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Blake’s 7 4.9: Sand   If I was to list the most memorable stories from first viewing of this season, Blake and Orbit would stand out, but Sand would come a close third (mind you, Animals is pretty memorable, so that doesn’t prove anything). With thirty years hindsight, it still puts itself forward as a highly effective and atmospheric chamber piece. Where it stumbles slightly, in comparison to Tanith Lee’s previous script, is in the strength of the premise. Unlike Sarcophagus, what needs to be worked out here is concrete and without nuance (killer sand feeding off people) and, as a result, the process of the characters reaching realisation

Blake’s 7 4.8: Games   Following a bottom-of-the-barrel guest star in Assassin, we have Stratford Johns beautifully cast in Games, and a director (Viviene Cozens) who shows considerable dexterity where David Sullivan Proudfoot was just plain clumsy. Cozens might have made a good choice for Who, although JN-T didn’t really make the best use of Johns when he asked him to play a giant frog. My main memory of this episode on first transmission was the games themselves (Soolin’s shoot-out in particular), which constitute a fairly minor part of the story. This approach ensures that the story is full of incident until the

Blake’s 7 4.7: Assassin   The premise of Assassin is solid enough, even if it relies on an identity twist, which the previous story also utilised. Where the episode flounders most problematically is in the characterisation and casting, rather than the broader plot strokes. Caroline Holdaway completely fails to convince as either Piri or Cancer. It might be argued that she succeeds at essaying the overwrought, insipid and annoying Piri. But having a character that is so grindingly irritating that it has the effect of undermining any suspension of belief in the set-up is a huge problem; that Tarrant would fall

Blake’s 7 4.6: Headhunter   Headhunter is fast-paced and tense-enough that issues with plot logic are fairly easy to brush aside.  Given that Roger Parkes’ debut was such a laughable mess, it’s quite surprising that both this and Children of Auron manage to sustain dramatic high-stakes throughout. That said, it rarely feels that it has that extra something; it’s a functional thrill-ride, and apart from Avon’s tirade at the climax it doesn’t serve its characters in a particularly distinct or memorable way (Soolin excepted, who gets her only solid involvement in an episode since, and including, her debut). Watching it, I was particularly

Blake’s 7 4.5: Animals   This seemed like a stinker even when I was nine years old, and it has done little to rehabilitate itself in the intervening 30 years. Allan Prior has a rare knack for writing utterly tedious scripts, and this one ranks with Hostage as scraping the bottom of the barrel. Mary Ridge is delivered a prize turkey and she’s unable to serve up anything other than turkey in response. The premise of a scientist engaged in genetic experimentation has Josef Mengele/Doctor Moreau undertones, but there’s no edge to Prior’s script. Even the romantic subplot is utterly insipid, despite

Blake’s 7 4.4: Stardrive   This was originally set for third in the season, and it makes sense there in terms of Avon’s attempts to bring Scorpio up to some kind of battle-readiness. Having it fourth means we get a break from Servalan, though (which we’re going to need) and stems the tide of all the necessary components for the ship falling into the crew’s lap. They still get very lucky, but at least there’s a bit of a gap here. Stardrive stuck in the memory on first transmission partly due to the day-glow punk Space Rats and partly due to

Blake’s 7 4.3: Traitor   I can only think that Chris Boucher secretly wanted to cause Bob Holmes some grief. So he told him to put Tarrant and Dayna front and centre in his third, and least impressive, script for the series. He’s so clearly a natural for Avon and Vila that it seems like a cruel act to have him relegate them to the side lines (if, indeed, that is what happened). As for the plot itself, it’s a mixture of the witty, the intriguing, and the banal. Like many Federation-centred stories, their characters are by far the most interesting

Blake’s 7 4.2: Power   Whilst I’ve always held Season Four as my favourite of Blake’s 7, there’s little doubt that it doesn’t get off to as strong a start as any of its predecessors. And the return of Ben Steed and his curious obsession with rather mundane explorations of sexual politics doesn’t bode well for this second episode. Indeed, I can’t really make much of an argument to counter anyone who regards this as a bit shit. But I did enjoy it for the most part. Despite the rather literal take on a battle of the sexes, the daft plotting and the

Blake’s 7 4.1: Rescue   Season Four, the season they didn’t expect to make. Which means there’s a certain amount of getting up to speed required in order for “status quo” stories to be told. If they choose to go that route. There’s no Liberator anymore as a starting point for stories; a situation the show hasn’t found itself in since Space Fall. So where do they go from here? Behind the scenes there’s no David Maloney either. Nor Terry Nation (I’d say that by this point that’s slightly less of an issue, but his three scripts for Season Three were among

Blake’s 7 3.13: Terminal   Like Logopolis, broadcast almost exactly a year later, Terminal is not without script problems. There are a number of rather large holes in terms of plot and (more particularly) character that leave you, if not scratching your head, viewing what unfolds slightly askance. But, like Logopolis, where the episode really scores is in evoking a palpable atmosphere. Mary Ridge imbues the story with a sense of finality and doom throughout, only punctured slightly by some laborious exposition when Servalan inevitably shows up. As has been the case both with his and Chris Boucher’s script this season, Terry Nation

Blake’s 7 3.12: Death-Watch   Chris Boucher completes his trio of Season Three single character-centric episodes. If Death-Watch is the least of them, it nevertheless fits into the good side of a clear divide in quality this season, between crap but fun and very good-to-great. There’s not much between those poles as there has been in previous seasons (although I’ve enjoyed the crappy fare far more than many seem to). Ironically, much of the episode’s focus isn’t really on Tarrant at all. It’s a showcase for Steven Pacey doubling up as his brother Deeta, complete with a dodgy wig and silly

Blake’s 7 3.11: Moloch   The return of Ben Steed, who follows up the batty Harvest of Kairos with an equally batty tale. I found this quite enjoyable viewing, even intriguing in places, but I wouldn’t call it “good”, any more than I would Kairos. Steed seems to get by writing clunking caricatures, so the men here are mostly violent rapists and the women fairly useless and subservient (Servalan aside). I’m not sure if he’s intending for there to be some level of commentary in this, but if he is it’s lost in the sketchy characterisations and uneven production values. As for the

Blake’s 7 3.10: Ultraworld   The episode that lent itself to an Orb track, Ultraworld is serviceable and run-of-the-mill. Which is to say that it’s probably accurate to cite this one if you’re talking about the average Season 3 episode. The series in exploration mode, which means that there’s a conspicuous echo of Star Trek in contacting new worlds and civilisations. The difference here is that the crew of the Liberator aren’t on a mission; they’re stumbling from encounter to encounter. Indeed, Avon’s (intellectual) interest in investigating Ultraworld is the sort of thing Blake would have been more likely to suggest in previous seasons

Blake’s 7 3.9: Sarcophagus   Season Three continues its mid-stages winning streak with Tanith Lee’s debut script for the series. Budget episodes featuring little aside from the regular cast were a low-brow staple of US TV for decades, often shamelessly held together through flashback sequences (clips of old episodes).  If Sarcophagus is unashamed of anything it is its theatricality, but this is also one of its great assets. In premise, it isn’t so far from an original series Star Trek episode; the crew are invaded/possessed by an alien entity who makes them act strangely/uncharacteristically until Kirk/Avon shows his mettle and repels the intruder. But

Blake’s 7 3.8: Rumours of Death   Chris Boucher officially pulls out the quill for the second time this season and again focuses on one of the original crew. Avon is more frequently under the spotlight than any other crewmember, but you usually leave his company with little more than the sound of acid quips and his air of self-preservation. Significant character development is not a priority. Indeed, there’s a case to be made that it would work against his character to try to explore him to any great degree. Here we see Boucher resolving the back-story laid out in Countdown,

Blake’s 7 3.7: Children of Auron   Roger Parkes goes a considerable way towards redeeming himself for the slop that was Voice from the Past with his second script for the series, and newcomer Andrew Morgan shows promise as a director that never really fulfilled itself in his work on Doctor Who (but was evident in Knights of God, the 1987 TV series featuring Gareth Thomas). That said, there are some serious issues with it that I will come to (and if anyone can make sense of the biggest plot hole I’d be interested to hear). There also appears to be considerable retconning of Auron

Blake’s 7 3.6: City at the Edge of the World   After three episodes delivering variations on “It’s so bad, it’s good”, Season Three finally pays off on the promise of the first couple of stories. This is Chris Boucher’s first of the run, and like any good script editor he focuses on areas that other writers would be unlikely to consider. The “area” in this episode is the much misused character of Vila, and you have to wonder if he hadn’t made a mental note that there’d been far too much “Vila the idiot” creeping in. Certainly, this redresses

Blake’s 7 3.5: Harvest of Kairos   There’s something so awesomely shit about Harvest of Kairos, I have to wonder how much of it is intentional and how much is Ben Steed just being a straight-up terrible writer. Whether it’s Jarvik – hands on hips – extolling the virtues of manliness, the Liberator crew being made fools of and getting boarded (again), Tarrant flying a lunar landing module or Servalan acting like a completed idiot (the odd line aside) the script is as holey as a Swiss cheese. And that’s even without the terrifying insects menacing Dayna. But… In its favour

Blake’s 7 3.4: Dawn of the Gods   A bit of a Star Trek-sounding title for one of the daffiest Blake’s 7episodes yet. Indeed, it’s probably the most peculiar story since The Web. As usual when weirdness is foregrounded in the series it’s Cally whom the writers fall back on as a key ingredient in the mix (it’s quite amazing how Auron casts its influence so far and wide). James Follett’s first script for the series delivers a fairly intriguing, scene-setting first half, before falling apart when the mundanity of the premise is revealed. Even then, the bizarre variety of elements makes for

Blake’s 7 3.3: Volcano   Allan Prior’s back, but it’s not all bad. His return is replete with the same lack of sense for the main characters and flair for nonsensical plot developments. However, this is relatively fast-paced and occasionally musters a moment or two of excitement (even if it feels derivative of the previous story in having another invasion of the Liberator by the Federation), putting it ahead of his efforts for the previous season. This is also Desmond McCarthy’s directorial debut, and he does okay, if unremarkable, work. A bit brave to make Tarrant and Dayna the focus

Blake’s 7 3.2: Powerplay   You’d have thought that, as a director who knows his stuff, producer David Maloney would have handpicked only the best of the best to direct Blake’s 7. Most often, though, we’ve seen solid efforts but nothing dazzling. It takes the man in charge to show us how it should be done, returning to the director’s chair (or gallery) for his second in the last three stories (this was shot first in the season, so he actually directed back-to-back). And he delivers a tense, edge-of-the-seat episode, merrily tightening the screws until the last moments. This is certainly

Blake’s 7  3.1: Aftermath   Like the previous season’s Redemption, this begins with a lot of talk, although there it was very much front-loaded. Here we get an effective character piece interspersed with so-so action. Indeed, where Aftermath does least well is attempting the latter element (never Vere Lorrimer’s forte). It’s a story I’ve always liked, that uses the opportunity for the disarray created by casting changes and the fall-out from its grand finale to focus on just two of the regular cast and set the stage for how the show will find its bearings without Blake. The model work in the opening

Blake’s 7 2.13: Star One   The finale of Season Two follows the basic template of the first year; the climax of Blake and co’s quest to find something of importance to aid their fight against the Federation. But Star One puts a very pronounced emphasis on the epic, whereas Orac was a low key affair in comparison. It acts more as a mirror to the season opener, Redemption, in attempting events on a grand scale that dwarf the Liberator and its crew. There are some fairly significant plot holes in this story (maybe symptomatic of Boucher picking up the pieces of Terry’s failure to

Blake’s 7 2.12: The Keeper   Heaven help us, Allan Prior’s back. He maintains his consistency, making it a hat trick of stinkers in Season Two. Apparently this one came about late in the day after Nation’s planned two-part finale fell through. A shame that Derek Martinus was given such a duffer to direct, as he’s unable to breath much life into the proceedings. That comes mostly from Bruce Purchase as Gola, showing the same restraint he brought to the role of the Captain in The Pirate Planet (but unfortunately without the good lines). The recap of why they’re there at the

Blake’s 7 2.11: Gambit   So, Robert Holmes and Blake’s 7. There seems to be a well-tapped vein of thinking that he wasn’t quite suited to the series and that his scripts correspondingly weren’t all that. Killer, I thought was solid, but Gambit… I think is superb. A sparkling, densely constructed gem that calls back to many of his pet obsessions and even manages to give the increasingly one-note Servalan and Travis decent roles. And there’s a treasure trove of ex- and future Who supporting actors spattered across it. And George Spenton Foster rises to the occasion after not being arsed with Voice from the Past. It’s

Blake’s 7 2.10: Voice from the Past   The best thing that can probably be said about this one is that it isn’t dull. Ridiculous, yes. Treats its characters with complete disrespect, yes. Prone to unintentional hilarity, yes. But it can’t plumb Hostage depths of banality. This is Roger Parkes’ debut script, and he shows Allan Prior’s flair for lumpen plotting and making the crew act like idiots. George Spenton-Foster did decent enough work on Killer and Pressure Point, but here it seems he can’t be arsed, and you can’t really blame him. Blake starts acting all strained in the Liberator exercise room, as if

Blake’s 7 2.9: Countdown   So Tezza’s back, and he’s come out fighting. One of the reasons Countdown is such a success is the escalation of threat throughout. It’s a very well structured episode, knowing just when to introduce a new element to maintain interest or increase the tension. A ticking clock is usually a reliable trope, and it’s used here with confidence and skill. The only real losers are Jenna and Cally, completely sidelined on the Liberator. Vere Lorrimer’s risen to the challenge of the material, after his lethargic work on Hostage, and the opening fight sequence between Federation forces and  Albianians

Blake’s 7 2.8: Hostage   Horizon gave us prior warning of what to expect from Allan Prior’s scripts, but his second outing plumbs new depths of banality. It’s not only the storyline that lacks an iota of originality but the cardboard characterisation, as if he’s on a mission to undo all the innovative developments Chris Boucher has encouraged in the first half of the season. The opening passage is your usual “Liberator pursued by Federation pursuit ships” business. The only scrap of interest here is that we see inside one of the attacking ships, where The Pirate Planet‘s Mr Fibuli (Andrew Robertson,

Blake’s 7 2.7: Killer   Robert Holmes’ first of four scripts for the series, and like last season’s Mission to Destiny there are some fairly atypical elements and attitudes to the main crew (although the A/B storylines present a familiar approach and each is fairly equal in importance for a change). It was filmed second, which makes it the most out of place episode in the run (and explains why the crew are wearing outfits – they must have put them in the wash – from a good few episodes past and why Blake’s hair has grown since last week). The most

Blake’s 7 2.6: Trial   In some respects Trial follows Pressure Point’s precedent in juggling some very good material with rather less masterful moments. I found Trial more satisfying, though, perhaps partly because Chris Boucher opens the book on the Federation’s workings so intriguingly. Even Brian Croucher manages to be watchable for the most part. The Liberator crew doesn’t fare quite so well, although Blake’s bizarre planetary sojourn forms the backdrop to Avon voicing a barrage of caustic truths. This episode features a decidedly svelte Kevin Lloyd (Tosh from The Bill) as Trooper Par, who reminded me a little of Maurice Roeves. Boucher letting us eavesdrop

Blake’s 7 2.5: Pressure Point   An apt title for this episode, with Blake overreaching himself and Gan snuffing it after getting all comforting/creepy over Janet from Terror of the Vervoids. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, some very strong elements confounded by a couple of really clumsy ones. The Day of the Daleks-esque terrorists in the opening scene aren’t going to be troubling the Royal Shakespeare Company any time soon; their exploding dummies give better performances. And the Mutoids inside what appears to be a nice old cottage, but is actually a shiny white Federation base, don’t seem up to

Blake’s 7 2.4: Horizon   It couldn’t last. After a couple of innovative episodes, Allan Prior’s debut script falls back on tired material as its premise; oppressed natives and unsubtle parallels to colonial rule. The opening business on the Liberator (curiously, we see Jenna – and Vila –  transposed over a starscape, but she’s not exactly taking centre stage here; I presume this symbolises the crew’s malaise) revolves around the crew all suffering from (space) fatigue. With Cally taking the role of Dr McCoy. I suppose a nod to their constant encounters with the Federation was in order, but it’s a

Blake’s 7 2.3: Weapon   Any episode where the crew of the Liberator don’t get involved in the main action until 35 minutes in (they don’t even leave the ship) is asking for trouble. In spite of this, Chris Boucher manages to make Weapon compelling. Part of it may be because, as in Shadow, he’s inventive both in terms of plotting and characterisation. You aren’t quite sure where the story will go and it ends up not suffering from Blake’s gang being almost surplus to requirements. Weapon was both recorded and transmitted third, and it looks something of a midway point between Season One

Blake’s 7 2.1: Shadow   So, the first non-Nation script of the series. In this instance written by script editor Chris Boucher (although Robert Holmes’ Killer was the first non-Nation script recorded). Shadow was recorded sixth in the season (with David Jackson still playing Gan after he had performed his death scene), and there’s a massive gulf between the look and styling of Redemption (still very much following the stark industrial locations approach of Season One) and what’s on show here. The emphasis is very strongly on heightened reality, as opposed to the gritty realism that defined the previous year.  That comes across in every aspect of

Blake’s 7 2.1: Redemption   Terry Nation originally intended to write five episodes for Season Two, which is pretty much the formula adopted by nu-Who’s showrunner. In the event (due to Nation’s general shoddy-delivery rates, no doubt) he didn’t, and we were also spared the dubious delight of a Pip & Jane Baker script. The running order for the first half of the season changed quite significantly, and I will note this in respect of later episodes in due course. As for the season opener, it’s the first without Nation’s name on it, although with script editor Chris Boucher at

Blake’s 7 1.13: Orac   Sweaty Gan seizes the opportunity to act opposite his prize beaker again at the start of this episode (that’s the third time this season he’s shown such range.) Elsewhere Avon, in a fairly unsubtle silver and black striped top, has Blake ask him to sit down and listen to a taped recap of the previous episode’s events. For any viewers who missed it. Avon should have dismissed this with a withering look. It’s somewhat absurd that a seemingly fairly intelligent group of people on a hi-tech spaceship should take so long to suss out the

Blake’s 7 1.12: Deliverance   Deliverance sets the groundwork for the season finale, and the main plotline is likably quirky if unremarkable. We start off thinking the story will be Servalan-centric with her up to no good in the Federation Space Command wheel (the Spacemaster ship she remotely detonates a charge on is an admirable effort, but a not-so-successful piece of effects work). This episode is a veritable feast for fans of Nation’s space prefixes. Servalan cancels her meeting with the “Space Administrators”. Aboard the Spacemaster are Ensor (Tony Caunter of The Crusade, Colony in Space and Enlightenment) and Space Surgeon (!) Maryatt. So it’s

Blake’s 7 1.11: Bounty   It was inevitable that the series would trot out a retro-planet budget-saver at some point, and it’s a shame that it comes attached to a story as unimaginative as this one. Blake and Cally teleport down to a Federation planet with the intention of returning the exiled President Sarkoff (T.P. McKenna, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy) to his people on Lindor. Sarkoff is under guard so there’s quite a bit of extended ducking and running for Blake and Cally to do, only to find Sarkoff is extremely reluctant to return. He is content to wallow

Blake’s 7 1.10: Breakdown   So, a Gan-centric episode. Just what everyone has been waiting for! I’m rather grateful that Nation’s original premise for this never came to pass (an alien duplicate of Gan fights the mental giant, trying to take over the Liberator) as two roles for David Jackson is more than any episode could bear. The first thirty minutes are Liberator-bound, and the snail’s pace suggests filler material was necessary at times (the examination of Gan’s bonce takes an age.) The rest of the episode is a massive step up from what preceded it, albeit not enough to

Blake’s 7 1.9: Project Avalon   As far as polished-looking episodes go, this is one of the first season’s shinier baubles. Michael E Briant, back in Wooky Hole following Revenge of the Cybermen, makes the most of his locations and gives us a few convincing snowy exteriors. The script isn’t quite up to what he brings to the table however, despite a few half-decent twists along the way. Blake’s mission this week if he’s prepared to accept it Jim is to make contact with and evacuate resistance leader Avalon from a planet (I must have missed the name.) But, of course,

Blake’s 7 1.8: Duel   This seems to be one of the most renowned season one episodes, although I’m not sure how much of that is to do with its similarity to Star Trek’s Arena and how much is due to the series doing a miniature action movie, courtesy of old hand Douglas Camfield. It’s undeniably well-directed, although the premise and content is fairly slender. Perhaps surprisingly, the most meat on its bones is found with Travis’ interaction with his Mutoid subordinate (although we have already seen a previous episode, Seek-Locate-Destroy, where the best bits were all Federation). Despite the night-time, lightning-lashed setting, the

Blake’s 7 1.7: Mission to Destiny An exercise in format-testing/stretching, Mission to Destiny ditches Blake’s beef with the Federation for a week and replaces it with a good old-fashioned murder mystery. One in which Avon gets to call the shots. For the most part the proceedings are handled reliably if unshowily by Pennant Roberts. Although, he seems to have taken an arbitrary approach to shooting some scenes on film and others on video. If the mystery itself is a fairly standard set-up, it succeeds by revelling in the trappings rather than paying lip service to them. Vila: Mock if you like, but I

Blake’s 7 1.6: Seek-Locate-Destroy   There’s a considerable amount of talk in this episode, partly due to the introduction of two new regular characters and partly due to the amount of exposition focusing on Blake’s background and the mechanics of the Federation. Fortunately, it’s almost all interesting and certainly all of it is delivered by commanding performers. However, the first quarter of the story is mostly action-based with Blake finally reaching Cetero. After all the build-up, it’s not really all that. Indeed, it looks rather surprisingly like a 1970s industrial site so there’s a distinct pattern forming here for the

Blake’s 7 1.5: The Web   My understanding is that The Web has never had such a great reputation. Certainly, its effectiveness is hampered by elements of make-up/design that don’t quite work (the Decimas, Saymon). Balancing that we have Michael E Briant pulling out all the stops to direct an atmospheric and inventively shot episode. His work highlights that while Pennant Roberts and Vere Lorrimer have been competent thus far, that’s all they have been. The location shoot in Black Park (Full Circle) makes a respite from two weeks of quarries, and the tracking shots through web-strewn vegetation sets the scene nicely.

Blake’s 7 1.4: Time Squad   Oh dear, unfortunate that we kick off with a cut-out animated Liberator against a starry backdrop. Captain Zep would approve. I don’t know why they couldn’t just keep reusing the same model shot. Team Liberator learning the controls and bantering sets the scene for their first mission proper, and firms up the dynamics of the group. Gan damply follows Blake’s every suggestion, Vila trys to chicken out and Avon acidly puts down any proposed action from their self-nominated leader. Vila (to Blake): I don’t follow you. Avon: Oh, but you do. And that’s the problem. The mission

Blake’s 7 1.3: Cygnus Alpha   Well, the quality couldn’t last. Vere Lorrimer does a solid job directing this one, and the night shooting adds atmosphere in spades. Unfortunately the religious cult on a prison planet just isn’t that interesting (notably, big Brian Blessed was about the only well-known British thesp who wasn’t cast in the similarly themed Alien³). It’s Who-central from the off with lovely lovely lovely Kara (Pamela Salem – The Robots of Death and Remembrance of the Daleks) and the Caber, I mean Laran (Robert Russell, Terror of the Zygons) noting the incoming London. Which reuses a shot from Space Fall (the spinning object

Blake’s 7 1.2: Space Fall   I owned a copy of the BBC video release of the butchered first four B7 stories, and it was Space Fall that made the strongest impression (I joined the original broadcast of the series during Season Three). The difference between this and The Way Back is very evident in terms of atmosphere, and as such it feels like a second pilot, or the way in which US TV commissions a pilot and then rejigs a significant number of elements (tonally, cast or otherwise) by the time the series begins. It’s interesting to note that this was shot before the

Blake’s 7 1.1: The Way Back   I probably buck the trend when it comes to appreciation of Blake’s 7, in that I enjoyed it more as it went along. Season One, at times, felt too much like it was emulating the drab monotone of the dystopian Earth we’re introduced to in the first episode. That said, I don’t think I’ve seen any episode of the series more than four times, and the vast majority no more than twice, so I’m looking forward to discovering new things to like (or not) about it. For the most part I’m going to avoid