Shakedowns in Hyperspace

Drama of the Week

BBC

Drama, Fiction

3.9 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The first in a darkly comic new series about women and space, from the award-winning author Naomi Wood, written for BBC Radio 4,

From disassociating astronauts to zero-gravity threesomes, explorations of nothingness to space lust and Pokemon hunts, this brilliantly original series with a feminist twist is a savagely funny take on the near future of women and space.

Today: It's 2034 , and on a mission to mine valuable minerals, one astronaut's struggle with reality puts her team at risk...

Find all 5 episode on BBC Sounds.

Reader: Julianna Jennings Writer: Naomi Wood is the author of three novels, including the award-winning Mrs Hemingway, and a short story collection, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things. She won the BBC National Short Story Award. Producer: Justine Willett

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.7	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport podcasts.
0:08.4	I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading journalists, experienced
0:12.2	pundits and the biggest sports stars.
0:14.3	Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights straight from the player's mouths.
0:19.1	But the best thing about doing this at the BBC
0:21.6	is our unique access to the sporting world.
0:24.8	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts
0:27.2	that create a real connection to dedicated sports fans
0:30.1	across the UK.
0:31.4	So if you like this podcast,
0:33.0	head over to BBC Sounds
0:34.1	where you'll find plenty more.
0:35.8	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:39.5	This is Drama of the Week.
0:43.6	Helen, Helen.
0:49.9	You know, no matter how hard control tries to eliminate it, depersonalization will get every astronaut eventually.
0:58.8	In the deep embrace of hyperspace, it's really just a matter of time.
1:03.9	Usually de-personalization, we call it depopping, the seeing yourself from outside yourself, lasts a couple of days.
1:13.4	Control tries to limit depopping pre-flight with psych tests and therapists, but nothing so far has
1:19.7	worked, even in 2034. Pass Armstrong's line, and soon the crew will be totally tripping spaceballs.
1:28.3	We are on a mission to collect Baxalite on asteroid JA161, which has enough reserves for like a
	...

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