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This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 21:52:19

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Maximal power.

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Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to the Maximum Power Blake 7 series A slash one slash tarriel cell retrospective podcast.

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I'm Brendan.

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I'm Cole.

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I'm Nathan.

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I'm Peter.

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I'm Pete.

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And I'm Cy.

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And today we will be looking back over the 1st series of Blake 7.

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And if I say 1st series, it avoids all those horrible arguments about what this thing is actually called.

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So I'm going to start with a question and we'll go through the group, and this is just a question for any listeners who might have come to this podcast as sort of a summary and they haven't heard the previous episodes, and this is just a bit of a warm-up question.

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So, Cole, if you could recommend one episode of this series of Blake 7 to a listener who has never watched the series before, which episode would it be and why?

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I would go with the way back because it explores lots of really interesting themes and then completely abandons them for the rest of the entire thing.

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No, I think it's a brilliant opener.

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It's just got the these, it just gives a great job of world building of this, you know, drug induced tranquillity and sort of Pretty Patel's Britain, sorry.

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Yeah, no, it just sets things up.

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It's dark, it's twisted.

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You kind of get this feeling of, wow, this is building to something.

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And, you know, you want to come back next week.

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So I would start with the 1st episode.

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Fantastic.

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Thank you.

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Nathan?

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Um, I would go with Project Avalon.

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And I think probably...

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I was going for that one.

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You were right.

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It seems like typical Blake 7.

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And it isn't really typical for the season, but it does seem to be going in the direction that the show will eventually go in, I think.

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And it has all of the sort of series strengths and weaknesses.

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You know, there's all sorts of crappinesses and upsetting things that are sort of typical of like seven, but it's got Servoland, it's got Travis.

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It's, you know, pretty enjoyable.

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There's enough plot and incident to fill out 50 minutes.

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So I think I'm going with that one.

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Fantastic.

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Well, there's a space corridor, right?

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Love a space corridor.

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Why are we here?

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Fantastic.

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Thank you.

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Peter.

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Oh, well, I'm going to go for all the same reasons as Nathan, but instead I'm going to go seeklocate destroy.

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The 1st episode I ever saw, which hooked me on this series.

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I just think it's kind of the, it's the acme of Blake 7 Clocate destroy.

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It sort of, it's finally arrived fully formed in what the series will be.

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And it's the 1st time that we see all of our regulars, all of the gang kind of working together in their assigned roles.

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They're all away on a mission doing something.

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Jenna's operating the teleport.

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You know, everything's in place and for me, it's just, um, it's exactly what Blake 7 should be.

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Fantastic.

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Pete?

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Uh, I, yeah, and the, which is the best episode, typical of Blake 7, which is the episode most typical of this series.

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A slightly different questions.

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The duel is probably the one I've enjoyed, I enjoyed most.

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I love the vampirism.

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It's maybe atypical, but it was the one that really dragged me in.

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Yeah, I'm going to go, dual.

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Oh, wonderful.

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And Si, Project Avalon, or would you like to pick another?

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Well, I would pick Project Avalon.

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I think that's like Nathan said, it's archetypal Blake 7 for me.

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It's Blake versus the Federation.

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There's lots of chases, lots of action.

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It's the one that I think of from Sirius A. Yeah, just the one I'd come back to each time.

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I know when I got Britbox for the 1st time last Christmas.

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I thought, oh, I'll watch an episode of Blake 7 and it was Project Avalon.

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So yeah, it's always that one really. wonderful.

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Okay, so that's a good range of episodes there, I think.

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Now, a similar question, but this is more in universe.

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I want to talk about the locations that we've visited along the way.

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And I'm just wondering where each of you would live in this universe.

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So, uh, let's start with you again, Si.

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Well, Earth wouldn't be too bad, because most of the time, you probably wouldn't notice what's going on around you, but you don't run the whole time that actually life would be pretty, pretty okay.

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I mean, I watch those people walking around in the dome and they've got beautiful velour.

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They're, they set up for life, really.

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I'm not these fresh puppies.

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I mean, just static electricity is the biggest danger to you.

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I'm just saying, I'm with all that polystyrene.

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All those street monuments, you know, you might be in trouble.

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But yeah, I suppose you only have to step out of line and you're in that holding sale with women screaming at you.

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Yeah, I don't know.

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I think Earth would be pretty okay.

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Pete?

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Like the kid who's only read one book before going into an exam.

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I'm also going to say duel again.

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I just really like...

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Is it called names?

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Duelless.

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I love the forest.

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I love a space forest, space caves are also good, but science fiction forests are just I love the contrast of that.

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And yeah, that's I would be up a tree avoiding vampire bats and metaphorical vampires in that forest, I think.

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Yeah, great.

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I mean, you know, you've got nuts to eat and as you say, bats.

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Yeah, I'm a growing boy fellow.

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Nuts and berries are not the answer. eating bats maybe also isn't a good idea. a bit of trouble.

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How about you, Nathan?

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Well, I think that I think that Cy and I are copying each other's work at this point because I would live on Earth as well.

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And I think more or less for the same reason.

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There's that sort of fantastic moment where Ravella asks Blake, doesn't it bother you that you spend your life in a state of drug induced tranquillity?

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And I would have to say, no, that wouldn't bother me in anyway.

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And until the Federation releases Pylene 50 and I can hang around a shopping centre going up and down escalators, I think, I think that probably Earth is the best bad.

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Great.

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Coal, anywhere with a metal door in a rock face, an iPad.

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That's like seven.

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MP.

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I mean that's every episode, right?

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Sorry.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Where I live?

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Yeah.

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Oh, I'd hang out on a space station XK72 with Julian Glover and, you know, all the pretty ladies that his assistant is after because, you know, who wouldn't want to live on a space station shaped like a balloon animal.

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Just check your insurance policy.

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Absolutely.

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You stuck my hands.

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I mean, I'd be very happy living with living with Dr. Kane's assistant, to be quite honest with you.

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You'd have to be a pretty lady, Brenda.

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I can be a pretty lady, I can be a pretty lady. to be honest with you.

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I've got the foundation garments.

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I think I'd actually pick Sarkov's prison.

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I like a nice folly.

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Vinyl collection.

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Silver wine.

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A nice automobile.

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Yeah.

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Yes, lots of guards that can't do anything.

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I can think up a few things.

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Anyway.

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Which leads us to...

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Still up that turret.

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Which leads us neatly into a category.

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I am very shamelessly stolen from my dear friend Todd over on both your entirety.

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This is Snog Mary, put in a water tank so deep Roy can throw rocks at them, and this one is for Pete.

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Servolan, Travis or Dev Tarrant.

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Um, I have got, well, I've got to marry.

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If I could marry a Tarrant and have the surname Tarrant, that would just turn me into an amazing outer space type person.

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So I'm doing that for the surname alone.

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Uh, uh, uh, uh, then in that case, I've got to, I'm going to, I'm going to snog Travis.

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Travis is exceedingly snuggable in this 1st year.

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As I said before, when I 1st watched this series.

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He was like some middle-aged bloke now.

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I look at him and he's a handsome young man.

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That's amazing how the Patrick of time and changed one's perspective on 1970s actors.

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Um, but then for that means, well, I would avoid serverland, because obviously she would see me as a supreme bitch, um, challenger to her role of fabulousness.

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So she'd want to do away with me.

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So I would have to avoid her like space play.

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You couldn't marry server and you'd be dead within a week.

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Precisely.

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Whereas I'd probably outlived somebody with a surname Tarrant, on average, some of them last a bit longer, but on average, Tarrant, don't crank around all that long.

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Yeah, well, I have to say, Pete, good choice with Travis, because I have found Rod's notes from when we watched series A, including that note that he doesn't want to watch series B, because as far as he's concerned, everyone's dead.

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But he does say Travis has best bottom in show.

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So yeah, I think he'd agree with you.

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Isn't that a stunt bottom, though, from the final episode?

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Yeah, but I don't think you see it.

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I don't think you see it.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Bottom if I haven't. who plays that stunt, Travis, because I'd love to think that it's Peter Lorimer.

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I'm playing Trevor Lab this week.

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During the week, I asked everyone who'd been involved in the podcast, this series to rate our characters out of 10. and my grandmaster plan for that, and I apologise to the statisticians on the team who are probably going to tell me I've done this wrong, but I added all the scores together and then expressed them as a percentage as sort of a satisfaction index of our different characters.

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Does anyone want to take a guess as to who came last?

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Don't want girls in science fiction.

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Well, look, I have to say, this person does share the last 2 letters of Circle Man.

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The satisfaction percentage of 43.75%.

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Ouch.

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It's Olag.

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Oh, kill my woman.

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You know what he needed?

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He needed a beard.

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He needed to give him a, he's a bear without a beard and that just doesn't work.

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At least stubble.

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That would have that would have saved his throwing Jenna at him or something.

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I do think it's a great shame because although, you know, Pete has openly expressed contempt for David Jackson on the podcast.

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He is actually...

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I don't know who he was. in front of him.

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I didn't I didn't say you're awful.

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I said I have no idea who you are.

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Is that worse?

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I don't know.

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Had you seen 2 seasons of Blake 7 at that point?

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I mean, it's entirely possible.

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Yeah, we done a rewatch about a year earlier.

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Oh, God.

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I mean, he's, they don't know what to do with him.

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I mean, Terry Nation is not sort of characterisation guy at the best of times and they just kind of give Gan a high concept thing and then throw David Jackson at the role who has a lovely voice, but and sort of seems to be doing his best, but it's a pretty thankless role, I think.

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And the thing is that when Gan does get given something in series A. He's actually pretty good to watch.

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I really quite enjoy that.

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I think we called it at the time, the double A plot, or maybe the double B plot of Time Squad, where he and Jenna are kind of sorting things out on board the Liberator with the, uh, with the people who are in cryogenesis.

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I think he's really quite watchable.

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It's just that he never gets anything interesting today.

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No, because he takes charge quite quickly in Cygnus Alpha when he's down on the planet of the convicts, which is quite interesting to see going back to it after you see what happens to the character.

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So there's obviously potential there, but they just never realised it.

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That might be his best role, might not?

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Yeah, and he set up to be the strong man who just needs a leader to follow. strong man in a cardigan.

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And then there's just not much for him to do.

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And you can absolutely tell that they knew it because when it comes time to do a again episode, he doesn't get to do anything in it.

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Yeah, he sleeps most of the episode.

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I found out something interesting about that Gan episode, which I didn't know when we recorded it.

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And I don't think this was discussed, and if it was, please cut this out.

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Is it that it's full of lovely ladies?

201
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The gan is short for ganitis.

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Well, the limiter was going to break down and he was going to have his little fight scene.

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Um, but then the the solution of uh, the limiter was going to play into this situation where where they're going through that um, evil zone of space, which serves basically no function in the plot instead of set for a bit of word peril.

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They were actually going to encounter a ship.

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And Gan would teleport over to it.

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There would be a consciousness there that would take his form and they would both come back and it would be like a Mirror Gan episode.

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So you would have one gan who's this rampaging guy and the other gan who's really calm, but the rampaging guy is actually the real gan, and they have to sort out other gan together.

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And then, um, then he gets his limiter replace, uh, like fixed in about 5 minutes.

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And it was a lot more perfunctory.

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So he actually would have had a lot more to do.

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And yeah, it looks like even at this point they're just like, oh, no.

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No.

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Let's tie it to the bed.

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I don't know, maybe ripping off one Star Trek episode in...

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. 2 might be just pushing it.

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It's about this script.

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Well, I'm not repeating myself at all.

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No, but you're ripping off Star Trek again.

219
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He does win this season's posh watch award, because there's one episode where he goes, well, it was, it was a miserable...

220
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My woman.

221
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Moving slightly up the rankings then.

222
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The next character on 70% approval.

223
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So it's quite a jump to the next character.

224
00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:34.620
However, it's a little bit surprising that the 2nd lowest ranked character. is Rog Blake.

225
00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:36.779
I'm not surprised by that.

226
00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:38.279
No I'm not surprised at all.

227
00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.080
No, but he's boring.

228
00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:42.120
And he can't run.

229
00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:50.639
It's the pudgy middle-aged man fight sequences that absolutely kind of cement him in that rating for me.

230
00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:57.539
It's kind of like, you know, Avon is written as the very cerebral character who doesn't get physically involved.

231
00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:03.899
But then Gareth Thomas is also very cerebral and doesn't get him doesn't get physically involved.

232
00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:08.639
And when he does, he's flapping his arms about like he's got no bones in his forearms.

233
00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.600
And that's before the bingo wings for next season.

234
00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:18.779
I just did a quick search of my notes to find out what I've written about Blake to defend him with them.

235
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:23.399
The word Blake doesn't appear in my notes. this season.

236
00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:29.879
Apart from an observation, by the way, he says the word viscual instead of visual.

237
00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:32.940
That's the everything I remember I wrote now.

238
00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:35.399
He's on a quixotic quest.

239
00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:38.639
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?

240
00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:40.980
Because you have all of these really quite interesting characters.

241
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:50.340
I think Terry Nation, you know, has served up a really interesting bunch, but Blake is kind of the least interesting of all of them, and that's not a reflection on Gareth Thomas.

242
00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:58.799
So I think is, you know, pretty decent and he's, if he's not exactly charismatic, he sort of makes Blake grounded and sort of, you know, gives him a mission that you can believe in.

243
00:16:58.919 --> 00:17:03.360
But Blake just isn't as interesting as someone like Avon or Jenna or Callie.

244
00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:06.960
Is the problem that he just falls into the role?

245
00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:18.720
Like, he ends up leading this group of people, not because of his sort of dynamism or his, his, you know, fierce hatred of the Federation or because of something he stands for.

246
00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:29.339
He just sort of is some schlub who wanders around and gets arrested for no reason that he can remember and then sent off to prison and stumbles across a big spaceship.

247
00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:36.059
He doesn't drive the kind of creation of the, of the premise in any way at all.

248
00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:44.339
He sort of talks ideology and stuff like that, but he just, he just doesn't quite seem to be the right character as the lead for a show with his premise, I think.

249
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.180
He's kind of neutral good, isn't he?

250
00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:53.039
Surrounded by these people who are chaotic, good or evil or whatever, you know, the rest of the gang.

251
00:17:53.099 --> 00:18:03.900
And so he's, because he's sat there as the one who will do the right thing, well, all of the others will do the interesting thing. that makes him a sort of uncharacter.

252
00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.980
But then that it, but he's the hub of the wheel sort of thing.

253
00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:24.539
So, so, so I could see what, I mean, getting ahead of ourselves, that why they didn't decide to start out with a series without, let's have this, let's take the sinister, slightly, slightly sinister Machiavellian one and make him the central character, which in retrospect would actually have been the obvious thing to do.

254
00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:38.579
But yeah, having this point, this kind of neutral guy in the sort of hero role, I say neutral, and obviously he's very committed to his, you know, he's the kind of person who'd be really up about electoral reform and stuff like that, really, wouldn't he?

255
00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.119
He's a very real democrat, sort of thing.

256
00:18:42.180 --> 00:18:44.400
Very liberal democrat.

257
00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:55.500
I think there's a central problem with Blake as well in his character, and it's set up in that 1st episode, which we've talked about the fact that the 1st episode is actually not like the rest of the series.

258
00:18:55.559 --> 00:19:03.359
And so even though I love the way back, I don't think it's a very successful debut because it doesn't really give you a flavour of what the series is like, it's a standalone thing.

259
00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:06.240
But back then, they sort of glossed over it.

260
00:19:06.299 --> 00:19:07.259
Now it's a problem.

261
00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:17.400
Blake and his conviction for quote unquote moral deviation, it's sort of weird and glossed over because Terry Nation used that as sort of something hard hitting to go in on.

262
00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:29.640
But wouldn't you think that down the track, as the show gets camper and it gets a bit more tasteless to think about that, all of these people who Blake would be encountering, their 1st thought would be, oh yeah, you're the guy who got sent down for that.

263
00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:33.900
Yeah, it's never, it's it's never mentioned past episode too.

264
00:19:33.960 --> 00:19:36.119
No, yeah, thank goodness, though.

265
00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:39.900
It's the same with his memory.

266
00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:42.119
So his memory's been wiped.

267
00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:50.099
He's forgotten everything that's happened to him, and then he gets his memories back, but we don't ever sort of deal with him getting his memories back.

268
00:19:50.099 --> 00:20:04.559
And surely that should be really traumatic and really in a really interesting part of his character to for him to find out what he's done in the past, but you just get a little line in seat locate destroys, said, oh, yeah, I got my memories back weeks ago.

269
00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:11.279
Well, that thing, they've been bobbing into my mind, you know, like, watching some repeats.

270
00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:18.539
You see this Irish policeman in the distance and he doesn't know what that's about. been seeing him for weeks, honestly.

271
00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:22.740
He was running down a corridor and someone stepped out and clubbed to me and went, oh, yeah.

272
00:20:23.819 --> 00:20:34.319
But it's lucky he gets it back just in time to remember the reboot of Blake 7 where he's been, he has an arch enemy all the time that we've not heard of before.

273
00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:38.880
Yeah, it's just his character just doesn't quite work, does it?

274
00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:39.779
No.

275
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:49.559
That does give rise to one of my favourite scenes in the way back, though, where Bran fosters logic free meeting with Blake, where they come together and he pumps his hand and says, oh, good to see you again.

276
00:20:49.619 --> 00:20:54.539
And he looks momentarily puzzled and then slaps his brow and says, oh yeah, the whole brain wiping thing.

277
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.200
Oh, I remember.

278
00:20:58.259 --> 00:20:58.559
Yeah.

279
00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:10.980
But I think the problem is that the BBC doesn't really want to do a show about a revolutionary, like someone who is absolutely committed to bringing down a totalitarian government.

280
00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:16.200
And so they just kind of make him this kind of milk toast guy who's just sort of stumbled in here somehow.

281
00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:18.660
Well, Thatcher really hadn't started.

282
00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:22.740
Thatcher hadn't become prime minister yet, so they wouldn't know to do that.

283
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:26.220
No one wanted to rise up and overthrow Jimmy Callaan or...

284
00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:29.160
They only needed to gently lean on Jimmy.

285
00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:33.779
It wasn't really, yeah.

286
00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:45.359
It's weird looking at it now, as an example of what I suppose is sort of typical for the time, though, of a serial in which characters do not have arcs, really.

287
00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:52.079
It's their job to turn up and be Batman and Robin every week. or whoever they are, or the Riddler or the Joker.

288
00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:52.799
That's just normal.

289
00:21:52.859 --> 00:21:54.720
That's what a serial is supposed to be.

290
00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:55.440
Duh.

291
00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:56.940
Why would you want character development?

292
00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:01.259
would be that they might say it more eloquently than I just did.

293
00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:09.359
But unless it's a film of a novel, in which case, sorry, a series, you know, an adaptation of a novel, in which case you'll go through someone's life.

294
00:22:09.420 --> 00:22:11.099
But when it's an adventure serial.

295
00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:18.240
That does that just seems to be a modern thing, which did it just not occur to them at the time that people might enjoy that?

296
00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:19.799
Is it the old thing of it?

297
00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.700
Well, it'll go into syndication in America one day, so everything's got to be able to be shown in random order.

298
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:26.039
Voyager printed out.

299
00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:27.420
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

300
00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:35.339
Harry Kim will never learn how to open an envelope because he didn't have to do an episode one and he won't know how to do an episode 500.

301
00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:41.039
And it's not like dramas of the time didn't have character arcs.

302
00:22:41.099 --> 00:22:52.680
You know, you look at any period drama that the BBC or ITV were making and the characters developed and changed and got married and had relationships and children and, you know, got killed and new characters got brought in.

303
00:22:52.740 --> 00:22:55.019
Yeah, so it is very odd.

304
00:22:55.079 --> 00:23:06.539
And there are moments simple, except, like inseclocate destroy with, Oh, yeah, my memories came back weeks ago where you do get that development, but instead of being a gradual thing, it's just like, yeah, that's already happened, don't you remember stupid, it's like, well, no, it didn't.

305
00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:08.339
And now that we have videotape.

306
00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:09.480
We can go back and look at it.

307
00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:09.839
Thank you.

308
00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:15.240
It's like the point in an argument where somebody says, I've already apologised for that.

309
00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:19.619
You just want to jump to a point afterwards, you did.

310
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:36.539
Speaking of a character who would never say I've already told you that, but just wouldn't tell you, unless it wasn't for your own good, we have Zen, is the next most popular character in our little group or 73.75% approval rating.

311
00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:45.299
So the bloody computer outranks the lead of the show. 7 hour rings to blink.

312
00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.400
Well, he's just got such a beautiful calm voice, hasn't he?

313
00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:52.859
It's just a reassuring presence on the ship.

314
00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:57.839
Again, he's a very oddly characterised computer through this series.

315
00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:01.200
Yeah, and it's kind of like unlike the lead.

316
00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:03.180
He's got hidden depth.

317
00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:11.640
Because with Blake, we, the audience, are never in any doubt that he's not guilty of what he was accused, but what if we did have that doubt?

318
00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.400
What if these charges were there?

319
00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:17.640
And we were, it was presented to us as the audiences.

320
00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:18.960
Actually, no, this is credible.

321
00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:19.980
This could have happened.

322
00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:24.960
And so we could spend the whole 1st series going, okay, yeah, he's a revolutionary.

323
00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:27.359
He's doing all this stuff, but is he actually a pervert?

324
00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:28.019
We don't know.

325
00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.640
Where a Zen?

326
00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:31.680
Hey, I'm not...

327
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.559
I'm not saying...

328
00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:41.099
Well, I'm just saying Zen, you know, the characters constantly comment when Zen is not being helpful.

329
00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:42.779
Who is he actually working for?

330
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.519
Is he on our side, et cetera, et cetera?

331
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:52.079
So there's always that bit of danger there with Zen that you don't get with the lead of the show and you even get that with characters like Avon and Kelly.

332
00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:54.059
You don't know where their true allegiance is away.

333
00:24:54.119 --> 00:25:02.519
And I think that's what elevates Zen from being just a computer voice, which most sci-fi stories were doing at the time, to being a character.

334
00:25:02.579 --> 00:25:05.099
Yeah, and they landed it really well with the name.

335
00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:14.519
Zen is such a fantastic name for a calm computer to then, whenever it gets slightly deranged, it just makes it more upsetting and perilous to everybody.

336
00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:17.819
If it was just called Thinkbot 12,000.

337
00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:24.059
It wouldn't be so, it wouldn't be so dramatic if it started going haywire, but when Zen starts to go haywire.

338
00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:25.259
You know, there's a big deal going down.

339
00:25:25.380 --> 00:25:28.019
I think there's an aesthetic thing with Zen as well.

340
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:34.140
I mean, we can't underappreciate Roger Murray Leach's design work, but Zen is a nice looking computer.

341
00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:36.660
Yeah, it doesn't need to look how it looks.

342
00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.819
It looks how it looks because it's awesome.

343
00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:49.559
Yeah, it's kind of like it sort of fits the flight deck aesthetic and gives you the idea of being a computer without being high tech, like maybe slave later on.

344
00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:50.339
Exactly.

345
00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.339
Those flashing lights are just, they're just beautiful, aren't they?

346
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:55.680
And it shouldn't work, but it really does.

347
00:25:56.039 --> 00:26:02.579
I think it's that central lie that lights up when he's speaking that's almost kind of like a mouth.

348
00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:09.420
You know, is it an early episode where they haven't quite established how the lights are going to go and they just all flash on it once, whenever you speak?

349
00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:13.500
And then later on they decide, actually, we're not going to do that.

350
00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:15.599
And it's really great.

351
00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:19.200
Just the way that that light lights up while he's speaking.

352
00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:23.880
I don't know, I don't know what it is about it, but it really kind of sells it properly.

353
00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:38.880
It's a little bit of a shame that he's so unhelpful sometimes when it seems to be just, oops, we gave them an all knowing computer and that would ruin our plot if it actually worked, you know.

354
00:26:38.940 --> 00:26:44.700
And then they have to take that away from him and give that quality to the other or no introducer.

355
00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:54.599
Now, I will just say to our listeners, you won't hear about Aurak in this, in this array of characters just because he's only in one episode, this series.

356
00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:57.059
He's not he's not a regulator.

357
00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:57.779
Not Canon.

358
00:26:57.839 --> 00:26:59.880
It's special guest appearance by Aurak.

359
00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:02.099
He'll take the number to eight.

360
00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:03.599
That's not...

361
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.119
That won't be a problem for long.

362
00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:21.779
Now, the last Mender of Blake's crew to join in the 1st part of this series is Cali, who is slightly ahead of Zen and approval with 75%.

363
00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:24.660
Oh, she deserves better.

364
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:27.119
This is not Kelly's moment to shine.

365
00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:36.839
I think as we go on in the series, and I'll keep it spoiler free, I think that Callie becomes a much more integral part of the series and becomes a character who is much more beloved.

366
00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:39.839
But in this season, she's good.

367
00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:40.799
She not quite there yet.

368
00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:42.900
No, I'd agree with that.

369
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.859
I think you're right there.

370
00:27:43.920 --> 00:28:12.180
The Genesis is there, but they're obviously working out what to do with her through most of the year, and I think perhaps the most interesting episode for her other than Time Squad, where she's really kick ass and brilliant, is Mission to Destiny, where she gets her 1st pairing with Avon, and you can see the seeds of a really interesting relationship and friendship between the 2 of them at its genesis.

371
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:18.180
And I, I, that's one of my favourite pairings in the whole of the show and I'd watch them in any episode.

372
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.559
I think they're superb together.

373
00:28:19.619 --> 00:28:31.019
So they kind of do this thing where they go, oh, she's kind of a bit alien and she's got these like, um, telepathic powers and things, and it's, it's kind of underused.

374
00:28:31.079 --> 00:28:31.980
Really?

375
00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:37.259
And you'd feel like they could have given her more different some more different alien qualities or something like that.

376
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:43.440
Because it kind of goes away for a long, long time and it's kind of faded out after a while.

377
00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:47.039
She starts off well and they they do go to town on that.

378
00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:49.440
Yeah, she sort of comes in spurts, doesn't she?

379
00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:54.240
She'll just be sometimes a spotlight lands on her and she shines, she really shines.

380
00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:59.279
And then a script just doesn't have any Cali stuff for her to do.

381
00:28:59.339 --> 00:29:01.680
So she's she's not she's left not doing much.

382
00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:04.980
She is the Deanna Troy of this series.

383
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:08.279
It is a weird shame though, isn't it?

384
00:29:08.339 --> 00:29:17.640
Because the show over its run will 3 times introduce a new female character who sort of kick arse and gun wielding and and all of that kind of thing.

385
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:19.980
And she's the 1st iteration of that.

386
00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:30.480
And they just can't see how to commit to it and she just turns into the other lady character, you know, who is sort of super passive and doesn't do anything.

387
00:29:30.539 --> 00:29:32.940
You know, it is a bit of a shame.

388
00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:38.339
They will do a better job. the next time and possibly the time after that, although who knows?

389
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:49.559
Um, but, you know, this one, you know, she's very, very quickly just the nurse, like by breakdown, isn't she kind of like, um, that's right.

390
00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:57.660
You know, yeah, she's turned into the ship's nurse, which is super disappointing development, given her sort of kick-ass introduction.

391
00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:06.240
Yeah, and and and if it was a case of, well, you know, the writers have come, the writers are coming to this series with their individual pictures of their stories and and they're not picking up the threads of the preview.

392
00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:06.720
No, hang on.

393
00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:18.960
The same fucking bloke wrote the whole thing in an excuse for forgetting that he created a really interesting character and then has her turning down hospital corners on bedsheets in one episode because somebody's got to do it.

394
00:30:19.019 --> 00:30:27.359
And the fact that she is at heart, an interesting character and is played by an interesting actress means that Cali is the prime beneficiary of teleport swapperoo.

395
00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:37.980
So if you play the game in your head where you think, I will swap out one character for another on an away mission, if you add Calli to any scenario where they're down on a planet, it can only be more interesting.

396
00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:41.819
So I'm thinking about the planet in Aurak.

397
00:30:41.880 --> 00:30:48.420
If it hadn't been Blake and one of the other crew members, I just don't think it would have been as much fun to watch as the fact it's Blake and County.

398
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:49.500
I'd agree with you there.

399
00:30:49.559 --> 00:31:06.539
I agree with what you said earlier, Simon, about Mission to Destiny, being Callie's strongest episode, and it's really interesting comparing that to breakdown, because in Mission to Destiny, there's that moment where Callie says, oh, yeah, look, we'll stay here as hostages and investigate for you and Avon's like, you what?

400
00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:07.680
Um, uh, what?

401
00:31:08.099 --> 00:31:14.099
And she's got that line, a man who dress can never be betrayed only mistaken.

402
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:19.859
So she has this trusting nature and is very philosophical about that, but it's not naivety.

403
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.420
It's optimism, whereas you get to break down and it's naivety.

404
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:26.460
And I think that's that's the difference.

405
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:30.539
Cali's great when she's written as an optimist who has faith in people.

406
00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:33.240
But something like breakdown.

407
00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:41.940
It's like all the optimism in the world wouldn't compel the Callie of Time Squad and Mission to Destiny to unbuckle Gan, for God's sake.

408
00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:44.039
And yeah, go on, please unbuckle me.

409
00:31:44.099 --> 00:31:46.319
Oh, all right, then, but promise not to go on the rampage again.

410
00:31:46.380 --> 00:31:59.279
And it's just like, I mean, you could have, he, he, something in him could have, something in his mind could have given him the ability to override her because of her telepathy or something.

411
00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:05.099
You know, they could, they could have been a little bit around that that led to her being semi-hypnotized into releasing him.

412
00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:07.019
But no, it's just silly woman.

413
00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:07.500
She'll do it.

414
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.920
Which is infuriating because that's not at all how she's introduced.

415
00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:12.720
And that's not how she's treated later either.

416
00:32:12.779 --> 00:32:15.480
It's just such a weird moment to drop that ball.

417
00:32:15.539 --> 00:32:20.279
Moving on to the other leading lady of the cast.

418
00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:25.619
Jenna Stanis is slightly ahead of Cali by one point.

419
00:32:27.420 --> 00:32:29.940
That says it all, doesn't it?

420
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.039
76.25%.

421
00:32:32.339 --> 00:32:41.700
Jenna Stanis, who, according to Rod, has the only decent hair in Blake's crew, that was his observation.

422
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:42.599
Yeah.

423
00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:45.299
Fabulous base here.

424
00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:53.819
I think that the best thing about her is the fact that she very clearly thinks this is a little bit stupid.

425
00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:57.960
Yeah, she looks right down the cave. you watching this?

426
00:32:58.019 --> 00:32:59.279
Are you enjoying this?

427
00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:05.640
You know, that will only increase next year, which is why we end up not getting it after that.

428
00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:13.140
She's very, very clearly kind of as the show goes on, more and more amused by just how ridiculous all of this is.

429
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:15.480
Every 2nd line delivered with that half smirk.

430
00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:17.099
Oh, it's wonderful.

431
00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:20.579
I just adore her I think she is absolutely superb.

432
00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:26.640
But it's really not because of the writing or, you know, anything to do with her characterisation.

433
00:33:26.700 --> 00:33:29.339
It's entirely Sally's performance.

434
00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:31.500
She's just magnificent Well, you know what?

435
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:39.660
I'd forgotten how well Jenna is defined in series A. I think she loses it a little bit going on, but Jenna's given a big part of the action.

436
00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:44.460
She plays a good role and she's quite gutsy and um, I enjoy watching her.

437
00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:50.940
I like watching her lead the action in kind of, you know, those plots in time squad and bounty that she's a central part of.

438
00:33:50.940 --> 00:33:54.779
And I miss her when she's not in episodes like Clocate Destroy.

439
00:33:54.839 --> 00:33:55.920
I think she's great.

440
00:33:55.980 --> 00:33:58.200
I think she might be my favourite character in the 1st season.

441
00:33:58.259 --> 00:34:12.659
Yeah, interesting, because she has a really good relationship with Blake, and I know we've, we've said Blake is quite dull, but actually she brings out the best in him, which obviously isn't much.

442
00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:23.159
The scenes of the 2 of them in dual, for instance, are really fantastic.

443
00:34:23.219 --> 00:34:26.639
There's a real chemistry between the 2 actors, I think.

444
00:34:26.699 --> 00:34:34.079
And where they're sat up in the tree and they're talking and they're talking about their pasts and they're talking about what they're going to do.

445
00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:40.019
There's just a real sense, I think, of the 2 characters sort of having a bit of a bond.

446
00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:53.159
I know people will read into that a sort of romance thing, but I don't think there was any intention of doing that at all because Terry Nation hasn't got any interest in that kind of thing whatsoever.

447
00:34:53.219 --> 00:34:56.699
The sparks were there and it could have gone that way.

448
00:34:56.760 --> 00:35:03.059
There's that key line early on in Space 4 where Avon says, have you ever met an honest man and she's looking at Blake?

449
00:35:03.179 --> 00:35:03.780
She says, maybe.

450
00:35:03.840 --> 00:35:04.679
Yeah, exactly.

451
00:35:04.739 --> 00:35:18.300
Even, even, even, even the episode before that where when they're in the holding cell before getting on the ship and, you know, Jenna's been all sort of bullish and at one point she says to Blake, don't get your hopes up, no one gives a damn about you in here.

452
00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:23.820
A few scenes later, she kind, she kind of basically says, you know, I hope you're successful.

453
00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:26.159
I hope you get out and I wish there was someone out there working for me.

454
00:35:26.219 --> 00:35:39.960
And it's interesting because quite often, writers at this time, if they wanted to make a female character vulnerable, they would go down a stereotypical root of making her panic and scream and what have you.

455
00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:47.639
Whereas Jenna is very strong, but when she's vulnerable, it's more a matter of, look, I'm just speaking my mind here.

456
00:35:47.699 --> 00:35:53.880
I'm, you know, I'm still, I'm still composed, I'm still calm, but I am speaking my mind.

457
00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:58.920
And it kind of reminds me of what Honour Blackman said about playing Kathy Gale.

458
00:35:58.980 --> 00:36:03.480
She's like, the 1st few scripts were written for a man and all they did was replace the name.

459
00:36:03.539 --> 00:36:17.820
Yeah, Cassie Gale is what I've gotten in my notes for her, because I think Kathy Gale casts such a long shadow through 70s and 80s TV, adventure serials TV, very specifically, of having, you know, she's she is Sean Connery.

460
00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:21.480
She is the, the, she's a driver of plot.

461
00:36:21.539 --> 00:36:24.000
She's a, she's a, and with Jenna.

462
00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:27.780
She's a captain and a pilot of the ship and we don't get any lame.

463
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:31.019
Oh, there's a woman driving the ship, gags, which, let's be frank, in 78.

464
00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:35.579
That's a masterstroke of restraint from everyone here.

465
00:36:35.579 --> 00:36:40.619
Because it was bloody compulsory to if a woman got near a steering wheel to make some wacky crack about it.

466
00:36:40.679 --> 00:36:43.860
Well, isn't that the fact that every time Deanna Troy took the hell on the ship crashed.

467
00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:45.179
Yes.

468
00:36:45.179 --> 00:36:46.139
Yes.

469
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:59.039
So, yeah, so the fact that she is not written as the girl and that the performance always steers it away from that too. is really credit to her and the fact that she's glamorous as well.

470
00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:05.099
Because those 2 things are not exclusive and she's just a really comfortably drawn character, I think.

471
00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:11.099
Going to what some people would view as the hypermasculine end of the scale.

472
00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:13.679
Covered in leather.

473
00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:20.460
And wearing a BBC Nick Courtney eye patch. we have Pitt Villa.

474
00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:25.079
Sorry, friend.

475
00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:29.880
That's a better introduction, I could have hoped.

476
00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:32.760
It's Travis with 80%.

477
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:41.099
These votes, by the way, everyone at home were confidential, but I'm going to reveal that I actually only gave Travis a 6 out of 10.

478
00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:47.699
Just because, and once Stephen Griff pointed this out in an interview, I couldn't unsee it.

479
00:37:47.760 --> 00:37:50.940
He's like, for spoiler alert, he's not going to be around next season.

480
00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:55.440
One of the reasons he left was he's just like, every week Travis lost.

481
00:37:55.500 --> 00:37:56.699
Why is he still alive?

482
00:37:56.760 --> 00:37:58.440
Why doesn't Serv Elaine kill him?

483
00:37:58.500 --> 00:37:59.519
He's completely incompetent.

484
00:37:59.579 --> 00:38:03.360
I'm like, actually, yeah, like...

485
00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:05.519
But he's in a lot of trouble.

486
00:38:07.500 --> 00:38:10.800
That means Servolane gets to wear the eye patch tonight.

487
00:38:12.659 --> 00:38:16.559
I claimed earlier, and I'm shooting myself right down here.

488
00:38:16.619 --> 00:38:35.159
I claimed earlier that I didn't do story arcs and adventure serials, but my God, this guy's got a story arc, even if it's an accidental one, because he's introduced as this mad beast of complete callousness and server land is like just the politician who is his tamer and within about in about 3 episodes of actual screen time.

489
00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:41.940
Yeah, he's a he's a hapless complete failure, which is exciting to see.

490
00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.719
He's the minister that the prime minister doesn't sack because he's so shit.

491
00:38:45.780 --> 00:38:48.960
It makes the prime minister's stakes look less bad.

492
00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:51.360
We see this.

493
00:38:51.420 --> 00:38:54.059
Yeah, it's like we pointed out, isn't it?

494
00:38:54.119 --> 00:39:07.260
When we were doing the deliverance episode review, that the scenes of Travis and Servoland are completely reversed and their roles are completely reversed from synclocate destroy.

495
00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:24.119
And whether that's Chris Boucher filling in the plot, the very Finn script that he's got from Terry Nation that week and doing something clever, or whether Terry Nation did that, whatever, it's a fantastic piece of character work for this series, I think.

496
00:39:24.179 --> 00:39:27.840
You do have a kind of regular villain problem, don't you?

497
00:39:27.900 --> 00:39:33.719
Just sort of generally in adventure shows because it's not too long before they're clearly incompetent.

498
00:39:33.780 --> 00:39:42.480
I mean, look at the master in series 8 of Doctor Who, who just gets foiled, you know, literally every month without fail.

499
00:39:42.539 --> 00:39:45.480
And so it's always going to be a problem.

500
00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:48.420
And I do like how next year they will acknowledge it.

501
00:39:48.480 --> 00:39:50.699
But it's a striking performance.

502
00:39:50.760 --> 00:39:52.139
It is.

503
00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:58.079
It's a little bit like wacky races when, you know, he's called again every week.

504
00:39:58.139 --> 00:40:00.300
But he is quite commanding.

505
00:40:00.360 --> 00:40:06.539
He does capture the screen a lot and he's, you know, he's really determined.

506
00:40:06.599 --> 00:40:08.460
He's obviously got a grudge against Blake.

507
00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:10.920
The stupid finger thing, though.

508
00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:15.059
But, you know, I really like him.

509
00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:16.980
It's that thing of overusing it.

510
00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:23.579
You know, there should have been more Federation people or whatever, and he shouldn't have just been there every week because it does start to look formulaic.

511
00:40:23.699 --> 00:40:30.119
He's got a sort of real sort of laconic contempt for Blake that's visible in the performance.

512
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:34.980
Right, which I think is replaced by just kind of aggression next year.

513
00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:36.119
And I really like that.

514
00:40:36.179 --> 00:40:43.320
There's a kind of, again, it's another lip curl performance, uh, among the regulars and I think, uh, I think it's pretty good.

515
00:40:43.380 --> 00:40:46.019
Wouldn't you love to see Travis and Jenna facing off?

516
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:49.440
Oh yeah. makes me out.

517
00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:55.139
I know I know I've mentioned these before, but one of the Liberator Chronicles does do just that.

518
00:40:55.260 --> 00:41:03.719
There's one that pairs up Stephen Griff and selling a vet and one that pairs up Stephen Griff and Jan Chappel, and they're both really good.

519
00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:12.179
That's a nice confrontation, isn't there, between Stephen Griff and Jan Chappell at the end of Seatlocape Destroy that really sizzles.

520
00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:16.380
Well, we've got EastEnders travels to look forward to.

521
00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:32.039
Before we get to that vote. someone who, spoiler alert, is never recast on television, just slightly ahead of Travis at 81.25% approval, it's Villa Restal.

522
00:41:32.039 --> 00:41:33.119
Hooray.

523
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:41.699
Hooray, because it wasn't a server animal. top two.

524
00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:44.400
Really?

525
00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:45.119
This is thrilling.

526
00:41:45.420 --> 00:42:07.320
I said it before, but when I was a kid, as far as I concerned, Blake 7 was this show about this really funny guy called Villa and the people he hung around with and his and his computer in a box because I just wasn't used to science fiction action adventure series having a character like him in it, who's a character from a sitcom, or he's the comedy character from a soap, but the good but a good one, you know?

527
00:42:07.380 --> 00:42:11.880
So he's just so likeable and gets so many zingers of dialogue.

528
00:42:11.940 --> 00:42:32.219
He starts off being very unlikeable in the 1st episode, dealing Blake's watch or something, and he's pretty horrifically, you know, horrible and you like, they very quickly do, as you say, go or go a bit Terry and June on him and a bit ever decreasing circles on him and become the comedy character, and that is welcome.

529
00:42:32.280 --> 00:42:39.599
They do use them in the right way to because also it's like he becomes the spiring partner for Avon.

530
00:42:39.659 --> 00:42:42.780
Yeah, which is, you get the best lines coming out of it.

531
00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:51.900
So he's there, he's there to, he's there to sort of walk past signs that say top secret and to make make Paul Darrow say some terrific lines.

532
00:42:51.960 --> 00:43:09.239
What's very interesting thinking about the series as we've just watched is that every member of the cast gets their episode where they're really in the spotlight, but Villa doesn't, and he doesn't get one in series B either.

533
00:43:09.300 --> 00:43:14.760
It's takes until series C before he gets an episode that's a villa episode.

534
00:43:14.820 --> 00:43:22.860
Otherwise, he's the comedy foil or the 2nd person, the 2nd lead in the episode, but he's never the centre of attention here.

535
00:43:22.920 --> 00:43:24.840
I think that's his job.

536
00:43:24.900 --> 00:43:28.860
I think he's such an important character because he's the every man.

537
00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:34.019
And so he's there to basically comment on all the stupid things that Blake and Avon are going to do.

538
00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:36.780
And he draws the eye in any scene.

539
00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:40.380
So you can just like pop him into any scene and he makes it instantly more entertaining.

540
00:43:40.440 --> 00:43:41.460
He doesn't need to be the focus.

541
00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:48.420
And I think what also defines him is that everyone on the ship has a slightly different relationship with him.

542
00:43:48.480 --> 00:43:55.260
And so whenever someone is talking to him, he's kind of a mirror, we're learning more about their character.

543
00:43:55.320 --> 00:44:00.900
It's like Avon holds him in contempt, but respects his ability, Blake respects his ability.

544
00:44:00.960 --> 00:44:06.000
And really pushes him just as hard as Avon does but does it in a far more subtle way.

545
00:44:06.059 --> 00:44:09.719
Cali thinks he's this strange, funny little man.

546
00:44:09.780 --> 00:44:17.880
It's kind of weird that the relationship Villa has that is the least defined, is the one that is set up the earliest, which is his relationship with Gan.

547
00:44:17.940 --> 00:44:24.059
I think, you know, anyone sort of looking back and remembering the series if they remember Gan remembers, oh yeah, he's Villa's mate.

548
00:44:24.119 --> 00:44:28.079
And it's like, actually after Cygnus Alpha, they don't have much to do together.

549
00:44:28.139 --> 00:44:29.159
Yeah.

550
00:44:29.219 --> 00:44:30.780
There's a lot of Shakespearing going on.

551
00:44:30.840 --> 00:44:32.760
There's a lot of Shakespearean people on this.

552
00:44:32.820 --> 00:44:34.679
This is the most Shakespearean spaceship there's ever been.

553
00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:38.519
Villa's the fool, isn't he?

554
00:44:38.579 --> 00:44:39.719
He's Lear's fool, yeah.

555
00:44:39.780 --> 00:44:41.039
He's the jester.

556
00:44:41.099 --> 00:44:52.440
He's the one who's, yeah, who Blake and Avon are facing off about doing the right thing or doing the thing that will bring victory, then he'll just chip in with the thing, saying how stupid they vote for, and let's do this and stay alive instead.

557
00:44:52.500 --> 00:44:56.159
Yeah, let's wait for the keeper next series to see that point subtly made.

558
00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:00.360
Is it subtly made, Peter?

559
00:45:01.139 --> 00:45:09.659
He does have a nice line in the last line of the episode that makes you smile and makes the crew howl with laughter, doesn't he?

560
00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:12.360
And it's kind of like when Blake tries it, when can you get back to work?

561
00:45:12.420 --> 00:45:13.800
No.

562
00:45:13.860 --> 00:45:15.300
Just know.

563
00:45:15.360 --> 00:45:16.739
Give it to Villa.

564
00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:18.480
Villa would have made that fine work.

565
00:45:18.539 --> 00:45:21.539
No, Blake should just have bad jokes and nothing else.

566
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:22.019
That's all.

567
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:25.139
He should really do. he doesn't even have any of them, but he can probably do them.

568
00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:31.019
Now, someone who, even if he told a dad joke, we would be rolling in the aisles.

569
00:45:31.079 --> 00:45:40.079
We're jumping up a full 10 percentage point, oh, more than 10 percentage points here, by the way, with a 92.5% approval rating.

570
00:45:40.139 --> 00:45:42.239
It's ker Avon.

571
00:45:42.300 --> 00:45:43.800
Wow, right.

572
00:45:43.860 --> 00:45:50.639
Well, obviously, even at this early stage of the series, he's the one you're watching, isn't he?

573
00:45:50.699 --> 00:45:52.199
He's the one your eyes on.

574
00:45:52.260 --> 00:45:54.420
He's got the snarky comment.

575
00:45:54.480 --> 00:45:58.980
He's he's got the Chris Boucher touch in his dialogue every single week.

576
00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:06.539
He's just magnificent and Paul Darrow ceases every chance he can get to make this character come to the front of the episode.

577
00:46:06.599 --> 00:46:07.800
He's just superb.

578
00:46:07.860 --> 00:46:13.800
He's very, very much more restrained than he will end up being, but I think you've nailed it exactly, Si.

579
00:46:13.860 --> 00:46:38.940
I think that Chris Boucher loves writing lines for Avon, and he does it so incredibly well, that Avon shines even when he does seem like he's seeking to, he does seem like he's not trying to upstage anyone too much, but he just ends up doing it because the lines are so, so clever and so funny, and he delivers them in just such a superb way.

580
00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:41.039
Nathan Chris Boucher has said that, hasn't he?

581
00:46:41.099 --> 00:46:44.760
He said the entire year there was never a line spoken by Paul Darrow that wasn't written by him.

582
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:46.500
Oh, really?

583
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:46.920
Okay.

584
00:46:46.980 --> 00:46:47.400
Yeah.

585
00:46:47.460 --> 00:46:51.480
We know how you, you know, you found out that. information. didn't you?

586
00:46:51.539 --> 00:46:52.559
didn't you interview him?

587
00:46:52.619 --> 00:46:53.219
I did, yeah.

588
00:46:53.280 --> 00:46:55.380
Sorry, it sounded like some sort of covert means.

589
00:46:56.219 --> 00:46:58.980
You just said it to me over.

590
00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:04.260
You're basically Calais and he read his mind.

591
00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:13.980
I think Avon is the reason the show is successful and so watchable.

592
00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:14.820
It's the writing.

593
00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:16.679
It's the it's the delivery.

594
00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:22.440
Paul Darrow just gets better and better and better as the as the series goes on and it becomes his series.

595
00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:26.519
Him and Servolan are the magic formula.

596
00:47:26.579 --> 00:47:30.360
Sort of the droll quality that Blake 7 has all comes from Avon.

597
00:47:30.420 --> 00:47:33.420
So in my mind's eye, when I think of the show, I'm really thinking of him.

598
00:47:33.480 --> 00:47:44.280
Avon is also dry and a little bit camp and a little bit sarky and smart, and that's what I think the series is. like the whole thing takes its cue from him.

599
00:47:44.340 --> 00:47:45.179
Definitely.

600
00:47:45.239 --> 00:47:47.340
And it's just those moments, isn't it?

601
00:47:47.400 --> 00:47:52.500
Where he flashes his smile in the most unexpected moment.

602
00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:55.139
It's just a masterclass of performance.

603
00:47:55.199 --> 00:47:58.199
And I think we'll be saying this all the way through the series.

604
00:47:58.260 --> 00:48:00.420
Yeah, he's he's just superb.

605
00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:03.300
Yeah, it's one of those unrecastable roles, isn't it?

606
00:48:03.360 --> 00:48:06.119
Paul Darrow is Avon, is Paul Darrow.

607
00:48:06.179 --> 00:48:19.619
It's just him doing everything that he's been learning how to do up to that point, which if you read or listen to his autobiography includes everything from being Elvis in a musical to...

608
00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:23.219
If only we had recordings.

609
00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:26.519
Yeah, steals the show without chewing the scenery.

610
00:48:26.639 --> 00:48:34.440
But also has a little nibble now, whenever he feels like it. because Harry becomes more edible as time goes down.

611
00:48:35.219 --> 00:48:44.460
Wow But it's almost like, I mean, again, we're getting ahead of ourselves, but it's not a massive spoiler to say that Blake does not remain in the series throughout the full 4 years, even if he had.

612
00:48:44.519 --> 00:48:45.900
I know.

613
00:48:45.960 --> 00:48:50.760
Even if you had, I think Paul Darrow would have become the one that everyone was talking about.

614
00:48:50.820 --> 00:48:52.739
They probably already were anyway.

615
00:48:52.800 --> 00:48:53.280
I don't know.

616
00:48:53.340 --> 00:48:56.820
Certainly all the divorced women were, were they?

617
00:48:58.980 --> 00:49:14.340
I think, actually, the fact that Avon is such a successful character in the 1st year. has a negative impact on the 2nd year because Terry Nation takes note of just how good Paul Darrow is and how interesting Avon is and starts to push him to the front of the action.

618
00:49:14.400 --> 00:49:21.659
And so Avon plays a key role in virtually every series B episode, and it's to the detriment of some of the other characters. the women.

619
00:49:21.719 --> 00:49:33.119
I'm not sure if he started doing this yet, but the way he uses his gun, like a Smith and Western, you've got to cock it, is, you know, he's always got his hand over the top.

620
00:49:33.179 --> 00:49:33.659
Yes.

621
00:49:33.659 --> 00:49:35.280
I just love that little car.

622
00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:36.300
It's so great.

623
00:49:36.360 --> 00:49:38.280
The only thing that went up both at the top.

624
00:49:40.860 --> 00:49:43.320
But you're right, Colin.

625
00:49:43.380 --> 00:49:50.579
He does this thing, doesn't he, where he grabs his gun out of the whole stuff and puts his up his hand over the hand that's holding the gun.

626
00:49:50.579 --> 00:49:53.460
And it's just such a Darrowism.

627
00:49:55.260 --> 00:50:07.199
My favourite bit in his autobiography is when he talks about being hired as an actor to do a performance thing at some corporate event for a high street electronics retailer Tandy or someone like that.

628
00:50:07.260 --> 00:50:10.199
And the chief executive is there and he does this thing.

629
00:50:10.199 --> 00:50:14.460
It's all quite, you know, a selection of funny scenes with some other actors.

630
00:50:14.460 --> 00:50:20.820
And afterwards he's dining with the chief executive and the chief executive tells him, asks him, have you ever used any of our products?

631
00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:26.159
And Dara says to him, oh, yes, I use one of your compact disc players because it's extremely cheap.

632
00:50:26.219 --> 00:50:31.440
And the chief executive turns to him and turn to him and said, no, no, it's not cheap.

633
00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:33.000
It's competitively priced.

634
00:50:33.059 --> 00:50:39.420
And then later he says to him, now, could we maybe book you for another one of these events because it's been quite good.

635
00:50:39.480 --> 00:50:43.559
And Dara turned him and said, well, I am very competitively crised.

636
00:50:44.940 --> 00:50:49.199
No, he said, sure, sure, that's what I'll tell you.

637
00:50:50.940 --> 00:50:58.139
That is the difference between John Purley and Paul Barrow encapsulated and 2 different anecdotes.

638
00:50:58.320 --> 00:51:00.960
I also just considerably priced.

639
00:51:01.019 --> 00:51:02.519
He was Janet Lee.

640
00:51:05.099 --> 00:51:07.019
Oh, you win.

641
00:51:07.019 --> 00:51:08.039
For someone you win.

642
00:51:09.300 --> 00:51:15.239
It's rare for someone to be so arch and camp and utterly self-aware at the same time.

643
00:51:15.900 --> 00:51:17.039
Thank you very much.

644
00:51:20.039 --> 00:51:24.239
Oh, I'd book you for a corporate do anytime, Peter.

645
00:51:26.519 --> 00:51:42.900
I would say, though, there is one other member of the cast who I think manages to be arch and camp and self-aware, and that is our top character with a whopping. is a 96.25% approval.

646
00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:43.380
Wait.

647
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:44.579
Wait, hang on.

648
00:51:44.639 --> 00:51:45.900
Sorry, stop that.

649
00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:47.519
Who did not give her 10?

650
00:51:49.320 --> 00:51:51.719
This podcast is overstaffed.

651
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:54.900
I think you should reveal that, Brendan.

652
00:51:54.960 --> 00:51:56.579
Well, yes, please.

653
00:51:56.639 --> 00:52:00.420
I can only accept myself because these are so anonymized.

654
00:52:00.480 --> 00:52:02.099
They don't have any names attached to them.

655
00:52:02.159 --> 00:52:09.360
But I know that I voted 2nd because I do know who voted 1st and they did give them a 10.

656
00:52:09.780 --> 00:52:12.119
Uh, I, I voted to say.

657
00:52:12.179 --> 00:52:22.380
I gave Servolan a 9 only because... only because... only because...

658
00:52:22.380 --> 00:52:24.000
I want a monster.

659
00:52:24.599 --> 00:52:32.159
I'm watching her and I'm like, I can see there is something deliberately in reserve and I know you haven't peaked yet.

660
00:52:32.219 --> 00:52:34.320
And I think I think that's okay.

661
00:52:34.440 --> 00:52:36.539
I think that's okay.

662
00:52:36.599 --> 00:52:38.639
Yeah, I mean, that's fair.

663
00:52:38.699 --> 00:52:44.519
I think we've got a long way to go with this character before she reaches the heights that she will reach.

664
00:52:44.579 --> 00:52:46.739
Well, she reaches maximum.

665
00:52:47.820 --> 00:52:54.659
I will also say that 2 other people voted 9 as well, but everyone else voted 10.

666
00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:57.780
Yeah, one of them was me for the same reason.

667
00:52:57.840 --> 00:53:00.360
She's not fully formed here, is she?

668
00:53:00.420 --> 00:53:04.199
She, I mean, she isn't fully formed and they haven't decided to just go with her.

669
00:53:04.860 --> 00:53:18.960
And I think partly because, you know, she's a lady and, um, you know, all 3 of the regular or semi-regular female characters are sort of backgrounded in some way.

670
00:53:19.019 --> 00:53:20.519
Was it clearly?

671
00:53:20.579 --> 00:53:23.400
You said, Nathan, on sick location, destroy.

672
00:53:23.460 --> 00:53:41.159
I think it might have been, how if we were, if you were rebooting Blake 7 today, the idea that you would wait until episode 6 before introducing this character would seem like, just preposterous, you'd be in the pre-title credits, teaser, probably, because she would be in every scene.

673
00:53:43.559 --> 00:53:46.260
Yeah, I believe with C cloquet destroyed.

674
00:53:46.320 --> 00:53:58.019
She was written as a one off character, which is why she doesn't appear in Mission to Destiny and why she doesn't appear in duel, but they enjoy working with her so much. they went, okay, we can work her into project Avalon forward.

675
00:53:58.079 --> 00:54:11.579
Yeah, but she's clearly, she's clearly Travis's boss, you know, like the no nonsense boss back at the station that doesn't agree with Travis's unorthodox methods, you know, and is going to take his badge and gun off him and stuff like that.

676
00:54:11.639 --> 00:54:13.679
Like that's a politician, not a soldier.

677
00:54:13.739 --> 00:54:14.639
Yeah.

678
00:54:14.699 --> 00:54:15.539
Yeah.

679
00:54:15.539 --> 00:54:29.039
The, the other thing I've, I've sort of found out recently listening to interviews with the great Jacqueline Pierce is when they were designing the character, they said, oh, we're going to put you in a, we're going to put you in a suit because, you know, you're very masculine.

680
00:54:29.039 --> 00:54:32.940
And she turned around and said, well, why not hire a man if you're going to put me in a suit?

681
00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:35.579
Put me, put me in something soft.

682
00:54:35.639 --> 00:54:42.179
So when I turn around and look at the camera for the 1st time, everyone thinks, oh, you know, pretty woman, she's not going to do anything.

683
00:54:42.239 --> 00:54:44.940
And then you punch them with the fact that she's ruthless.

684
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:48.900
And I think that, and I want a different dress every week.

685
00:54:48.960 --> 00:54:50.579
She does.

686
00:54:50.579 --> 00:54:51.480
That's the other thing.

687
00:54:51.539 --> 00:54:56.820
I could get all these fabulous outfits, instead of being in the same leathers every week, like poor Stevie.

688
00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:06.719
There is just something wonderful about her being dressed in white as well because the camera just grabs her.

689
00:55:06.780 --> 00:55:16.380
She is the centre of everything because it is so stark and I think the character loses something when she moves to the black dresses is just so obvious.

690
00:55:16.440 --> 00:55:22.500
But the white is fantastic and she looks magnificent in whatever she's in.

691
00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:25.019
Like a snow queen, isn't she?

692
00:55:25.079 --> 00:55:26.340
Definitely.

693
00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:29.460
Especially in Project Avalon with the furze as well.

694
00:55:29.519 --> 00:55:30.780
That's Yeah.

695
00:55:30.900 --> 00:55:40.679
Because she does fade into that office background a little bit in that 1st episode because although the white is striking, the walls are also white. true.

696
00:55:40.800 --> 00:55:42.599
She hasn't got triangles on that.

697
00:55:44.880 --> 00:55:47.280
Yeah, certainly I've never had that.

698
00:55:47.340 --> 00:55:48.179
It was always flat.

699
00:55:50.280 --> 00:56:02.940
I remember being on Pebble Mill at one, which was the one, the lunchtime equivalent of the one show of the, if you were having your lunch at home from school in the 70s and 80s.

700
00:56:02.940 --> 00:56:05.880
And she was on there when they, they had some kind of looking back at Blake 7 thing.

701
00:56:06.719 --> 00:56:16.019
And, uh, and in that she claimed that she used to get her costume designer to steal dresses from Shirley Bassey after she'd been on Malcolm and Wise or...

702
00:56:16.079 --> 00:56:24.840
And that has an air of being a too good to be strictly burdened with accuracy kind of theatrical anecdote, but I still want them.

703
00:56:24.900 --> 00:56:25.559
I love the notion.

704
00:56:26.460 --> 00:56:29.940
That sort of rounds up our character roundup.

705
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:35.219
Although, quick rapid fire round, I've devised an idea called save and kill.

706
00:56:35.280 --> 00:56:43.920
So I'm going to ask each of you to pick a supporting character from any story across the season to join the crew of the Liberator.

707
00:56:43.980 --> 00:56:48.300
However, you have to sacrifice one of the existing crew in order to do it.

708
00:56:48.360 --> 00:56:51.179
So, starting with you, Peter.

709
00:56:51.239 --> 00:56:54.539
All right, I would sacrifice Avon, and I would add Girrock.

710
00:56:58.559 --> 00:57:02.400
That would be an entirely different and equally entertaining series.

711
00:57:03.119 --> 00:57:05.039
All righty then.

712
00:57:05.099 --> 00:57:05.820
Nathan.

713
00:57:05.940 --> 00:57:08.159
Bombshell there, Peter.

714
00:57:10.079 --> 00:57:11.760
That's great.

715
00:57:11.820 --> 00:57:13.920
Make it all sick.

716
00:57:13.920 --> 00:57:17.940
Like, hang around and see how long must I suffer you, Shirok?

717
00:57:19.559 --> 00:57:21.900
About another 39 episodes.

718
00:57:23.519 --> 00:57:30.119
I am totally sacrificing Blake and replacing him with cane with Julian Glover, for sure.

719
00:57:30.179 --> 00:57:31.199
Awesome.

720
00:57:31.260 --> 00:57:32.579
Sorry.

721
00:57:32.639 --> 00:57:33.239
Okay.

722
00:57:33.300 --> 00:57:43.980
I am replacing Gan with the lovely and beautiful nova because we need a bit of eye candy on the liberator and Tom Kelly is gorgeous.

723
00:57:44.039 --> 00:57:48.960
So I'm very shallow tonight, but that's not sure.

724
00:57:49.019 --> 00:57:52.079
No, that's the correct answer. a scientific fact.

725
00:57:52.139 --> 00:57:53.639
Bringing shaping firm?

726
00:57:54.840 --> 00:57:56.340
Pete.

727
00:57:56.400 --> 00:57:57.599
I'm torn.

728
00:57:57.659 --> 00:58:15.780
I want to go part of me wants to go for my almost namesake Nigel Lambert, the groovy computer operator guy from your 1st episode. just so that he can be today groovy. and he could just work the teleport every week so that everyone everyone can beam down and he can just be there with his with his space shades on grouping away doing that.

729
00:58:15.840 --> 00:58:16.980
But you know what?

730
00:58:17.039 --> 00:58:18.300
I'm sorry, Gan.

731
00:58:18.360 --> 00:58:21.780
I'm going to switch you for Brian Blessed.

732
00:58:25.079 --> 00:58:30.239
Because Brian would be an amazing edition to the crew.

733
00:58:30.300 --> 00:58:31.260
Right, oh.

734
00:58:31.320 --> 00:58:31.559
Thank you.

735
00:58:31.619 --> 00:58:32.219
Colin.

736
00:58:32.280 --> 00:58:33.300
I too.

737
00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:42.000
I'm going to let Gan go and replace him with all the decimals. 10 of them.

738
00:58:42.059 --> 00:58:44.039
Only be a production of his character.

739
00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:51.239
My woman, he killed my woman.

740
00:58:51.659 --> 00:58:53.639
You let me down.

741
00:58:53.699 --> 00:58:55.320
I thought you were going to choose tice.

742
00:58:55.380 --> 00:58:57.420
Oh, yeah, yeah.

743
00:58:57.480 --> 00:59:00.900
I will...

744
00:59:01.619 --> 00:59:04.619
She actually has an ideology.

745
00:59:04.679 --> 00:59:05.760
She stands for something.

746
00:59:05.820 --> 00:59:09.539
We could definitely sort of swap Blake out for her.

747
00:59:09.539 --> 00:59:10.619
No problem.

748
00:59:10.679 --> 00:59:12.539
That's not the reason I was thinking.

749
00:59:12.599 --> 00:59:13.440
Okay.

750
00:59:14.340 --> 00:59:17.699
It's the same thinking as me, really, isn't it?

751
00:59:18.599 --> 00:59:24.179
Just so somebody else that Kane's assistant could come on board and say, wow, that's another pretty lady.

752
00:59:25.320 --> 00:59:26.880
You know what?

753
00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:28.440
Let's just have an all-female crew.

754
00:59:28.500 --> 00:59:30.480
Let's have tice, let's have cynapha.

755
00:59:30.539 --> 00:59:32.579
Let's have more rag from episode one.

756
00:59:32.639 --> 00:59:34.079
Pamela Salem.

757
00:59:35.400 --> 00:59:37.739
Yeah, I'll ditch Brian Blessing.

758
00:59:37.800 --> 00:59:42.480
Yeah, lovely, lovely meat cat.

759
00:59:43.260 --> 00:59:45.960
Sounds like cat food, though, that name.

760
00:59:46.800 --> 00:59:53.099
She's the Katerina, really, of series A. You could have leather admission.

761
00:59:53.159 --> 00:59:54.179
Your night squirt.

762
00:59:55.679 --> 01:00:01.500
You have Sarah for a Mission to Destiny, just sort of murdering one, someone every week.

763
01:00:01.559 --> 01:00:04.619
No, I think I prefer leather because she lacks affection.

764
01:00:05.579 --> 01:00:12.239
And she has got the most awesome run that turns into a walk that's useful down very short corridors.

765
01:00:13.320 --> 01:00:16.619
It's like Servolan escaping an assassin.

766
01:00:16.679 --> 01:00:19.500
She just, she escapes Dana by turning and walking out of shop.

767
01:00:21.780 --> 01:00:31.860
I will say in like the women of this season, you do have the Terry Nation thing of he's got Kara in episode three, and then a few weeks later, he's like, oh, um, Sarah.

768
01:00:31.920 --> 01:00:32.820
Yeah, okay, fine.

769
01:00:32.880 --> 01:00:33.420
We'll do that.

770
01:00:33.780 --> 01:00:37.619
I would actually ditch Gan and bring on Tice.

771
01:00:37.679 --> 01:00:48.539
I think Tice is really wonderful because as you say, she stands for something and also when, you know, she's being totally contemptuous of our father, she's like, okay, yeah, kill me, that'll show him.

772
01:00:48.599 --> 01:00:49.139
I love that.

773
01:00:51.059 --> 01:00:56.460
And every so often she could back and visit her father. it'd be great Yeah, yeah.

774
01:00:58.739 --> 01:01:05.099
Okay, that brings us into a Snog Marrier void, including 3 characters we've just discussed, Nathan.

775
01:01:05.639 --> 01:01:11.099
And this is Snog, Mary, Steal their Antifungal Cream.

776
01:01:11.159 --> 01:01:14.940
Cinaphar, Negat, or Tice.

777
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:15.780
Oh.

778
01:01:16.260 --> 01:01:22.079
Well, you know, it's it's been a long lockdown and I'm looking pretty rough.

779
01:01:22.139 --> 01:01:25.260
So I think I would marry Cynifer.

780
01:01:25.380 --> 01:01:32.699
I think that would probably, uh, that would probably work and not really change the dynamic particularly of that episode.

781
01:01:36.719 --> 01:01:39.960
How much longer must I suffer you, Nathan?

782
01:01:43.260 --> 01:01:45.000
The other 2 again.

783
01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:47.460
And you're stealing the anti-fungal cream.

784
01:01:47.579 --> 01:01:59.159
I actually think that MeGat is very lovely. in all sorts of ways, but again, just sort of slightly tedious, so I would tend to avoid her.

785
01:01:59.280 --> 01:02:02.940
You know, like unless I had some ironing that needed doing or something.

786
01:02:03.059 --> 01:02:03.659
Do you know what I mean?

787
01:02:03.719 --> 01:02:08.280
Um, and then I would snog, uh, tie.

788
01:02:08.340 --> 01:02:12.119
So I think for the same reason that Cole would bring her on the program.

789
01:02:12.179 --> 01:02:15.179
She is a very pretty lady. think that's fair.

790
01:02:15.239 --> 01:02:15.599
Okay.

791
01:02:15.599 --> 01:02:17.579
I know I'm going to get pure.

792
01:02:20.099 --> 01:02:22.199
So no comment.

793
01:02:22.860 --> 01:02:29.400
So next thing I want to talk about is how many Terry Nation troops do we have this series?

794
01:02:31.260 --> 01:02:34.320
All them.

795
01:02:34.920 --> 01:02:37.139
So what have we got?

796
01:02:37.199 --> 01:02:39.960
We've got a sea of acids.

797
01:02:40.019 --> 01:02:47.880
A planet that's radiation and has reverted to primitivism at the same time.

798
01:02:47.940 --> 01:02:49.920
We've got.

799
01:02:50.219 --> 01:02:51.239
Have we got any count?

800
01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:53.340
Yeah, we've got loads of countdowns through the episode.

801
01:02:53.579 --> 01:02:57.360
We've got lots of things being absolutely vital.

802
01:02:59.699 --> 01:03:02.460
We've got more than one space plate.

803
01:03:02.519 --> 01:03:02.760
Yep.

804
01:03:02.820 --> 01:03:05.159
Yep, a lot of space things, actually.

805
01:03:05.219 --> 01:03:07.440
Quite a few space things, space vehicles.

806
01:03:07.500 --> 01:03:12.360
I'm pretty sure I'm pretty sure Marriott is qualified in space medicine.

807
01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:13.440
Yep.

808
01:03:13.559 --> 01:03:15.000
Yep, he is.

809
01:03:15.059 --> 01:03:19.980
Yeah, I'm suffering from space for tea, and so is Blake, I think, at some point.

810
01:03:20.039 --> 01:03:21.360
Oh no, that might be next year.

811
01:03:21.420 --> 01:03:22.920
Space fungus.

812
01:03:22.980 --> 01:03:24.239
Space fungus.

813
01:03:25.559 --> 01:03:29.760
We have very hot summers here in Sydney, so it's kind of unavoidable.

814
01:03:30.179 --> 01:03:34.199
In Time Squad, you have long spaces between dialogue.

815
01:03:36.719 --> 01:03:41.760
I want to nominate leaving an important character behind by mistake.

816
01:03:41.820 --> 01:03:43.199
Oh, yes.

817
01:03:43.260 --> 01:03:45.420
Don't give a shit about them.

818
01:03:46.320 --> 01:03:48.599
We've got a Tarrant.

819
01:03:48.659 --> 01:03:49.320
Yes.

820
01:03:49.380 --> 01:03:52.500
Just the one, but we have one from the very 1st episode.

821
01:03:52.619 --> 01:03:54.420
Yeah, in the whole names thing.

822
01:03:54.480 --> 01:04:00.599
I've listed Tarrant, Veron, Vargas, which is like a Varga plant.

823
01:04:00.659 --> 01:04:04.139
Laren is dangerously close to Varon and Tarant.

824
01:04:04.199 --> 01:04:08.099
And I've also mentioned the recycled names of Kara and Sarah.

825
01:04:08.159 --> 01:04:16.019
We've got the repeated name of Dortmund, which was in the Dalek story, and of course, the decimas named because they have 10 functions.

826
01:04:16.019 --> 01:04:20.460
And the Phibians named because they're amphibious.

827
01:04:22.739 --> 01:04:24.599
They were liars.

828
01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:27.599
Completely untrustworthy.

829
01:04:27.659 --> 01:04:30.539
Isn't there a Anova and a Navara?

830
01:04:30.599 --> 01:04:31.619
Oh, yeah, you're right.

831
01:04:31.679 --> 01:04:31.980
There is.

832
01:04:32.039 --> 01:04:33.539
Oh, yeah, well done.

833
01:04:33.539 --> 01:04:35.280
Nova and an Avon.

834
01:04:35.940 --> 01:04:40.800
Letters switched round the bit. literally reversed in the same episode.

835
01:04:40.860 --> 01:04:44.039
I think they should do that with Aurak at some point.

836
01:04:44.099 --> 01:04:45.539
Caro sounds good.

837
01:04:47.460 --> 01:04:54.599
I'm also wondering, before this, in Doctor Who, did Terry Nation write women in power very much?

838
01:04:54.659 --> 01:04:55.619
I don't think he did.

839
01:04:55.739 --> 01:04:58.559
Yeah, well, she's accidentally in power, isn't she?

840
01:04:58.619 --> 01:05:07.800
I mean, she is just the desk bound politician who will, because of Chris Boucher, turn into something bigger and more important.

841
01:05:07.860 --> 01:05:15.599
And she was introduced as a man originally, she was written as a male character and then he just switched it.

842
01:05:15.659 --> 01:05:19.260
So, yeah, yeah, I suppose it really is.

843
01:05:19.320 --> 01:05:20.579
It is a Chris Boucher thing.

844
01:05:20.639 --> 01:05:24.659
You know, you've got Servoland, you've got Zirok and Cinaphar, you've got Tice.

845
01:05:24.719 --> 01:05:27.539
You know, you've got Sarah.

846
01:05:27.599 --> 01:05:33.059
The whole episode is set up that a man did it, but it's like, no, it's, it's Sarah who's the killer.

847
01:05:33.119 --> 01:05:36.420
It's nice, isn't it, to get sort of murderer representation.

848
01:05:39.059 --> 01:05:42.960
Hey, like, look, I said on Twitter the other day.

849
01:05:43.019 --> 01:05:46.739
Just watched a Poirot where Lady Pain Fort killed Garon.

850
01:05:46.800 --> 01:05:52.079
And of course, Fiona Walker was Terry Nation's 1st woman murderer on television.

851
01:05:52.139 --> 01:05:54.239
Oh, yes, of course she was.

852
01:05:54.300 --> 01:05:56.219
You're at Fort Carla.

853
01:06:01.739 --> 01:06:05.760
We've never been clear on the sex of Stigron in the Android invasion.

854
01:06:05.820 --> 01:06:07.619
Oh, no, she was alone.

855
01:06:08.760 --> 01:06:11.099
Abby Grant in Survivors.

856
01:06:11.219 --> 01:06:11.760
There we go.

857
01:06:11.820 --> 01:06:13.260
There's Ter Nation writing, yeah.

858
01:06:16.079 --> 01:06:19.019
The show does get over that quite quickly, though.

859
01:06:22.139 --> 01:06:31.079
Moving on to another strong marry, put under Callie's command on saurian major because that's really the same thing as killing.

860
01:06:31.139 --> 01:06:32.159
Colin.

861
01:06:32.940 --> 01:06:36.360
You'll be glad to know that you don't have Jirok.

862
01:06:36.420 --> 01:06:39.840
But you do have a choice of Vegas?

863
01:06:40.320 --> 01:06:43.860
Sarkoff or Kane.

864
01:06:43.920 --> 01:06:49.440
Okay, so I've got...

865
01:06:49.860 --> 01:06:53.460
Okay, so Vargas is Brian Blessed.

866
01:06:53.519 --> 01:06:55.739
Sarkoff is T.P.

867
01:06:55.739 --> 01:06:58.440
McKenna and Kane is Julian Glover.

868
01:07:01.320 --> 01:07:04.619
Because of the tongue.

869
01:07:04.679 --> 01:07:06.539
Like Jiron.

870
01:07:07.079 --> 01:07:16.559
Sarkoff has got a sexy daughter. got Pamela Salem.

871
01:07:16.739 --> 01:07:18.719
I've got to go...

872
01:07:18.719 --> 01:07:19.980
You've got to go...

873
01:07:19.980 --> 01:07:21.360
Okay, I think I've got it.

874
01:07:21.420 --> 01:07:21.900
I've got it.

875
01:07:21.960 --> 01:07:27.000
So I'm going to have to marry Brian Blessed because why wouldn't you?

876
01:07:27.840 --> 01:07:31.139
And, you know, Pamela Salem is around.

877
01:07:31.199 --> 01:07:35.880
I'd have to snog Sarkoff just to, no, that sounds wrong.

878
01:07:35.940 --> 01:07:42.780
I have to start off. because he's got an excellent record collection and some butterflies.

879
01:07:42.840 --> 01:07:46.380
And I would have to destroy Julian Glover's hands.

880
01:07:47.579 --> 01:07:50.699
He's a rich doctor though, Colin.

881
01:07:50.760 --> 01:07:52.500
I think you need to kind of rethink.

882
01:07:52.559 --> 01:07:56.639
I just, this is why I'm still single. don't understand.

883
01:07:59.760 --> 01:08:01.500
Thank you for that.

884
01:08:01.559 --> 01:08:03.059
You are very welcome.

885
01:08:03.119 --> 01:08:07.320
You see, Girok's not looking like such a bad bloody proposition now, is she?

886
01:08:07.559 --> 01:08:10.019
Oh, you know she's very exciting.

887
01:08:11.400 --> 01:08:13.920
Any port in a space storm?

888
01:08:14.400 --> 01:08:21.659
Now, don't worry, Si and Peter, I do have Snog marry various punishments for you. a bit later on.

889
01:08:21.720 --> 01:08:25.079
But the question I have for you all now is.

890
01:08:25.680 --> 01:08:31.260
What are the rules for the series that this season has laid down?

891
01:08:31.800 --> 01:08:34.920
Okay, we've got a few, haven't we?

892
01:08:34.979 --> 01:08:36.359
We've got.

893
01:08:36.479 --> 01:08:44.760
The liberator won't be on station when people need to get away from it, the danger are down on the planet.

894
01:08:44.819 --> 01:08:51.359
That's happened a few times and we'll be seeing that again and again and again.

895
01:08:51.960 --> 01:08:53.699
That's the only rule of the show.

896
01:08:53.760 --> 01:08:55.920
Yeah, yeah, that's the most.

897
01:08:55.979 --> 01:08:56.939
Everyone is posh.

898
01:08:57.060 --> 01:09:05.579
The posh people in the spaceship. don't always know best, which which I think is quite original.

899
01:09:06.000 --> 01:09:09.840
But it doesn't feel original now, but in 1978.

900
01:09:10.020 --> 01:09:11.279
I imagine that was quite original.

901
01:09:11.340 --> 01:09:14.760
Federation Guards went to the Stormtrooper School of Amy.

902
01:09:16.560 --> 01:09:18.239
And walking.

903
01:09:19.800 --> 01:09:27.300
I love in that 1st episode, how they decide to commit a massacre by standing in a circle firing inward. can go wrong.

904
01:09:29.159 --> 01:09:31.800
You've got to kill all these actors.

905
01:09:31.859 --> 01:09:34.560
Some of them are far too expensive to last more than one episode.

906
01:09:34.619 --> 01:09:36.659
That guy from when he comes down.

907
01:09:36.720 --> 01:09:38.340
They're not.

908
01:09:38.399 --> 01:09:40.079
That's the one.

909
01:09:40.140 --> 01:09:43.260
That one movie star who's the leader of the Reb.

910
01:09:43.319 --> 01:09:45.000
Bran Foster, he's got a serial name.

911
01:09:45.060 --> 01:09:46.439
He has.

912
01:09:46.500 --> 01:09:47.100
That's true.

913
01:09:47.699 --> 01:09:50.880
Whenever there's a robot it'll be shit.

914
01:09:52.079 --> 01:09:53.399
What?

915
01:09:55.199 --> 01:09:57.420
Mutoids are quite sexy.

916
01:09:57.479 --> 01:10:03.180
Is it a rule that it's impossible to determine the physical relationship between the only 2 rules?

917
01:10:06.659 --> 01:10:08.699
Fantastic.

918
01:10:11.760 --> 01:10:12.720
Yeah.

919
01:10:12.779 --> 01:10:15.899
Speaking of getting a room, Si.

920
01:10:17.159 --> 01:10:20.939
Snobs, marry, smash up their record collection.

921
01:10:21.720 --> 01:10:28.079
Aphibian, a decima, or a farting security robot.

922
01:10:28.140 --> 01:10:31.560
Well, thank you very much, Brendan.

923
01:10:33.840 --> 01:10:36.180
Well...

924
01:10:37.319 --> 01:10:40.140
Okay, so what have we got here?

925
01:10:40.199 --> 01:10:47.399
I'd have to avoid the decimas because those screeching voices would just drive you insane after a while, wouldn't they?

926
01:10:47.460 --> 01:10:51.300
I mean, especially and they would make a mess of your kit.

927
01:10:51.899 --> 01:10:55.979
So trying to get dinner done would be a complete nightmare.

928
01:10:56.039 --> 01:11:03.659
So I think we're going with... going to have to snorg the robot.

929
01:11:05.039 --> 01:11:07.079
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

930
01:11:07.140 --> 01:11:07.560
No, hang on.

931
01:11:07.619 --> 01:11:08.100
No, no, no.

932
01:11:08.159 --> 01:11:11.699
I'm going to have snock with the phibian because it gives a good hug.

933
01:11:11.760 --> 01:11:13.380
So that's okay.

934
01:11:13.439 --> 01:11:15.000
You can have a nice close relationship there.

935
01:11:15.060 --> 01:11:21.479
And, you know, the robot for all its flapping faults does have a very good projectile.

936
01:11:21.659 --> 01:11:25.079
And it's very good at spraying.

937
01:11:25.140 --> 01:11:27.119
So, yeah, that...

938
01:11:27.119 --> 01:11:29.760
I'm sorry, that's my Simon.

939
01:11:29.819 --> 01:11:31.979
How did that have become the filthiest one?

940
01:11:33.479 --> 01:11:38.279
Let's have asbestos pants. in very serious struggle, I think.

941
01:11:38.340 --> 01:11:40.979
When you got tired of it, you could send it outside on guard duty.

942
01:11:50.939 --> 01:11:52.439
This next question.

943
01:11:52.500 --> 01:11:58.500
I'm naming this after someone we haven't seen yet, but it's the best example, I think, in the series.

944
01:11:58.859 --> 01:12:04.079
This is the Barbara Shelley Award for the actor who's too good for this shit.

945
01:12:07.140 --> 01:12:09.300
Eat any thoughts?

946
01:12:11.399 --> 01:12:13.979
Well, that's hard.

947
01:12:13.979 --> 01:12:16.199
I immediately think 2 have immediately sprung to mind.

948
01:12:16.260 --> 01:12:27.180
One of which is Mr. Gareth Thomas, let's be frank, he is doing... getting a hell of a lot of money and it's a really nice job, but he would, he wants to be doing it.

949
01:12:27.300 --> 01:12:28.619
He wants to be on treading the boards.

950
01:12:28.739 --> 01:12:33.300
Uh, but he's uh, but he's doing his best to go at it with gusto.

951
01:12:33.359 --> 01:12:39.960
Um, but, but in terms of Underuse, uh, I'm gonna go Pamela Salem.

952
01:12:40.020 --> 01:12:48.659
She has, she's wonderful, but literally it's a job that she's just a henchman, sidekick type character.

953
01:12:48.720 --> 01:12:59.760
She could, she should have have had, you know, you get someone that good in a role that small, and, uh, I mean, it, it, it's, you don't turn them, you don't turn them away for being too good.

954
01:12:59.819 --> 01:13:06.000
But, um, yeah, she, she, she could have been easily been a big, a big character in this series, I think.

955
01:13:06.600 --> 01:13:08.220
Right, yeah.

956
01:13:08.279 --> 01:13:08.579
Thank you.

957
01:13:08.640 --> 01:13:09.479
Si?

958
01:13:09.600 --> 01:13:10.140
Okay.

959
01:13:10.199 --> 01:13:12.000
He's absolutely brilliant.

960
01:13:12.060 --> 01:13:17.760
But I'm going to choose Julian Glover, because he should have had a bigger role.

961
01:13:17.819 --> 01:13:24.720
He's in the episode for what, 15, 20 minutes and he should have been the focus of an episode.

962
01:13:24.779 --> 01:13:32.699
Although the character is brilliant and he does amazing stuff with the material he's given.

963
01:13:32.760 --> 01:13:38.640
He just deserved the focus of a whole episode, I think, and he's just wasted in that role.

964
01:13:38.699 --> 01:13:41.220
I'm imagining him as sarkoff.

965
01:13:41.279 --> 01:13:42.239
Yeah, exactly.

966
01:13:42.300 --> 01:13:43.739
That would have been really cool.

967
01:13:43.800 --> 01:13:49.979
Not to give TP McKenna a kicking because he was fantastic, but yeah, he'd have been brilliant there.

968
01:13:50.039 --> 01:13:51.479
Great.

969
01:13:51.539 --> 01:13:52.619
Colin.

970
01:13:52.680 --> 01:13:56.579
I think Reika would have been good to have...

971
01:13:56.579 --> 01:13:57.000
Damn it.

972
01:14:00.239 --> 01:14:03.720
You can have the same...

973
01:14:04.800 --> 01:14:10.680
Oh, no, if we get to hear your reasons, but he's he's particularly nasty.

974
01:14:10.739 --> 01:14:18.899
I think, you know, if he just sort of bounced out that airlock and then the um, the ship from the hitchhikers go to the galaxy just pops and picks him up.

975
01:14:18.960 --> 01:14:21.359
And we meet him later.

976
01:14:21.420 --> 01:14:23.579
Yeah, that's it for me, I think.

977
01:14:23.640 --> 01:14:24.539
Uh, Nathan?

978
01:14:24.600 --> 01:14:35.760
Well, I kind of feel like I've answered this question before, but in the sense of the actor who thinks they're too good for all this shit, and that's Sally my man.

979
01:14:37.439 --> 01:14:39.119
Fantastic.

980
01:14:40.619 --> 01:14:45.180
Again, I'm creeping off Simon for my actual answer to this.

981
01:14:45.180 --> 01:14:51.119
I think Julian Glover is utterly superb and it's a shame that he didn't get to do more.

982
01:14:51.180 --> 01:14:52.380
And Peter.

983
01:14:52.439 --> 01:14:58.020
I think Glenn Houston in Space 4 playing Commander Leland, he's in a slightly different show.

984
01:14:58.079 --> 01:15:06.000
He's just someone who's sort of the character is one of the dog's bodies who doesn't enjoy what he's doing and doesn't seem particularly federation evil.

985
01:15:06.060 --> 01:15:08.460
And I think that's quite valuable in that episode.

986
01:15:08.520 --> 01:15:15.300
So I would have liked to have seen more from him and I think he, uh, he, Adds a lot to that episode.

987
01:15:15.359 --> 01:15:27.060
However, having said that, the 3 aliens from Time Squad, who I believe are called Tony Smart, Mark McBride, and Frank Hanson, they should be in every episode because they're, they are brilliant slash terrible.

988
01:15:27.119 --> 01:15:28.800
And fit.

989
01:15:28.920 --> 01:15:29.699
Aren't they fair?

990
01:15:29.760 --> 01:15:30.659
They're so fair.

991
01:15:31.500 --> 01:15:33.119
Absolutely.

992
01:15:33.180 --> 01:15:37.319
I think I have to go with the path of least resistance and say Julian Glover.

993
01:15:37.380 --> 01:15:43.739
Like, you know, he's clearly having a good time and he doesn't think it's beneath him at all, but it's just kind of like, yeah, you deserve more.

994
01:15:43.800 --> 01:15:45.899
Give me some heavy, more heavy lifting.

995
01:15:45.960 --> 01:15:46.619
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

996
01:15:46.800 --> 01:15:56.279
I love the fact that his role in breakdown means that he is one of the few people to do the Doctor Who Bleak 7 Star Wars Indiana Jones.

997
01:15:56.340 --> 01:15:57.119
Yes.

998
01:15:57.119 --> 01:15:57.779
Ooh.

999
01:15:57.779 --> 01:15:58.800
And Game of Thrones.

1000
01:15:58.859 --> 01:16:00.119
Michael Sheard.

1001
01:16:00.180 --> 01:16:02.279
Yep, Michael Schitt's number.

1002
01:16:02.340 --> 01:16:03.479
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1003
01:16:04.979 --> 01:16:10.859
That brings us to our final Snog, Mary, put down on a planet with radiation.

1004
01:16:10.920 --> 01:16:18.359
And that is for you, Peter, and your choices are Zirok, Ensor, or Samon.

1005
01:16:22.439 --> 01:16:25.859
Sure, you'd have to stalk because of all the spectacle.

1006
01:16:28.319 --> 01:16:30.779
Same on you'd have to marry.

1007
01:16:30.840 --> 01:16:33.720
Now, I cannot make joke about same. can't do that.

1008
01:16:34.920 --> 01:16:36.840
Just like that again.

1009
01:16:36.899 --> 01:16:37.800
Pardon me, though?

1010
01:16:39.180 --> 01:16:46.739
Same on, I think you would have to marry because he'd just sit in his box and sort of talk at you and I imagine that's what married life is like.

1011
01:16:46.800 --> 01:16:53.460
And Ensor, I think you'd have to avoid because he's very dull and he lives under the sea with his plants.

1012
01:16:53.520 --> 01:16:58.319
You could marry him because he's dead quite soon and then you inherit all the plants.

1013
01:16:58.380 --> 01:16:59.760
I mean yeah, that's true.

1014
01:16:59.819 --> 01:17:01.800
You could leave one...

1015
01:17:03.479 --> 01:17:05.279
Can you imagine?

1016
01:17:05.279 --> 01:17:08.100
Nuclear family, you and Saw and Aurak, the kid.

1017
01:17:08.159 --> 01:17:08.819
Terrible.

1018
01:17:10.140 --> 01:17:16.500
The problem with Samon is he comes with all of those, you'd become a stepfather to all of the decimas.

1019
01:17:17.579 --> 01:17:19.260
My God.

1020
01:17:19.319 --> 01:17:20.760
The Decimus cousins.

1021
01:17:20.819 --> 01:17:32.340
I mean, you know, really, that is having a bunch of stupid children because as Rod pointed out to me when that episode ended, Samon's habitat is made out of bubbles and the decimas have spears.

1022
01:17:33.720 --> 01:17:35.819
Never going to end well.

1023
01:17:36.840 --> 01:17:39.359
The decimals like bubble wrap.

1024
01:17:39.420 --> 01:17:45.720
They just go around popping at this, I think. sort of related to that last question.

1025
01:17:45.779 --> 01:17:49.859
But this can be someone in front of the camera, someone behind the camera.

1026
01:17:49.979 --> 01:18:00.899
Who is for you, the greatest contributor for this series, and the series would be much, much poorer, if not impossible to achieve without them.

1027
01:18:01.020 --> 01:18:01.800
Colin.

1028
01:18:01.859 --> 01:18:12.119
It must be Chris Boucher, because I think he takes, you know, reasonably formed ideas and makes makes them into extremely interesting and well-written stories with great characters.

1029
01:18:12.180 --> 01:18:18.300
I think he's the real driving force behind it from what I believe, what I can tell from what I've heard.

1030
01:18:18.359 --> 01:18:20.100
So I think it's probably Chris Boucher.

1031
01:18:20.159 --> 01:18:20.699
Fantastic.

1032
01:18:20.760 --> 01:18:21.359
Pete?

1033
01:18:21.420 --> 01:18:23.100
So I'm still, I'm going to say Terry Nation.

1034
01:18:23.159 --> 01:18:28.920
Because obviously he's had this idea for doing this series called Plague 7, which we have to give him credit for.

1035
01:18:28.979 --> 01:18:32.819
But as Cole says, you know, that took finessing and taking it up to the next level.

1036
01:18:32.880 --> 01:18:38.100
I think, but by the talent, the different talent of Boucher.

1037
01:18:38.159 --> 01:18:47.399
It's interesting if you look at survivors is what happens when Terry Nation has an idea and then Terrence Dudley adds his bit to it.

1038
01:18:47.460 --> 01:18:58.859
Whereas Blake 7 is what happens when nation has an idea and Chris Boucher adds his bit to it and it's as stark as that. survivors has great potential and is quite good for a while.

1039
01:18:58.920 --> 01:19:06.119
Whereas Blake 7 has got much more capacity and growth and just fires off in all these different directions because of the combination of those two.

1040
01:19:06.180 --> 01:19:08.640
So yeah, that's why, uh, yeah, girl Terry.

1041
01:19:08.699 --> 01:19:09.119
Great.

1042
01:19:09.180 --> 01:19:09.899
Peter?

1043
01:19:09.960 --> 01:19:12.420
Well, clearly the 2 people who've already been mentioned.

1044
01:19:12.479 --> 01:19:21.899
I think they have complimentary talent and they just come together so well on this series, but in the absence of those two, I'd say Michael E. Bryant is the man of the hour.

1045
01:19:21.960 --> 01:19:33.479
He directs the way back, the web project Avalon, and I think parts of deliverance, and his episodes are clearly put together so much better than the others, and he can do action and atmosphere.

1046
01:19:33.539 --> 01:19:36.479
And, you know, it just goes to prove that a vision costs nothing.

1047
01:19:36.539 --> 01:19:45.840
You hand him an episode and it looks like something and then you follow it up with an episode by our go-to man for standard BBC corridor science fiction, Pennant Roberts.

1048
01:19:46.079 --> 01:19:48.779
You'd get better Roberts somewhere.

1049
01:19:50.279 --> 01:19:52.260
Uh, Si.

1050
01:19:52.319 --> 01:20:11.819
Okay, um, I'm going to plump for David Maloney for putting the crew together for the casting for bringing Chris Boucher in for making it all happen, choosing his directors pretty damn well on the hole, apart from Pennant Roberts.

1051
01:20:12.000 --> 01:20:22.020
I think he's a very stable hand behind the scenes and yeah, he's just almost silently good.

1052
01:20:22.079 --> 01:20:32.039
And then he comes in and just directs the um, location scenes in deliverance just because Michael Lee Bryant isn't around and he's he's just really good, isn't he?

1053
01:20:32.100 --> 01:20:34.739
I mean, he's learned his craft on Doctor Who.

1054
01:20:34.800 --> 01:20:35.880
He knows how this all works.

1055
01:20:35.939 --> 01:20:38.880
He's not quite there yet.

1056
01:20:38.939 --> 01:20:54.000
I think we will see better productions over the next couple of years than we have, we do a lot of the time here, but I think without him sort of behind the scenes keeping it all together, it wouldn't be half the show that it is.

1057
01:20:54.180 --> 01:20:55.560
Yeah.

1058
01:20:55.619 --> 01:20:57.060
Yeah, yeah.

1059
01:20:57.119 --> 01:20:59.699
Yeah, David Maloney is just absolutely brilliant.

1060
01:20:59.760 --> 01:21:01.079
Nathan.

1061
01:21:01.140 --> 01:21:04.319
I think it just has to be Chris Boucher again.

1062
01:21:04.380 --> 01:21:06.359
I think this is Chris Boucher show.

1063
01:21:06.420 --> 01:21:23.340
Terry Nation writes really incredibly pedestrian dialogue normally, and Boucher just makes it sing, and I just can't see this show as anything other than kind of set pieces in space corridors without him.

1064
01:21:23.399 --> 01:21:31.199
It's the thing that we remember about the show is the banter between the regulars and that's all boucher.

1065
01:21:31.260 --> 01:21:36.600
I just don't think it's possible to overstate how important he is to the show.

1066
01:21:36.659 --> 01:21:44.699
And maybe in subsequent years there might be other people who are able to do something similar in the stories they write.

1067
01:21:44.760 --> 01:21:48.899
You know, I just think it's it's voucher show.

1068
01:21:48.960 --> 01:21:51.000
It's funny, Nathan, isn't it?

1069
01:21:51.060 --> 01:21:58.319
People talk about the sun makers in Doctor Who being kind of a spiritual ancestor of Bleak 7.

1070
01:21:58.380 --> 01:22:05.880
But actually it's robots of death because if you look at robots death written by Chris Belcher, the dynamic between the characters, the dialogue, it's all exactly the same.

1071
01:22:06.119 --> 01:22:07.439
Yeah.

1072
01:22:07.500 --> 01:22:11.399
And the line, you electronic moron. is in both of them.

1073
01:22:11.460 --> 01:22:12.119
Yep.

1074
01:22:12.119 --> 01:22:15.000
From your crouch in both of them.

1075
01:22:15.060 --> 01:22:16.199
Yeah.

1076
01:22:16.260 --> 01:22:18.600
Even home and non-s, I guess.

1077
01:22:19.319 --> 01:22:23.939
I'm going to choose someone in front of the camera.

1078
01:22:23.939 --> 01:22:26.819
And I'm going to choose Michael Keating.

1079
01:22:26.880 --> 01:22:29.220
Oh, good choice.

1080
01:22:29.279 --> 01:22:31.140
Just because I think...

1081
01:22:31.140 --> 01:22:39.779
It's always surprising to me when I remember that Blake 7 was being made to go at it in a later time slot.

1082
01:22:39.840 --> 01:22:46.319
It was a drama for adults, but the BBC very quickly cottoned on that children were watching too.

1083
01:22:46.380 --> 01:22:54.960
And I think Villa is the character who makes it safe for children to watch because if the children are scared, Villa is scared as well.

1084
01:22:55.020 --> 01:22:57.899
And so that so that makes it okay.

1085
01:22:58.020 --> 01:23:04.859
And Villa also provides levity without ever becoming annoying.

1086
01:23:04.920 --> 01:23:25.319
Like you look at other science fiction shows that introduce sort of comedy characters, even when like Star Trek, the original series or the animated series occasionally did it with a guest character, they're like, oh, we're going to have a comedy episode and they do it by, we're going to have someone really annoying and have the federation characters who are squares react to that and that's the comedy.

1087
01:23:25.380 --> 01:23:39.960
Whereas here, Villas comedy is a defence mechanism and it's very consciously a defence mechanism, but it is also funny and it's kind of like Villa is the person at home going, yeah, I'm not going in that cave.

1088
01:23:40.079 --> 01:23:46.140
I don't bloody care if there's tarriel cells or contron crystals at the end of it or whatever.

1089
01:23:46.140 --> 01:23:48.479
I know that's time rush, but anyway.

1090
01:23:51.300 --> 01:23:59.460
I think Michael Keating strikes that balance between scared and funny really well while still being endearing and likeable.

1091
01:23:59.520 --> 01:24:12.659
Talking 70s sci-fi. is interesting to compare his character's comedic contribution to the story with Tom Baker and Doctor Who, being sort of, oh, I'm bored of this shit and I'm just going to make jokes about how pathetic it is.

1092
01:24:12.779 --> 01:24:17.640
Um, which and they're good jokes, which do get laughs.

1093
01:24:17.699 --> 01:24:30.600
But once Tom's gone there, it's really hard for them to then reel back the story to, but no, but actually we do want you, the viewer, to care about this perilous situation, even though the lead characters just told you it's a load of nonsense.

1094
01:24:30.659 --> 01:24:47.939
Whereas Keating's Villa is much is in the midst of it as the funny guy in the office, but not actually sort of disdainful of the concept of the program, which it could be, and that would be funny too, but would then undermine everything.

1095
01:24:47.939 --> 01:24:53.039
You know, I think related to that is the fact that Tom Baker always delivers the punchline.

1096
01:24:53.100 --> 01:24:54.600
Almost always.

1097
01:24:54.659 --> 01:24:59.640
He's the funny, he's the funny one and Lala Ward or Mary Tan, uh, is the straight man.

1098
01:24:59.699 --> 01:25:04.619
Whereas with Michael Keating. sometimes he's doing the punchline.

1099
01:25:04.680 --> 01:25:07.859
Sometimes he's doing the setup, but he's funny no matter what.

1100
01:25:07.920 --> 01:25:11.880
The one I always remember from this season is, I can't go down there.

1101
01:25:11.939 --> 01:25:13.140
I've got a weak chest.

1102
01:25:13.199 --> 01:25:15.119
Navon says the rest of you is not very impressive.

1103
01:25:18.000 --> 01:25:20.880
I think that's that's it too.

1104
01:25:20.939 --> 01:25:23.520
The role that he plays as someone for Avon to insult.

1105
01:25:23.579 --> 01:25:27.060
Yeah, we're absolutely crucial. don't kick the puppy.

1106
01:25:29.939 --> 01:25:38.399
Villa gets a really nice moment like that in one of the 1st 2 episodes where he says he gets the line. he says to Jenna, I can't go. can't go in a small space.

1107
01:25:38.460 --> 01:25:39.060
I have a condition.

1108
01:25:39.119 --> 01:25:40.800
And she's cowardice.

1109
01:25:41.640 --> 01:25:53.039
And it's a lovely moment between those 2 that anywhere beyond about week 3 of the series would have been turned into an Avon Villa situation because sorry, it was sorry, it's Jenna, not Kelly.

1110
01:25:53.100 --> 01:25:53.939
Oh, sorry.

1111
01:25:53.939 --> 01:26:01.140
Um, uh, but, um, it was, it was, there's those 1st few episodes where Villa hasn't yet emerged as the funniest one.

1112
01:26:01.140 --> 01:26:05.340
And actually, and then Jenner is getting, getting more punch lines at the start.

1113
01:26:05.399 --> 01:26:09.539
But yeah, he's just such a natural for it, that it just all gravitates to him.

1114
01:26:09.600 --> 01:26:15.600
Michael Keating has that very nice performance tick as well where he gives a panic today when something happens.

1115
01:26:15.659 --> 01:26:19.560
So they'll say, you know, we should go on a mission to this terribly dangerous planet, Villa.

1116
01:26:19.619 --> 01:26:20.159
You can come with us.

1117
01:26:20.220 --> 01:26:20.819
He goes, eh?

1118
01:26:20.880 --> 01:26:23.640
And that continues all through the series.

1119
01:26:23.699 --> 01:26:24.479
It's really great.

1120
01:26:25.260 --> 01:26:27.000
Right, oh.

1121
01:26:27.060 --> 01:26:36.300
A question to close us out, and I have to thank Pete for this one, because I had a similar question that he phrased it in a much better and more interesting way.

1122
01:26:37.079 --> 01:26:44.579
If you were showrunner for series B, What changes would you make?

1123
01:26:45.000 --> 01:26:49.079
Uh, and I will start with Pete, as he suggested the question.

1124
01:26:49.680 --> 01:26:52.020
Oh, didn't I?

1125
01:26:52.140 --> 01:26:55.319
So yeah, forgetting, yeah, forgetting what we already know.

1126
01:26:55.380 --> 01:26:58.800
If all that we knew was the episodes that we've just seen, what would you be doing?

1127
01:26:58.920 --> 01:27:01.560
And I think I would want more Douglas Canfield.

1128
01:27:01.619 --> 01:27:02.699
That would be top of my list.

1129
01:27:02.760 --> 01:27:08.760
I think that he takes the script of jewel and turns it into something so tense and exciting.

1130
01:27:08.819 --> 01:27:10.319
I would want more of that.

1131
01:27:10.380 --> 01:27:14.640
I would want to know much more about the earth of this world.

1132
01:27:14.760 --> 01:27:17.460
We start on Earth and then we zoom off into space.

1133
01:27:17.520 --> 01:27:20.520
And yeah, parking my foreknowledge.

1134
01:27:20.579 --> 01:27:28.979
I would be hoping and interested to see what would happen more about what life on earth is like, maybe them going back to earth starting a civil war.

1135
01:27:29.039 --> 01:27:29.520
I think that.

1136
01:27:29.579 --> 01:27:31.079
Gang should grow a bit.

1137
01:27:31.140 --> 01:27:31.920
I already mentioned that.

1138
01:27:31.979 --> 01:27:42.239
And Peter, you alluded earlier to teleport swapperoo, which is a much better phrase for what I was thinking of, which was having a teleport wheel of fortune every episode.

1139
01:27:42.300 --> 01:27:44.699
Instead of who's going to go down, who's going to get stuck on the ship.

1140
01:27:44.760 --> 01:27:47.760
They could actually incorporate that into the drama, spin a wheel.

1141
01:27:47.819 --> 01:27:50.760
A big wheel goes around with everyone's place is on it.

1142
01:27:50.819 --> 01:27:52.140
And Jenna.

1143
01:27:52.199 --> 01:27:56.039
This week, you get to come on the away machine with me to a quarry.

1144
01:27:56.159 --> 01:27:58.560
And better luck next week, Callie.

1145
01:27:58.619 --> 01:28:00.659
Can you imagine that episode?

1146
01:28:00.779 --> 01:28:02.880
Jenna, Kelly, and Ken.

1147
01:28:04.079 --> 01:28:05.520
Really?

1148
01:28:05.579 --> 01:28:08.340
I'm just going to break the teleport.

1149
01:28:08.939 --> 01:28:11.819
We can do it by remote control, really.

1150
01:28:11.880 --> 01:28:15.060
We just pretend that we don't have to so they don't all have to come with us every week.

1151
01:28:15.119 --> 01:28:16.020
That'd be great.

1152
01:28:16.079 --> 01:28:21.539
They come up at the end and there's a Blake sitting at the teleport desk, looking very bored, as opposed to Blake being on the planet.

1153
01:28:21.600 --> 01:28:22.260
I'm getting very bored.

1154
01:28:22.380 --> 01:28:22.859
Okay.

1155
01:28:24.539 --> 01:28:26.159
Colin.

1156
01:28:26.220 --> 01:28:29.880
I think I do 3 things.

1157
01:28:29.939 --> 01:28:40.560
I would probably introduce a bit of radiophonic workshop to it, just to get some of it, a bit, a bit more time you wimey atmosphere, analogue feel to it.

1158
01:28:40.619 --> 01:28:43.920
Like, because, what was the episode where it's all kind of library music?

1159
01:28:43.979 --> 01:28:44.520
Is it dual?

1160
01:28:44.579 --> 01:28:45.479
Dual.

1161
01:28:45.479 --> 01:28:45.840
Yeah.

1162
01:28:45.899 --> 01:28:48.720
I think that works tremendously well, and I think it would have worked.

1163
01:28:48.720 --> 01:28:56.220
Well, with episodes like the Web, so I would have got Peter Howell and Paddy Kingsland and Roger Lim, especially on atmospherics.

1164
01:28:56.279 --> 01:29:06.420
So the 2nd thing I would have done is I would have made, I would decide that if I was going to do a flamboyant episode in a casino, I would make it a 2 part because it's probably going to be fucking good.

1165
01:29:08.399 --> 01:29:11.699
It just feels like a two-parter, I'm afraid.

1166
01:29:13.260 --> 01:29:21.600
And I would also not introduce a stupid climbing frame scene in pressure point because it's like doing PE at school.

1167
01:29:21.659 --> 01:29:24.420
That's...

1168
01:29:24.479 --> 01:29:26.220
Peter, let's see.

1169
01:29:26.279 --> 01:29:27.720
I would put Gan in a cape.

1170
01:29:30.600 --> 01:29:32.460
With the beard.

1171
01:29:32.520 --> 01:29:33.600
Put them all in, capes.

1172
01:29:34.979 --> 01:29:41.159
I would I would visit the exotic sounding planet's Kynesos over on Casiona and Epinal.

1173
01:29:41.460 --> 01:29:43.199
Oh my god.

1174
01:29:43.979 --> 01:29:51.600
And I would probably have traversay, if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you.

1175
01:29:52.560 --> 01:29:54.899
I 3 most important things.

1176
01:29:54.960 --> 01:29:56.760
Let's hope you have it.

1177
01:29:56.819 --> 01:29:58.260
I think that wins.

1178
01:29:58.319 --> 01:29:59.640
Nathan.

1179
01:30:00.180 --> 01:30:03.960
I'd want to radicalise Blake.

1180
01:30:04.079 --> 01:30:16.500
I think he is a bit of a guardian reading, kind of libdam, sort of doughy, middle-aged, centrist, and I want him radicalised.

1181
01:30:16.560 --> 01:30:34.319
I want him actually blowing things up and maybe the others, like, you know, you can imagine a dynamic where Avon is trying to restrain him out of self-interest and and perhaps Jenna is trying to restrain him out of a desire not to kill a whole bunch of people by blowing things up.

1182
01:30:34.380 --> 01:30:45.840
But I just think that for a show about sort of revolutionary, it's just a bit too tame and it's reluctant to be properly political.

1183
01:30:45.899 --> 01:30:49.079
So, uh, that's uh, that's what I would do.

1184
01:30:49.140 --> 01:30:52.020
So make him a bit more major Kira Nurris.

1185
01:30:52.079 --> 01:30:53.760
Oh yeah, yeah.

1186
01:30:53.819 --> 01:30:59.880
I want Major Kira to look at him and kind of go, I think maybe you're going a little bit too far.

1187
01:31:00.300 --> 01:31:02.100
And sorry.

1188
01:31:02.159 --> 01:31:13.560
Well, the thing that I would do is make it more colourful, because it's been really dour this year, the design has just been a bit flat.

1189
01:31:13.619 --> 01:31:20.100
There's lots of really boring space corridors and no matter how you like them, they're not very interesting to look at.

1190
01:31:20.220 --> 01:31:24.600
I think the whole visual aspect of the show needs a big boost.

1191
01:31:24.659 --> 01:31:28.020
We need some flamboyant costuming perhaps.

1192
01:31:28.079 --> 01:31:36.960
And we need some outlandish sets and make it just, I think they can bring a bit more to the screen than they're doing.

1193
01:31:37.020 --> 01:31:40.800
The costuming through series one, A, whatever.

1194
01:31:40.920 --> 01:31:43.020
It's late. don't know what it is anymore.

1195
01:31:44.819 --> 01:31:57.359
Is just really dull and I've been, they're trying to go for, for some kind of realism, but it looks cheap and I think maybe what they need to introduce is leather.

1196
01:31:57.420 --> 01:31:59.220
I think that will go down.

1197
01:31:59.399 --> 01:32:07.560
Oh, no, we've had Travis, but I think maybe getting the whole cast in leather in some... will work well.

1198
01:32:07.619 --> 01:32:09.840
There are other shows you can watch for that.

1199
01:32:12.359 --> 01:32:14.699
I was pretty sure it was vinyl.

1200
01:32:15.119 --> 01:32:16.979
It might well be.

1201
01:32:17.039 --> 01:32:19.439
Like Sarkoff's record collection.

1202
01:32:20.100 --> 01:32:34.859
Yeah, that's a really interesting point, Si, because the series takes its aesthetic from the 1st episode and then it doesn't fit because the series becomes by about the web, something completely different and to sort of catch up, it reads, it needs a real injection of June Hudson.

1203
01:32:34.920 --> 01:32:37.380
Yeah, and we're gonna get it, aren't we?

1204
01:32:37.439 --> 01:32:37.920
Oh, yes.

1205
01:32:37.920 --> 01:32:45.060
And the other thing that I would do is just give Jacqueline Pierce a few more episodes per year.

1206
01:32:45.060 --> 01:32:50.159
And I think that will be to the positive for the series, really, wouldn't it?

1207
01:32:50.220 --> 01:32:52.560
Get rid of the space anorax.

1208
01:32:52.979 --> 01:32:54.899
They're going.

1209
01:32:54.960 --> 01:32:57.060
Yes, well, they're in the bin already.

1210
01:32:57.840 --> 01:33:06.899
From Avon Space Parker, which we will see again, which is possibly the best costume that any of the breaking...

1211
01:33:07.140 --> 01:33:08.819
I love how he wears the space.

1212
01:33:08.819 --> 01:33:09.779
It's like, no, no, no.

1213
01:33:09.840 --> 01:33:11.399
I want to wear tinfoil.

1214
01:33:11.699 --> 01:33:13.619
Not in that.

1215
01:33:13.680 --> 01:33:23.039
I would say structure your makeup of episodes to more consciously feature different characters.

1216
01:33:23.100 --> 01:33:27.119
The best way to do that is to go with unusual pairings.

1217
01:33:27.180 --> 01:33:36.239
So perhaps have an episode which focusses on Jenna and Gan working together or Villa and Blake without Avon around.

1218
01:33:36.300 --> 01:33:46.140
And that way you bring out different dynamics, like you already have done with Villa with everyone throughout the course of the season, especially, I think, Pair Gana with some more people.

1219
01:33:46.199 --> 01:33:48.359
And like another Gan combo.

1220
01:33:48.420 --> 01:33:58.020
I would love to see more Robbie's Gan and Avon on some kind of mission where actually brute strength is the way through and Avon's on the back foot and has to rely on Gan.

1221
01:33:58.079 --> 01:34:01.020
Just playing more with the dynamics of the characters.

1222
01:34:01.079 --> 01:34:03.119
Avon Gan Romance, man.

1223
01:34:03.119 --> 01:34:03.960
Yuck.

1224
01:34:07.079 --> 01:34:08.640
Yeah, you know what we were missing, Brendan?

1225
01:34:08.699 --> 01:34:13.020
We were missing out of all of them, a Janet Kelly. matchup.

1226
01:34:13.079 --> 01:34:15.659
They should have had a mission together and it would have been great.

1227
01:34:15.720 --> 01:34:20.760
And that's something that selling of it has spoken of in recent years.

1228
01:34:20.819 --> 01:34:27.359
She's like, you know, the thing about always leaving one of the women on the ship or both of the women on the ship is we never got stories together.

1229
01:34:27.420 --> 01:34:31.140
It was always, and we have a woman playing an active role.

1230
01:34:31.199 --> 01:34:33.840
We don't need to worry about the other one, whoever it is this week.

1231
01:34:33.899 --> 01:34:40.560
And it's like, well, actually, no, if you have a mission where you need someone who can shoot and someone who can fly.

1232
01:34:40.619 --> 01:34:41.760
There you go.

1233
01:34:41.819 --> 01:34:43.680
That's your story for general and Callie.

1234
01:34:43.739 --> 01:34:57.000
And spoilers, there'll be a terrible episode next year called hostage, and yet one of the only interesting things about it is that Jenna and Kelly get their own little subplot on board the ship where they fend off and attack, and it's really pretty good.

1235
01:35:03.479 --> 01:35:08.039
Well, folks, that is all the time we have for our retrospective.

1236
01:35:08.100 --> 01:35:22.859
Thank you for sticking with us through this episode and throughout this entire series, and we will discover what happened to the crew of the Liberator next after the ship exploded when we discuss series B with its 1st episode Redemption in 2022.

1237
01:35:23.100 --> 01:35:27.300
And for series B, as all of our episodes are out now.

1238
01:35:27.359 --> 01:35:32.699
That voting I did for characters, we're going to open it up to you, the listener as well.

1239
01:35:32.760 --> 01:35:40.920
So look out for that, so you can vote for how you think the series B characters go, and we do get a new one next year.

1240
01:35:40.979 --> 01:35:42.359
Sort of, spoiler alert.

1241
01:35:42.420 --> 01:35:51.960
Until next time, check out our show notes for the website and you can find us wherever you get your podcasts by searching for Maximum Power, a Blake 7 podcast.

1242
01:35:51.960 --> 01:36:03.180
In their absence, I would like to thank Simon, James and Mark, who are not here, who have also contributed throughout this year as well.

1243
01:36:03.239 --> 01:36:06.359
And next year, we've got some exciting new people join us.

1244
01:36:06.420 --> 01:36:07.439
Yes, we have.

1245
01:36:07.739 --> 01:36:09.239
I'm really looking forward to that.

1246
01:36:09.300 --> 01:36:15.180
I want to keep our power dry on who it is, so you can listen along and be surprised along with me.

1247
01:36:15.180 --> 01:36:22.319
And of course, thank you very much, Colin, Pete, Cy, Nathan, and Peter for joining me on this retrospective.

1248
01:36:22.380 --> 01:36:29.399
Until you hear us again, may all of your phibians stay in the tunnels.

1249
01:36:29.460 --> 01:36:31.319
Thank you very much for listening and good night.

1250
01:36:31.380 --> 01:36:31.800
Good night.

1251
01:36:31.859 --> 01:36:32.220
Good night.

1252
01:36:32.279 --> 01:36:32.640
Good night.

1253
01:36:32.640 --> 01:36:33.300
Good night.

1254
01:36:33.359 --> 01:36:33.840
Good night.

1255
01:36:39.899 --> 01:36:41.520
Switching to man.

1256
01:36:41.579 --> 01:36:43.619
Maximum power on all drives.

1257
01:36:43.859 --> 01:36:46.380
Maximum power.