Review: Police Cops in Space, Fringe 2026

Confession one: I have never seen the Police Cops: The Original – however, I had seen Police Cops: The Musical back in 2023 (Girdy’s review from that night is here), and it made one heck of an impact on me! I remember being absolutely wowed by it at the time, which… leads me on to confession two: I’d had no idea Police Cops in Space was actually the sequel to Police Cops: The Musical!

I mean, it was three years ago, so I don’t feel too bad about not twigging when I initially watched the show, and only found out by Googling after. But, now I have even more to say on the matter! A good win.

Vibe

The vibe is very much ’80s sci-fi movies, where budgets were low and the cheese was high. Evil robot overlord Tanner has taken out only the best damn police cop ever, Jimmy Johnson (the !

Ever since, Tanner has been on a mission to dispose of ‘every last police cop’… but has he really? Could the fate of the galaxy be in the hands of Jimmy’s orphaned and seemingly hopeless son, Sammy? Why yes, it could.

It’s a long, long queue to get in – I hadn’t a hope in hell of sitting anywhere near the front, but that’s okay.

The show itself

I had a lot of fun at this show, with plenty of high energy, quirky characters and ’80s sci-fi nods (including a scantily clad Terminator-style dude), as Sammy navigates his way to Earth with Ranger, the worst space pilot to ever have existed. And it’s safe to say, some of my absolute favourites parts Police Cops in Space were the coordinated dance routines.

With a small cast of three – also the writers and creators – Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson and Tom Roe, the show might be low budget, but the ideas are top class! Including a really inventive, original and ingenious way of depicting Sammy’s motorbike ride, earning an applause from the audience.

Can Sammy save the day? Better watch it to find out! If I had to describe Police Cops in Space in one line (which I pretty much have to do for the review box below), I’d say it’s a surreal, physical, sci-fi buddie comedy with skipping, ’80s bangers and dancing! Or, like an ’80s sci-fi action movie directed by John Waters.

Overall

You don’t have to have watched Police Cops: The Musical to get into Police Cops in Space – at all. It’s a whole new show of its own, and a really fun way to spend an hour of your time, with a very silly macho-camp ’80s sci-fi vibe. I loved it.