Season 1
Supernova is a British comedy series produced by Hartswood Films which follows Dr Paul Hamilton, a British astronomer, who leaves a dull academic post and a girlfriend he dislikes for a new job at the Royal Australian Observatory, deep in the Australian outback.
The series originally premiered in Australia on Fox Australia on 10 October 2005. It began airing in the UK on the BBC on 20 October 2005.
There are 12 half-hour episodes in two seasons.
Supernova premiered in South Africa on DStv's BBC Prime channel on Thursday 7 February 2008, at 20h30. Repeats are on Thursdays at 23h30.
Synopsis
A small plane jolts through the endless blue of an Australian sky, hot, red earth rising to meet it. It's about 100 degrees in the shade: the acacia shimmers in the hard, blinding haze, stretching for miles to what has to be a mirage – the shining, white dome of the Royal Australian Observatory.
On the plane, hapless British astronomer Dr Paul Hamilton sees his new and glorious life stretching before him. A life where he can be an astronomer, rather than just teach others how to embrace that glorious goal. Where he can leave behind his boring girlfriend and her collection of Aztec jewellery, which he hates.
But the Aussie outback is about to deliver up a bit more than pale Dr Paul is expecting. And this bumpy plane ride is nothing compared to what his oddball colleagues are about to dish up.
Supernova is a six-part comedy series about love, life and the Universe, set in one of the most advanced scientific facilities in the world.
It takes viewers crashing through black holes, cosmic stardust and primal gases as its characters brave heat, flies, noxious toads and crazy locals to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
And it ponders the greatest question of all: will Paul get the girl?
Supernova is a classic fish-out-of-water comedy. It traces the fortunes, and misfortunes of the English astronomer Paul, who lands a job working and living with a motley collection of highly intelligent, but slightly screwy, colleagues in the Australian outback.
It's a place where, no matter how hard he tries, his stitched-up British sense of what's right will be sorely tested. And where he can leave his inhibitions at the door.
The series was directed by Matt Lipsey (Little Britain, Lenny Henry in Pieces, Human Remains) and co-produced by Fox World Australia and Hartswood Films, UKTV in Australia and Hartswood Films for BBC TWO in the UK.
Episode Synopses