Out of this world
Sci-fi series Avenue 5 adds a comedic twist to the idea of holidaying in space.
Avenue 5
Season 1 Fridays (from 14 May) M-Net (*101) 22:30
The idea of travelling through space for exploration and knowing more about the universe is one thing, but strapping yourself to tons of fuel and shooting yourself into orbit for a vacay is a whole other story, says Hugh Laurie, who plays ship commander Captain Ryan Clark in sci-fi series Avenue 5 (2020-now). “It’s ridiculous, preposterous. The concept of holidaying in space is the most incredibly smug thing I’ve ever heard of. And that’s exactly why I signed on for this show,” says the actor who is famous for his more serious roles like Dr Gregory House in medical drama House MD (2004-2012) and arms dealer Roper in crime drama miniseries The Night Manager, 2016). “I love serious roles but there’s something magical about comedy. Right now, with the Mars Rover and South African-born billionaire Elon Musk helping NASA with his Space-X business, space is the talk of the town and a trip ‘up there’ is realistic,” adds Hugh. Strap in, folks…
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
When the spaceship – Avenue 5 – takes off, it’s full steam ahead and all systems go for an eight-week holiday trip across the night sky. “So of course something is going to go wrong and throw the entire trip into danger,” says Hugh. “Clark isn’t even barely competent in his role. He is there to be a face you can see and speak to and just someone ‘responsible’. But the truth is that he is inept and should not be allowed to drive a car, let alone a ship like Avenue 5.”
A technical glitch throws the ship off course by a few minor degrees and with their chief engineer dead as a result of the mini explosion, there’s no way of fixing things. Instead, the crew and its passengers need to continue on their new trajectory if they’re going to get home safe, eventually. “Their trip was meant to last eight weeks, that’s how long they’ve got supplies for. But it’s going to take three years to get back to Earth now,” adds Hugh, revealing that he watched as many sci-fi space shows as possible before joining. “There are so many that it’s difficult to choose. It can go from serious and exploratory like Star Trek (1965-now) to parodies like The
Orville (2017-2019). I’ve tried to take the best of them in creating my character because he has to be believable to the rest of the characters even if he isn’t to the viewers at home.”
HOLIDAY MODE
While trying to hide the issue from the passengers is a lot easier than eccentric billionaire Herman Judd
(Josh Gad, Josh in comedy series The Comedians, 2015) expected, the owner of the ship will have to accept that he’s caused a lot of trouble with his design. “You’re in space, there’s autopilot, what could go wrong? A lot as it turns out (read more below),” says Josh, who admits that he’d love to go into space one day but the thought of rocketships terrifies him. “I’ve watched Star Trek since I was a kid. It’s space. It’s the final frontier. Is there anything cooler?”
As for Josh’s character, he’s going to have to do more than just sip cocktails and swan around like the bee’s knees. “Oh I’d hate to be in his shoes. On the outside he’s playing it like it’s no big deal and they’ll figure out how to fix the ship. On the inside, he’s got to make eight weeks worth of food last three years and he isn’t a magician,” says Josh.
CRUISE CONTROL
Elon Musk’s other company Tesla is famous for two things: its electric cars and the autopilot software.
But the latter has put Elon and his business in harm’s way recently with claims that the self-driving mode lost control while the “drivers” were in the backseat. “There was no one in the driver’s seat, which could mean that the autopilot mode had been engaged,” explained the police statement in mid April following a fatal crash in Texas. Tesla has always maintained that drivers should never sit in the backseat and let the car literally drive itself… even though it technically can. There are reports that the cars’ sensors have also been fooled into thinking that someone is driving by wedging an orange against the steering wheel.