It Is Rocket Science!

"Onwards to Mars!" was a catchphrase for 1920s' rocket club members and Helen Keen demonstrates a similar enthusiasm in this entertaining four-part series, romping through the often surprising history of rocket science. Featuring deadpan Peter Serafinowicz as "The Voice of Space", this week's show describes space pioneers Robert H Goddard, Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky and Hermann Oberth.

Quirky, offbeat and original, this four-part history of space travel and rocketry blends comedy and science. There are plenty of jokes, but also sharp sketches of three pioneers in the 1920s and 1930s - Russia's Eduardovich Tsiolovsky, America's Robert H Goddard and Germany's Hermann Oberth. Next week: Wernher von Braun.

The creator (at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008), co-writer and main female performer is Helen Keen, clearly someone to watch.

Helen Keen pays tribute to the founding fathers of rocket science in this clever, offbeat comedy series, based on her successful Edinburgh Fring show. She guides us through the universe - 'that infinity of violent cold, seemingly without creation or culture, that great astral Aberdeen' - with help from Peter Serafinowicz, who is tremendously good value as The Voice of Space.

Here's an odd, entertaining and genuinely educational series. Three nerd-wits give a comic account of the history of space exploration. They're informed, enthusiastic and funny, and make you realise what a great adventure rocket science is.

An offbeat but factually accurate account of the science of rockets begins with three fathers of modern rocket science, including 19th-century Russian visionary Eduardovich Tsiolovsky and his dreams of orbiting space stations and Martian colonies.

Irreverent comedy and aerospace engineering don't seem an obvious fit, but It Is Rocket Science, performed by Peter Serafinowicz, Helen Keen and Susy Kane, proves that fact-based boffin buffoonery works. The trio present an accurate account of the history of rocket science, starting in late-19th century Russia with Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky's dreams of space stations.