Captain Star
Encyclopedia
Captain Star was an animated
television series starring Richard E. Grant
as Captain Jim Star, based on a comic by Steven Appleby
: Rockets Passing Overhead. Only thirteen episodes of thirty-minutes each were produced and aired. The series ran on the British
ITV
and Canadian
TELETOON networks from 1997 to 1998. The show was also later repeated on Nickelodeon UK
.
-esque science officer Scarlette, nine-headed engineer Jones, and fish-keeping Navigator Black. They are later joined by a robot, Jim-Bob-Bob, who performs laundry duty and various other servitudes.
Captain Star is introduced in the opening theme as "the greatest hero any world has ever known". A legendary explorer who has hundreds of planets named after him, Captain Star's birthday is a holiday throughout the universe. Throughout the series, the characters await further orders from Mission Control which never come. It is unclear whether Mission Control has simply forgotten about Star and his crew, but the implication is that they have put the aging Star out to pasture, but spared him the indignity of forcing him to retire, and kept him on active duty so that he can continue to be a hero to the public. Events occurring on and off the planet, however, frequently require Star's intervention.
) — Groomed from birth to be a starship captain, Captain Star is regarded as the greatest captain in the fleet. He left the Captain's Academy at age 12 to spend a year as a trainee under Captain Ned Nova of the Merry Cheeser, who had named 115 planets after himself, which was the record until Star surpassed him. Captain Star is roughly 127 "space years" old, which appears to make him a man in his fifties in his society. Not humble, though not excessively arrogant, Captain Star believes himself to be a hero and feels deserving of his universal acclaim. He is often oblivious to danger and to the advice and concerns of his crew. Unquestioningly loyal, Star firmly believes that his orders will eventually come.
First Officer Scarlette (Denica Fairman) — A strong and fearless woman, and an accomplished scientist, Scarlette often saves the day through her scientific endeavours. Scarlette's logic and investigative nature are a stark contrast to Captain Star's tendency to improvise in an emergency. On The Nameless Planet, where Captain Star has no ship to command or adventures to lead, Scarlette handles most of his command duties.
Atomic Engine Stoker "Limbs" Jones (Adrian Edmondson
) — Mutated in an atomic accident, "Limbs" Jones has nine heads and six arms. Each of Jones' heads houses a different part of his brain, causing each head to have a slightly different personality. Jones is a great cat lover, having sequentially named pet cats Sputnik 1 through 374. Conversations between Jones' many heads and other members of the crew often lead them to become impatient and annoyed with him.
Navigator Black (Kerry Shale
/Gary Martin
) — Once the navigator of the Boiling Hell, Navigator Black sets up a small fish-shaped restaurant on The Nameless Planet and becomes the cook. Obsessed with fish, the restaurant is filled with aquariums. Black often swims with his fish, and even creates a brain-computer interface
device that depicts their thoughts. Black has a nervous temperament and often panics under pressure.
A small moon
in very close orbit of The Nameless Planet, called The Low-Flying Moon, often flies overhead, lifting objects off of the ground for a few seconds.
For a children's program, Captain Star deals with unusually advanced themes. The primary theme throughout the series is of society's treatment of the aged. While Captain Star appears to be strong and healthy and continues to save the universe, after several decades of distinguished service, Mission Control sweeps him under the rug by sending him to the edge of the universe to an unnamed planet and has him remain there with no orders to carry out. Despite continuing to prove his usefulness, there is an ageist
undertone that Mission Control assumes that he is no longer a valuable asset because of his age and long service.
Many episodes feature a popular television program called "Star of Space" in which actors portray the crew of the Boiling Hell in many of Captain Star's most heroic missions. Captain Star is presented as a James Bond
-like hero, handsome and virile, who saves the day almost effortlessly. The episodes exaggerate his role in events while minimizing the contributions of his crew — most conspicuously presenting strong and scientifically accomplished first officer Scarlette as a bimbo and damsel in distress. Even when watching events that had just occurred earlier in the episode, every member of the crew except for Scarlette regard the reenactments as mostly historically accurate, emphasizing the role of television as a means to control public perception of people and events.
While Captain Star is removed from the public eye, he continues to be promoted as a hero in public propaganda
. Keeping him on active duty, while separated from the public by assigning him to the Ragged Edge of the Universe, the public can continue to regard him as a hero who is in his prime forever. His birthday is a public holiday throughout the universe, an occasion which allows him to be presented as a larger than life hero figure and promoted as a role model. While never presented as dystopia
n, it is implied that the government is exploiting Captain Star's celebrity, presumably as a recruitment tool and to encourage patriotism, unity, and support for the government.
115 space years prior to the events of the program, Captain Star's former captain, Ned Nova, was ordered into retirement. Disobeying orders, Nova fled in his ship, the Merry Cheeser. Captain Star was ordered to arrest his former captain and chased the Merry Cheeser to a black hole
. Refusing to retire, Nova piloted his ship into the black hole. He was discovered, alive and preserved from aging in the stomach of a space slug, in the present day on The Nameless Planet. Star decided to let him leave in his rocket ship and declared that he could not have been Ned Nova because he was only half Ned Nova's age (thanks to his preservation inside the space slug). While an act of loyalty to his former captain and role model, his willingness to preserve an idealized image of Nova by refusing to arrest him and turn him over to Mission Control in disgrace ironically mirrors Mission Control's decision to preserve an idealized image of Star himself by exiling him on The Nameless Planet.
The program frequently presents commercialism
in an absurd light. The opening theme reveals that the voyages that made Captain Star the greatest hero any world has ever known were missions in which he travelled to inhabited planets and renamed them after himself (much as explorers during the colonial era
would rename and claim inhabited lands for Europe), and sell them things that they didn't need, such as a group of aliens in the opening theme who purchase umbrella
s before returning to their underwater homes. In the second episode, a "hard-sell droid" attempts to sell the crew a carpet and refuses to take no for an answer. The crew are ultimately forced to dismantle the droid, revealing that it had a brain the size of a pea. Many episodes feature unlikely Captain Star-themed products and memorabilia, such as a croquet
set using a tee and hoops shaped like Captain Star's head, demonstrating the rampant consumerism
surrounding Star's image and likeness.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television series starring Richard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
as Captain Jim Star, based on a comic by Steven Appleby
Steven Appleby
Steven Appleby is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Britain. He is a dual citizen of the UK and Canada. His humour is usually observational or absurd....
: Rockets Passing Overhead. Only thirteen episodes of thirty-minutes each were produced and aired. The series ran on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
TELETOON networks from 1997 to 1998. The show was also later repeated on Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...
.
Story
The story of Captain Star take place on a rocket ship, The Boiling Hell, which has been ordered to a deserted planet known only as "The Nameless Planet" at the Ragged Edge of the Universe. The ship's crew consists of the egocentric and often paranoid Captain Star, Dana ScullyDana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
-esque science officer Scarlette, nine-headed engineer Jones, and fish-keeping Navigator Black. They are later joined by a robot, Jim-Bob-Bob, who performs laundry duty and various other servitudes.
Captain Star is introduced in the opening theme as "the greatest hero any world has ever known". A legendary explorer who has hundreds of planets named after him, Captain Star's birthday is a holiday throughout the universe. Throughout the series, the characters await further orders from Mission Control which never come. It is unclear whether Mission Control has simply forgotten about Star and his crew, but the implication is that they have put the aging Star out to pasture, but spared him the indignity of forcing him to retire, and kept him on active duty so that he can continue to be a hero to the public. Events occurring on and off the planet, however, frequently require Star's intervention.
Main characters
Captain Jim Star (Richard E. GrantRichard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
) — Groomed from birth to be a starship captain, Captain Star is regarded as the greatest captain in the fleet. He left the Captain's Academy at age 12 to spend a year as a trainee under Captain Ned Nova of the Merry Cheeser, who had named 115 planets after himself, which was the record until Star surpassed him. Captain Star is roughly 127 "space years" old, which appears to make him a man in his fifties in his society. Not humble, though not excessively arrogant, Captain Star believes himself to be a hero and feels deserving of his universal acclaim. He is often oblivious to danger and to the advice and concerns of his crew. Unquestioningly loyal, Star firmly believes that his orders will eventually come.
First Officer Scarlette (Denica Fairman) — A strong and fearless woman, and an accomplished scientist, Scarlette often saves the day through her scientific endeavours. Scarlette's logic and investigative nature are a stark contrast to Captain Star's tendency to improvise in an emergency. On The Nameless Planet, where Captain Star has no ship to command or adventures to lead, Scarlette handles most of his command duties.
Atomic Engine Stoker "Limbs" Jones (Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
) — Mutated in an atomic accident, "Limbs" Jones has nine heads and six arms. Each of Jones' heads houses a different part of his brain, causing each head to have a slightly different personality. Jones is a great cat lover, having sequentially named pet cats Sputnik 1 through 374. Conversations between Jones' many heads and other members of the crew often lead them to become impatient and annoyed with him.
Navigator Black (Kerry Shale
Kerry Shale
Kerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...
/Gary Martin
Gary Martin (actor)
Gary Martin is a British voice artist and actor who has been in the industry since the early 1980s. His first recorded acting credit is as a chauffeur in the television series Nobody's Perfect. He has since gone on to perform in over 60 roles, either as a voice artist or actor...
) — Once the navigator of the Boiling Hell, Navigator Black sets up a small fish-shaped restaurant on The Nameless Planet and becomes the cook. Obsessed with fish, the restaurant is filled with aquariums. Black often swims with his fish, and even creates a brain-computer interface
Brain-computer interface
A brain–computer interface , sometimes called a direct neural interface or a brain–machine interface , is a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device...
device that depicts their thoughts. Black has a nervous temperament and often panics under pressure.
Story format and themes
Many episodes begin with a flashback to the Boiling Hell's glorious missions, which is then immediately contrasted with their abandonment on The Nameless Planet as an obsolete and over-the-hill crew. These flashbacks set the tone for the episode and foreshadow the story's theme. At the end of each episode, while sitting in his wheelbarrow, Captain Star recites an entry into his Captain's Diary which begins, "Uneventful day", followed by a short witticism which sums up the moral of the story.A small moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
in very close orbit of The Nameless Planet, called The Low-Flying Moon, often flies overhead, lifting objects off of the ground for a few seconds.
For a children's program, Captain Star deals with unusually advanced themes. The primary theme throughout the series is of society's treatment of the aged. While Captain Star appears to be strong and healthy and continues to save the universe, after several decades of distinguished service, Mission Control sweeps him under the rug by sending him to the edge of the universe to an unnamed planet and has him remain there with no orders to carry out. Despite continuing to prove his usefulness, there is an ageist
Ageism
Ageism, also called age discrimination is stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups because of their age. It is a set of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age based prejudice, discrimination, and subordination...
undertone that Mission Control assumes that he is no longer a valuable asset because of his age and long service.
Many episodes feature a popular television program called "Star of Space" in which actors portray the crew of the Boiling Hell in many of Captain Star's most heroic missions. Captain Star is presented as a James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
-like hero, handsome and virile, who saves the day almost effortlessly. The episodes exaggerate his role in events while minimizing the contributions of his crew — most conspicuously presenting strong and scientifically accomplished first officer Scarlette as a bimbo and damsel in distress. Even when watching events that had just occurred earlier in the episode, every member of the crew except for Scarlette regard the reenactments as mostly historically accurate, emphasizing the role of television as a means to control public perception of people and events.
While Captain Star is removed from the public eye, he continues to be promoted as a hero in public propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
. Keeping him on active duty, while separated from the public by assigning him to the Ragged Edge of the Universe, the public can continue to regard him as a hero who is in his prime forever. His birthday is a public holiday throughout the universe, an occasion which allows him to be presented as a larger than life hero figure and promoted as a role model. While never presented as dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n, it is implied that the government is exploiting Captain Star's celebrity, presumably as a recruitment tool and to encourage patriotism, unity, and support for the government.
115 space years prior to the events of the program, Captain Star's former captain, Ned Nova, was ordered into retirement. Disobeying orders, Nova fled in his ship, the Merry Cheeser. Captain Star was ordered to arrest his former captain and chased the Merry Cheeser to a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
. Refusing to retire, Nova piloted his ship into the black hole. He was discovered, alive and preserved from aging in the stomach of a space slug, in the present day on The Nameless Planet. Star decided to let him leave in his rocket ship and declared that he could not have been Ned Nova because he was only half Ned Nova's age (thanks to his preservation inside the space slug). While an act of loyalty to his former captain and role model, his willingness to preserve an idealized image of Nova by refusing to arrest him and turn him over to Mission Control in disgrace ironically mirrors Mission Control's decision to preserve an idealized image of Star himself by exiling him on The Nameless Planet.
The program frequently presents commercialism
Commercialism
Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. Today, however, it primarily refers to the tendency within open-market capitalism to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit...
in an absurd light. The opening theme reveals that the voyages that made Captain Star the greatest hero any world has ever known were missions in which he travelled to inhabited planets and renamed them after himself (much as explorers during the colonial era
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
would rename and claim inhabited lands for Europe), and sell them things that they didn't need, such as a group of aliens in the opening theme who purchase umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...
s before returning to their underwater homes. In the second episode, a "hard-sell droid" attempts to sell the crew a carpet and refuses to take no for an answer. The crew are ultimately forced to dismantle the droid, revealing that it had a brain the size of a pea. Many episodes feature unlikely Captain Star-themed products and memorabilia, such as a croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
set using a tee and hoops shaped like Captain Star's head, demonstrating the rampant consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
surrounding Star's image and likeness.
First season 1997-1998
| # | Title | Original air date (Canada) |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Atomic Alarm Clock | 8 July 1997 |
| 02 | Day of the Zooties | 15 July 1997 |
| 03 | The Worm Turns | 22 July 1997 |
| 04 | No Future | 29 July 1997 |
| 05 | Nine Heads are Better than One | 5 August 1997 |
| 06 | Waiting for Sputnik | 12 August 1997 |
Second season 1998
| # | Title | Original air date (Canada) |
|---|---|---|
| 07 | Rocket to Nowhere | 16 July 1998 |
| 08 | It's Written in the Stars | 23 July 1998 |
| 09 | Ned Nova | |30 July 1998 |
| 10 | The Gravity of the Situation | 6 August 1998 |
| 11 | The Collector | 13 August 1998 |
| 12 | The Edge of the Universe | 20 August 1998 |
| 13 | A Galaxy of Stars | |27 August 1998 |