The Cambridge Geek

Taylor needs a story. And since he's a journalist for a newspaper with a very angry editor, he needs a story really badly. Luckily, there's Kevin. Kevin, along with his intern, Lance, engages in amateur cryptozoology, or, the hunting of horrible scary monsters. Specifically, those that we don't actually think exist.

That means the Yeti, the Chupacabra, Ghost Deer and [Redacted]. Of course, Taylor is a necessary skeptic, so the series follows the adventures of the three across all of the U.S., as Kevin takes him to different locations to see things. All done in Kevin's van, "HQ", which has a Kitt-level AI, without any good explanation.

Definitely a comedy, rather than the horror you might predict. Kevin is generally a bit incompetent, and is more reliant than he'd like to admit on his intern for logistics. More than that, he tends to see weirdness where there isn't any, not the safest choice when you're stumbling through the woods at night.

Apparently there is a core of truth somewhere in all this however, as the team quickly find themselves on the run from the Discovery Channel. It seems they believe Kevin has information that it would be worth making a series about, and are prepared to go to great lengths to get it. Also, Guy Fiyeri turns up. Don't know anything about him, so I'm assuming it was a perfect parody, subtle in its delivery, both pricking his ego while remaining utterly fair. The same is true for the Globetrotters.

Perhaps this has given you an impression of madness. Excellent. It was meant to. It's a very silly series, particularly Kevin's background training with a zen master, and the show's fondness for a soundtrack suddenly turned off by one of the characters. (I will never get tired of that trick.)

Kevin is a bit of a dick, but luckily it's never pushed too far. He manages to just about stay this side of likable, mostly in contrast to the large number of horrible people in the ensemble. Him and Taylor make up a loy of the time, bickering about the best way to deal with the nefarious people chasing them. Also, has a surprisingly impactful ending to the first series, so I really must get round to the second at some point.

Score:
Score 5

Tagged: Audio fiction Comedy Cast Dramatised Thriller Serial