Total Recall Personal recollections of cherished sci-fi
Captain Zep: Space Detective
Ian Berriman, Deputy Editor
The cast of series one, featuring Paul Greenwood as Captain Zep.
© BBC/GETTY
You’d think the last thing a 10-year-old would want to do on getting home from school was whip out a pad and pen to take notes. But that’s what many of us did in 1983, pretending we were students of the SOLVE Academy.
The high-concept of this children’s sci-fi show was ingenious. Captain Zep (“super space detective”, as the foot-tapping theme tune calls him) presents a recording of one of his cases to the students (50 kids in orange robes, with slicked-back hair). They must spot the clues in this week’s outer-space whodunnit, then are given 10 seconds to scribble the solution. Get it right, and they receive an “I SOLVEd it!” badge. At the end, Zep – who sometimes seemed more preoccupied with tea and snacks than crime-solving – would pose questions for the viewers. Send in the answers with a self-addressed envelope and you could get a SOLVE logo and certificate.