Critical reaction to the show was generally negative: writing in "The Times" following the broadcast of "Conversations with the Dead", Andrew Hislop wrote that ""Star Cops" has neither the campiness of "Star Trek" nor the imagination of "Dr. Who" to overcome its technological limitations". Also in "The Times", reviewing "Intelligent Listening for Beginners", Martin Cropper found that "some of the individual plot-lines show invention of a sort, but the script is uniformly feeble". Meanwhile, in "The Sunday Times", Patrick Stoddart was confused by the plot of "This Case to be Opened in a Million Years" asking readers "if you are following any of this, please write to me and explain". Letter writers to the "Radio Times" were split on the merits of the show: some such as P. Tricker of Alpheton, Suffolk praising it for having "brilliant special effects, well-written scripts and actors who were convincing" while others like Martin Bower of Allendale, Northumberland slated the "dated designs, poor music cheap sets" and P. Curwen of Balloch, Dunbartonshire described it as "boring – too much talk and not enough action". Science fiction fandom at the time was more positive with Anthony McKay in "Time Screen" describing the series as "one of the most refreshing telefantasy series for years" while the British Science Fiction Association gave the show their Media Award in 1987.