Astronauts is a British television sitcom that aired on ITV from 26 October 1981 to 23 August 1983. It was written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, two of The Goodies. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who wrote Porridge, were script editors. It was produced by WitzEnd for ATV, which became Central midway through the production run. Channel 4 repeated a selection of eight of the episodes in 1986.

Plot

The three primary characters are sent into outer space to occupy a space station for six months. They take with them a dog, a collection of white mice and some insects. The dog, Bimbo, had previously appeared in The Goodies. The astronauts' names are Malcolm Mattocks, Gentian Foster and David Ackroyd, whilst the astronauts' contact at Mission Control is Beadle, an American. The humour was primarily based on the claustrophobic conditions of the two-room "sky lab" and the consequent tensions.

Cast

Episodes

Series 1 (1981)

Series 2 (1983)

DVD release

The complete series of Astronauts was released on 9 July 2012.

American version

On 11 August 1982, CBS aired a pilot for an American adaptation called The Astronauts, but no series developed. It starred Granville Van Dusen as Mattocks (renamed Roger Canfield), Brianne Leary as Foster (renamed Jennifer Tate), Bruce Davison as Ackroyd and McLean Stevenson as Beadle (renamed Michael C. Booker).