Police Cops has become something of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe staple over the years, dating all the way back to 2026. We saw Police Cops The Musical back in 2023 and felt that it lacked the energy that the show promised. However, sometimes a franchise loops all the way back on itself and finds that certain something. Surely if Leprechaun and Friday The 13th franchise’s can find revive themselves with a jaunt into space, then surely Police Cops can?
The answer is an overwhelmingly loud yes. What we have here is a fun take on both the sci-fi and police genres, and yes, the plot is pretty much a standard police action drama cliché with the serial numbers filed off and some sci-fi tropes hot-glued on, but that’s one of the things that makes it funny.
Comedians Zachary Hunt, Nathan Parkinson and Tom Roe work through a series of quick costume changes (and strategically placed props) to tell the tale of robot rebellion and humanity’s last best hope for freedom: Sammy Johnson, the son of the legendary Police Cop, Jimmy Johnson. Some spaceship chases, thug punching, a dance competition and a training montage scene later, and Jimmy is ready to assume his role as a Jedi. Sorry, we mean Police Cop.
This show is dumb, and it refuses to come up for air. If there’s a moment when the audience may stop to consider how dumb it all is, one of the performer’s trousers will fall down, and you start laughing like a deranged monkey. They don’t let up with the silliness, coming at the audience with a sheer quantity of gags, props and clowning in a way that will defy your power to overanalyse things.
Police Cops In Space proves that sci-fi makes everything better, and that you can breathe new life into a franchise by adding In Space into the title. It’s also masterfully done comedy silliness performed by some of the best in the industry. Incredibly good fun.
