Space Precinct – 15. Predator and Prey

Once you get past the cringe-worthy dance club stuff, Predator and Prey is an effective enough episode of Space Precinct. The story tries to pull off some intelligent and surprising twists that have the potential to elevate it above the norm. The villain of the piece is a real standout for the series, and if you like Richard James this is certainly the episode for you!

Sidney Hayers returns to direct his fourth and final Space Precinct installment and it’s certainly a worthy effort to end on. After Predator and Prey he picked up one final credit directing an episode of CI5: The New Professionals in 1999 before his death in 2000. Meanwhile, Nicholas Sagan is a new writer for the series with roots in science fiction and space exploration (his father was famed astronomer Carl Sagan). More commonly credited as Nick Sagan, his prior credits included a couple of episodes on the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he would go on to be a story editor on the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager. Overall, it feels like we’re in fairly safe hands with this one. Let’s get into it! I hope you’re ready for a boogie…

The “impressive alien” slot in the opening titles has now been handed over to Commissioner Tev from last week’s episode, Takeover. Sure, he’s an alien, and sure, he’s impressive, but I’m just not sure he’s worthy of the promotion to this illustrious slot in the title sequence. He didn’t actually do anything except sit in a chair and talk. Hardly the most memorable Space Precinct character.

Curiously, Lieutenant Brogan is largely absent from the “This Episode” teaser – with only one shot of him passed out on the floor. I promise that Ted Shackelford is in this episode proper and hasn’t disappeared for another vacation. Coincidentally, Richard James is in this episode a lot and is therefore featured quite heavily in the montage.

Predator and Prey is a good episode title! It hints at the twist without giving it away. I’m also getting hints of the 1987 movie, Predator.

A black car flies through the darkness of the city and lands on a rooftop in a particularly bustling backstreet. This composition of live action and model work is very similar to the opening shot of Divided We Stand… which isn’t too surprising since it’s essentially the same set with some bits rearranged.

A bouncer with completely unpredictable tastes in fashion is admitting and turning away guests at The Taunt nightclub. The Space Precinct costume and make-up departments have surpassed their usual levels of mediocrity and dressed up the supporting artists in an eclectic range of truly abysmal outfits. Some of the looks are meant to be bad, and some of them are meant to be good – hence the bouncer being so picky. It’s supposed to emphasise the exclusivity of the venue. The trouble is, every single person is dressed like they’ve been kicked through a charity shop and held hostage in a fancy dress parlour, so the bouncer trying to discern between what’s hot and what’s not just makes him look like an imbecile. Anyway, a girl with a couple of twigs sticking out of her head is apparently looking especially good this evening so we follow her inside.

Obviously the night club scenes throughout this episode are a little bit embarrassing. The atmosphere is very artificial. This is partly a result of the usual Space Precinct practice for re-voicing all the characters so nobody sounds like they’re really there. Then there’s the naff, generic music which has been added in post-production to avoid excessive noise and continuity issues on set. That’s not an uncommon practice in film and TV, but usually it means that the actors have to be directed/choreographed so that they know what kind of dancing and mood they’re trying to create. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the 73-year-old director, Sidney Hayers, may have been a bit out of his depth at capturing a hip nightclub scene, and just let the young background artists do whatever the heck they liked. Most of the sparse crowd is standing around talking while a few brave souls are busting moves that don’t match one another. The rather low energy of the clientele doesn’t at all match the music, or the showgirl on the podium who’s enthusiastically stomping around like she’s trampling a swarm of insects. And yes, there’s a mid-century Las Vegas showgirl in the middle of all these terrible 1990s rave fashions. In fairness, the showgirl outfits are probably the most successful design aspects of the episode because they’re so out of time that they actually don’t date what is supposed to be a futuristic sci-fi show – they just look like a novelty.

In case you were wondering what that whole bouncer scene at the beginning was actually for, it was to illustrate that this guy isn’t supposed to be here. Look at him. No colourful hair extensions or shiny PVC shorts, and yet here he is sitting at the bar without anyone batting an eyelid. In case it wasn’t pretty obvious, this is our main villain for the week, Enil Kmada. He’s one of the most unsettling aliens we’ve seen in Space Precinct so far and those yellow contact lenses are probably the main contributing factor. Officer Orrin actor, Richard James, is once again playing a baddie in addition to his usual heroic role. In Deadline and Illegal, Richard was handed extra roles because his duties as Orrin were lighter in those particular stories. That isn’t really the case in Predator and Prey. Orrin and Kmada feature prominently so Mr. James was kept very busy. Plus, unlike a standard Creon mask, Kmada was a full-face prosthetic which meant the actor had to be the first in the make-up chair every morning for the lengthy application process, and was often the last to leave the studio in the evening too.

Kmada locks eyes with the rather disgruntled dancer. Frankly, he just looks like a bit of a pervert but I’m sure there’s more to it than that.

Elsewhere in the club, one of these background dancers is taking it much more seriously than the other…

… and the Creon version of George Washington is flirting with one of the showgirls. Only in Space Precinct.

As she steps off the podium, our bright pink showgirl seems to be enticing the creepy guy at the bar to come backstage with her. This is a family show, so I’m sure they’ll just be getting together to discuss their favourite flavour of jam or something.

The Creon version of George Washington is having a hard time getting lucky tonight.

In the dressing room, we learn that not everything is as it seems. The showgirl is actually Chloe Vincent, an undercover cop who’s after Kmada. Vincent is played by Natalie Roles (minus her own voice), who was later seen as DS Debbie McAllister in 189 episodes of The Bill from 2000 to 2004. She was also cast again by Sidney Hayers in his aforementioned 1999 episode of CI5: The New Professionals, Miss Hit.

Kmada isn’t going to come quietly. He disappears and reappears around the dressing room so Vincent has to dash around and shoot at shadows. The use of mirrors and lots of outfits cluttering up the room is all very effective.

The tension creeps up nicely as Vincent’s partner, Walker, tries to get through the crowd. More and more people get in Walker’s way while Vincent is panicking and firing at reflections of the grinning Kmada. Sidney Hayers’ background in horror movies really comes in handy here and things are starting to feel properly scary.

Kmada is absolutely haunting. Richard James tells a delightful story in Space Precinct Unmasked about wearing those horrible contact lenses in public on the London Underground, and let’s just say it had the exact effect you’d imagine on a small child.

Those shiny red trousers should have their own series.

Walker arrives too late and finds Vincent twitching to death on the floor, which is probably a bit grim for the younger kiddies watching. Kmada’s vanished and Chloe’s cause of death is unclear.

“Oh no,” says Walker. Yeah, the facepalm is a bit of an awkward acting choice. It’s not the best start to the episode for American actor Rolf Saxon in the role of Lieutenant Verro Walker. Born in Virginia but working predominantly in the UK, Saxon has some big movie credits under his belt including Mission: Impossible (1996) and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Saving Private Ryan (1998). He was also the narrator for the US dub of Teletubbies. So yeah, Space Precinct wasn’t necessarily a career highlight.

In another part of the city, a billboard advertises a “Tarn vs. Creon Elvis Look-A-Like Competition” which sounds like an absolute hoot. Prior to Space Precinct, Rob Youngblood played a young Elvis Presley in the TV movie Elvis and the Colonel: The Untold Story. Coincidence? Yes.

Speaking of Rob, he’s regaling us with another one of his classic police cruiser stories. This one’s about how a humanoid once held him by the throat and dangled him two feet off the ground. Well, that’s no way to treat the greatest Elvis impersonator of our time!

Fredo calls in and gets the plot started for us. He’s sending Brogan and Haldane to The Taunt nightclub to help out with the case of Chloe Vincent’s murder. We learn that she was from Precinct 79, rather than the good ol’ 88th. Yes, there’s more than one space precinct in Space Precinct. How about that?

Meanwhile, Romek and Orrin have arrested some friendly neighbourhood prostitutes… sorry, “physical therapists.” Alexa Rosewood played a variety of alien roles on Space Precinct, but here gets a rare opportunity to appear without a mask.

Our hapless duo have had a long shift, but Fredo has one last assignment for them before they can go home. Romek and Orrin need to go and catch a peeper while everyone else is busy working on the Vincent homicide. I smell a comedy subplot brewing.

Here’s a novel treat. While the full size police cruiser is parked in the foreground on the live action set, a model cruiser is shown landing on the roof in the background. They’re two separate shots that have been spliced together in post-production, but it’s still very effective. Just ignore some of the blatant discrepancies between the model and the much larger live action prop.

Officer Castle is interviewing Tim Burton, while the bouncer is begging Took to handcuff him in a kinky way. Standard stuff.

Castle directs Brogan and Haldane towards Walker. He’s at the bar arguing with the Creon version of George Washington who it turns out is the manager of the club.

Lieutenant Walker and Lieutenant Brogan immediately clash because… well, Walker’s just a bit of a twerp. He doesn’t accept Brogan’s condolences and really doesn’t seem that keen on getting help from anyone else. Haldane can barely contain his contempt for Walker’s rudeness. The headline here is that we’re not supposed to like Walker. This would be intriguing if Walker’s constant grumpiness and lack of cooperation made some sense. Alas, for a significant chunk of the episode he’s just an irritating berk.

The mood doesn’t exactly improve when there’s a dead body in the room. Walker explains that he and Vincent were working undercover on the tail of a mysterious attacker who’s now murdered three nightclub dancers in the past week. Haldane suggests it might be a serial killer. Walker reacts rather harshly and snaps at Haldane for pointing out the obvious. Brogan tries to prevent a fist fight by sending a stroppy Haldane away to work with Castle and Took. It’s drama, but it’s not especially engaging.

Even with Haldane out of the room, the unpleasantness continues. Brogan takes a chunk out of Walker for being completely incapable of catching his partner’s murderer. When Walker tries to put Brogan in line, Brogan insists on following procedure and handling the case himself since The Taunt is in the jurisdiction of the 88th precinct. Walker refuses to back down. It feels like an awful lot of yelling just for the sake of it, without any real substance underneath it all.

Now you might think that the only real justification for Walker’s behaviour might be that he shared a really close bond with his partner, Chloe, and he’s just upset about losing a dear friend. But he just says goodbye to her with all the warmth of an uncooked pie.

Took has cottoned onto the fact that Walker is a vacuum of charisma and reads his mind to see whether there’s something else going on with him. Thank goodness someone is aware of the fact that all this huffing and puffing is a bit odd.

Meanwhile, Castle recognises Chloe Vincent as a former classmate from the police academy. She’s really shaken up for some reason, so Brogan and Took offer their most sympathetic looks. I’m not really sure what this bit adds to the episode. I guess it reminds the audience how one is actually supposed to react to seeing a dead body, unlike Walker’s rather cold farewell. But it doesn’t exactly trigger an interesting character arc for Castle if that’s what you were hoping for. After all, Jane and Chloe can’t have been all that close because we’ve never heard her mentioned before.

Walker re-enters the bar. That young lady in the foreground did not come dressed for a BBC2 teatime slot.

Haldane is guarding the front door and doing what he does best – putting off women. Walker suddenly gets a nasty headache and plops himself down at the bar to finish his drink, which is either water or gin depending on how you interpret his current mental state.

Across the bar, Walker suddenly spots Kmada standing perfectly still with a vacant grin. There’s no holding back on the creep-factor.

There’s a moment of stillness. Nobody else is reacting and I’m immediately wondering whether Walker’s had too much gin.

The lieutenant whips out his gun and yells. You could say he’s started a… wait for it… panic at the disco. Haldane is slightly bewildered because Kmada has already vanished into the crowd. There’s a sense that Haldane wants to back up Walker but also has to keep an eye on the guy in case he’s lost his mind.

Footage of Walker pushing through the crowd is recycled from earlier in the episode. You can tell because he’s suddenly regained the earpiece in his left ear which was absent in the previous shot of him at the bar.

While Kmada somehow avoids all the police officers in this relatively small club, your favourite characters from the crowd are screaming and running away. Remember lady-with-red-trousers? She’s there. And lady-with-twigs-in-hair? She’s there too.

This poor dancer has a wardrobe malfunction while being chased by Kmada. Apparently another take wasn’t deemed necessary.

Kmada’s running at a fair lick down the tight corridor set. No longer blinded by a Creon mask, it must have been quite a novelty for Richard James to actually be able to see something while filming – hence the confident sprinting.

Walker and Haldane aren’t anywhere near fast enough to catch up, but Walker has a go at blindly firing his weapon anyway.

When Walker emerges outside, there’s no sign of Kmada. Haldane and the other officers are understandably perplexed by this weirdo who seems incapable of catching a very obvious suspect.

As we head into the commercial break, young Jack has clearly had enough of Walker’s shenanigans.

In another part of the city, Romek and Orrin are on the hunt for their Peeping Tom. Orrin steps out of the cruiser and immediately reports that there’s no sign of anyone lurking nearby… as if a pervert would just be sitting there waiting for them. Romek jokes that having a peeper may have been “wishful thinking” on the part of the female caller, which is just a yucky thing to hear from a police officer.

The sexism keeps on coming as Orrin and Romek go goo-goo-eyed when the caller answers the door. The not-as-ugly-as-usual female Creon mask previously seen at the end of The Power is re-used here to the same effect. For an additional sprinkle of sexism, Orrin seems to lose interest as soon as the caller, Mrs. Kroze, reveals she’s married.

Garbage begins to fly around and our sharp police officers are soon on the case. But a stern tone of voice isn’t enough to lure the suspicious character out of the dumpster.

Orrin and Romek take a rather charming moment of absolute professionalism to determine their next move. Orrin loses to Romek at a game of rock, paper, scissors.

Something very big and very hairy pulls Orrin into the dumpster for a friendly tumble. Crispin Merrell’s music is quick to let us know that this is all just fun and games and not a malicious attack.

Richard James learns that being the star of the show isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The ape-like creature is an impressive beast! Regular Space Precinct cast member Rob Thirtle is inside the suit and absolutely teeming with energy. So impressive was the costume and performance that Rob was asked to improvise some monkey business in Gerry Anderson’s office during a meeting with potential investors.

Mrs. Kroze is rather fond of the hairy fella now that she knows he’s not a pervert.

Well, actually, he is a bit of a pervert because he immediately jumps on Romek and smooches him.

“I think it’s love!” quips Romek. They’re certainly not holding back on the humour with this one. Last week, in Takeover, Romek’s prank about the faked physical report was a bit half-baked, so it’s refreshing that this week we’re getting an in-your-face, full-blown, sexually aggressive, big, hairy ape. Now that’s comedy.

Back at the station house, we dig into the more serious matter of serial killers and loopy cops. Brogan has written Walker off as a loose cannon, and Haldane calls him “a jerk masquerading as a police lieutenant.” Blimey. They’re really not pulling any punches. Podly is appalled by Haldane’s lack of respect. It’s about time someone stepped in to stop them all being quite so nasty to each other.

Ugh, here we go again. Walker strolls into the office and the slanging match starts all over again. He has a go at them for not checking the security tapes, and Brogan is quick to spit back that Slomo is already working on it. Frankly, I’m on Brogan’s side because I absolutely hate it when someone asks me to do something I’m already doing.

Podly insists on decorum. Walker agrees to offer his full co-operation in accordance with his own captain’s wishes, and explains that he has a potential lead set up for tomorrow. At last, something useful. Beyond Chloe’s actual death at the beginning of the episode, very little of significance has actually happened in the plot so far and we’re already a third of the way through.

Today, Officer Carson is a forensic specialist rather than a computer scientist as we saw in Takeover. He explains that there is no known cause of death according to Chloe Vincent’s autopsy report.

Walker adds that this is the same as the other two deaths from earlier in the week, but Brogan and co. require a wee bit more science to back up the claim. Rather than just saying, “I dunno,” Carson rattles off something only vaguely relevant about elderly couples who simply lose the will to live as soon as one partner dies.

Haldane absolutely cannot resist the opportunity to make a dig at Lieutenant Walker as soon as it’s suggested his partner lost the will to live. It’s a bit mean-spirited, even for Haldane… but it’s also rather funny so I quietly applaud him for it.

Podly instructs the officers to go home and prepare for tomorrow. “I can hardly wait,” grunts Walker. Haldane offers the lieutenant a sarcastic wave as he leaves. So, so, so savage!

In the break room, Slomo jokingly commends Castle and Took for putting in long hours. Over the past few episodes, the writers have really worked hard to give Slomo a personality and make him a part of the team. I’m sure he’ll always be the novelty robot on the sidelines of the story, but at least there’s an attempt to make him more than a flashy prop.

Slomo drops off a short biography on Lieutenant Walker that Castle requested. I guess she must be deeply suspicious of him too. It’s also jolly handy information for the audience at home. We learn that Walker has been at the 79th for 10 years, has worked homicides for 5 years, and took a compulsory leave of absence recently due to stress. In a police drama, “stress” can often be shorthand for anything from a slight temper to severe derangement. Took thinks the stress might explain the strange telepathic reading she got from him earlier. She suggests his mind is muddled, “like a book where the letters kept changing.” How poetic.

The conversation inexplicably changes to Castle being upset about Chloe Vincent’s death again. They’re really trying to tug at our heart strings here, as if Castle and Vincent were closely linked. Maybe they really were the best of friends at the academy, but it’s a bit of a stretch and it certainly doesn’t have much emotional resonance.

Haldane pops in at just the right moment to ask for a cheeky ride home. Apparently his car has been troubling him for a while and this is becoming a regular thing. Castle doesn’t seem to mind one bit, which is a rather sweet micro development in the relationship.

On his flight home to the suburbs, Brogan looks far from cheerful… because he’s on his flight home to the suburbs.

On the salary of a cop and whatever Sally does at the hospital, the Brogans can only afford a teeny-tiny TV in the bedroom.

The newsreader soon gets Sally up to speed on the plot so that she can at least attempt to be an active participant in the story. Sally’s not exactly thrilled to learn that there’s a cop-murdering serial killer on the loose.

An exhausted Patrick comes into the bedroom. Sally asks if he knew Chloe Vincent. He explains that she was Castle’s classmate at the academy, and Sally acts as if that’s the saddest thing in the world. Okay, am I missing something here? This fairly inconsequential bit of history between Jane and Chloe has been getting way more attention than it needs.

It’s well past the end of Orrin and Romek’s shift and they’re on a mission to find a home for their hairy new friend. A young man on the call screen, played by an unmasked Wayne Forester, explains that all undocumented animals found in Demeter are destroyed because the authorities don’t have the facilities to keep them. After the dog fiasco in Seek and Destroy, they’ve just decided not to muck about with that sort of thing.

Romek would rather not have their new friend put down. Orrin isn’t feeling quite so sympathetic now that it’s thrown him in a dumpster and just started beating him over the head with a multi-com. But as the ape hands back the multi-com and gives Orrin a kiss, he concedes that they’ll have to figure out an alternative living situation for the lovable brute. What a softy.

Meanwhile, Sally Brogan gets murdered by a man in a mask. Don’t cheer.

Nope, actually it was just a dream. Sorry Nancy Paul, you don’t get out of your contract that easily.

Matt dashes into his parents’ bedroom, concerned by the sound of his mother’s heavy panting. A boy of Matt’s age should probably know better than that by now.

Back in Divided We Stand, I highlighted that the Brogans’ kitchen and dining room had been repainted to be not quite so garish and offensively yellow. It would seem that the apartment’s hallway received the same treatment and this is the first time we’ve seen it properly with the pale colour scheme. Matt tells his irritating little sister to go back to bed. And that’s Megan Olive’s entire contribution to the episode done and dusted.

Sally senses that the figure in her dream was the person who killed Chloe Vincent and the other girls. Well, she’s basically right. Not sure what the mask was all about but that was definitely Kmada. So, clearly that was more than a regular nightmare she was having. Is she psychic? Nah.

As Patrick and Sally lie down and we fade to black for the commercial break, there’s a very alarming groaning noise slapped onto the soundtrack. It sounds like a rusty old bridge collapsing into a canal, but I think it’s just Sally Brogan going back to bed.

The next day, Slomo, Castle, and Took are reviewing the nightclub security footage. They have a clear view of Kmada which is definitely just a regular shot of him thrown in by the editor and not specially filmed security footage. Still, it confirms that Kmada isn’t just a figment of Walker or Vincent’s imaginations. But Slomo can’t find any person of any species in the Interplanetary records that matches the image they have.

Castle goes a bit bonkers and yells at Slomo to search harder… y’know, cos she cares ever so much about her old pal Chloe Vincent… that dear, dear friend that she’s never, ever mentioned before.

Slomo is alarmed by the outburst and Jane has to apologise. Quite right too. It’s getting ridiculous.

To lighten the mood, here’s Orrin and Romek wrestling with a comedy ape.

Only Slomo is distracted by the slapstick carnage in the doorway and idly remarks on Orrin and Romek’s new friend. It’s actually not immediately clear what’s happening because Slomo’s robotic voice doesn’t exactly shift in tone when he changes the conversation topic, nor is it obvious that he’s looking into the middle distance rather than talking to Castle and Took. Plus, the comedy music slightly drowns out the dialogue itself. He suggests that the ape-like creature is in fact, “a Zwellin – hair-covered biped from Mila star system – non-sentient. Odd.” Castle and Took are oblivious to the whole thing and just want to learn more about the villain.

The new search has revealed a string of homicides from 98 years ago committed by the same haunted figure. The victims were all young females named Massayo Figgis, Yoon Gushen, Mytec Ponnari, and Solange Belcher. They learn that the suspect’s name was/is Enil Kmada.

Took explains that the name is familiar in this star system as an urban legend or a boogeyman. Apparently Took’s sister used to threaten her with stories about Kmada. Siblings are awful, aren’t they?

Later that night, a police cruiser swooshes over a scrapyard. It’s a very satisfying swoosh, and a great little model set.

In the back seat behind Haldane and Brogan, Lieutenant Walker sarcastically explains the concept of an informant to his new colleagues. Yup, they’re still bickering like a trio of elderly women.

There’s a really nice mix between model and live action as the cruiser comes in to land with a puff of smoke, and the clouds clear to reveal the officers stepping out of the full-size prop. Walker doesn’t have a cool gull-wing door and has to make do with a boring sliding one.

A pair of purple legs gingerly step through the wasteland in inappropriate footwear for this kind of terrain. The officers stand around in the freezing cold. The prospect of an outdoor night shoot in December must have filled the cast with dread. Fortunately, the unit didn’t have far to travel because we’re still on the lot at Pinewood Studios, this time around the side of the big 007 stage.

Walker insists on handling the conversation with the informant. Brogan shoots him the most sassy look because they’ve completely given up on hiding the loathing now.

The informant is a working “club girl” named Mags Serpell after the series’ assistant editors Mags Arnold and Charlotte Serpell. A touching tribute. She claims to have talked to the person they’re looking for, but she won’t say what they discussed until the cops do her a favour in return. Clearly, she’s a skilled negotiator.

While Walker tries to smooth talk his way around his informant, Brogan just yells at her with the subtlety of a fog horn…

… but it gets straight to the point because it turns out Mags can’t even describe what the guy looked like. The lads lose what little patience they had left for Walker’s rubbish police work and storm off like petulant children.

Then, Mags straight up asks Lieutenant Walker for money in exchange for sex. That negotiation took a very quick nosedive, didn’t it?

Walker declines the offer so I guess he’s not completely hopeless. However, he quickly gets another one of his special headaches so we know trouble’s a-brewin’. Brogan and Haldane look ready to fly off without him when they get a call from Castle about their positive I.D. on Enil Kmada.

Not for the first time, Mags is entered by a strange man. Sorry. Kmada is back and this time we actually see how he kills his victim. The image of him goes wibbly-wobbly and gets absorbed into Mags, who screams in pain and drops to the ground.

Walker arrives too late and yells for Brogan to come and help. He spots the sly, old Kmada in the distance and tries to open fire – missing terribly, of course.

Haldane has a go at shooting the guy too but he misses also. These lads need more time on the firing range, I guess.

Having confirmed that Mags is indeed dead, Walker scurries off to do his own thing. We get a nice, “Walker, dammit!” from Ted Shackelford… which pretty much sums up my feelings towards this whole episode so far.

Brogan calls for back-up, citing their address as 1420 Jupiter Wharf. Nice to have the exact spot in case you were ever planning a day out with your family to visit Demeter’s finest scrap metal yards.

Walker loses the suspect… because he’s just so flippin’ useless.

Brogan and Haldane manage to find each other again. The darkness and the fog really looks great. It’s a terrific novelty to see the officers running around outside in a credible setting. Walker is hanging out by a tower and rubbing his head while Kmada gawps at him from the shadows.

Kmada approaches from behind, in prime position to make another kill. Let’s put it this way – I wouldn’t be unhappy if Walker was taken out for the rest of the episode right now.

But no… Walker emerges from the fog in front of Brogan and Haldane without a scratch, claiming that Kmada has gone.

I know lads. I’m disappointed too. At least you can go back inside the warm studio now.

Back at the station house, half of the team are looking mighty, mighty cool in their civvies. Look at Brogan and Haldane rocking those jeans. Orrin’s wooly jumper is a treat too. We’ll find out why they’re out of uniform in a moment. Carson has apparently confirmed off-screen that Enil Kmada from 98 years ago is the same Enil Kmada that’s out there today. Orrin is horrified – maybe he had a horrible sibling who told bedtime stories about Kmada too.

We get an “I love this job” from Brogan that really doesn’t feel earned just yet.

Meanwhile, Officer Took’s been given a solo assignment. Yes! I’m all for her character getting a chance to stand out. She arrives at a closed office with nothing but a photo of Kmada and her inherent badass vibes. The old man at the door immediately lets Took inside.

Podly is tasking his undercover officers to enjoy a night out at eleven different venues in the club district. Tough gig. The map includes landmarks seen previously in the series such as the Demeter City Space Port and Demeter City Hospital – plus a conspicuous location on 34th and Cyber Street marked “Gerra’s,” which might just be a nod to the producer and series creator, Mr. Anderson.

Brogan and Walker are going to be stuck together coordinating the operation from The Taunt – the club from the beginning of the episode. They’re thrilled about it, obviously.

Romek is excited that they’ve been assigned to boogie on down at a place called The Hot Tub. Orrin isn’t so keen because he actually understands the assignment. While Fredo reads out where everyone else is going, our comedy duo discuss their pet Zwellin’s new living arrangements in a disused storage room. Romek has even fed the ape Orrin’s dinner because he’s such a swell guy.

Strap in for an intensive info dump. Took has visited the bookstore of Mr. Peri – a delightful old Tarn with a crooked, characterful face. He pulls out exactly the right book from his ‘Tarn Mythology’ shelf and starts reading up on a race called the Meki, of which Kmada is a member. In short, the Meki are lost souls who take over the bodies of other people without their knowledge. In order to hibernate inside the host body, they have to kill and drain the life force from others and sustain themselves. Peri explains that the hosts of the Meki were wiped out during “the great purge” and blasted into the suns a century ago. Took suggests that Kmada was missed off the list for a good roasting. Now, reading everything you need to know about a character’s back story from a book isn’t exactly creative exposition, but I suppose having a wonky-faced Tarn with a strong Irish accent do the reading makes it vaguely interesting.

Poor Simone. I mean really, I can’t imagine her acting career got any worse than this. Why didn’t the producers check she could dance before putting this in the episode? Or worse still, it’s possible that maybe Simone Bendix can dance and the director actually asked her to move like that. And why did the outfit have to be green and so poorly fitted? It’s all just so, so bad.

Walker can’t believe what he’s seeing.

While Castle sheds most of her dignity, Haldane is guarding the front door and loving every second of it. Brogan chats to him through an earpiece while hanging out in the women’s dressing room. Those boys are having a grand old time.

Right, you’ve had your dance break. Back to the boring books. Peri explains that the Meki and its host are linked for life, with the host experiencing great pain while they are separated and always needing to remain in close proximity. He adds that they are like two beings with one soul. The penny drops for Took. Walker is the host. Not much of a surprise, is it?

I’m wondering if Simone Bendix is deliberately dancing like a toddler so that they never, ever, ever ask her to do it again.

Walker reminds Haldane to keep his eyes on the job. Haldane does not take kindly to being told he can’t gawp at the woman he fancies.

Castle comes down off the podium and finally gets to tell us all how ruddy humiliating this all is for her. Jack swears that he would do the same thing in her shoes. Well then, someone rip that man’s shirt off and get him in those tiny shorts.

Room for one more, fellas?

Lieutenant Grumpy Twerp is doing a magnificent job at achieving absolutely nothing, as usual.

Kmada emerges from his host body with only the finest digital effects that 1994 has to offer. Presumably this is the first time Walker’s been aware of Kmada living inside of him. Otherwise the episode so far wouldn’t have made much sense. But how on earth did he miss it?

“What have I done?!” Rolf Saxon monotonously mumbles the terrible line of dialogue like a man who’s accidentally poured salt in his tea.

After the commercial break, we get to enjoy a few more establishing shots of the club. To be fair, it looks like people are actually enjoying themselves now.

Brogan gets the call from Took. She spares us most of the dreary backstory and simply explains that Kmada lives inside Walker. That’s really all that any of us needed to know.

At the bar, Walker is left with the tricky and philosophically complex task of trying to shoot at himself.

The standoff is pretty straightforward. Kmada has a hostage, but he’s surrounded by four armed police officers and everyone else is ducked down out of harm’s way. It’s dramatic but it’s not exactly a challenging scenario.

Walker and Kmada scowl at each other in an attempt to ramp up the tension. Needless to say, those aren’t Richard James’ real teeth.

Despite everything Peri said to Took about the bodies being linked, Walker manages to shoot Kmada without it doing much harm to either of them.

Kmada jumps back inside Walker’s body and I guess that’s all just fine then.

So, quite cheerfully and now fully aware of what’s happening, Walker invites Brogan, Haldane, and Castle to shoot him dead. I’m sorry to say that Rolf Saxon has given up on trying to give this moment any dramatic weight and just speaks quite matter of factly about the whole thing. Conversely, Ted, Rob, and Simone actually try to inject some passion into the scene. Our heroes look genuinely upset by the prospect of killing a fellow police officer.

Walker elects to shoot himself. We cut away to a reaction from Brogan and Castle when the actual shot is fired, to the relief of the broadcasters.

Walker seems genuinely pleased that he’s got Kmada at last. So… err… that’s nice.

From the hospital, Brogan reports that Walker died right next to him in the ambulance. Terrific. Well, that’s that. Why are there still 10 minutes of episode left?

I’d genuinely forgotten about this whole extra bit. Turns out there was more drivel in the book. Peri calls up Took and says that when the host body is dying, the Meki can sense it and transfer to the next closest person to be a new host. Well, we had to pad out the rest of the episode somehow.

Judging by their faces, I reckon Took and Castle have figured out who the new host is but Haldane’s not the sharpest tool in the box. Give him a couple more minutes to think on it.

Sally’s getting up to speed on the plot again via the news. She hasn’t left her bed for the entirety of the episode. Patrick comes home and, uh-oh, he’s got a headache.

It may not be very homey, but the new look for the Brogan apartment is such an improvement on the blinding yellow nightmare we had before.

Haldane calls up and frantically screams at his partner to get away from his family because Kmada has found its new host and, oh boy, it’s Patrick Brogan! There’s those high stakes that I’ve been waiting for! I feel like this should have been the plot of the whole episode rather than an extra bit tacked on the end.

Sally’s shower is threatening her. Why does the attachment come down from the ceiling? What kind of cowboy did their plumbing?

Sally’s dream has come to life! How did she dream it quite so accurately? I don’t know. Maybe that’s one of Kmada’s powers – to enter people’s minds before he kills them. It might explain why Mags claimed to have spoken to him without actually getting a good look at his face. If so, that’s a very subtle little setup and I have to say bravo for that.

“Think you can come and steal my show, Richard James?!”

Take that!

Alas, the blaster has no effect, just like before. Kmada is lured out of the room by Patrick… somehow. I guess you could argue it’s because Kmada and his host have to maintain a close proximity, but I don’t think Walker was ever shown staying this close to him. Patrick yells for Matt to stay in his room while the terrifying spectre of Richard James lunges down the corridor at full speed. After all that fuss, Kmada zaps himself back into Brogan’s body. It’s really not a bad special effect.

Brogan blasts away from the suburbs with a whole scheme cooked up, ready to deal with Kmada once and for all. I guess he came up with it during those 5 or 10 seconds he just spent running down the corridor. He’s on his way to the docking bay at the station house with a plan involving Slomo. The plans usually involve Slomo. He’s terribly useful.

Slomo arrives just as the full-size green hopper is wheeled carefully onto the set to suggest it’s coming into land. Usually this sort of shot is just done with a camera movement so it’s a novelty to see the car itself actually rolling into shot.

Castle, Haldane, and Carson watch from outside as Brogan essentially orders Slomo to electrocute him to death. Slomo is understandably hesitant, but our Patrick is terribly insistent.

Ted Shackelford is very good at pulling faces while he’s getting zapped.

With their colleague conked out on the floor, the other officers have to wait for three full seconds to ensure that the soul of Kmada goes somewhere else before they can stroll in.

For reasons that will be explained away later, Kmada’s soul has chosen Slomo as a new host, despite the fact he’s a machine. Kmada could have spent the last century living in a toaster if that’s all he needed. Slomo detects an anomalous new program in his primary bio-sector and Castle orders him to delete it immediately.

Kapow! Just like that, the image of Kmada fizzles away into nothing. Again, it’s really not a bad special effect.

With Richard James put back in his place, the gang desperately need to get the real star of the show breathing again. Carson has a defibrillator because he’s now the medical officer as well as a forensics specialist and a computer scientist. They zap Brogan’s heart three times. Come on, Ted! You can’t give up on the show now!

As soon as a heartbeat registers, a desperate Haldane starts doing chest compressions just so we can get all the medical drama tropes squeezed into the scene.

“Did I mention that I love this job?” That’s better. That’s how you deliver the catchphrase.

Castle is relieved. After her dear, dear, treasured friend and classmate Chloe Vincent, whom she mentioned all the time and never stopped talking about, died at the beginning of the episode, I don’t know how Jane would have coped with losing someone else.

For the denouement, Took comes into the office with more Kmada-related trivia. She explains that last month, Lieutenant Walker tried to prevent the suicide of a deep sea sailor who’d been murdering the rest of his crew. Walker being Walker, I imagine he failed spectacularly at cheering the sailor up. So, the sailor died and that’s how Walker became the new host for Kmada.

“Call me stupid…” starts Jack.

“Oh, don’t tempt me,” responds Jane.

Love it.

Haldane wants to know “how this whole Slomo thing worked.” Yes, I’d quite like to hear that explanation too. Took says that Slomo’s neural network mimics a living organism. Well, that’s a handy development. So, when Brogan “died”, Kmada’s only option was to take Slomo as a new host because he was the only thing nearby that looked like he had a living brain. That somehow turned Kmada’s soul into a computer program that Slomo could just delete. In a sci-fi way, I guess it sort of works. The likes of The Power and Divided We Stand have explored the parallels between computers and the human brain in the past. So even though it is a very convenient way to tie up the episode without killing off our hero, at least the general premise fits with the rest of the show and isn’t completely pulled out of nowhere.

For a little bit of computer banter, Jane looks at Jack while tempted by the concept of having her own ‘delete’ button. I don’t blame her. If I were Jane, I’d delete all those absolutely abysmal dance moves she’s picked up. Haldane jabs Took’s arm and claims to be using the ‘escape’ key to head for home. I enjoy keyboard humour. Anyone got a good ‘Caps Lock’ joke?

Haldane no longer needs a lift home with Castle and Took because he’s fixed his car. That was quick. When did he have time to do that? He’s had quite a full work schedule. Anyway, it turns out Castle and Took are a little bit spooked by the Kmada thing and wouldn’t mind riding with Haldane for protection… which just doesn’t chime at all with Castle or Took’s typical characterisation. They certainly wouldn’t look to Haldane of all people to take care of them! He’d never let them hear the end of it! I’m choosing to believe that they’re not actually that scared, and it’s more that Jane wants an excuse to spend some extra time with Jack outside of the office and quietly grow the relationship.

So, Haldane gets to enjoy being a knight in shining armour and milking it for all its worth. He beckons Castle and Took to come with him. They definitely shouldn’t have given him that kind of ammunition.

Romek and Orrin have still got a monkey on their back… or a Zwellin locked up in the disused storage room. What are they going to do about their new pet? Podly gruffly summons the pair to his office for what is bound to be a side-splitting conclusion to the subplot.

The not-so-proud parents are unexpectedly reunited with their hairy baby. Romek claims to have no prior knowledge of the beast.

While the Zwellin demonstrates its affection for Orrin and tries to clobber Romek over the head, Captain Podly explains that the mustachioed gentleman in the corner is Dr. Greaves of the Endangered Species Facility. This particular Zwellin is the last of its kind and the doctor was going to give a big, fat reward for its safe return. Podly smugly suggests that since Romek claims to have had nothing to do with the animal before, the reward money should instead be donated to the retired officers fund. Poor boys. Ah well, at least we got quite an entertaining subplot out of it. Rob Thirtle has been terrific at monkeying around as the Zwellin, and the way Lou Hirsch and Richard James ran with it all the way through was great too.

Back at the Brogan household, Sally’s still in bed. Patrick assures her that Kmada is gone for good but Sally insists that the only way to stop her from having nightmares is to find saucy ways of staying awake. Cue sauciness. Between the Zwellin and Orrin, and Sally and Patrick, we can end the episode by appreciating the poetry of the show’s stars getting smooched by hairy monsters.

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There are some really strong ideas at play in Predator and Prey, but the concept probably needed some extra refinement before it went in front of the cameras. I love the bodysnatcher principle and the idea that a homicidal bad guy can be hiding inside a good guy. That’s the perfect blend of crime and fantasy elements that Space Precinct was made for. However, that kind of dilemma would have carried much more dramatic weight if the evil Kmada had been lurking in the body of a character we actually liked. Lieutenant Walker was just awful all the way through and his sacrifice two-thirds of the way through the episode came as something of a relief. When Brogan became the host, I was suddenly much more invested in the situation and I think that could have been a much more successful focus for the whole episode. A Jekyll and Hyde type of scenario with our beloved main character at the centre of it would have been rich with moral and emotional potential. The struggle between Brogan’s heroism and self-preservation, combined with a conflict between duty and friendship for his colleagues could have fueled plenty of action and intrigue. Walker was just an untrustworthy stranger all the way through, and it’s no wonder that Rolf Saxon’s portrayal of the character is so monotonous – there wasn’t much else for him to do with it.

I’ve made my complaints about the kitsch nightclub scenes quite clear, but at least they offer the episode a memorable setting. It’s fun to see our favourite characters in different environments to change up the dynamic. And, of course, Predator and Prey has gifted us with my favourite Romek and Orrin comedy subplot from the series so far. Yes, we have to transition between wildly different tones – from grim homicides, to a slapstick ape jumping on Orrin and kissing him. Normally I’d consider that a problem, but for some reason the contrast is so extreme here that it works. It’s inherently amusing to see a giant hairy beast jumping between the Laurel-and-Hardy-esque figures of Orrin and Romek. Where previous comedy subplots felt forced and contrived by pranks or misunderstandings, this one finds its humour more naturally. I guess monkey business is just funny to us on an evolutionary level.