| Asterozoids | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Planet of Origin: | Asteroz |
| Biological Type: | Echinoderm |
| First Appearance: | Horror of the Asterozoids |
Talk Page 
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Asterozoids are an amphibious race of starfish-like semi-humanoids. They originated from the planet Asteroz but were forced to migrate when its oceans were ravaged by their over-fishing.
Biology[]
Asterozoids' bodies were originally radially symmetrical but evolved leg-like appendages once they emerged from the abyssal depths below the surface of their planet's oceans. During their complex life cycle, they return to the water to reproduce, which they do both sexually and asexually, and generally prefer to spend their time in oceanic kelp forests, seagrass meadows, and coral reefs. A voracious predator known throughout the galaxies but not otherwise war-like by nature, they have no respect for interplanetary treaties and will poach anything they can eat.
Although their appearance is unmistakably non-human, they possess powerful hypnotic abilities and are able to mesmerise other species into believing they appear to be whatever they wish.
"Horror of the Asterozoids"[]
Captain Sáðrós, from the Asterozoids' first appearance
In the Inspector's first encounter with the Asterozoids, they had arrived on Earth, just off the coast of Cornwall. Strange reports suggesting an extraterrestrial presence there attracted the attention of Exo-Pol, and the Superintendent dispatched the Fourth Inspector and Gary Mulligan to investigate, with photojournalist Mary Sue Brown tagging along. Sightings of the legendary Morgawr sea monster tipped off the Inspector to the Asterozoids' plan to introduce invasive alien species into Earth's oceans in order to provide them with new fishing grounds.
"The Golden Jubilee of the Inspector"[]
The Asterozoids returned for a short appearance in the 50th anniversary Christmas special, in which they had infiltrated Elizabeth II's 2002 jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace by hypnotising partygoers into mistaking them for celebrities (e.g. Dame Edna Everage, Elton John, and Ozzy Osbourne).
"The Asterozoid Evasion"/"The Asterozoid Eversion"[]
The Twelfth Inspector uncovered the Asterozoids’ plot to escalate the “Great Scallop War” of 2012 between the British and French fishing industries in the English Channel. The disguised aliens posed not only as British fishermen trespassing European Union's Common Fisheries‘ fishing exclusion zone, but also as French fisherman attempting to ram the British boats. With the assistance of the British Marine Management Organisation and the French Navy, the Inspector successfully defeated them by pitting the two disguised fishing fleets against each other.
"Asterozoid: How to Win Frenzies and Influence Humans"[]
Asterozoid is a direct-to-DVD spin-off from BTV featuring the Asterozoids. While early drafts were written by one screenwriter and later ones by another, both unknown authors removed their names from the final version, which was then heavily rewritten again by BTV executives. Eventually released in 2007 as Asterozoid: How to Win Frenzies and Influence Humans, it received an 18 certificate due to scenes of an adult nature (some nude and sex scenes with the starfish aliens).
Trivia[]
- Some Inspectrum fans claimed the Asterozoids' first storyline was a veiled political allegory for the 1972 Cod War between the UK and Iceland over North Atlantic fishing territory rights (and other fans claim it predicted the next one in 1975).