It is, of course, impossible for me to give an entire objective review of this pilot, I'm just too invested. I'm a pop kid who grew up loving Jamie Hewlett's work: loved it since ESCAPE was running excerpts from ATOM TAN, read DEADLINE from the start to the end, from the glory years to its slow death. So I wanted it to work, and unless my critical faculties are completely shot by the blinkers of fannishness, it did.
The cast was great (with chemistry to spare between the three leads); the script was fine, consistently funny, while padding out the lunacy with just enough heart to make it bearable to the squares; it looked as good as you'd expect of a production originated from the pen of Designer Of The Year 2006 (in fact, my one quibble would be that two of the Feebles could have done with looking a little less like a Hewlett drawing, and a little more capable of emoting). The ending left me inwardly cursing that there won't be another episode next week, never mind that there's none more filmed, or so far even commissioned. Which has to be a good sign.
If this episode was, by some unholy series of events, destined to stand alone, then I'd go so far as to promote it from "decent pilot" to "instant cult classic". This was a TV show made by people who understand the medium's ability to create wondrous little self-contained worlds, and they (effortlessly) created and populated one you'd like to visit again and again. One that stands alongside THE AVENGERS, Adam West's BATMAN, Bruce Lee's GREEN HORNET, THE PRISONER, THE GOODIES and THE MIGHTY BOOSH. Make it so, BBC drama bods.