The Blakes 7 Thread.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Episode 28.

Powerplay

By Terry Nation.


Avon and Dayna upon escaping from Saran, find the Liberator over-run by a Federation death squad and a Federation captain named Tarrant. A game of cat and mouse ensues with the troops and their sadistic boss Section Leader Clegg. However someone or something is killing the troops one by one. Cally, meanwhile, discovers Servalan on a hospital ship bound for the planet Chenga, where the wounded Vila is also taken. Cally and Vila meet, and the horrifying truth is revealed: it is a bank for human organs.

Powerplay is an excellent episode, gripping and full of intrigue. Michael Sheard plays the villainous Clegg, sneeringly begrudging of Tarrant's higher rank. Tarrant as played by Steven Pacey is the typical heroic all action man, charming yet dangerous, and it becomes clear quite quickly that he is there to make up for the absent Blake. Indeed the final scene involves Tarrant and Dayna having their voice prints inputted into Zen, the Liberator's main computer, thus making them fully fledged crew members and series three regulars.

The exploits of Cally, Vila and Servalan distract from the main plot aboard the Liberator but once the truth is known about the hospital ship it becomes incredibly tense, and a little bit on the gross side as well.

[trebor8273]

Unlike a lot of people I really liked the character of tarrant, ok is no Avon but he was a hundred times more likable than Blake himself who I despised, he just came of as a unlikeable self-centred asshole.

[Susan Foreman]

Sad to see that Tanith Lee, who wrote the stories "Sarcophagus" and "Sand", has died

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

Sad to see that Tanith Lee, who wrote the stories "Sarcophagus" and "Sand", has died

RIP then. "Sand" is one of my favourites.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Episode 29.

Volcano

By Allan Prior.

Dayna and Tarrant teleport to the pacifist planet Obsidian to negotiate a neutral base. Yet again Servalan attempts to capture the Liberator. A crack force of federation troops teleport aboard, but Avon outmanoeuvres them and destroys the attacking Federation ships. The troops withdraw but take Cally hostage. Back on Obsidian Tarrant and Dayna discover the reason the Federation hasn't been able to take over the planet. There is a nuclear device that the people will explode taking the Federation and them with it rather than being conquered. With Servalan closing in on Obsidian the countdown begins.

Not one of my favourite episodes although in the scheme of things there are quite a few worse in what is a fairly mediocre season three which really only has two or three standout episodes among the thirteen on offer. However i always like to see Federation troops in action and Volcano certainly delivers with this. Michael Gough's guest appearance is also a plus point.

In only their third episode, in Tarrant's case second, both he and Dayna are comfortably at home as crew members especially as far as the viewer is concerned and Blake and Jenna are not really missed.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Episode 30

Dawn of the Gods

By James Follett

The Liberator crew's period of downtime is interrupted by the ship going off course and computer Zen not recognizing the fact. Seemingly in the grip of a traction beam, the Liberator is being pulled towards a black hole and there's nothing the crew can do about it. The ship survives the black hole but Cally is soon hearing voices telepathically, voices she believes is the Thaarn , a mythical creature from the Auron race. The crew find them selves nowhere, outside of space and time, a place known as Krandor, home of the Thaarn.

This is the worst episode to date.
The black hole part of the story, essentially the first half, is enjoyable enough with suitably queezy effects as the ship descends the void however the rest is a total mess. Krandor seems to be weird for weirdness sakes and nothing more with the residents straight out of Alice in Wonderland with the final reveal of the Thaarn just plain silly. Despite being extremely bizarre practically nothing happens in the second part of the story, characters come and go but never leave an impression and the whole thing just seems pointless and charmlessly daft just for the sake of it.

Even the interesting opening half comes over as ridiculous when the crew find out it was Orac who put the ship in danger by wanting to gain more knowledge of black holes.

Two poor episodes in a row. Well one average and one poor. Things must surely improve.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sad to hear Gareth Thomas died today. He was 71.

Farewell Roj Blake.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Episode 31

Harvest of Kairos

By Ben Steed.

According to construction worker Jarvik (Andrew Burt) 'Any fool could take the Liberator with just three pursuit ships'. A statement that both intrigues and angers the Federations leader Servalan. Meanwhile Tarrant convinces the others to launch a raid on a Federation transport loading a cargo of valuable crystals from the planet Kairos. Naturally the two come into conflict as Jarvik does indeed take the Liberator.

Harvest of Kairos is a pacy fun episode but it being where it is in the series you never get the feeling that Tarrant won't get the Liberator back. Andrew Burt and Jacqueline Pearce work well together, Burt in particular as the terribly stereotypical macho 'mans man' Jarvik. You can tell he's a 'man' as he tells us every few seconds, and there's the odd bit of racy dialogue and definite sexual tension between the two characters. Avon is quite the enigma in this episode mainly because he sits it out for the most part while he discusses things with a rock, a rock which coincidentally ends up saving the day for the Liberator crew.

Unfortunately the planet Kairos is home to a race of giant insects which due to budgetary constraints are laughably bad, especially when they move, but on the whole following a couple of duff episodes the series feels back on track.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sad news that Jacqueline Pearce died today age 74.

She was superb as Servalan, glamorous, charismatic and scary as f*ck! As an actress she completely stole every scene she was in.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sorry to just read that Paul Darrow has died, age 78.

It might have been called Blakes-7 but Darrow's Avon was always the star of the show.

Rest in piece, Paul and thanks for the memories.