The Beta Males in...The Space Race

It’s May 1969 and all is not quite right in the village of Lower Birchley. Beneath the bucolic façade, scientists in a secret bunker are working furiously on a plan to send a man to the Moon. But when a test flight goes awry, crash landing in nearby Upper Birchley, Britain’s hopes of winning the space race – and, indeed, the future of mankind – are left hanging in the balance.

One part James Bond, one part Space Odyssey and ten parts Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Beta Males In…The Space Race is a wonderfully good-natured take on the classic B-movie romp. As a result of his accident, test flight pilot Professor Brian Brilliance has unwittingly become an alien host, but dashing Oscar Rocketteer (think Rick Mayall’s Lord Flashheart in Blackadder) is too cocky to notice, leaving his brother Derek, a farmer, with the task of saving the world.

The Beta Males quartet—John Henry Falle, Richard Soames, Jon Gracey and Guy Kelly—throw themselves into the performance; all possess more than enough wit, charm and exuberance to ensure that the energy levels rarely dip below full-throttle. 

There are one too many routines—particularly a lengthy segment about animals in space—that feel tangential and just not quite funny enough, but overall there are sufficient laughs, high jinks and general whimsy to keep the audience engaged throughout. It’s space Jim, but not as we know it.