It is Manchester, 1999. The millennium is almost upon us, and strange disappearances are happening around the Hacienda nightclub. Using nothing more than a flashing torch and a small bouquet of fake leaves, the Police Cops boys plunge us straight into the action as a miscellaneous club goer is followed – and consequently killed – by a… Vampire. The scene is set, the madness has begun.
As the old adage goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It seems that Police Cops have got “it” – meaning their winning formula of cheap props and homoerotic dance scenes – down to a fine art. There’s a genius scene involving two coats and a water cooler/vending machine, which has the audience in fits. Perhaps the best moment of the show, however, involves a rendition of the devil’s tragic backstory in the form of a GCSE drama production. It’s worth buying a ticket just to see that scene alone.
The plot is pretty standard stuff – nothing ground-breaking – but we all know that’s not why you go to see a Police Cops show. You go for the slow-mo fights, the random musical interludes, the sheer enjoyment of watching three guys goof around and also put on a laugh-until-you’re-gasping show. It doesn’t even matter that some of the scenes are downright surreal (devil dancing with a candy cane, how we love thee), because they work in complete harmony with the rest of the ridiculousness. It’s also got some lovely 90s nostalgia – were bucket hats ever a good look?
It seems as if Police Cops have actually set the bar a little too high for themselves; anything trying to top the smash hit that was Police Cops: Police Cops in Space is ambitious indeed. And although Badass Be Thy Name doesn’t quite manage this, it comes pretty damn close.