The Way Back written by Terry Nation and directed by Michael
E. Briant
A Good Man: By choosing to expose the dirty deeds that are
occurring on the Earth through Blake, an everyday man about to turn into
somebody exceptional because of his circumstances, was a stroke of genius. This
is a man who was happily getting on
with his life before he was dragged into the darkness by the rebels and
exposed to the truth about the Federation and their misdeeds. He’s resistant to
a point, rejecting the idea that he has been drugged and that his memory has
been altered. Gareth Thomas plays the part superbly, Blake the living
embodiment of somebody being thrown in at the deep end and not being able to
swim. The suggestions that his life has been manipulated are so far out of his
frame of reference that he can only object and threaten to walk away. As he
learns about his past he is like a Russian Doll being slowly peeled away until
there is only a frightened, trapped man left at the end. Learning that you have
been duped in such a sinister way must be quite a shock, his brother and sister
were killed four years ago and the communications he has been receiving from
them are fakes. A previous life as an activist leader unfolds, a rebellion that
was suppressed and buried out of sight. To from a fully functioning member of
society to a man curled up in a padding cell screaming at himself in 20 minutes
of screen time is quite some development and the camera never shies away from
the psychological horror of the process, getting right in his face as he
suffers post traumatic stress. By the end of the episode his defence lawyer has
been murdered, his reputation is in pieces, he has been dragged off world en
route to a penal colony and he is vowing to return home and clear his name. After
the injustices witnessed in The Way Back, you can’t help but be behind him all
the way.
Petty Thief: Michael Keating makes an instant impression
because he is the only actor that is allowed to display any degree of charm.
He’s quite different here from the drunken comedy figure he was to become but
then his life is about to spiral out of control in a pretty dramatic way.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘There can be no justification for
deliberate murder.’
Musical Cues: This was the point where Dudley Simpson was
working on both Doctor Who and Blake's 7 and his work wasn’t exactly distinct
on either show. Interestingly both shows would benefit from him being stripped
of one of them.
Moment to Watch Out For: The foreboding silhouette of
Federation troopers on the walls is the first sign that the dissidents are
doomed. I’m not sure that Blake's 7 was ever quite this brave again, showing a
group of innocent civilians being massacred in cold blood after they have tried
to surrender. Like a slap around the face, it exposes the festering tumour at
the heart of the Federation and gives Blake all the reason he needs to run and
try and bring them down. It’s jaw droppingly grim and adult and really puts
this show on the map. As if seeing a mass execution isn’t enough, the camera
lingers over the bloody corpses for longer than my stomach could handle. Doctor
Who it aint. This is a society where evidence is fed into a machine and your
guilt or otherwise is determined – that seems like a perfect way of being able
to manipulate the outcome of any trial.
Space Fall written by Terry Nation and directed by Pennant
Roberts
A Good Man: ‘You may not be tranquillised anymore but
you’re still dreaming…’ One of things I really love about this show is how
it revels in moral ambiguity. Whilst Raiker’s treatment of the prisoners is
appalling, it has to be remembered that the motley crew that Blake winds up
traversing the galaxy with are a bunch of cutthroats and criminals. They have
committed criminal acts and there might be some justice in sending them to
Cygnus Alpha to answer for their crimes. As we get to know them it becomes
clear that they are (mostly) agreeable people but it’s worth remembering that
Blake is the only crewmember on board the Liberator who doesn’t deserve be
hounded down by the Federation. Blake has to co-erce Avon into helping, a
decision that four seasons down the line he would come to regret. He wants to
see power back in the hands of the honest man but even his cohorts agree that
is probably an unrealistic goal given the ethics and ability of the current
administration. Raiker must have seen something honourable in Blake to try and
force him to surrender by mowing down his fellow prisoners – had the same offer
been made to Avon then none of them would have made it.
Blonde Bombshell: Raiker tries to play the perfect gentleman
with Jenna, deploying charm to purchase some under the cover favours. We’re not
privy to what she whispers in his ear to rebut his advances but it is obscene
enough for him to clout her around the face. The horror that we see in Jenna’s
mind provoked by the Liberator is of Federation troops tormenting her
mother. Goodness knows what she has suffered at her hands but this glimpse is
enough to suggest that it was highly invasive.
Gentle Giant: I have to be honest, Gan doesn’t make much of
an impression at all. The character or the actor. That’s his problem overall,
there doesn’t seem to be the same thought put into his characterisation as the
other regulars. Perhaps that was why they got rid of him first. He’s strong and
useful in a fight but that was all I really took from this.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Find a way of getting back to Earth’
‘Earth?’ ‘Yes that’s where the heart of the Federation is. I intend to see that
heart torn out’ ‘I thought you were probably insane.’
Moment To Watch Out For: The first shot of the Liberator
still gives me goosebumps. It is obviously an important moment since it comes
with it’s own Dudley Simpson fanfare indicating its significance.
Result: Continuing the serialised nature of the show, Space
Fall is an unpredictable episode that only falters because its pace crawls to a
halt at times. The show is still taking itself deadly serious at this point and
I think that was essential to its early success. If there had been the
slightest doubt that any of the actors were playing there material up it might
have been quite hard to believe in this universe Terry Nation is slowly
creating. The actors and director are working so hard to convince that this is
a gritty prison drama that the spaceship setting almost feels irrelevant at
times. It is just a genuinely gripping prison break with characters that it is
easy to be enticed by. Pennant Roberts gets to play to his strengths, working
with strong actors to ensure that the piece unfolds with strong dramatic
moments. When not asked not to bring action adventure fare to life (see his
work on Tenko and Survivors as well) he can be excellent. Space Fall’s faults lie
in it’s twin narratives that feel as if two separate stories are taking place
and only come together at the climax. The plot seems to come to an abrupt halt with
nothing actually resolved, this feeling like another stepping stone to formulating
the series rather than an individual piece in its own right. The introduction of the Liberator
is the first real indication of the show starting to fall into place but at
this stage it is still only a case of Blake’s 3. It’s it superbly designed,
both as a model and as a set and shows a great deal of promise that this wont
be a BBC SF series that looks like it has been made on a shoestring budget. There
are so many questions to be answered about the ship, the characters and much
still to be explored within the Federation itself. What Terry Nation has done
is set all the groundwork in place for much of the blistering capers that were
to follow. With all the talk of Cygnus Alpha it is nice that we are going to
head there anyway to rescue Vila and Gan. I can’t wait to see what horrors
await there at a Federation penal world: 7/10
Cygnus Alpha written by Terry Nation and directed by Vere
Lorrimer
What’s it about: Blake heads to Cygnus Alpha to free the
rest of the Federation prisoners…
A Good Man: Somebody had to try out the teleport eventually
and it doesn’t surprise me that Blake was the selfless volunteer. Blake
attempts to ask Vargas rationally to release him and his fellow prisoners but
if he thinks that he is going to be able to traverse this universe with such
placid tactics he is going to be quite shocked at the response. Eventually
Blake plans to stop running from the Federation and fight, but only once they
have learnt how to operate the Liberator.
Blonde Bombshell: Jenna turns a corner in this episode as
she has to make a decision whether to abandon Blake on Cygnus Alpha and head
off with Avon and all the riches that could secure them a good life or maintain
her principles and attempt to save him. She opts for the latter and proves her
worth to the audience.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Hand gun?’ ‘It’s a bit elaborate for a
tooth pick.’
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘Don’t philosophise with me you
electronic moron!’ – thank goodness Avon’s barbs get a little more cutting that
this.
The Bad: It’s great that the show is taking a
realistic approach to space travel and it has taken the London eight
months to reach Cygnus Alpha. That’s all well and good but judging by the
behaviour of the crew the events of Space Fall feel as if they happened just
yesterday. Perhaps it is a little early in the day for this series to be
falling back on passé ideas like religious zealots. The atmosphere on Cygnus
Alpha might have been a lot more exciting had the planet been a landscape of
fear with wild, desperate criminals warring amongst themselves. It is not so
much the physical effects that look prehistoric on this show but the electronic
ones and the wibbly teleport transference and corpse chalk outline effects both
come from a bygone age. Unfortunately these are effects that stick with the
show. Whilst it is perfectly possible
that the first prisoners to be dumped on Cygnus Alpha might pull together to
create a religious order it is hardly the most gripping scenario to have taken
place. Imagine a space bound religious order spreading the word of God – a bit
like Stargate SG-1’s Ori but being lead by a particularly verbose Brian
Blessed! It’s not an idea that has legs and so it is hard to take the dramatic
thrust of this episode seriously. We learn nothing significantly interesting
about this community or get to know any of them well enough to give a damn
about their fate. Another Terry Nation cliché, the infection storyline, is only
half baked here and fails to go anywhere. What was the point of killing of
Pamela Salem’s character at the climax? Perhaps if she had displayed any kind
of personality and piqued my interest I would have shed a tea but instead it
feels like a perfunctory act to provoke a response. The prisoners that refuse
Blake’s offer are mad, clearly their lengthly incarceration has driven them
doolally.
Musical Cues: I remember the musical sting that accompanies
the teleport scenes used to bug the hell out of me but time has mellowed me and
before re-watching it was one of my most vivid memories of the show.
Moment To Watch Out For: The only way Brian Blessed can
adequately exit a series as operatic as Blake’s 7 is to be beamed into space
screaming of becoming a God and combusting in a vacuum. It is absolute madness
and a clear highlight of the episode.
Fashion Statement: Teleport bracelets are a fine idea but
did they have to make look quite so glam? The pink jewel encrusted on each one
makes it look as if the crew are beaming down to a planet dressed up for a gay
disco.
Result: It is at this point that Nation’s earnestness starts
to take its toll slightly, this is the third humourless installment of this
show and I’m starting to yearn for a little entertainment. These early episodes
are so out of kilter with the outrageous camp and witty tone of series once
other writers start to get involved that they feel as though they are part of a
different, much more formal series. The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica
managed to maintain its fatalistic tone across four incredible seasons but I
have a feeling that if Blake’s 7 had continued in this sombre vein it might not
have secured a second year. That’s not to say that Cygnus Alpha is all bad but
when it comes to a episode that concerns itself with the machinations of
religious zealots it might not have been the best approach to have taken itself
quite this sincerely. Cygnus Alpha is convincingly realised with some
unwelcoming location work and decent sets but as our first pit stop it lacks
any kind of sparkle or excitement. Pamela Salem is wasted in a bland role (she
stares at the sky and awful lot but doesn’t do much else) but at least Brian
Blessed is on hand to add a little colour (read: volume) to proceedings. There
are no great surprises, just a logical continuation of the story that began in
The Way Back and Space Fall and without much action or interplay (there are
scenes of endless exploration of the planet) it winds up being a less than
impressive gathering of further crewmembers for the Liberator. Let’s
chalk this one up to experience and not repeat the exercise again. Blake now
has six crewmembers and is on the run in a sophisticated alien spaceship with
the Federation dogging his tracks. That is still an idea to get excited about: 5/10
Time Squad written by Terry Nation and directed by Pennant
Roberts
A Good Man: Blake is toughening up, wanting to make a
nuisance of himself and target Federation outposts. It is definitely a shift in
his favour, making him less of a victim of circumstance and more of a genuine
terrorist. His victory here gives him some confidence to keep going and now he
has a full crew compliment things are finally looking a little brighter.
Anti-Hero: The second there is any talk of companionship and
working together as a team, Avon’s pessimism kicks in immediately. He is so
refreshingly honest, every show should have a character like this to keep the audience grounded. His logic is impeccable, figuring that they wouldn’t put
people into suspended animation if the journey wasn’t going to take longer than
the lifespan of a man.
Empath: Cally is intriguing from her first appearance,
roughing up Blake and shoving a gun in his face whilst she communicates with
him telepathically. Jan Chappell is one of those actresses that is rather
underrated in science fiction, much like Sarah Sutton in Doctor Who she is
often sidelined from the main action and yet can often be seen acting quietly
on the sidelines of any scene.
Gentle Giant: Gan is an odd one for sure. He’s the most
quietly played and so pretty much vanishes into obscurity next to the powerful
personalities of the rest of the crew but he’s also the one that if you go
digging for subtext actually has the most interesting (and potentially
disturbing) backstory. We learn a little more about his backstory, that his
wife was killed by an armed security guard and Gan murdered him in kind. It is
when he mentions that he doesn’t trust himself to be alone that fascinates me,
he seems to be suggesting that he either has homicidal tendencies that he isn’t
able to control or that his violent desires are of a sexual nature. I’ve heard
it argued elsewhere that his inhibitor is implanted to prevent him from
receiving a sexual thrill from violence (because it certainly isn’t there to
prevent from committing acts of violence because we have seen him do nothing
but since Space Fall) and the way he remains paralysed at moments when Jenna is
frightened could go some way to providing the evidence for that. Having a
potential sex killer on board is troublesome and might be a step too far in this
shows grasping for realism, especially considering as played Gan is the most
cuddly of the lot. I’ll see how the character is handled before I make up my
mind about this approach.
The Good: We’re starting to get more of a picture of the
Federation’s reach and their tactics on other worlds. It would appear that
Blake’s intimate story of a rebellion crushed is playing out in a macrocosm on
other worlds, the slightest whiff of independence and they send in the troops
to slaughter half the population and bring the survivors in line. It is
fascinating to think that this entire story would be played out in many years
to come in DS9’s The Siege of AR-558 but instead of the good guys attacking the
communications relay point, they are trying to hang onto it. Blake’s 7 has
captured something that has never been done before in science fiction, turning
the criminals into the heroes and the administration into the bad guys. It means
that we are in the fascinating position of cheering on the terrorists,
something which would probably be unthinkable in these post-9/11 days. Beaming
Blake and Jenna into a cramped compartment is a nice touch, and I like the
design of the shuttle, which is functional and sparse. The fact that it turns
out to be a floating tomb with figures in cryogenic storage with Blake and
Jenna trapped and running out of air adds much claustrophobia to the scene. I
was having the model work vs CGI debate with my husband earlier today and the
effects triumph of the docking procedure, with an awesome POV shot as the ship
approaches, cements my opinion that the former is my preferable option. Whilst
CGI can be more dynamic and expensive looking, to me it always looks rather
cartoony and whilst model work can wind up looking hideously embarrassing
(although so far B7 has avoided this), when it is done well it has a sense of
realism and live action that cannot be beaten. This is purely a juvenile
observation but it is about time somebody designed a ship with controls that
emulate a game in a video arcade. Who doesn’t want to get in the pilot seat of
the Liberator and grab hold of those joysticks? I don’t want to harp on
to much about the production values on this show (although I know I will) but
on the evidence of the first four episodes the producers are really going for
an authentic feel. In Time Squad they go to the lengths of building the pod in
the studio for Blake and Jenna to climb out of. In modern days that would be a
small expense but at the time that is a lot of time and effort to further
convince that these events are playing out in as natural a way as possible.
Another example of Federation brutality is wiping out the resistance on Saurian
Major. They obviously don’t believe in talking things through. British science
fiction of the time loved using power stations because they offered a solid
industrial visual and a lot of space to run around in. Whilst the location work
is impressively vast, I would have liked to have seen more Federation troops
about the place and for their infiltration to be a bit more of a struggle.
Moment To Watch Out For: The rather shoddy explosion of the
facility. After all that build up I would saved back a little cash to have seen
the communications complex go up in true style. Instead it looks rather like
limp fireworks on a screen.
Result: I rather like the early scenes in Time Squad that
focus on the Liberator crew still trying to understand the ship,
formulating plans to attack Federation outposts and exploring space. With them
discovering space flotsam and exploring, it feels a little like Star Trek
with the central difference being the deliciously cynical characterisation of
the regulars which prevents this from being a jaunt in space and highlights the
dangers. One thing that jumps out at me whilst re-watching this series is how
different television is paced now. Somebody watching who is used to the fluid
and energetic speed of modern day television would find Blake’s 7 desperately
slow moving but I prefer this approach. I find so much of television these days
skips logic and bypasses decent storytelling to hit the big set pieces and
effects as soon as possible. The slow but sure approach of Blake’s 7 ensures
that we are with this crew every step of the way, feeling our way into the
relationships, discovering the abilities of the ship and really going on an
extended journey with the characters. Whilst I don’t think the show loses
anything when it does pick its pace up in later seasons, it is this groundwork
that ensures that once the big moments come that we really care because we have
taken the time to enjoy experience with the characters. The first half of Time
Squad is very useful in this respect, but a whole episode in this rather
pedestrian vein might have dragged and the second half gets things moving considerably
faster, with the duel plotlines of the aliens waking from cryo sleep and Blake
attacking the Federation communications relay point. For a director that I have
always applauded for his work with actors rather than his way with action, I
was genuinely surprised at how well Pennant Roberts brought the quieter moments
of suspense alive (check out Jenna in the cargo bay). The seventh member of the
crew has arrived so the title of the series finally makes sense (with Zen an
honorary member of the crew) and I took an instant liking to Cally. Things were
getting a little testosterone fuelled so its nice to have another woman board
to balance things out. Once again the show opts for two storylines that fail to
gel, but both are fairly interesting regardless, even if one is unresolved by
the conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed Time Squad, it never aspires to greatness
but it has plenty to recommend it regardless – particularly the further
insights of the crew and some nicely directed atmosphere: 7/10
What’s it about: Blake comes to the rescue of some primitive
lab rats…
Anti-Hero: I still get a thrill of excitement when Cally
starts flirting with Avon. Both characters are so ice cold for much of their
screen time that it makes a real impact when they react in such a teasing way.
When Cally proves herself to be under the influence, Avon’s response is
caustic, licking his wounds. The moment he viciously grabs her throat says
everything you need to know about his reaction to being let down by women. Mind
you later in the episode Blake describes Avon as being more at homes with machines
than people but his reactions here show that he isn’t all logic. Avon is
already positioning himself to take over from Blake and dropping hints that
there will come a time when their illustrious leader wont be making all the
decisions. If only he knew how right he was. These hints prevents things from
getting too comfortable aboard the Liberator.
Empath: Cally is still an relatively unknown personality on
board the Liberator so this the perfect time to suggest that she is
going to be more trouble than she’s worth and susceptible to mind control.
Briant’s clever camerawork makes the potentially dodgy sequence of her turning
on Vila into something genuinely creepy, especially the way she smiles straight
out at the audience. Jenna expressed distrust at having an alien join the crew
and for the moment it seems that racial intolerance is (at least partially)
justified. When it comes to placating her, Jenna is right in there with a good
slap to knock the alien influence out of her. The Lost were also from Auron,
which explains why Cally was so susceptible.
The Good: It’s Michael E. Briant’s first time in the
directors chair since The Way Back and instantly the show has a lift in the
area of creative direction. The opening pan across a cobweb strewn forest is
memorable, as is the way the camera slides secretively around the sets and
builds up the mystery of the Lost. The whispering presence adds much
atmosphere. Already there is a story custom made for the crew of the Liberator
to stumble across. An alien presence infiltrating the ship, a bomb ready to
blow them all sky high…when people call his scripts page turners this was
precisely the sort of material they were referring to. What I really took from
these early sequences was how well cast the regulars have been, this are
situations that need a strong ensemble to try and convince that they are in
real danger and they do an admirable job. Whilst it might be disguised behind
some pretty shoddy production values, The Web echoes the journey that Blake
took on Earth facing up to his oppressors, the Lost are attempting to suppress
(such a pleasant word with so many connotations) the Decimas because they think
they are a threat. Miles Fothergill is excellent in the role of Novara, but I
kept getting flashes of SV7 from Doctor Who’s Robots of Death every time he
opened his mouth. It is nice to have the constant reminder of Federation
pursuit ships, this isn’t simply a jolly around the galaxy but a ship of
desperate criminals on the run. For once they are unable to outrun them,
trapped in the Web like sitting ducks. For a moment I was worried that this was
going to turn into some preachy God destroys his subjects parable but the
revelation that the Lost were also laboratory grown meaning that lab rats are
trying to eradicate lower forms of lab rats turns this into something far more
interesting.
The Bad: How somebody the size of Gan (especially with Jenna
looking square at him) could sneak up on Cally boggles the mind. Puppetering is
still a few years away from the standard that the show needs to convince. If
you were being unkind you could suggest that the bizarre puppet suspended in
water (those pipe cleaner arms!) and the embarrassingly designed primitives
hammering on the flimsy plastic door is exactly the sort of cheap looking tosh
you would expect from Blake’s 7. In an unfortunate moment of poor direction,
one of the Decimas is clearly visible behind Blake before they have been given
their cue to make a fuss. It probably says something about me and the sort of television
that I have grown up watching that I couldn’t take the sequences of the Decimas
jumping about and talking excitedly to each other seriously. They look
ludicrous, they sound ludicrous, the are ludicrous. It’s Blake’s 7 first
real duffer, production wise. I bet the outtakes were hilarious though. As much
as Briant tries to convince by having the Decimas literally attack the camera
during the climax, I was still laughing my head off at their absurd appearance.
What’s it about: A raid on a communications outpost – part two!
Maximum Power!: Introducing Servalan, one of the most
exquisite femme fatales that science fiction has ever known. Whilst it is
immediately clear that she is an important figure within the Federation, there
is no indication of the central role that she is going to play throughout the
shows four seasons. It is about time that the Federation was given a
spokesperson and Jacqueline Pearce’s icy cold performance perfectly captures
the oppressive government that our heroes have been paradoxically running away
from and attempting to tear down. She listens quietly to the objections of the
President’s staff about her handling of the Blake crisis and then quietly cuts through
their grievances, with a threat lingering in her tone when she asks if they are
complaining about her actions to date. She reminds me of a snake, slivering
seductively in the grass but always ready to strike when the opportunity
presents itself. Servalan will thaw out for certain men, like Rai, but there is
always a feeling that she likes to be in control of the men she is willing to
share her bed with, that there is a thirst for power inherent in her lust.
Eye-patch Killer: Travis’ introduction reminds me of a similar
approach that Terry Nation took with Sara Kingdom in The Daleks’ Masterplan,
building up the character by having others talk about him with awe before they
make an appearance. This way we are already expecting great things before we
have even met him. Fortunately Stephen Grief does not disappoint, he brings a
whole new level of threat to the series with his barely restrained thuggery.
The double whammy of both Servalan (the face of the Federation) and Travis (a
much needed nemesis for Blake) gives the series a massive injection of
adrenalin, it suddenly feels as if Blake’s 7 is taking off and all the pieces
are falling into place for a memorable show. A thug with a reputation, he has
caused the Federation some political embarrassment in the past and the fact
that he is Servalan’s assassin of choice to take down Blake gives the
administration cause for concern. A black and white man who cuts through red
tape, one who proves his skill through action and an advocate of total war, he
is definitely one to watch. There is the feeling of something dangerous
simmering beneath the surface in Stephen Grief’s performance that was lacking
when Brian Croucher took on the role in season two. He always feels like he is
ready to snap, despite his intense coolness. After his face was injured he felt
no need to have cosmetic surgery, his eye patch makes him stand out from a
crowd.
Petty Thief: ‘Tell him I’ve just worked out a completely
new strategy…it’s called running away’ – there’s the Vila I recognise. The
first handful of episodes have felt a tad unsure about what to do with this
character (and he certainly would never be as creepy as he was in the pilot
again) but now Nation (and through his work as script editor Chris Boucher)
have decided to shoehorn him into the role of comic relief character. That’s no
bad thing (although it’s a hand that would be overplayed in later seasons)
because the regulars are so deadly serious at times that a little humour is
missing. There isn’t a lock he can’t open if he is frightened enough. It is
great to see Vila being used for his technical skills for a change, exposing
there is cunning mind beneath all that cowardice. I could have kissed him when
he walked up to a pair of armed guards and admitted, rather charmingly, that he
was planning on committing an act of terrorism. Enjoy these moments with Vila
whilst the writers still feel that there is a great deal of potential with the
wily fella, because he would very often be plugged as the stereotypical drunk
as the show wears on.
Empath: Supposedly the gentlest member of the crew, I rather
think that Cally enjoyed holding a gun on a Federation trooper. Mind you she
gets a real clout around the face for her efforts. This show really isn’t
afraid of abusing women and whilst that is hardly something I condone, does
show a level of realism that I admire. Anyone who thinks she is just a pretty
face watch as she beats the crap out of a Federation guard – this is not a
woman that you want to get angry. Later she is seen dragged along the floor
like a sack of old rubbish. You have to feel sorry for Jan Chappell. After
being subjected to torture, she is more than willing to give Travis a taste of
his own medicine.
The Good: There are no establishing scenes on board the
Liberator where we discover what precisely Blake’s plan is this week. We are
dumped straight into the action with Blake and Vila being teleported to a
Federation base and it really feels like this episode has hit the ground
running. Given past form, these planet side scenes usually come during the latter
half of the episode and reversing that trend is only to Seek-Locate-Destroy’s
favour. Federation facilities all seem to aim for the same aesthetic, a
practical, industrial nightmare of pipes and metal walkways. It also helps to
add to that feeling of the Federation being a cold, grey, lifeless
administration, one that prefers functionalism over beauty. Wherever this was
filmed, it scrubs up fabulously on film and once again gives a sense of scope
the series is often aiming for but sometimes lacks because of it’s studio bound
limits. Again, I have to re-iterate that the idea of the central protagonists
of a show committing acts of terrorism was a bold move to take and it still
gives a little thrill watching them attempt to bring down the corrupt Federation.
It is certainly a more exciting way to explore space than the beige approach in
Star Trek, it gives this show teeth that Gene Roddenberry’s baby could only
dream of. By all accounts you could put a spin on the scenes where they hold
the guards and scientists hostage and steal data where the Federation is the
victim and they are the gang of terrorizing rebels. Whilst the Federation is
clearly a corrupt and insidious administration (as exemplified in The Way
Back), it is great that Blake and his colleagues have to adopt some of their
nastier methods to strike back. It means that liberating the Federation worlds
comes at the price of their morals and that is a very interesting position to
put ‘heroes’ in. It looks for a moment as though Cally is another casualty of
Blake’s crusade and given the shows previous form in introducing potential
regulars and then slaughtering them it would be understandable for the audience
to believe that that is the case. I’ve read complaints that the crew are blind
not to realise that Cally has been left behind and that it takes them an age to
figure out that she is missing but that isn’t the case at all. It is discovered
as soon as the beam on board the Liberator and if I’m honest my thoughts
would not be of my fellow crewmates if I had just escaped a lethal explosion in
the nick of time. I guess that doesn’t make me much of a hero. What a terrific
piece of design Federation HQ is, I always get a little Star Wars thrill when
it comes into view because it reminds me of the Death Star, a bleak
construction at the heart of a corrupt administration. You might say it looks
like a hub cap hanging in space but it is a beautifully shot piece of model
work. Cutting between both Blake and Travis as they tell the story of their
previous encounter is clever, we get to hear the story from both points of
view.
The Bad: Another dodgy robot to add to the scrap
heap. Up there with the Quarks, the War Machines and Styre’s Robot.
What’s it about: Murder on the Ortega…
Blonde Bombshell: Wow, it is easy to see why Sally Knyvette
might not have felt that she was getting enough exposure on this show. Once
again Blake, Avon and Cally get a decent cut of the action whilst she is back
on the Liberator painting her nails. Considering she only lasted two
seasons, this feels like a waste of a potentially fascinating character.
The Good: Whilst I am questioning the leap into a whole new
genre that perhaps the series should never have touched because it is so far
outside of it’s formula, I cannot fault the way that Pennant Roberts sets up
this murder mystery story. Dudley Simpson provides a moody underscore as we see
through the eyes of the killer bashing the brains of the pilot out and smashing
the equipment. Like The Web, this is an intriguing enough opening. Plus the idea
of setting a murder mystery in space (although Doctor Who had already mastered
that approach in Robots of Death and would have an entertaining crack at it
again in Terror of the Vervoids) is a novel one. It’s the first time since
Space Fall that the series has taken the Star Trek approach of stumbling
across something in space - Time Squad and Seek-Locate-Destroy saw Blake
starting to take action against the Federation and attack their facilities and
The Web found its story by having Cally force the ship to Decimas planet.
Whilst I think I prefer it when this show has a focus and the storytelling
arises out of the central premise of Blake threatening to tear down the
Federation, a little variety is nice from time to time. This is one of those
Blake’s 7 episodes that seems constructed out of actors who have also appeared
in Doctor Who – in one room you have a convergence of K.9, Drax and one of the
least interesting members of the Sea Base (and that is saying something) from
Warriors of the Deep. There is a little expansion of detail regarding the
Federation and it’s tactics, if they can’t encourage you to join them as with
Destiny they will threaten you instead. It sounds like the Federation has
adopted the same methods of IMC (destroying the crops and starving the people
of Destiny).
The Bad: I think logic escapes Terry Nation when he attempts
to have a crack at this genre, having characters behave in a bizarrely
indistinct way in order to preserve the mystery. In The Keys of Marinus he had
a character scream out a chemical formula with his dying breath in order to
point Ian and Barbara to where the key is located when he could have just said ‘it’s
in one of the jars.’ In Mission to
Destiny he has a character scrawl out a mysterious code in blood that has to be
figured out rather than simply writing Sara’s name clearly. It must be that
these characters know in their last moments on this mortal coil precisely what
sort of story they are taking part in and leave their cryptic messages
appropriately. Brilliantly, Beth Morris seems to be auditioning for the role of
Melanie Bush as she discovers a corpse and exercises her lungs in an ear
piercing fashion for the length of a bible. She’s such a shrieking violet I had
her pegged from the start. I question the point of shooting some scenes on film
during studio bound stories, the mixture of video and film is far more jarring
than it is when there is location work. Bizarrely, the sets look less authentic
on film, the luxurious technique highlighting their simplicity. When you
compare this crew to that of the Sandminer in Robots of Death (both
vessels full of suspects of which one is guilty of sabotage and murder), the
crew Ortega is severely lacking. There simply isn’t enough backstory for
us to buy into these characters or enough interaction for us to engage in their
relationships, they are simply there to fulfil plot functions. Chris Boucher
understood that to involve the audience in a good murder mystery, you have to
get under the skin of the characters and find out what makes them tick. Terry
Nation has proven (with the aid of Chris Boucher as his script editor) that he
can offer some scintillating characterisation (which often elevates the lesser
episodes of Blake’s 7) so it is a shame that the effort that they put into the
regulars couldn’t have been extended to the guest cast here. ‘I wanted the
money it would give me…it’s that simple’ – Sara’s motive is depressingly
conventional, lacking the ingenuity and coherency of a good Christie. The joy
of her best work is watching all the details fall into place so effortlessly,
the narrative cohering with crystalline precision. Destiny’s twist is so
humdrum it makes you wonder why bothered to sit through the past 40 minutes.
Sara is so daft that she is lured out of her refuge by the most obvious of
ploys. She doesn’t really deserve the title of villainess and is leagues apart
from Servalan.
Musical Cues: Dudley seems to be having fun this week
indulging in a little Agatha Christie, his fingers dance across the piano as
the mystery deepens.
What’s it about: A showdown between Blake and Travis…
Anti-Hero: Avon is being compared to a machine, which he
considers to be a compliment if it is coming from Vila and he is holding
himself up as an example of humanity. One of his best ever observations comes
when he states that he doesn’t understand why it is necessary to prove that you
care about people. Surely that fact that you do is enough and it says something
about their lack of faith in you that you have to take action to demonstrate
it. What makes the moment when it looks like Blake is going to kill Travis the
cut to Avon shake his head in disbelief, knowing that he could never go through
with it.
Blonde Bombshell: Finally some action for Jenna. This is a
chance for Jenna and Blake to discuss their situation, both on the planet and
their wider cause against the Federation and it is observed voyeuristically by
the crew and commented on.
The Good: Not to dismiss the work of Briant, Roberts and
Lorrimer (who have worked hard to introduce us to this exciting new universe)
but the direction of Duel really is in a different league, and the programme
feels instantly lifted by employing a craftsman of his skill. Just watch the
opening sequence, a masterpiece of mood and atmospheric camera trickery on a
storm lashed planet as two mysterious figures (the Keeper and the Guardian)
meet to discuss Blake and Travis. The premise of Duel is so strong I have seen
it repeated in many a SF show that feature two strongly characterised rivals – TNG’s
Darmok plays out in almost exactly the same way in it’s early scenes and
Farscape had great fun shoving Crichton and Crais together at the behest of a
malevolent alien entity in a memorable first season episode. Check out the
group dialogue sequences early in the episode, everybody is getting a slice of
the pie, it flows beautifully and some of the lines are deliciously cutting.
That’s how it should be done every week. It is as though Nation looked at which
regulars have been given anything to do over the previous seven episodes and
selects Jenna and Gan to accompany Blake because they’ve been sorely neglected.
What an intriguing idea the Mutoids are. Humans who have had their memories
wiped and have been afflicted with a genetically engineered addiction to blood
serum. The last part is almost entirely the same specifications as the Jem
H’adar in DS9 and if the are explored in anywhere near as much depth
they will prove to be an extremely worthy addition to the show. I’m starting to
notice many influences from Blake’s 7 in later, better established science
fiction (especially Trek, Buffy and Babylon 5), clearly
they owe some debt to this series and it’s creator. Giving them the nickname
‘vampires’ proves that many are uncomfortable around them and so it seems
entirely appropriate that Travis should seek their servitude in his pursuit of
Blake. He’s never exactly been a conventional man. The muscular, warlike
sculpture that stands tall amongst the rocky plain looks startling and dramatic
when struck by lightning, a massive coup for the set designer. It is the first
time that Federation pursuit ships have been close enough to be a real threat
to the Liberator and Camfield ensures that these scenes are given appropriate
seriousness. It genuinely feels as though the ship is trapped with nowhere to
run and time might have run out for the crew. Unbelievably, Camfield attempts
to shoot a collision between the two ships and even more unbelievably (shot in
slow motion) it actually works. Taking inspiration from Top of the Pops,
Camfield utilises as many psycadelic video effects as possible to make Blake
and Travis’ kidnap as surreal and dramatic as possible. Listening to the story
of the Keeper and the Guardians dead race, torn apart by conflict is a great
way of putting Blake and Travis’ conflict on an operatic scale, suggesting that
they could wind up fighting in a sea of corpses if things continue to get out
of hand. It is fascinating to see both hero and villain relying on their wits
in an alien environment, having to fashion their own tools and use their
surroundings to their advantage. There is an added element of frisson once the
Mutoid is starved of blood and is seeking out Jenna to leech on her.
The Bad: The model shots in Duel lack any sense of movement,
both Blake and Travis’ ships feel as though they are hanging in space rather
than travelling through it. Travis is in the perfect position to stab Blake in
the back as soon as they appear in the forest and yet he signals his presence
to his enemy to give him the chance of a fair fight. I would have slipped the
knife in his back and had done with it. The only issue I take with Duel is that
by its very nature it has to have an open ended conclusion. Travis is too good
a villain to kill off and Blake is the character that this series orbits so it
was inevitable that there would be an intervention at some point and they would
be forced their separate ways. Poor Travis, the one time he managed to catch up
with his rival is the time when Godlike beings decide to get involved in their
fight. Without their intervention though, it is very possible that they
conflict would have come to a swift conclusion when the ships collided.
Musical Cues: It is the one time during the first season
that show wasn’t scored by Dudley Simpson. If there was ever an argument for
variety, then this episode proves to be it as the stock music chosen by Douglas
Camfield is some of the most atmospheric of the season. Proof, if it was
needed, that the teleport doesn’t come with its own musical cue.
What’s it about: Another game of strategy between Blake and
Travis…
Maximum Power!: Servalan is working on two levels in this
episode, officially scalding Travis for his failiure to catch Blake and
unofficially giving him all the support he needs. Nothing pleases me more than
to see this woman caught off guard and Blake’s bold move to beam into the
facility and demand to speak to Travis certainly qualifies. Whilst this episode
is far more concerned with the Space Commander’s schemes, it is good to see
that Servalan will be a recurring role as it is clear from both Jackie Pearce’s
excellent performance and the quality of the writing when her character appears
that the villainess has the ability to run and run. Ultimately she would have
potential that far outstrips Travis, she is the Avon of the other side, quietly
biding her time on the sidelines and waiting for her moment to dominate
proceedings.
One-Eyed: Travis is still obsessed with catching and killing
Blake to the exception of all else. Nothing ever comes well of these vendettas,
usually the villains lose all sense of perspective and their careers suffer as
a result (can anybody say Captain Crais or Scorpius in Farscape?). Already
there are hints that his pay masters are unhappy with his handling of the
situation. As much as he detests anybody that opposes the Federation, he wishes
he could find the same kind urge to sacrifice amongst his subordinates. The
Federation wants the Liberator, and that ties in perfectly with his
desire to bring catch up with Blake. It is the second episode in a row where
Travis is almost able to kill Blake but this time he is hoist by his own
petard, prevented from claiming his prize because the plan he set up to ensnare
him. Whilst it has provided a muscular backbone to the first season, I can see
why they took Travis’ storyline in a different direction in the second year.
There is only so long you can watch these two growl at each other without the
story moving on (because the writer is unable to kill either off them off)
before the audience starts to switch off. I think they let it run for just long
enough, exploiting the rivalry to the full, before turning Travis into a
desperate man himself.
Blonde Bombshell: Check out the small scene between Jenna
and Cally and spot the deepening relationship between the two of them. Their chemistry
springs naturally from the actresses but Nation acknowledges that Jenna has
been teaching her friend that art of war. Jenna has no compunction about
attempting to murder a Federation guard that gives away their advantage. This
is a show where our heroes are willing murderers, and I like that.
The Good: Having Travis walk through a biting snowstorm wrapped
up in furs and his Mutoid companion strolling gracefully beside him really
highlights how alien these creatures are. Shooting the opening sequence in real
caves gives the production a more expensive feel than many of the other
episodes of the first season. That is one of the more convincing snowy
landscapes I have ever seen conjured up in England, up there with The Seeds of
Doom’s attempts to recreate Antarctica. The trouble with hiring Stuart Fell to
play a minor part is that his face is so familiar as a stuntman at this point
that I just knew something violent was about to occur for his character.
Another example of Federation brutality, massacring the scientists as soon as
Travis has Avalon in his clutches. It was during this episode that I realised
that the show has managed to fix upon a style of design that convincingly
offers a glimpse into the future. With the exotic sets of the Liberator,
the cold aesthetic of Federation pursuit ships and the harsh location work on
every planet they teleport down to, the show has managed to build a visual
identity for itself in a very short space of time. Even Servalan looks shocked
during the experiments as the scientists identity gets eaten away and his face
his replaced with hideous green fungus. I am willing to believe that there are
unethical experiments of this nature occurring all across the Federation,
pushing the limits of science to oppress the masses. This is the first time
that tables have turned on Travis, and there is something nail biting about (what
appears to be) Blake presenting a sneak attack on him. There is an in built
tension in Blake’s 7 that most shows can only dream of. Genre television has to
contrive circumstances to shake up the formula and push the characters into
uncomfortable situations but Nation has cleverly handed the BBC a show where
the central characters are always on the run, always being hunted and always in
danger. It adds a level of frisson to every situation they step into. I can
only think of a handful of other shows (the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica,
DS9 and Babylon 5 when they got their war arcs on the move) where
the tension is so well established and that the plots that they stumble across
simply add to that anxiety. It would seem that the art of corridor action sequences
has not been lost on Blake’s 7 and Briant shoots the attack on the facility
with some verve. These corridors are sufficiently well designed to allow for
guards to leap out of nowhere and start blasting (things are usually pretty
desperate when you start discussing the design of the corridors but that simply
isn’t the case here, it is a staple of both Doctor Who and Blake’s 7 that when
done well can really enhance the story being told). Suddenly we’re dealing with
a potential Federation spy on board the Liberator; another exciting,
fresh idea. Many people bemoan the use of handheld camerawork but I find it
often adds a realistic edge to scenes and Briant takes full use of the
opportunity as the fake Avalon attacks the crew on the Liberator during
the conclusion. Check it out, it is far more dramatic than the usual point and
shoot approach.
Fashion Statement: Servalan always knows how to make an
entrance, strolling through Travis’ pursuit ship draped in the most outrageous
white furs.
What’s it about: Blake attempts to prevent another planet
from falling into Federation hands…
Blonde Bombshell: Here’s a chance for Nation to explore a
little of Jenna’s history but all that we learn of value is that she had a
terrible choice in former colleagues and that Tarvin believes that money can
turn her head away from her friends. She plays on this reputation to convince
him that she is on his side. Was anybody convinced that Jenna had genuinely
turned on her friends? No, me neither. Had she proven to have betrayed them
then this episode might have carried some dramatic weight but Nation takes the
easy option instead.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I’m entitled to my opinion’ ‘It is your
assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.’
The Bad: Clearly Federation training school doesn’t put its
potential troopers through its paces enough to include looking up when
patrolling a perimeter. Cally is clearly visible atop one of the turrets of
Sarkoff’s palace but the guard wanders around beneath her none the wiser until
it is too late and she has jumped on his head. Whilst there is nothing wrong
with duel narratives to give all the characters something to do, it does feel
as if the planet side and space bound storylines are pulling in completely
different directions. Chopping and changing between the two means that the
pacing suffers too with neither story being given enough attention to build any
momentum. These really are the most inept group of guards we’ve experienced so
far on the show, distracted by a minor explosion around the rear of the house
whilst Blake and Sarkoff nip out the front into a getaway car. Maybe they were
given the job of keeping an eye on Sarkoff because their incompetence was
highlighted in their training. Didn’t Chaney think to leave someone out front
just in case? Half an hour into the episode and we still don’t quite know what
has happened to the Liberator crew and once Blake and his entourage teleport
back up to the ship the two plotlines clash jarringly. It just doesn’t feel as
if they both belong in the same episode, even if both the Sarkoff plot and the
crew as bounty are both workable ideas (I’ve always though Nation was a better
ideas man than writer). Having the villains being played by Asian men in
headscarves definitely points this out as being a product of a more naïve time,
suggesting that anybody with a dark skin might be cast in the role of a bad
guy. It is not until ten minutes before the end of the episode that the link
between the two plots is exposed – Tarvin has been hired by the Federation
to deliver Sarkoff, Blake and the rest. Somehow it feels like the episode could
have been plotted more efficiently to make this more of a shock rather than
Jenna simply dropping it casually into conversation. There doesn’t seem to be
any attempt to dramatise any of this material, it simply plays out as though all
the events were inevitable. How bizarre that the guest characters from both
plots and left to converse whilst the regulars are all locked away in a
cupboard. It really feels like this script needs another draft or to iron out
its awkward kinks. Middle Eastern nasties obsessed with wealth, these bad guys
are the worst kind of stereotype. The conclusion rests on a confrontation
between Sarkoff and Tarvin, the regulars are superfluous to requirement.
Frustratingly the most potentially interesting aspect of this story (Sarkoff’s
return to his people and an attempt to prevent a Federation presence) is never
seen and we don’t learn (at least here) what the consequences of his return is.
The entire purpose of the episode seems to be for the Liberator to have
provided the service of a taxi cab from A to B. Thrilling stuff. Tyce
was played in an unusual fashion by Carinthia West who at times seems to
suggest that she is in league with Tarvin or at least working on behalf of the
Federation, which is never the case. The last minute revelation that she is his
daughter feels as though it is supposed to shock but is underplayed into
insignificance.
Musical Cues: Darling Dudley seems quite excitable this
week, getting his small orchestra to make an awful lot of noise for the most
standard of moments. Perhaps he thought the script needed a little lift.
Result: From what I understand this script was a joint
effort between Nation with heavy rewriting by Chris Boucher and even some on
the job tinkering by Pennant Roberts. The resulting episode feels as if it is
pulling in several opposable directions and fails to gel as perhaps it might
have had it been written earlier in the season when everybody’s creative juices
were still flowing. There are some interesting ideas posed but most of them are
hinted at and then never explored; exposure to Jenna’s past feels as though it
should be more revealing and personal, Sarkoff’s homecoming would have been
experienced rather than simply eluded to and the idea of the Federation being
desperate enough to place a substantial bounty on Blake’s head is tasty but to
have a bunch of racist stereotypes attempting to make good on the offer was
probably not the most elegant way of dealing with it. Given Boucher’s presence
in the script writing there are plenty of lovely lines, especially for Avon who
is at his most cynical and amusing and Sarkoff’s part in the Federation’s
strategy shows their ability to pull strings on a galactic scale. When all the
best moments are off screen and what makes it into the episode feels so
functional (and frankly padded, you can feel that this one was under running),
Bounty cannot help but feel like a missed opportunity. Having said that for the
presence of T.P. McKenna it is still not as dreary as Cygnus Alpha or The Web
and would recommend it for his scenes alone: 5/10
The Web written by Terry Nation and directed by Michael E
Briant
A Good Man: I realise his is the titular name, but isn’t it
about time Jenna had some planetary action instead Blake hogging the limelight
every week? Avon suggests that Blake has an ‘irrational conscience’, which has
a grain of truth to it but to my mind it also keeps the crew grounded and
focused on one mission. Without his guiding influence I could see everyone
pulling the Liberator in different directions and the crew splitting
very quickly. ‘These are what you wanted to protect?’ spits Avon as the Decimas
run riot through the facility. Fighting for their lives they may be, but are
they capable of organising themselves into any kind of progressive society once
the fighting is over? Perhaps Blake needs to choose his battles a little more
carefully and think about the consequences of his actions more.
Fashion Statement: Jenna’s scarlet dress with the grotesque
multi coloured shoulder pads has to be seen to be believed. It’s garish, even
for Blake’s 7.
Moment To Watch Out For: The moral of the story is don’t
play God if you can’t keep control of your subjects. Saymon screams as his
experiments tear him apart should be a lesson to anybody who is thinking of
going down that route.
Result: Not a bad story but the production values are
atrocious and for the first time since the show began tested my patience beyond
the levels of conviction. Being a fan of Doctor Who, I can suspend my belief to
quite some extent but I was often wrenched out of the story that was being told
and reminded that this was a low budget BBC production struggling to hang
together. When Michael E Briant is asked to direct atmosphere he is all over
it; deploying some nifty handheld camerawork, POV shots and luxurious pans
across the atmospherically lit sets. It is the physical effects that let him
down. The first half of the episode works for the most part, setting up the mystery
of the Lost and featuring some decent possession and bomb threat action on the Liberator.
What elevates all the material is the quality of the characterisation of the
regulars, something that I have never given Nation much credit for in the past.
Everybody is still getting know each other at this stage but there are some
intriguing developments in this episode, especially a moment of sexual
chemistry between Avon and Cally which is crying out to be followed up at a
later date. Blake and Avon’s clash of ideologies comes into play when it comes
to the fate of the Decimas and I’m pleased that to see Nation starting to build
on the potential of their differences. If I’m honest I thought this tale
promised far more than it delivered, the first ten minutes seemed to be
suggesting we are in for some spooky hard SF but instead it devolves into a
farce of primitives getting over excited and bring down their oppressors. It
should be triumphant but instead it is absurd. A disappointment, it’s the
regulars that salvage any worth: 5/10
Seek-Locate-Destroy written by Terry Nation and directed by
Vere Lorrimer
A Good Man: It’s clear from the early scenes of
Seek-Locate-Destroy (what a wonderfully melodramatic title that is) that Blake
is much more engaging as a character when he has somebody to bounce off. Vila
fulfils that role perfectly and they make quite the double act, outsmarting the
Federation guards and stealing the decryption cipher. It’s certainly more
enjoyable to watch than his solo exploration in the previous episode. Blake is
an idealist and is clinging onto his morals with his bear hands – a risky
business when he is in this line of work. He wants to go back for Cally because
she is a part of his crew but it would be an act of suicide and undo everything
that they have achieved. It takes Avon to viciously point out that they will
all go the same way as Cally if he turns them around to save her, another
terrific example of their very different approaches to the work they are doing.
It was a great idea that Blake and Travis already have history, his actions
have only exacerbated the tension between them. Blake’s memory eras is starting
break down and he is starting to remember his dissident past on Earth, because
the same events are occurring again. Travis knows that whatever the danger,
Blake would risk everything to rescue Cally.
Blonde Bombshell: Poor Jenna, stuck up on ship again like
mum left to spring clean the house whilst the boys all go to work. A shame, she
has a great deal of promise that isn’t being taped into by being sidelined like
this.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I’ve come to blow something up. What do
you think would be most suitable?’
‘You don’t matter enough to kill, Travis’ – a great line,
puncturing his ego but the truth is that this is too strong a character to let
go after one episode.
Fashion Statement: Servalan is dressed like Snow White as if
butter wouldn’t melt. Travis is a sado masochist’s dream come true, dressed
from head to foot in black leather and with the largest eye patch known to
mankind. Although his bling heavy false hand does at a certain sparkle.
Musical Cues: There’s a fantastic piece of music that greets
every scene with Servelan, Dudley Simpson at his moody best.
Moment To Watch Out For: Travis is a cunning old fox, using
the communications equipment they have stolen against them to lead them into a
trap. However Blake is one step ahead, not believing a word of it, getting
their first and laying a trap within a trap. These games are great fun to watch
play out and I can only hope they are booked for a swift reunion.
Result: After letting the storytelling wane a little in the
previous handful of episodes, it now feels that Terry Nation is buoyed up and
ready to deliver something with a real punch again. Starting with a gripping
terrorist raid on a Federation facility, Seek-Locate-Destroy avoids the usual
pitfalls of season one (the split episode syndrome where one half is usually
better than the other as the story kicks in) by saving the introduction of
Servalan and Travis for it’s latter stages. It means there is plenty of quality
material to spread across the episode and the resulting drama is the most
engaging (and by co-incidence the most polished) since the pilot. Jacqueline
Pearce and Stephen Grief are great casting choices and they fill out their
substantial roles with aplomb, both suggesting lives that stretch far beyond the
reach of this one episode. It is easy to see why they both became such dominant
figures in the series. Great character moments abound for the regulars too with
Vila getting a chance to prove his worth, Cally suffering at the hands of the
Federation, Avon leaving Blake with no illusion that he would have left her to
die and Blake clashing with his old nemesis in true style. The rivalry between
them is brimming with testosterone, and gives the conclusion a real kick. It is
a shame that Jenna is left manning the teleport again, it really feels as if
Nation has run out of things to do with her already and Gan (as ever) barely
impacts. The only production blooper is the clunky robot of the first set piece
and in all honesty the episode could have happily have done without it. It
feels as we are getting a broader picture of this universe now and it is being
painted in dark, sobering colours. I can’t wait to explore it further. A tight
piece of writing, superbly acted and presenting exciting new possibilities for the
show: 8/10
Mission to Destiny written by Terry Nation and directed by
Pennant Roberts
Anti-Hero: I was discussing Paul Darrow with a friend of
mine the other day and he was expressing his sadness that his career never took
off quite in the way that it perhaps should have. I would argue that he peaked
in Blake’s 7, that he was given a role that fitted his style of acting
perfectly. He is very capable of bringing his performance right down and
delivering subtle menace but he also proves in this run that he can misjudge a
script and pitch his performance way over the top at times too, reaching for
something operatic when the budget can only stretch to bog standard theatre.
He’s electrifying as Avon but my point is that I haven’t seen him in another
role where he has impressed even half as much. It was a case of right place,
right time. Whilst on paper this might not seem like the sort of episode that
would allow Avon to shine, he slips into the role of devious investigator with
some aplomb; observing every detail, formulating theories and taking to the
stage at the conclusion to provide the Poirot wrap up. You wont be able to tell
the difference between the Blake of Mission to Destiny to the Blake of any
other episodes but Avon is far more chameleonic, adapting to his environment.
It’s an early sign that he would make a far more interesting central
protagonist for this series, and certainly one with much more potential for diverse
storytelling. Avon is perhaps not as cold blooded as he might appear, when he
discovers what he takes to be a corpse he looks genuinely shocked. Avon must
have been mocking Kendall when he pointed out that the suggestion that men
betray their colleagues for small rewards is a cynical thought, considering
that is his raison d’etre. He doesn’t like an unsolved mystery, and that is the
only reason he is going along with Blake’s plan. Avon gets all the best lines
in this episode, in particular throwing some caustic barbs at Cally.
Petty Thief: Vila takes a step backwards this week, the
coward of the crew rather than the resourceful rogue of the previous episode.
Empath: It takes Jan Chappell a little while to ease into
this episode, initially stiff and expressing her dialogue in an awkward
monosyllabic fashion that is supposed to make her sound more alien. Later when
the plot gains some momentum, that style of delivery is dropped as she has
regurgitate great gulps of exposition in a far more naturalistic manner.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘It is frequently easier to be honest
when there is nothing to lose.’
‘You better get her out of here, I really rather enjoyed
that’ says Avon after punching Sara in the face!
Moment To Watch Out For: Avon’s Poirot moment where he
spells out the plot for anybody with half a brain cell that hasn’t been paying
attention. Less compelling for it’s plot detail, this delights because Darrow
(and consequently, Avon) is having a ball.
Result: I’m a sucker for a murder mystery and so while I
question the sudden lurch into Sunday afternoon storytelling, I still managed
to enjoy the atmosphere of Mission to Destiny even if it avoids the strengths
of the genre by a country mile. Blake’s 7 isn’t the sort of show that lends
itself naturally to aping Agatha Christie but Terry Nation tries to have a good
stab regardless, turning this into the cheapie all studio story of the season
and filling the tale full of suspects. Avon is in his element here; at the
heart of a mystery, loaded with witty lines and commanding the situation with
his unique skills. It’s the first time we have had the chance to see Paul
Darrow step out of Gareth Thomas’ shadow and take centre stage and it is a
role that suits him very well. It is also one of the few episodes in season one
that doesn’t feel like two stories meshed together, although the downside to
this is that I don’t think there is anywhere near enough plot to go fill up 50
minutes and the net result is endless scenes of characters walking around drab
spaceship sets. Christie knew that to baffle her audience completely she needed
to focus on the central mystery but at the same time over complicate things so
the audience is trying to concentrate on too much at once (Doctor Who’s Terror
of the Vervoids, for all its outrageous campness, understood that perfectly)
but Nation has developed a very streamlined plot which goes from A to B to C
with clunking simplicity. Cally is still being highlighted in favour of Jenna,
and I don’t think I have seen Gan do anything of note for some time. Mission to
Destiny isn’t a great moment in this series’ run but I find it rather
entertaining despite my better judgement, especially for Avon’s increased
participation. It is often touted as the worst of season one but I would rather
watch this than Cygnus Alpha and The Web: 6/10
Duel written by Terry Nation and directed by Douglas Camfield
Duel written by Terry Nation and directed by Douglas Camfield
A Good Man: I never thought Blake had it in him hold his
nerve in a Mexican stand off in space, threatening to ram Travis’ pursuit ship
rather than surrender. Perhaps circumstances are starting to harden him up.
Blake opts from a truce with Travis rather than entering a Duel for another
races entertainment, but it is clear from his rivals body language that that is
not going to be an option. At least he tried to think outside the box but he
forgot he is being pursued by a man with bloodlust in his eyes. Would Blake
offer his life up to save one of his friends? That is the dilemma that Travis
puts Blake in here but the episode chickens out of him having to make the
choice. Still, compensation comes in the startling moment when Blake admits
that he didn’t kill Travis because he would have enjoyed it. Heading down that
road would lead to a path of self destruction.
One-Eyed: A quick return visit from either Servalan or
Travis was inevitable and since there was already a juicy backstory to exploit,
I am not surprised that it was the latter. It would seem that he has been
living up to his promise, dogging Blake’s footsteps across the galaxy in an
effort to finally bring his rebellion to an explosive end. Perhaps the reason
he chose Mutoids for his crew is because he considers them reliable but
expendable, since he is happy to lose as many ships as Blake wants to take out
as long as he gets the opportunity to kill his enemy. He has no ideals about
ceremony and is consumed by revenge, as soon as Blake is within arms reach he
tries to kill him. Grief has truly embodied this character, his voices flows
with honey when he discusses the chance to take Blake’s life. It is going to be
heartbreaking to see him replaced by Croucher and his teenage bovver boy
approach next season. He seems to enjoy trying to provoke his Mutoid companion,
reminding her of her past as a beautiful, much admired woman. Blake is a good
man and as such had nothing to learn from the Guardian but Travis was never
going to take anything from their intervention. He is trapped by his desire for revenge and ultimately like their
people it will be his undoing.
Petty Thief: Fancy sleeping at the teleport controls whilst
three pursuit ships surround the Liberator. He’s a pessimist by nature,
certain that the Federation will catch up with them one day.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Logic says we’re dead!’
‘Oh that’s very amusing, Blake, for a dead man…’
‘He made one fatal error. He should have killed me.’
Fashion Statement: Another memorable offering from Jenna,
her sophisticated blouse looking for all the world as though it is covered in
constellations makes her look like she is expected at a cocktail party. The
Guardians’ tight outfit leaves very little to the imagination.
Moment To Watch Out For: A testosterone fuelled scrap
between Blake and Travis intercut with a vicious catfight between Jenna and a
Mutoid. I think I might be in heaven.
Result: Two ships locked together in space whilst bitter
rivals slug it out on the planet below, Duel is dynamically directed by Douglas
Camfield and a strong contender for the title of best episode of the year.
Everything comes together in this installment; Terry Nation has written an
excellent script that brings the Blake/Travis storyline into sharp focus and
pits them against one another in a fascinating game, Douglas Camfield realises
the ideas with his trademark muscle and imagination, the only non-Simpson score
of the season provides some dramatic moments and all the performances are top
dollar with great lines for practically everyone. I love how Duel combines
archetypal Blake’s 7 (the Liberator being pursued relentlessly through space,
the dramatic face off, Blake and Travis’ rivalry) with something that is a bit
alien and way out (the atmospheric storm lashed planet, alien psychedelia
surrounding the Keeper and the Guardian) – it really is exploiting the best of
both worlds. It cannot quite break out of the season one formula of feeling
like two stories bolted together, with the first half devoted to setting up the
contest and the latter half devoted to the conflict on location. When Camfield
gets outside he proves what he can really do, suggesting an oppressive
environment and dramatic backdrop for Blake and Travis to battle it out. What
impressed me the most were the guest performances; Patsy Smart provides a
sarcastic and bloodthirsty Keeper, Isla Blair is the picture of Godlike
eminence and there is a fascinating, almost flirtatious chemistry between Grief
and Carol Royle’s Mutoid. Extremely macho, but for once Nation entirely
justifies that approach: 9/10
Project Avalon written by Terry Nation and directed by Michael E. Briant
Project Avalon written by Terry Nation and directed by Michael E. Briant
A Good Man: Blake is becoming much better at the art of
guerrilla warfare. Whilst it would appear that his plan to liberate Avalon has
succeeded, he soon figures that there are many detail so their raid don’t quite
add up. For anybody who has been following this show religiously, there is
little that could be more satisfying than the moment when Blake has both Travis
and Servalan hostage.
Anti-Hero: Avon has a relatively small role in Project
Avalon but he makes every one of his lines count – Darrow is shamelessly
stealing every scene he appears in at this point. He’s like a little piranha in
the fish tank, biding his time, waiting for the moment to strike and take over.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Does it support any intelligent life?’
‘Does the Liberator?’
‘Is your suit fully heated?’ ‘About ready to burst into
flames.’
The Bad: That daft old Federation robot is back, cruising
the caves. It was obviously made at some expense and as such the production
team are getting their money’s worth. I’m not sure what is more farcical, its
stubby little arms or it’s glowing eyes on either side of its head. I’m not
sure the twist about Avalon works – even if the kidnap was convincing enough,
surely the Federation have mind control techniques that could have bent her to
her will. The fact that she is an android duplicate seems to come out of
nowhere and so isn’t very satisfying. It is a twist that you had no chance of
guessing because there was never a hint that this was a possibility. Where
Nation scores his victory is in having Blake exploit the twist to his
advantage.
Moment To Watch Out For: It is extremely satisfying to see
Blake defeating Travis and Servalan, combining the two elements of their scheme
against them; the android and the virus. Travis stepping gently towards the
programmed android might just be the tensest moment of the season and if you
didn’t know how the rest of the series played you might well believe that this was
to be their curtain call. That’s how convincingly it is played.
Result: ‘The Federation chases you all over the galaxy
with the highly understandable desire to destroy you, then when they’ve got you
pinned down they let you go. Why?’ We’re already getting into the territory
where the villains are far more interesting than half of the protagonists on
this show. It is a strength of all the best shows when there are fully fleshed
out characters on either side of the conflict. The inclusion of Travis and Servalan
lift this episode considerably, far more than had it focused on Gan, Cally or
Vila as they are currently being (under)written. Project Avalon is a handsomely
produced episode too, featuring some dynamic action sequences and stylish
location work, making this one of the most convincingly realised alien worlds
to date. Watching Blake and Travis play their game of war is extremely
engaging, each trying to outsmart the other with the audience hanging on to
their coat tails to see how has gained the upper hand. At first I thought
Travis was being extremely stupid by giving Blake an easy opportunity to raid
the base until I realised that was all part of his (much larger and devious)
scheme. Then I thought Blake was being an idiot for teleporting the virus on
board the Liberator and almost allowing the Federation to claim it from
under their noses until he used their plan against them and almost wiped out
his strongest opposition. This is probably the peak of their rivalry at play
and their storyline is soon to take a very different path so let’s enjoy it
while it lasts. Whilst many of the regulars get the short straw (always a
problem with such a large central cast, a handful are always going to lose
focus to give the rest an opportunity to shine) the triumvirate of Blake,
Travis and Servalan win through and prove that when an episode gives them
centre stage it is almost a guaranteed winner: 8/10
What’s it about: Gan’s limiter is on the blink and he’s on
the rampage…
Anti-Hero: ‘Blake, in the unlikely event that we survive
this, I’m finished. Staying with you requires a degree of stupidity of which I
no longer feel capable.’ You can always count on Avon to cut to the heart
of the matter. I recently watched the superb Survivors episode Law and
Order (another inspired series created by Nation – I really didn’t give this
guy enough credit) which built to the uncomfortable conclusion that to maintain
a sense of law and order they would need to execute an apparent murderer. No
such debate is needed here, Avon points out there are other ways that Blake
could kill Gan quicker than fiddling with his inhibitor. In Avon’s mind the man
is a liability and needs to be put down. No reasoned argument, just cold fact.
He’s a devious one and no mistake, covering his own back by sniffing out a bolt
hole to hide out in just in case things get to hot to handle with Blake and his
lackeys. Avon is battling with Zen once again, questioning his data. He takes
nothing on trust and certainly doesn’t listen to superstitious warnings from
alien computers, losing his head when Zen rejects their command. Paul Darrow’s
overly theatrical fighting techniques come into play when Gan attacks him, he
is thrown around the set with such gleeful abandon it is a shame that there was
a slow motion effect or two to capture the glorious look on his face. Avon
seeks the opinion of members of the crew, trying to discover why they remain
loyal to a man who throws them in the most dangerous of situations. Vila
certainly can’t give him the answers that he seeks.
Blonde Bombshell: ‘I love girls with a sense of humour’
‘Yes I can see why that would be an advantage.’ In an episode that sees Gan
attacking the two ladies on board the ship, it seems a bit much that Jenna
should be sent to work her feminine wiles on Kayn’s assistant. Has Terry Nation
forgotten the excellent work he did encouraging strong female characters as
leads in Survivors?
Gentle Giant: The story about David Jackson handing Chris
Boucher a piece of paper in a read through with the number four written on it
and when questioned he pointed out that’s how many lines he had in that
particular episode is heartbreaking. Unfortunately it is symptomatic of a show
with a large pool of regulars, especially when you are the least interesting
and (according to a BBC report) the least popular. Jackson really has been
abandoned on the sidelines of most of the season and so this is a long overdue
piece of drama that focuses on his character. It seems sad that the episode
that is designed to showcase his character is the one where he is given the
least to do. Whether it is a malfunction of his limiter that makes him violent
or whether the fact that he has broken down means that he reverts to his true
nature, Gan is clearly a dangerous sort of fella to be around. The way he
tosses Jenna about like a rag doll is proof of that. In fact it takes the
entire crew of the Liberator to bring down this brute of a man and even
that is after he has tackled them for some time. Despite the comedy gurning the
idea is to make this man appear as brutish as possible and Nation and Lorrimer
certainly succeed in that respect. I sure wouldn’t want to come by him in a
dark alley at night. It is stated that the limiter is supposed to cut in at the
point where stress levels drive him to the point where he might kill, which
makes you believe that there might have been more incidents than the one he
confided in Jenna earlier in the season. If he doesn’t get treatment he will
either be a vegetable or die. It’s interesting that we only see Gan approach
and attack the women on the ship, another suggestion that there was a sexual
element to the reason he was fitted with the inhibitor.
The Good: It makes for a nice change of pace to have what
looks like it is going to be a bottle show on board the Liberator. We
have had enough episodes in a row involving attacks on Federation facilities
and featuring Travis’ pursuit of Blake to set up this corner of the universe to
allow for a pause in the action to catch up with the characters. There is a
nice shift in Breakdown from the crew protecting each other because they have
stepped into a dangerous situation to them looking out for each other because
they are allies. There is no reason for any of them to put their head in the
noose for Gan because they were all thrown together out of necessity rather
than choice but they make an active decision to get him the help he needs,
despite the risk involved. Lost, powerless and alone in a region of space that
Zen was trying to avoid, Nation finds another unnerving avenue of space travel
to explore in the first season. Although they keep using that establishing shot
of the ship flying past the same sun week after week, there was an abundance of
new Liberator model work in this episode that pleased me a great deal. Seeing
the ship caught in the psychedelic light of the gravity vortex was startling
and it looks more pristine than ever when approaching the facility. Given his CV
seems packed full of appearances in every TV series and movie franchise going (Doctor
Who, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Space: 1999, The Avengers,
Harry Potter, Merlin) it would have been a crying shame had Julian Glover
not turned up in Blake’s 7 at some point. He’s the consummate guest performer,
never delivering less than excellence and adding a touch of class to any story
he appears in. It is fascinating to listen to an intelligent, reasonable man
(or at least portrayed as such until he turns psychopath in the final few
minutes and even then he stares at his hands as though he cannot believe what
he has done) give his opinion Blake and his fellow terrorists. Kayn is clearly
an advocate for the Federation but there is no reason to believe that he has
been co-erced into his allegiance to them. It offers a glimpse into another
element of the administration, those who are privileged enough to secure high
ranking positions and are happy with the way things are being handled. There
will always be those who are willing to take advantage of a situation.
The Bad: Vere Lorrimer adopts exactly the same handheld
camera technique for shooting the fight scenes on the Liberator as
Michael E. Briant did in the previous episode but they are nowhere near as
effective. It might have something to do with the close ups of David Jackson
gurning as though he is having some form of comedy stroke or auditioning for
caveman of the year. Episodes later in the shows run would see the Liberator
set torn to pieces and explosions tearing equipment apart. The best Breakdown
can manage is a light fitting falling through the ceiling and some dodgy close
ups of the crew. The ending is too glib by half with everybody (including the
women he assaulted) all sharing at joke at Gan’s return to the fold. I’m not
sure if I would feel quite so at ease around a man who had tried to attack me,
malfunctioning limiter or not.
Moment To Watch Out For: There is a fascinating decision for
Avon to make when he is offered the chance to stay on the station and work in
peace and safety.
Breakdown written by Terry Nation and directed by Vere
Lorrimer
A Good Man: There is another moment of vicious tension
between Blake and Avon, a pressure that is developing with every passing week.
Thomas and Darrow often do their best work when their characters are squaring
off against one another, it isn’t your traditional macho tension like the
testosterone fuelled scenes between Blake and Travis but an intellectual
disparity, a clash of principles. That’s far more interesting because in any
given situation they are both right to some extent.
Petty Thief: Vila admits that he stays with Blake because he
likes him and he has nowhere else to go. Holding a weapon on Kayn and ordering
him to start the operation took me completely by surprise. I didn’t think he
had it in him. I love it when these characters break outside of their
stereotypes and shock me with their actions.
Empath: Anybody would deserve a good thrashing for falling
for that obvious trick of Gan’s to escape from his bonds. Talk about green.
Even Blake is aghast that she could be so stupid rather than sympathising with
her plight.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Two of them would flatten any one of us
for about a hundred hours’ ‘If he comes round he’ll flatten all of us for a
good deal longer than that!’
Fashion Statement: Jenna and Vila appear to have been
shopping in the outer space version of GAP. However their colourful wears
hardly match their sombre personalities in Breakdown.
Foreboding: One of these days Avon intends to find out who
programmed Zen and he certainly wouldn’t have long to wait…
Result: It is unfortunate for David Jackson that the one
episode where his character is the centre piece he barely gets to do anything
but act in a violent fashion and grab his head in the throws of a mental
breakdown. For the audience though it is something a treat because this throws
more time open for the remaining regulars and they each get a substantial
amount of screen time in the ship bound first half of Breakdown. After weeks of
action set pieces it is nice to catch up with the core characters and see how
their relationships are working out. In particular the work that is done with
Avon this week is compelling, not only his continuing tension with Blake but
the also the possibility that he might abandon the crew when enticed to join
the station personnel in secret. It again feels like Nation is still
structuring his episodes as though he is writing two 25-minute Doctor Who
episodes, with the narrative taking a new turn in the second half and kick
starting in a fresh location. I enjoyed the character led first half enough to
paper over any flaws in the shabby execution (it features one of the least
dramatic ‘the spaceship will be torn apart!’ sequences I have ever seen)
but once Julian Glover and the rest of the stations personnel joined the story
it is a home run for Breakdown. We’re afforded a glimpse at how others might
view (and debate) the actions of Blake and his crew away from the biased
opinion of the Federation and it’s fascinating to learn that there is enough
anti-terrorist propaganda being spread without any help from the
administration. Nation and Boucher are still thinking about the wider universe
whilst concentrating on the riveting dynamics of the regular cast and both are
given some consideration in this underrated drama. It’s just a shame that Gan
is sidelined in what should have been his one chance to shine: 7/10
Bounty written by Terry Nation and directed by Pennant
Roberts
A Good Man: Blake is appalled to learn that Sarkoff thought
he had sought him out to murder him. He has to get used to the idea that the
Federation is spreading convincing propaganda about his happy band of rebels
about the terrible crimes they have already committed and what they are capable
of if they come after you. Blake considers himself something of a hero, a good
man and it really hits home that his actions are not being upheld in that way.
It is something of a wake up call. Mind you in Sarkoff’s case he thought that
Blake was an inhabitant of Lindor that has caught up with him but the point
still stands. Bounty sees Blake taking a very different approach in his fight
against the Federation. Not attacking one of their facilities or trying to
hamper their subjugation of the Earth but trying to prevent another world
falling into their hands. He’s firm in his intent, threatening to smash
Sarkoff’s retreat to pieces, one artefact at a time, if he doesn’t do the right
thing and return to save his people from Federation rule.
Petty Thief: Vila must have been taking an especially large
dose of stupid pills to think that the voice that slurs robotically over the
communication system is Gan. Nobody sounds quite that clipped and mechanical
unless they have been hypnotised, drugged or their voice has been faked.
Gentle Giant: Plenty of group scenes and once again Gan is
given scant lines. Did Nation not take to the character?
‘The test is not whether you are suspicious, but whether you
are caught.’
‘It wasn’t a rejection of my policies. The vote was merely a
rejection of me.’
‘Well it’s faster than the automobile but not as amusing.’
‘What does she have to do to convince you, Blake? Personally
blow your head off?’
The Good: I like being dumped straight into the middle of situation
without being told what is going on straight away and the opening sequences
with Cally evading Federation troopers on a planet certainly intrigues from the
get go. It’s interesting to see that cars are not a regular feature in the
future since Blake and Cally have no idea what one is when it comes shooting
along the road past them (bizarre because we saw a troop transport in The Way
Back so clearly they are used to some extent on the Earth). The location work
is extensive giving the early scenes a very polished look – say what you will
about the budget of Blake’s 7, it sure polishes up nicely outside on film. Ever
since I saw his spectacular turn as Captain Cook in the Doctor Who story The
Greatest Show in the Galaxy, it has been my pleasure to seek out further work
that features T.P. McKenna, a charismatic actor who always makes his presence
felt in any production. Sarkoff might not be his most inspiring role but he
attacks with all the gusto at his disposal and provides moments of charm. The
Lindor strategy began with rigged elections to remove Sarkoff from power and
the end game was always to return him to his former position but as the puppet
leader of a subjugated people. That’s Federation politics in a nutshell;
underhanded, machiavellian and just devious enough to be hidden from plain
sight. Sarkoff is one of those characters that has been sufficiently well
thought through that you believe that he has life beyond the confines of this
episode. I enjoyed the moment where he was about to be taken away from his
sanctuary and played a record for the last time, one final moment of pleasure
before he faces whatever the future brings. It only struck me once the crew had
been half inched but the Liberator sets are quite eerie when they are
devoid of people. Teleporting out of a speeding car (or as speedy as this
vintage old banger can achieve) is quite a fun idea, although we can’t see it
crash because the production team obviously didn’t want the expense of writing
the car off. It is interesting to learn that there is a substantial bounty on
Blake’s (and his crews) head, proof that the Federation are getting desperate
in their attempt to quash his rebellion.
Fashion Statement: Cally’s choice of guerrilla warfare
outfit leaves a lot to be desired. She’s scaling walls in a leopard print fur
coat that makes her look as though she has just walked off the set of Dynasty.
Moment To Watch Out For: A Mexican standoff between
President and a greedy Arab. I kid you not.
Deliverance written by Terry Nation and directed by Michael
E. Briant (and David Maloney uncredited)
What’s it about: Blake and Cally are trapped at gunpoint,
Avon plays God and Servalan conscripts Travis to her latest scheme…
A Good Man: This is the first I can think of from memory
where Blake hasn’t been heading the landing party. It is almost as though he
has been given a heads up about how appalling conditions on the surface are.
Anti-Hero: It is interesting to learn that originally it was
Blake who was supposed to teleport down to the planet instead of Avon but for
logistical reasons this had to be amended. The result is that we witness the
first signs that Avon could lead this merry band should anything happen to
Blake but that the tone of the show would be very different. He certainly shows
signs of leadership when he teleports back down to the planet when he realises
that Jenna is missing. The difference between Avon and his colleagues is
highlighted when they discover one of the escape pods with a dead crewmember
inside. Jenna and Gan are visibly appalled but when Avon discovers the news he
coldly accepts it and moves on to find the other. I suspect Avon is in his
element being heralded as a God and worshipped by a gorgeous young slip of a
girl but he shows no sign of enticement despite her reverent advances (‘You’re
enjoying this, aren’t you?’ ‘Probably.’). Meegat is determined that Avon is
the prophet that has come to herald deliverance and every word he utters
appears to have been prophesised. Avon informs Vila that he is hardly the stuff
that Gods are made of, suggesting that he might have something of a complex
himself. It is an ego trip that we will witness bloat out of control the more
the series progresses.
Maximum Power!: Suddenly Servalan is less in awe of Travis
and enjoying playing mind games with him instead. She can clearly see that the
tide is turning against him as he stacks up one failiure to capture Blake after
another. The power shift only serves to ramp up Jacqueline Pearce’s already
attention grabbing performance. She was introduced in Seek Locate Destroy as
quite a serious, political figure but here we see the emergence of the devious,
slightly kinky temptress that we all know and love. The more of her underhanded
plan that she reveals, the more provocative her poise becomes. It got the sense
that for Servalan, machiavellian plotting is akin to political foreplay.
One Eyed: He has been suspended and subject to a court
enquiry because of his mishandling of the Blake affair, a situation that has
tempered the fire in his belly somewhat. It is clear from Grief’s performance
though that Travis is simply waiting to make his move. For Servalan’s plan to
include the surgeon that saved Travis’ life is a deliberate blurring of the
professional and the personal, her way of keeping him on a leash and fucking
with his mind at the same time. Although it is made clear that Travis’ only
priority in life now is to see Blake dead. His obsession has cost him too much
and he is determined that if his reputation is to be salvaged he has to see
this vendetta through.
Petty Thief: It is nice to see him on a reconnaissance
mission because Gan aside, he has been the most neglected character of the
season. Perhaps down to Terry Nation’s dislike of how Michael Keating played
the character.
Empath: Watch out for the groovy moment when the camera
pulls away from Cally on teleport duty wearing space age glasses and listening
to what sounds like a particularly mellow jazz session. This form of space age
concert seen through a visor is a neat attempt to suggest future technology
that is far in advance of anything that the 70s had to offer.
Gentle Giant: Gan is given more to do and say in this
episode than practically any other in the season. I bet this was one read
through that David Jackson was quite pleased to attend because he actually had
something to contribute. Gan points out that when it comes to killing his
limiter implants prevents him from doing so, something that would be completely
abandoned in the second year.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You’re almost as ruthless as I am’ ‘You
underestimate me, Travis.’
‘Our waiting brought you’ ‘That seems like a poor reward
somehow.’
The Good: There is an ambitious opening shot of the small
ship passing the camera with the crew of two visible through the right hand
window. It doesn’t quite come off but is nevertheless quite impressive for the
attempt. Then Briant follows that with a shot from inside the ship looking out
at the planet Cephalon. He’s nothing if not a bold director who is willing to
try effects shots that are striving to be more extraordinary than the norm in
the hope that the overall product will be better for it. After the generally
lifeless events of Bounty, Deliverance kick starts with some attention grabbing
drama in the shuttle; perilously exploding off course and the two crewmembers
choking on fumes, consoles burning as they plunge towards the planet. The
escape capsules glide gracefully towards the camera and hit the surface with a
fierce explosion. The situation is made to feel as critical as it can be.
Doctor Who often get me very excited when the TARDIS landed in a new location
and we headed outside the ship to explore not knowing where we were or when.
The excitement was in the discovery. The early planet side scenes capture that
sense of anticipation too with four of the crew crawling across the surface of
Cephalon and not knowing what they are going to stumble across. Even Blake
didn’t know that Ensor was quite as valuable as he would turn out to be, with a
man with double A security clearance at their disposal the possibilities are
endless. With the mention of Orac we are back to serial storytelling which has
all but disappeared since the first handful of episodes. It gave the show an
unpredictable nature to have the first two or three episodes segue into each
other and make up one narrative and I’m pleased to see Nation attempting the
same thing as the first year comes to a close. Whilst you could argue that the
Travis/Servalan/Blake narrative has been ongoing, it has been told in episodes
that are self contained. Deliverance is left deliberately open ended so the
threads can be picked up and developed in the next episode. Tony Cautner is
another stalwart of British television in the 70s and 80s (turning up twice in
Doctor Who), but perhaps not in the same league as Brian Blessed, Julian Glover
and T.P. McKenna. His role as Ensor Jnr is a vital one and I’m pleased to see
guest characters spilling over into further episodes. At this stage there is no
reason to believe that he wont be joining the crew. Clearly a desperate man, he
is willing to threaten to kill both Cally and Blake in order to protect his
secrets. As we cut back to Federation command and see how the dynamic between
Servalan and Travis has changed so significantly, it feels as if all the
threads of the first year are coming to a head. For Servalan to admit that Orac
is worth ten times one hundred million immediately set my mind racing that if
Blake managed to get hold of such a device it could potentially be the catalyst
for the downfall of the Federation. There is a sense of Boucher looking back at
his work on Doctor Who and transferring elements from The Face of Evil, the
engaging notion of a technology based society evolving into a religious one. It
is expressed through the sets most intoxicatingly, dead consoles decorated with
candles, a command centre turned altar. Avon, Gan and Vila translating the
passages of the sacred text into scientific fact is excellently written, having
to remould religious metaphor into a technological narrative.
The Bad: It is never a good sign when people are introduced
by offering up great lumps of descriptive dialogue (‘Because of it we’ve
enjoyed thirty years of complete independence!’). This sort of information
should flow freely from a script rather than feeling like it is being foisted
upon mechanically. As good as David Maloney’s direction of the location work
is, have we really reached the desperate stage of grunting savages in furs
making their way through a blasted wilderness? That is usually the last resort
of the desperate in science fiction terms. When they emerge and start tossing
polystyrene rocks, it looks as though the show has hit its nadir (although to
me mind that is still the cacophonous racket the rubber suited Decimas made in
The Web).
Moment To Watch Out For: Nation concludes one of his plots
by having Avon live up to his prophecy and launching the rocket. Given the
events of the finale episode of Blake’s 7 it pleases me to think that Avon’s
name will be venerated on an unknown world in a distant system long after he
has slipped off this mortal coil. His name will live on.
Result: It would appear that Russell T Davies owes Terry
Nation something of a debt because his first season of the revived Doctor Who
(which also formed a blueprint for every subsequent series) is plotted in a
very similar fashion to Blake’s 7’s opening year. You have lots of elements
being introduced throughout the season which converge in the penultimate
episode (Blake and his assembled crew, Travis and Servalan) where a bombshell
is dropped (Orac) that leads into the climactic finale. Because the events of
Deliverance are going to spread into the last episode it gives Nation the
breathing space to introduce three separate narratives and they all work to a
greater or lesser extent. There is a six minute scene in the middle of this
episode where the characters of Travis and Servalan effortlessly steal the show
and it is clear from their ongoing electrifying presence that they have earned
a stronger role in the next season. Pearce in particular has already developed
her character considerably with relatively little screen time. Avon’s
adventures on the planets surface are fun and it is nice to see him take charge
of the action for a bit. Deliverance is worth watching just for the chance to
see Paul Darrow playing a benevolent God. We still haven’t discovered what Orac
is at this point but it is clearly something that is going to change the fate
of the show, giving one side of this ongoing conflict a considerable advantage.
With two strong directors bringing this story to the screen it is unsurprising
that it is one of the best looking of the season and in particular the location
work captures the excitement of exploring another world that I thought only
Doctor Who had managed to master. For once I can’t even complain about the
storyline being open ended (like Bounty) because that is deliberate to convince
you come back next week. If only we could excise the grunting savages and their
polystyrene rocks, this would be a near perfect lead in to the finale: 8/10
What’s it about: The hunt is on for a technical marvel and
both Blake and Servalan want to get their hands on it…
Maximum Power!: This is the first time we have ever seen
Servalan look anything other than self satisfied (even at the end of Project
Avalon when her life was in danger she had an air of superiority about her) –
she is genuinely spooked by the (daft looking) creature that attacks her in the
tunnels. She enjoys putting Travis in his place, reminding him that he is her
subordinate.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Die? I can’t do that!’ ‘I’m afraid you
can. It’s the one talent that we all share. Even you.’
The Bad: Blake’s equivalent of a Captain’s Log shows a lack
of faith that the audience would have been following the entire season and
remember the events of the previous episode (Nation should have had more faith in
his writing because the ratings show that the audience was amazingly consistent
throughout the first year). I understand the purpose of giving the memory a
good jog seven days later or getting any newcomers up to speed but this is such
an anomalous method – one that was never repeated again – that it really stands
out as being what it is, the 70s equivalent of ‘previously on Blake’s 7…’ I
thought that Lorrimer had discovered the drabbest beach on the planet until I
realised that he was intercutting stock shots of a shoreline with filming that
took place in a miserable looking quarry. The two don’t really make a complete
picture. The map that Servalan carries looks like it has been drawn by a child
and contains no real directions. When down in the tunnels Servalan is frightened
by what is clearly a man trying to sound as terrifying as possible doing an
animalistic growl (surely they could have modulated this?). When the monster
reveals itself it has to shot in close ups to prevent us getting to detailed a
look at the implausible looking creature. Weren’t there any Jim Acheson
costumes lying about in the Doctor Who stores they could have borrowed? No
wonder David Jackson was the first to be culled – he can’t even pull off a
sickly groan convincingly. Whilst Ensor’s reaction to his sons death is
hauntingly played it is also fleeting and skipped over in a hurry, exposing a
flaw in the sort of exciting, pacy storytelling that Blake’s 7 is trying to
tell. You don’t want to spend too long dwelling on the personal tragedy of a
guest character because the story needs to keep moving (especially one as
ponderous as this) but at the same time if a father genuinely heard this sort
of news they would probably be too gripped by grief to bother with whatever
Blake and Cally have come to pester him about. It’s a fine line between
ignoring it altogether and giving it a brief moment of consideration – neither
is ideal. It’s actually a little embarrassing that Travis and Servalan should
spend 40 minutes wandering around a narrative cul de sac (lets call them
tunnels) waiting for Blake and Cally to have away with Ensor (and they aren’t
quick about it, he has to feed his fish and water his plants first) but the
second they do they suddenly burst into the laboratory to find them all gone.
It is so inelegantly plotted.
Moment To Watch Out For: The climactic confrontation between
Blake, Servalan and Travis is a mundanely shot chat in a quarry squabbling over
a metal box? It’s not what I’d hoped for I have to be honest.
Orac written by Terry Nation and directed by Vere Lorrimer
A Good Man: No revelations about Blake, no exploration of
his character, no climactic results to show for his campaign. Was this really
supposed to be the finale?
Anti-Hero: I realise that he is (potentially) dying of
radiation sickness but things are a little too amicable between Avon and Blake
in what should have been the episode saw the cumulative effect of their clash
of ideologies. As it stands we have to wait until the end of the next season to
reach that point. In a rare moment, Avon nearly loses his cool as his sickness
starts to get the better of him.
One-Eyed: I don’t believe for one moment that Travis
wouldn’t have blown Blake’s head off as soon as he caught up with him. The two
times he has had the opportunity earlier in the season he had to be forcibly
prevented. For him to bow to Servalan’s instructions makes him less of a
character than I thought he was. He’s all but killed his reputation, the least
he could have done was finish the job off.
‘It’s ironic, isn’t it? We are racing to deliver medical
supplies that will save a mans life in the hope that he will have medical
supplies that will save ours.’
‘Good shot Avon!’ ‘I was aiming for his head.’
The Good: It is great to see Nation live up to his promise
that space is dangerous and the world that Avon and the others visited in
Deliverance genuinely was a radioactive wasteland. Way back in the misty dawn
of Doctor Who, Nation had the Doctor and his companions suffer a similar
sickness and it heralded similar results – that space travel is a dangerous
business with potentially fatal consequences. Mind you the terminal effects of
radiation sickness is played with much more conviction and devastation in The
Daleks than it is here. Avon, Jenna and the others have sweaty brows but
otherwise get on with their business as usual. The designers on Blake’s 7 often
strike their best work when they are building a set that is supposed to
personify a particular character, given hints by the script. Ensor’s laboratory
says much about his character (it is contemporary and stylish but with lots of
personal touches and I love the mechanical bird twittering that adds much
atmosphere that he can switch off on a whim) in the same way that Sarkoff’s
ancient artefacts expressed that he was a man stuck in the past in Bounty. A
computer with the sum total of all the knowledge of all the known worlds – what
an awesomely powerful device. Introducing Orac, the singularly cheapest piece
of design work ever seen in science fiction, turning out to be a plastic cube
with flashing lights in side. Whether he was trying to be ironic or facetious
is open to debate but Nation put deliberate instructions in his script that the
design of the smartest brain in this corner of the galaxy was to be
unimpressive. Why this should be is a mystery because I imagine something much
sleeker and less cumbersome to hulk about would have made the subsequent three
seasons much easier on the actors. It has storytelling possibilities, that’s
for sure and so on that level it is an exciting introduction but it also adds
to the general feeling of ‘meh’ that pervades this finale that the awesome
device that everybody is so eager to get their hands looks so naff. The fact
that Orac is an arrogant little know it all with Ensor’s personality locked
into his circuits is a lovely idea (it’s very K.9 but it’s still a lovely idea)
and sees Blake’s 7 bowing to one of the conventions of the genre, the quirky
computer.
Foreboding: Is the Liberator going to be destroyed? That
certainly seems to be the case in the glimpse of the future that the crew
witness in the last scene…
Result: It would appear that Russell T Davies also felt
compelled to replicate Nation’s inability to tie up a season in an satisfying
way. Twelve episodes of build up, twelve weeks of assembling a crew and setting
them at each others throats, introducing strong villains and painting a bleak picture
of the future only to climax on a forgettable filler episode like this. Whilst
there isn’t anything actively wrong with any of the material in Orac, it
certainly doesn’t feel like the culmination of this eclectic first year of
Blake’s 7. When compared with the explosive finales of any of the other three
seasons, this is more like a walk in the park. The first half an hour of Orac
is deathly slow and not a great deal seems to be happening. Travis and Servalan
have to hold off from reaching Ensor’s lab for a whopping 40 minutes until
Blake and Cally have whisked him away and in that time they simply wander
around some caves and tangle with hideously unconvincing creatures. The story
seems to be sold on the revelation that Orac is the smartest computer in this
corner of the galaxy and can hack into just about anything. Fair enough, that is
an exciting prospect but its appearance is so deeply unimpressive the moment
seems lost in a cry of ‘is that it?’ Pity the poor actors that will be
lumbering around with the cumbersome prop for the next three seasons. Compiling
this episodes problems you have four crew members that are given sod all to do
(Gan, Vila, Jenna and Avon) and there is a distinct lack of the tense banter I
have come to enjoy between them, particularly Blake and Avon who seem quite
chummy here. If this was mid season filler it might just be acceptable but in a
season that has sported episodes as strong as The Way Back,
Seek-Locate-Destroy, Duel and Project Avalon this is limp, unconvincing stuff.
Imagine, if you will, that Blake’s 7 had been cancelled after its first year.
This would have been the least eventful series finale on record. Here’s to
season two, let’s hope a mix of script writers gives the show a much needed
boost: 4/10
31 comments:
Brilliant! I was hoping you'd do Blake's 7 reviews.
Great! Love the show too. Will you ever do Red Dwarf?
Thanks for the comments guys and your support. I will get around to Red Dwarf one day (I love your handle - I wondered if that was Rimmer's swimming certificates!) as it is a show I adore. Trouble is I'd give practically every one 9 or 10/10! Thanks again :-)
It is a reference. I used to wind up my teachers when I was younger by adding it to the end of my name and its stuck!
There is an audio from Magic Bullet, that humorously sends up much of Blake's 7 including that eight month Cygnus Alpha gap, see here:
http://www.kaldorcity.com/audios/metafiction.html
I agree with lots of your points Joe but I'd rate Space Fall slightly higher and give The Way Back a ten. Also, do the eight months between Earth and Cygnus Alpha happen in Space Fall or Cygnuw Alpha?
I don't mean to do Terry Nation a disservice, he did create the show after all, but I believe script editor Chris Boucher did a lot of work on these scripts too:
There's an infamous quote from Nation, that Boucher tells, which goes:
"You can have second drafts or you can have the next episode, but you can't have both."
Yet his name is conspicuously absent in your reviews.
Whilst Nation's name is on the credits, I will credit Nation. I realise Boucher did plenty of re-writing in season one (I like the quote that not a single line spoken by Avon didn't have some input by Boucher) but Nation is credited as the writer of each episode. There will be plenty of time to praise Boucher, his solo scripts are some of my favourites. I do mention the script editor when it is apropriate (I often mention Eric Saward and Terrance Dicks) so perhaps I should keep that in mind when going forward.
The Minimas are pretty rubbish but their eyes give me the creeps. The head in the jar was truly atrocious but this is Blakes 7 so I can forgive it. Another great review. I do hope they revive this series on TV or as a film (with Benedict Cumberbatch as Avon!).
Sorry Joe, I disagree with you entirely about Mission To Destiny. It's the first proper clunker in the series, in my opinion. Here's my thoughts if you fancy a listen: http://thetimevault.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/30-blakes-7-mission-to-destiny-duel/
Well we can't agree on everything! It was harmless, and certainly better made than some other season one episodes, even if it didn't set my world on fire as a murder mystery. You know I can't get on with podcasts! M
Watched Duel today, looks like we are going to be in disagreement about that too!
I found Mission to Destiney to be like The Robots of Death-which is no bad thing-and I like it. I also love Duel, for all its weirdness, because of several killer lines. I agree with your thoughts about The Web being a low point, playing a bit like Nation by numbers!
Im sure we can debate this on Monday evening :) Personally i think the first half of Duel is excellent, whereas the second half is good. Camfield had a falling out with Dudley Simpson in the early days of Who and never used him again. And did you notice that Servelan's fluffy white outfit is the same one Romana wears in The Ribos Operation? :)
Thank you for your reviews, Doc Oho. I've enjoyed reading them. I will look forward to reading your thoughts on season 2.
Watching all in order after the classic DW marathon.
The Way Back
Storming start. Dudley Simpson back with a vengeance. Always remember that David Maloney oversaw all of this, why oh why did he not replace Graham Williams. This episode is practically flawless and I challenge anyone watch episode 1 and stop there. The Fed guards are awesome and the special effects excellent. Genuine goosebump moments, especially meeting Jenna and Vila. Superb.
Watching all in order.
Space Fall.
Excellent. Love this. Very gritty, loads of faces in it, the iconic first Avon scenes, he has this ability to stop every conversation so that everyone takes notice, Darrow has so much charisma. He even still allows Thomas all the limelight. Some great Vila lines again. A good Jenna episode. Leslie Schofield is superb as is Glyn Owen. This is Pennant Roberts at his absolute best, keep him away from 80s DW though please..
Iconic moments throughout, loads of firsts. The programme continues to shock at this stage, I do prefer The Way Back, but this is right up with it. The death of Nova is terrifying, Raiker is so corrupt. Good point about no one actually being a good guy, Blake and Leyland maybe? Cracking episode.
Nation running out of names, anagrams of Avon and Orac in Space Fall and Cygnus Alpha...
Cygnus Alpha
Yeah a drop in quality, Pamela Salem is amazing, gorgeous. Arco was another nearly 1 of 7 and would have been a decent addition. Good banter with Vila. Brian Blessed excels. Jenna has already been binned to the Liberator, a sign of s2. Some good fight scenes but a bit boring compared to the other 2
Time Squad.
Still focusing on slow character development, a bit boring, but some good intense scenes with Jenna and the aliens. The Cally scenes are decent. I like the little theme as they go into the complex. Some good tension. Vila is an expert safe cracker. Love his confidence, a good Vila episode. The Gan story is intriguing but difficult to care about him. He is by far the weakest character. I think I prefer this to Cygnus Alpha.
The Web
Unfortunately yes its crap, but has more than enough going for it to be watchable. Briant directed Death to the Daleks, for Decimas read Exxilons. Some nice ideas, but the decimas do ruin it. Vila has all the best lines, Jenna gets taken over again. I noticed the racist undertones from her towards Cally right from day one. Tidily resolved in 50 minutes, good job too. Slotted in 5th after the first 4 scene setters and before a beefier Fed episode. 9.5m viewers really says a lot
Time Squad, slightly odd trimming of the end theme tune, check it out..
Seek Locate Destroy
Yes. Brilliant. Better than Way Back, just. Purely because of Servalan and Travis. Great music. A really good pace to this and it is very tense. Cleverly written and plotted. Pretty much flawless. The end quote is a goosebumps moment. Fantastic. Cally lets the guard beat himself up. A good Vila episode.
Mission to Destiny
Nowhere near the worst. 2 gaping plot holes, how did Liberator get back so quick and how did tiny 54124 lift Dortmun on top of the cabinet, also how did she unlock the safe if Kendall was the only one with a key. Best music so far, lovely piano a la Nightmare of Eden 2 years later, and cello. Its not that bad, Avon punching Sara is a bit dated and uncomfortable. It tries to be Robots of Death but falls way short, but is still sharp and entertaining. Nowhere near the worst of s1.
Duel
Yes. Brilliant. Really tense from the ships colliding to the final battle. Imagine a world where Blakes 7 only lasted 7 and a half episodes as Travis cuts his throat, game over.
Carol Royle and Isla Blair are absolutely gorgeous. 'All we got was the ugly one' still makes me laugh. Avon still exudes the calm intelligence even in his nothing to do episode. Camfield and Simpson, sort your feud out please. Travis gets his 2nd classic cliffhanger quote in a row. Superb. Flawless. Best so far just.
Project Avalon.
This was hugely popular at the time I seem to remember, and I am sure it was even novelised. It is classic B7, with Blake at the centre of everything and at the peak of his planning amd scheming. He loses his way in s2, but here Gareth Thomas is clearly enjoying the role. Travis and Servalan are great again. Glynis Barber has quite a lot to do, potentially more than in s4...
The corridor battles are definitive B7 and it is here where the legend is grown, excellent drama. Avalon is not especially convincing, but I did enjoy this episode. Travis gets another quotable script. Good music. A good Jenna episode. I would place this 4th behind Way Back, only just above Space Fall.
Breakdown
Nah, a bit boring and Gan is a bit OTT. I like the character development scenes but there seemed to be a little too much padding. Kayns assistant is so inappropriate watching this back, why not just cast Sid James instead. Phwoar...
I cringe at the final scene, even the Dudley Simpson music, making it sound like the Creepy Crawlies scene in Green Death. Probably the worst of the season so far. Julian Glover is ace of course.
Bounty.
Yep enjoyed the TP McKenna scenes, a great actor, whatever he does, he exudes class and panache. Tyce is good and very effective. The episode as a whole just doesnt quite hit the spot and its difficult to see why. Gareth Thomas plays every episode as though its his audition which brings up the level every time, he puts everything into it. This is a c grade episode, just a little better than The Web and Breakdown but not much, too many flaws and padding.
Deliverance.
Hmm, just seems like a prequel with a padded side story of the civilisation on the planet. Radiation sickness is Terry Nations middle name. I always find this a bit boring, the Travis Servalan bits being the best. I fit this in with Bounty and Breakdown, The Web, a bit of a nothing episode to lead into the finale.
Orac.
This is an iconic episode, one of the first released on vid and i believe was novelised. Some great Travis moments in his last episode, I disagree that this is one of the worst, but you can see Nation running out of ideas after Avalon. The only time I can remember seeing Servalan cry or be scared. 'I was aiming for his head' is the greatest line of all time. The very end is a bit silly. I would put this above middle.
Season 1
1. Duel
2. Seek Locate Destroy
3. Way Back
4. Space Fall
5. Orac
6. Project Avalon
7. Time Squad
8. Mission to Destiny
9. Cygnus Alpha
10. Bounty
11. The Web
12. Deliverance
13. Breakdown
In season one of Blake,s Seven in the finale Orac Travis should have been killed off and the arch-enemy Servalan should have been given a new lackey with a new name in season 2 of B7 it would have done series 2 of B7 more trade
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