Nebulous

· culture ·

I've been meaning to mention a great comedy Sci-Fi series that's running at the moment on Radio 4. Nebulous concerns the doings of Professor Nebulous and K. E. N. T. (the Key Environmental Non-judgmental Taskforce) in the year 2099. 'The Withering' has wiped out Birmingham (boo!), Nebulous has accidentally destroyed the Isle of Wight, and K. E. N. T. is so strapped for cash that they have to take in laundry to make ends meet. When they're not cleaning the lint filter on the Zanussi 3000, they investigate carnivorous cacti, mutant wasp/bee hybrids (the Bosp) and get trapped on "Wife-assic Park" an island populated with robotic Deptford Wives running amok.

Mark Gatiss is brilliant as Nebulous, and there are some fantastic jokes, including some running ones. Nebulous has a secret clown phobia, having been raised by clown parents who were bitterly disappointed that he went into science rather than clowning. Most weeks, he has a flashback to his childhood. This week, we hear little Nebulous plaintively complaining when his parents force balloons on him:

But I don't like balloons! They're childish and overly buoyant.

There was also a fantastic new acronym in the latest episode that I intend to use frequently: FTFTBBW (Far Too Fiddly To Be Bothered With). The last series was great, but this one is turning out to be even better.