

* In 1991, all episodes of the television series were made available on VHS over three tapes by BBC Video. Later, in 2004, the entire series was released on DVD by Network Video over three discs, which included documentaries and as well as numerous interviews.

## External links

* *Trivial Games and Paranoid Pursuits* and the Internet Movie Database.