Can you identify this TV program?

[Houdi]

I watched it on kids' daytime TV in the 1988 summer holidays. Here's what I remember:

Each episode was about 5 - 10 minutes long.

It was done in the style of the old saturday morning serials that were popular in the 1940s/1950s.

It had the feel of a show that was filmed in a studio the size of your front room.

It was black & white but clearly only recently made, which was part of the humour.

The sets, sound, costumes and effects were dodgy.

The acting was deliberately wooden and disjointed.

It was science fiction themed.

There were (at least) 3 people travelling around the galaxy in a space ship.

They would have very simple, light-hearted adventures.

Half way through each episode they would 'burst into song'. They weren't actually singing, they were miming to old inoffensive 1940s/1950s songs.

I'm 99% certain that Kerry Fox had a starring role: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0289098/ (It could have been Cate Blanchett though. She looks similar: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000949/ )

I think it was antipodean - most likely from New Zealand if Kerry Fox was in it (or Australia if it was Cate Blanchett).

For those of you who've seen the comedy movie 'Amazon Women on the Moon', it's the same type of humour.

I have never met another person who recalls this quirky show. It wasn't a big hit, in fact, it was probably just bought cheaply to fill a gap in the extensive summertime kids' TV schedule. I have a feeling that the humour and black & white presentation was lost on most kids and it would have done much better in a late night Channel 4 slot.

Does anyone recall this show?

[kempie]

I do not know the show but one of the earliest TV listings for Kerry Fox is the 1992-3 Australian series "Rocky Star"' 20 x 5 min episodes "based on the witty reinterpretation of a 1950s Australian radio drama. It takes as its starting point the fun and simplicity of the original radio soundtrack. To this is added a song and an imaginative B-grade, black and white visual style. The result is a fresh, fun, contemporary 'space musical' with a cliff hanger each episode."

http://www.afc.gov.au/filmsandawards/filmdbsea rch.aspx?view=title&title=LIKELS

[Houdi]

That certainly sounds like the show I'm looking for. My memory must be playing tricks on me. Thank you!!

[tonymclark]

I recall Rocky Star too, I seem to think it was on BBC2 as part of their youth programmes in the early evening (most likely repeated). It sounds like the show you describe Houdi.

[Gromit]

It was Rocky Star. The show was a spoof on the Flash Gordon type sci-fi.

The character were Rocky Star, the hero, Dianna Moore, scientist and love interest, and Mitch, the stupid one who they explain the plot to. The baddie was zog, a ming the merciless type villain.

The series was Australian made in 1993, and I cannot find any video or stills of it. I still have some episodes on VHS somewhere. I used to like the song bits. They would mine to an old 30s songs. I loved it.