Rob's New Xperiment
Radio series and novel on the way from Rob Grant!
6 April, 2018
What could be better than getting a new sci-fi comedy series from Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant? How about a new sci-fi comedy series that's also being adapted and expanded into a novel?
The Quanderhorn Xperimentations is a new six-part series for BBC Radio 4, co-written by Rob and Andrew Marshall (creator of 2point4children and Strange). But as well as making its debut on the airwaves in June 2018, it's also coming out as a full-length novel written by the pair. Here's what it's all about:
England, 1952. Churchill is Prime Minister for the last time. Rationing is still in force. All music sounds like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. People like living in 1952: it's familiar and reassuring, and Britain knows its place in the world. Few have noticed it's been 1952 for the past 65 years.
Meet Professor Quanderhorn; a brilliant maverick scientific genius who has absolutely no moral compass. Assisted by a motley crew of outcasts - a recovering amnesiac, a brilliant scientist with a half-clockwork brain, a captured Martian prisoner adapting a little too well to English life, the professor's part-insect "son" (reputedly 'a major breakthrough in Artificial Stupidity'), and a rather sinister janitor - he'll save the world. Even if he destroys it in the process. With his Dangerous Giant Space Laser, High Rise Farm, Invisible Robot and Fleets of Monkey-Driven Lorries, he's not afraid to push the boundaries of science to their very limit. And far, far beyond...
The novel is being published by Gollancz, who also brought us Rob's last two novels Incompetence and Fat. Gollancz's Commissioning Editor Marcus Gibbs says, "I've long been a fan of Andrew and Rob's work, and it's great to welcome them home. QX is witty, silly, clever and fun, and having spent a day at the recording I know it's going to be a hit both on radio and in print."
The book is scheduled for publication in hardback, ebook and audiobook on 14th June - the radio series doesn't yet have a confirmed transmission date, but should be around the same time. We'll bring you further news on broadcast and the show's casting as soon as we have it!
Pre-order The Quanderhorn Xperimentations on Amazon now!
Share this page:
