You’ve Got to Have a Hobby

[00:03]

Maximal power.

Welcome back to Maximum Power, the podcast that is putting you on trial, and your oneness may be absorbed.

This week, we are discussing trial.

Yeah, who knew a clue was that you put a clue in that intro, didn't you?

I did.

I'm making this up on the spot, you could tell.

Anyway, I'm psy.

I'm Colin.

I'm Paul and I'm Pete.

And we're here to discuss the aftermath of Gan's death in Chris Boucher's 3rd script for the 2nd series of Blake 7, or series B, as I should correctly call it.

Trial.

So, Paul, welcome to the podcast.

What do you think of trial?

Personally, I think this is one of the best episodes of Blake Seven.

It's certainly one of my favourites.

I think.

[01:04]

It sets up the rest of the season, then... follows.

That is, you know, will be for future episodes.

But yes, it's one of my favourites.

Oh, what about you, Pete?

Yeah, it's really good.

I, I, it has its peculiarities, um, to put it mildly, and that's what you want from late seven, you know, just, don't just want it to just trundle out straightforwardly.

And it's A plot and it's B plot, seem extremely distant, physically, but obviously thematically, I see what's happening here.

There's a trial and a trial.

There's more than one type of trial.

Uh, so, yeah, I think this, whoever this um, Chris Boucher is, I think you could go a long way in script, right?

about time they gave him a go to write, probably.

Although it's a bit a non-terri nation episode, and straight away, we're down on a planet with alien plants squirting stuff in your face and whatnot.

So it's clearly still playing true to Terry Nation's vision of the universe.

[02:06]

No, it's great to be back on Planet of the Daleks, or Planet Genesis, from Star Trek 3, really is.

Well, technically, we're on, um, we're in the Matrix, because it's the same location as used in the deadly assassin.

Interestingly, I used to work there.

So my very 1st in the matrix.

Yeah, my very 1st job. was at the Royal Alexandra and Albert school, which is where this, this, the location stuff's filmed.

And they have a wonderful grounds.

It's a it's a boarding school.

And they have a fantastic park with a Japanese garden, which I think they use some of it here, and a lake, which they don't use, but which is used in deadly assassin.

Sorry, I was just thinking of the Japanese garden from police squad, I'm sorry.

Cool.

But so when you were there, did you hunger or, you know, did you sort of forage in the ground?

[03:06]

I was always concerned for my oneness, I have to say.

Well, those BBC one items are atrocious.

It's no wonder that everyone is very concerned about.

Brazil in particular is very concerned about them and who can blame them.

So, yes, let's talk about zill first, shall we?

Because it's one of the very rare aliens in Blake 7.

And I think she's rather cool.

I really like her.

She moves very well and is very interesting.

Yeah, she is.

I like the way she, um, learns Blake, learns English in, you know, maybe 10 seconds or something.

She's sort of listening to a bit and suddenly has all the vocabulary, but the way she plays it, sort of trying to get words out is kind of nice.

And it is quite, it's an odd sort of performance and it's an odd kind of character, um, to, you know, trying to get across to Blake that, you know, you are important and, you know, I sort of thought I was protecting you because I thought you were an egg or something.

[04:13]

It gets a bit trippy.

Okay.

I do wonder what her agent, what she thought when her agent phoned her up with this job.

By the way, you're going to be in like a weird little leo dart and have to sort of move about sticking your tongue out all the time.

Yeah, you're basically a flea who helps someone get up with the fact that he's killed one of his friends.

Can you just could have come bring that a place of realness to that part, please, love?

Yeah.

She, um, and it's one of his performances that, like, I mean, it's not a Star Trek performance.

It's not a cinematic universe performance of any kind, is it?

It's the sort of thing you'd be much more likely to see in a kid's show, because it's really, but it's, but it's, and I'm say that in a good way, because it's, it's, it's just really honest, and like, imagine if somebody was, or just sort of lizardy type flea thing.

Um, but how would that kind of creature react?

And yeah, it's, people often always use theatrical in a, as if it's actually put down, but I don't think it is at all in some instances.

[05:15]

And with this, she's just acting her flipping green socks off to, to be that creature.

Yeah, she's making her really alien and the way she moves and uh, talks is just really great.

I really like her.

So, yeah, it's probably better than the moon discs, which is our other alien that we've encountered so far this season. so.

I think as well, that her storyline is quite interesting.

Because obviously I guess we'll get onto this.

Obviously, it's very much, um, it's thematically linked to, to what's going on with Blake and Travis. around this idea of a sort of family.

So whereas Travis is being rejected by his family, and Blake is choosing to run away from his family, Zeal literally cannot have a family, you know, because if they, if too many of them get together, then they get absorbed by the planet.

[06:22]

And so she literally has to be on her own to survive.

And so that's quite an interesting contrast to the other two.

It's a lot in this episode, isn't there?

Yeah, and I, when I started watching it, at 1st I was thinking, I mean, I was thinking, wouldn't it be better if Blake had actually had a mission to go on, a thing to do, but then, as it progresses, it starts to thinking, no, because, yeah, exactly the point is he doesn't.

The point is, I think, well, you know, the mission is the women in leotards that you meet along the way.

But that it's, I mean, I'm the oneness, and is he, and finding that thing of, am I worth coming back to?

I love the, um, the, the music, but just before we, because well, we're still on the end of the jungle, the the music down there, the bongos, the sinister bongos that Dudley's everyone reaches for sometimes, uh, I think that harks back to um, Planet of the Apes soundtrack or, well, 60s genre films in general.

I think you get quite a lot of that, but that really really tense.

And the, yeah, the fact that they haven't given him a specific quest that he's got to do is an interesting choice because it just puts basically different to a typical episode.

[07:33]

Yeah, I like the fact that he's going down to think about what's happened and sort himself out, and then he gets embroiled in this adventure, that he's not expecting, that actually sorts him out better than him just wallowing in self-pity would have done.

Is it is it convincing though?

I...

He just, he doesn't seem upset, really.

He's just like, anyway, I'm just popping down to this planet. you know, I don't need a gun.

Rack, would you mind?

I thought he was Tetchy.

I wrote down Blake is being tetchy towards...

Tetchy is as hard as it gets.

I wrote Blake is a whiny little child in this running away from his responsibilities.

And I think I think to me, that's how he always comes across.

Like, he's making this all about him.

Which I think is an interesting side of Blake's character.

And everyone's making the most of it, right?

Yeah. absolutely every opportunity.

[08:34]

Oh, I just love the way he just turns around to him at one point and just says, well, at least I don't get them killed.

Just, yeah, just rub it in, Abel.

Go on.

Every line is everything out.

Avon doing it.

He's not doing any plot up there. but he's but he's just absolutely owning it and yeah.

And he makes that point really, really clearly.

It's like to distance him from being one of Blake's followers.

At least your other 3 are still around.

But if you do one more fuck up, they're out of here.

Yeah, and he's clearly the least upset about Gand.

There's a bit where Villa said, I wish Gan was here.

And and Avon replied pretty much, well.

That useless...

I'm bleeping my phone.

Well, we are introduced to WWGD this episode.

It really is that it's like, I wonder what Gam would do if he were here.

Well, he'd say, is there a message?

Would he?

Okay, maybe he would.

Well, I'm sure he probably wouldn't.

It wouldn't have been given the dialogue, exactly.

We've got the 2 biggest supercomputers in the galaxy and they've switched off notifications on both of them. in your inbox.

[09:41]

And that message that Blake Blake gives.

It's strange the way he talks, he says, you, if I see you there, it really sounds like he's using the singular U. like there's a there's a way that he phrases something.

But I guess that's because we're meant to think, you know, he doesn't know who's actually going to put it on.

Um, yeah, it's a, it's an odd choice, but it's a, it's a dramatic choice.

Yeah, and the characterisation of Blake is really carrying on through what we've seen in the series so far.

So we've seen him um being very single-minded against the Pterra Nostra.

And then last week in pressure point, we've seen it be all about him and not even caring what everyone else thinks.

So it is fairly consistent.

And he does seem to snap out of it a little when he comes back to the liberator at the end of the episode.

He's a bit more series A Blake, but only a little bit. have to do his face at the end because it's, you know, it's like last week's where everyone's happy at the end.

[10:45]

The thing about the other thing about the message is that you can tell Avon is immediately pissed off that Blake is leaving such a good message.

You know, it's like, well, glad you guys managed to, you know, switch your phone on and play this message after all or wasn't sure if you would.

And then, you know, Avon's advantage as to like, oh, fuck, he is coming back after all.

Oh, God, they all, they all do like him.

And it's like, you bought that?

Did you?

or you swallowed that villa or something like that?

So it's just, it's some terrific, you know, Baucherian, copyright, Nathan, um, dialogue going on there.

I think it's the best Avon dialogue and the best sort of Avon performance so far.

There's an interesting bit with Jenna, as well, where she always seems to kind of strop out of the flight deck, because Blake didn't tell her or something, I presume.

[11:46]

I think that's an interesting little moment.

Yeah, because she says, doesn't she?

She says, I don't trust unless I'm trusted in return.

Yeah.

So it feels like she should be siding with Blake, but because he hasn't confided in her, she is not, she's going to have to think about this.

And when Avon suggests they run off and she flounces off the flight deck because of that, she's not having it.

She's still shocked that he would dare to use a secret classification code.

How could he possibly do that?

And she gets that great exchange with Avon where she says, what would you know about guilt?

And he sits there smirking, says only what I've read.

Yeah.

Again, when they're all dealing with their guilt and their grief, he can't resist every joke about how clever and astute and cool and cold he is.

You also get, and the fantastic line later on when they talk about there being a flood.

The half the planet is in danger of flooding, and he gets to say, let's hope Blake's on higher ground.

[12:46]

Like, you sort of turn to the camera and go, and that's another double meaning for you.

Oh, I can do that at all.

No, that yeah.

But this is why we bring people.

Even in her most, and like you said, Jenna's the one, she's like his most faithful disciple really, isn't she?

If we want to go down that route.

She's the one who trusted him 1st and she's the one who trusts him most sincerely, probably.

And even under all this stress, she still uses the word whom correctly at one point, which I don't think that shows the top.

I'm taught like a pirate date.

She taught like a space pirate day.

It's Jenna, you're conjugating your sentence is quite assiduously.

And that's the other reason we bring Pete on.

I'm cheaper than Nathan.

I have a question.

Do we spend more time in this episode talking about how sad we are that Gan is no longer with us?

[13:47]

Or is more time spent talking in time flight talking about that Adric is no longer with us?

Which of these is the most impactful?

I think we've got more about Gan here?

Although actually it's more about the after effect and the effect it's had on their legends than actual the effect of Gan's death, isn't it?

So there's the great exchange where Blake says every bounty hunter will now know that we are fallible.

Yeah.

And, um, that they've come to believe in their invulnerability, and then suddenly that's taken away from them.

So is it too late to stop buying into that or do they need to just reestablish that, which is the route that they go down?

Yeah, because they're not just going to cruise around the universe doing occasional heists and everybody's fine.

And like, yeah, you wouldn't get a death of a character in Star Trek in those days.

And it was a huge thing when they did it with Tasha Yar.

I don't know if they could do an episode in series D, yesterday's Liberator, where they come back and be, again from a parallel universe who hadn't pointlessly held open a door that was closing very slowly.

[14:57]

They could have all just run through.

Everything is very, very different.

And he's never, you know, although they do address it in this episode and it's well done, his name is never, ever mentioned again in Blake 7.

That's it.

Yeah.

Well, there we go.

That's a good fact, which I read somewhere, and if it's wrong, it's not my fault.

So, I mean, as well as um, Blake and his crew dealing with the aftermath of pressure point, um, Servlan and Travis are also dealing with this, and, um, uh, Servlan is holding Travis to her promise of burying him, um, after after the most wonderful slap last week.

So we've got this, the actual trial, not the metaphorical trial of Blake, the actual actual trial of Travis.

Fuckload of characters in this.

There really is, isn't there?

There's a lot of characters.

[15:57]

Senator Ron Seal, Senator Exposition, who are here to talk about the BBC canteen.

I'm sorry, Space Command canteen.

Oh, that's great.

I should have brought my... shall we die?

But they're back from Siclocate Destroy, which is brilliant.

Yes.

And they do a similar role in this, don't they?

They're that sort of Greek chorus. sort of role.

That's right.

I like the guards as well.

Oh, Trooper Park.

Trooper and Trooper...

Exposition...

Is it only me that thinks of ABBA every time someone says super. what was the number one this week?

Still blondie.

Aver or not number one this week.

We were a little bit out of things.

Yeah, this would be a perfect time for Super Trooper to have come along.

But it's the 1st Federation guards we've seen without the helmets on.

[16:58]

So can they now shoot straight?

They don't really get a chance, do they?

Well, I love the, I love the thing of, ah, welcome, yes.

No, before you can enter the courtroom.

You have to speak into this exposition machine, which will just confirm who you are, while you're here and whether you're trustworthy or not.

And one of the guards is Northern, isn't he?

Um, uh, Kevin Lloyd from um, the Bill, from the Bill.

Well, later, obviously.

And it's on you.

I don't know.

It's always nice to hear non-RP accents in space this far back in time.

Yeah, and that's a very Chris Boucher opening with um, 2 of the lesser characters talking about how boring their jobs are and how awful it is working um, and doing it is something he'll come back to in rumours of death next year where you've got the 2 commanders talking.

And yeah, it's it's just, it just makes it seem like a real place, I think.

[17:59]

So I was just going to say, I do like the um, guard that uh, escorts Travis into the courtroom.

I think he's super superbly going for it, isn't he?

He's got his couple of lines and he's he's given it everything.

But he's not an escort.

Has he been, is, are we meant to think that he grew up at the same, in the same place as, um, as, as Travis?

and that's why he's sort of got a similar, slightly strangled shot me out?

The whole battalion of them.

But we do get Fred Elliott in his 1st role in Blake 7.

What's his, what's the guy's name?

can't remember John Savaden.

John Savadon?

Yeah.

That's old star killer.

Star Killer who just like seems quite nice. sort of ordinary kind of bloke, really.

Not really a star.

Yeah, he's quite restrained compared to his later appearance in the show, isn't he?

I can't wait to see that.

Okay But it's odd.

[19:05]

It goes back and it starts doing a little bit of world building again that we did in the way back where you've kind of got kind of like a bit of a knockoff justice machine.

Because in the last justice machine, it was like, here, you know, here's your glass tap from John Lewis, you know, put that in your side, put yours on that side.

We've decided.

And now it's like, well, give it to the prosecution, but you can still speak, but save your declaration to the end.

And you know, it's still all decided and then not quite sure why they've gone...

Well, of course, it's a spectacle, isn't it?

although only the person that's really supposed to be watching it is Serviland secretly, but I surely they just have the justice computer.

I think it's because they're on a space station and the Wi-Fi is no good.

Space Wi-Fi.

People have got sick of machines taking over all their jobs.

Oh, less about Amazon, please.

Maybe there's been a kickback from the judiciary.

[20:06]

Well, speaking of which, frog Callie's out of a job, isn't she, now, that Aurac can operate the teleporter?

That's like one thing.

I'll be on strike if I was you, Kelly.

Yeah, it is the 70s.

Can you on strike?

Yes.

No, who haven't we mentioned so far?

Well, Major Farnia. we're getting closer.

Get it closer.

Hasn't she got a wonderful accent?

It's slightly sort of Swiss or posh ink, half English, half you're sounding a bit like, um, uh, breakfast at Tiffany's.

Catherine Hepburn hint to it, I thought.

Well, she does succeed in giving par what looks like a bottle of aftershave as just to get Travis on side.

And isn't Travis, the like the stingiest pot shop poorer?

It's not giving much to see.

It's not Benolin, you know?

No, it is good stuff. is good stuff.

[21:09]

And the scenes between Major Valia and Servolan are just great.

They are those 2 actors are just playing with each other and the cold cat and mouse thing.

And Servlan is just so good with the, um, she says, uh, as if he were drugged and suddenly goes, of course not, and risk a mistrial, it's like, yeah, as if I, as if I would have drugged him.

Oh, I mean, uh, oh, as if I thought about drugging.

And the obvious little slips that she gets to give into the fact that she's clearly watching the whole thing anyway.

Oh, the Guard Commander's report.

Yeah, the room next door.

She probably only just got a little...

She probably got a little hatch.

She just drilled a hole in it.

Well, that's why the justice computer's not working then because she's using all the Wi-Fi to stream the video.

That will be what it is.

Is there any actual evidence in this trial?

I mean, We don't hear him, no.

No we don't hear it.

I mean, we hear that 1000, we hear that there's 1417 people that Travis sort of slaughtered.

[22:16]

And they're going to listen.

And we can't be asking them all.

But it doesn't feel like...

Yeah, it doesn't turn into a like a full trial type episode in like we're weighing up evidence or anything because in a sense that doesn't really matter.

What matters is Travis is kind of ahead of them up to a point where the sort of newly liberated liberator decides, oh, fuck it, let's go and blow some shit up. and they race along and they arrive and they have a little bit of a laser and they make a massive spark.

And then instead of finishing their job, they go, oh, wow, Jesus, that's enough for today.

Let's get out of here.

And then I think start blowing up and all this stuff.

And then Servolan is like sitting in her office and everything is fine after this massive explosion's gone off on the side.

She's just sitting there going...

Yeah, she's over the other side of the station.

She's not next door, is she?

Like, none of the lights flicker.

You know, she's still, you know, beautifully dressed in her sort of cook's outfit with silver buttons stuck on.

[23:20]

She, you know, she's completely unaffected until sort of Travis wanders in.

And what's the line?

She says something like, I wonder what the damage is like.

And then Travis walks in and goes, hi.

I thought he was like, hi.

No, no, no, no, no, because he said she says, oh, casualties.

And he says, hi, but rising all the time.

No, he doesn't. not say hi.

All right.

I'm back, did you?

But I think this is one of Jacqueline Pierce's really best performances as Serverland.

She is so, she's just so cool in this episode.

She's playing everyone against each other.

She's getting what she wants and I, and she's, I keep coming back to this, but at the moment, she is so, her performances are so still and cool.

She's not doing the flamboyant, big gestures all the time.

[24:21]

She's really just small and yeah, I think she's phenomenal here.

Yeah, and there's a bit where she's I mean, she can be furious and she's still completely cold and completely in cold.

And composed.

Yeah, and you get both of that.

You get all of that coming out of her performance all at once.

It's an amazing balancing act for someone to channel all that into the.

But the lines are so good.

Like he's, he's so much better than anything I've got left.

I mean, what, what, can you get that on Valentine's cards, do you think?

I mean, let's go to moonpig.com and I'm sending you.

Pete, you are so much better than anything else I've got on this podcast.

The other thing I noticed in there, which I forgot to mention is just before the Liberator arrives, just behind John Savaden, Fred Elliott, there's this little white dot that's moving.

There is.

It's a little white dot.

I think that's a really nice touch.

Even though, you know, you don't really, you know, they don't really do spaceships outside of windows, but they can do a little white dot approaching.

[25:27]

I thought that was good.

So the only thing that will say, you tell me whether this counts as a negative or not, or whether it's a deliberate thing to sort of throw us off.

But the real abruptness with which suddenly, oh, actually, let's go and attack us, let's go and attack serve lands, headquarters.

Oh, I wonder if there's a trial or something going on.

Well, of course, they don't they don't even know, do they?

As far as they're concerned, it's just a drive-by.

It's like an egging, basically.

They're just trying to buy chuckets of stuff in it and running away again.

Um, and like they, uh, would it be better if they'd been, if they'd known, if they'd called picked up some signal and they're like, this is our chance to kill Servan and Travis.

But then it's not that kind of episode, is it?

It comes back to just as with Blake's mission to the planet not being a mission.

This is an instance of them not having an intelligence tip off that they're behaving on. just doing something completely spurious, which is like the lesson he's learned from the previous...

Yes, don't do spurious things.

Let's go and do spurious things.

Is he a conservative cabinet minister at heart?

Because basically, what have I learned from the 1st day whereas if I go ahead with a plan, it will lead to disaster and kill someone?

[26:33]

So I just won't bother having a plan.

Ultimately ends with quite severe consequences, doesn't it, with the...

Well, yeah, because...

Well, the sort of irony is, if they hadn't gone and attacked space control when they did, Travis would have been put to death.

And he would have been killed.

But because of Blake's actions, actually, Travis ends up surviving this.

It's good.

It's irony.

Yeah, dramatic irony, isn't it?

Yeah.

What do we think of Serverlands?

reaction to his survival.

She just seems amused by it.

I was like, oh, go on then. off you go.

That's a mute.

I mean, well, she's doing it at gunpoint, so maybe that's just the way, just the demeanour she adopts.

But it's almost like it's occurring to her that having him out there being rogue could actually end up playing to her advantage because then she won't get blamed for anything he does and he might cause chaos that could be to her benefits.

[27:35]

I don't know if I'm overthinking it or if that's where she's going.

No, I think I think that's where she's thinking, yeah.

So I was thinking a little bit about the themes of this episode.

Obviously we've got trial versus trial.

Um, The, and I haven't really got my head around what Zill is on about and with the planet and everything and how that is related.

Is that linked or is it metaphorical as well?

It's important to be woke. the main thing that she keeps saying.

She did say that.

Good, good for her.

I agree.

But the other thing you get is this, the whole concept of time to think.

It's not really a massive theme, but Travis says he didn't have time to think. whereas Blake has gone down to the planet for 13 hours to think, but actually he's just going to do it in his room from now on.

Theme wise.

I think this is all about how the individual fits into their different societies or families.

[28:44]

Uh, and so you've got, you've got Travis.

He's somebody that was basically raised in the military.

And that is his family.

That's what he's used to, that's his entire life, and he's being rejected by his family.

So it's about how him as an individual reacts to that.

Blake has decided to basically leave his family unit of the liberator and the crew.

And he then comes back and is reabsorbed back into the family.

Um, and then, and then zeal on the planet.

Can't be with her family because they have to be alone in order to survive.

But ultimately, she then gets reabsorbed into the whole, the planet as a whole.

Um, But that's obviously a negative consequence for her.

So that theme runs across all 3 sections, I think.

I've been thinking about that for a while.

Ever since you stepped into that Japanese garden.

What the fuck does this episode mean?

[29:45]

But you're right also, Colin, about the thinking thing, because the judge, um, Fleetwall, um, thingy, John Sabadon, that suit. um, yes.

Old Star Killer.

Call Travis, a savage, unthinking animal.

And then Serverland switches that round and says, oh, savage thinking animals have a way of surviving.

That's an interesting line, though, because essentially what they're doing is they know that Travis is absolutely a product of their military, what they've created.

And so by, they have to call him that because by, if they don't, then they are sort of admitting that, that they're a part of this and that they're equally responsible.

So they have to say, you're this, this, this, this, this brute.

Um, and not a product of your training or our military.

[30:45]

Um, Yeah, because they're incredible guilty.

Yeah, he's been bringing homicidal fascist dictatorships into disrepute, basically.

Yeah, exactly.

And it's what, again, Paul says it, doesn't it?

Whereas where he's asked whether he thinks Travis is guilty and he says, yeah, he gave the orders.

We just did the shooting.

We just did what we were told and it's always comes back to that.

Yeah, he's the one in command.

So he takes the takes the can for this.

We were only obeying orders.

Yeah.

When you're up to your neck in slime and lasers.

I love that.

That's my band name.

I just want to go ask a question really.

What do we make of the fact that he's that Travis is on trial for a massacre on Zacaster?

[31:45]

But obviously when he's introduced in season A, he's done a similar massacre on a place called Oros.

And I wonder...

I thought it was the same.

No, it's a different planet.

What a bastard.

Yeah, so he's he's done it twice and there's some continuity era where they've forgotten the name of the...

Oh, it's probably continuity era.

No.

I guess they forgot that they'd mentioned it, but maybe hadn't checked back.

Did they not watch script box?

We'll find out.

Fuck out.

Either that or Brian Croucher did one and Stephen Grife did the exact game.

I mean, I guess I guess there's an idea that the Zacaster could have been earlier than the other one.

And I think you, there's some justification for that because that wouldn't have been on Serverland's watch.

She wouldn't have been supreme commander.

Oh, yeah.

So I don't know if they just decided that the Oros one was too...

[32:50]

And hadn't he...

Yeah, hadn't he already been punished?

He'd hadn't he faced some kind of punishment or stripping of his rank because of that when Servalam 1st brought him in and she was bringing him into the cold?

She was, I think she was bringing, like bringing him in from the cold, this disgraced man who'd been disgraced because of that massacre.

And so maybe now it's like, oh, here's another massacre. he's done.

He just can't stop the massacre.

And I guess...

You got to have a hobby.

And it is, of course, the point with the...

The point of the trial is that it is a stitch up.

It's her trying to get him out of the picture before he can take, before he can call, be called as a witness against her.

So, yeah, it's a blame storm.

It's typical large organisation.

Exactly the same in local government.

Well, not exactly the same.

Mash, yeah.

And, of course, well, Brian Crucher gets his, as I believe it's pronounced, gets his amazing, amazing moment in the spotlight.

[34:02]

So are all of you, moment, which I don't know how anyone could deliver that dialogue, really.

I can't imagine Travis Wond doing it. even as it's written.

Well, it'd be a bit more rather, wouldn't it?

Yes.

I think it's very much Brian Croucher's best performance in the role here.

He is absolutely wonderful.

I really like the, stop pulling faces, Colin, myself.

Shut up, my love turn is great.

No, when I saw Blake 7 the 1st time.

I saw Travis Mark II before I saw Travis Mark I. So he always feels like proper Travis to me.

So I've got my hands up there.

Do you feel like about that with canine as well?

He's got better hair than the other Travis as well.

That's true.

Yeah.

And he's a bit vainer because he's had the face bit tidied up, so, you know.

Yeah, he's got slightly less of an eye patch, hasn't he?

And he does the Roxy music tribute act on the space station at the Christmas party as well.

[35:06]

Is Brian Ferry impression?

He doesn't.

Did you spot the amazing in the midst of the trial room decompressing and or havoc breaking loose?

He still managed to do a karate chop on someone as he walks back to him.

Yes, does.

That's the mark of a pro.

On a par with the one Beryl Reed gives to a cyberman in Earthshock.

Oh, Miss Pick.

But no, I really like the Muppet Blake 7.

Sorry.

The must have played seven.

Colin, what have you unleashed to our brains?

What?

The Muppets do blank seven.

Miss Piggy's got to be Servolan, really, hasn't she?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yep.

Kermit is obviously Blake.

It's not easy being a massacre.

It's not easy.

It's not easy doing a massacre.

Also, Tom.

Fozy is definitely finner.

[36:08]

I don't know.

Avon would be both the guys at the back who watch.

Oh, Statler and Waldo.

I don't like this episode at all, Bill.

Ah, generous is Janice.

He apologise for the breakdown in your maximum power podcast.

So anyway, Ryan Croucher gives some really good performance here.

And I really like the fact that he's playing it like he knows exactly how this is going to play out and he plays it very blank and not giving anything away in the trial until he loses his rag finally. and shouts at, at, um, Thania, doesn't he?

So, yeah, until then, he's been very restrained and very, and then suddenly you get the full Brian Croucher.

And that's great because they all shout over each other, which is sort of, I think, quite unusual in these programs of this sort of era.

[37:10]

But that, yeah, it's, I think it's really effective.

You know, the other thing that's effective is when Blake leaves the message for them, he leaves sufficient time for Avon to come in and make a comment.

That's the only other thing.

It's like he knows one is going to come.

So I just wait, yeah.

So then we get the verdict and it is delivered most amazingly, like, you shall, in ascending order, lose your library card, have no lunch ticket. for tomorrow.

Have to hand in your uniform and be murdered.

You could have just cut straight to that.

But I guess they're trying to make it. was growing up okay for you?

I wasn't very good at karate chopping people.

So, no.

But, um, did you think, I mean, watching this for the 1st time?

[38:14]

I've only seen it once before, and I do remember thinking, oh, well, this probably is going to be it for him.

It did surprise me when he got away at the end, but it's an exciting ending.

He is jam-packed this episode.

It's full of, you know, you're not bored through any of it, really.

I had this memory that the whole scene's on Sarcaster, Zencaster, whatever, on Genesis, went on for ages.

But they don't really.

It's only like kind of 10 minutes interspersed.

And it's very much to the point.

And then it's out on his back.

I still want to do my, um, I still think it is Planogenesis, so I can do my, I want Genesis.

Impression.

Give me...

Phil Collins.

Oh, dare you set bastards.

Sorry.

And it's interesting because I always remember it seeming to take forever for Blake and everyone to turn up, but actually, it's only 5 minutes, but it always feels like a lot longer before they turn up, and I'm always willing it to be a lot longer because all the stuff with the Federation is still more interesting this week, particularly the politicking and everything else is going on.

[39:32]

It's a twist that it's Travis who's on trial, isn't it?

Coming into it straight out of the previous episode, you just, I just would have assumed that they'd been captured and it was going to be Blake on trial.

Yeah.

But yeah, no, I think this is really nice and it, I love the, the idea that it, it puts Travis and Blake on equal footing and that Travis is now an outlaw in the same way Blake is, um, they, yeah, they do make that very clear.

It's like, we choose the code word outlaw.

Yeah. should flash the word outlaw at the front of the screen as well.

Just make doubly sure.

But I quite like that.

I think maybe that the season then doesn't make the most of that.

Um, at least not right away.

No, and I think this is, because next time we see Travis, Um, he has done some bits, but he's also back in league with Serverland almost straight away, and it feels like a missed opportunity that they haven't explored Travis on his own and how he's going to survive and what he's going to do to Blake, as well as the Federation being on Blake's tail.

[40:46]

You could have had the 2 of them coming at him from different angles.

So, uh, thank you very much for joining us for trial, and um, I hope you've enjoyed the thoughts of my friends, my savage thinking animals, and my philosophical fleas.

This is the stuff that legends are made of.

So thank you very much for listening and goodbye.

Goodbye.

Bye.

Goodbye.

Switching to manual.

Maximum power on all drives.

Maximal power.

For him, it did surprise me when he got away at the end, but it's an exciting ending.

[41:56]

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's got his...

I said something so bland and it completely killed the conversation.

Well, thank you for your opinion, there, Pete. is jam-packed this episode.

It's full of, you know, you're not bored.

This is the stuff that legends are made of.

So hope you'll join us next week for next week's episode, which is...

Killer.

Join us next week for killer, which I won't be on, but everyone... do insincere and over the top laughing.

Oh, yeah, let's do that.

Let's do play space at the end.

Oh my god.

That's amazing, Colin.

Fortunately, you can't see that.

So thank you very much for listening and goodbye.

[42:57]

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Bye.

I think I'll correct that. edit. and we'll re record.

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