WEBVTT NOTE This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 21:56:50 1 00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:06.360 Maximal power. 2 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:18.539 Well, now, welcome back to Maximum Power, the Blake 7 podcast that is so enfeeboard. 3 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.239 It's forgotten the rules of the game. 4 00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.000 I'm Cy. 5 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:26.100 I'm James I'm Peter. 6 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:27.120 And I'm Simon. 7 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:31.079 So, here we are, ready to talk about voice from the past. 8 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.659 This is quite an incredible episode of Blake 7, like no other. 9 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:44.820 So, James, is this the worst episode of series B or quite possibly of the entire show? 10 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:49.079 I have always thought that, but on rewatching it. 11 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:50.460 I was pleasantly surprised. 12 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:56.399 It's not great, but there's actually quite a lot of enjoyment that I found in it. 13 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:57.780 The plot is not great. 14 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.840 I love the acting is not great, but it was enjoyable. 15 00:01:00.899 --> 00:01:04.319 Obviously my tone oscillation has got to you, James, this week. 16 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:14.760 I would heartily reject the premise of that question about it being the worst episode of League 7 because even though it is not very good in many and varied ways. 17 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.760 It is very enjoyable in a lot of other ways. 18 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:22.439 And the worst episodes, Blake 7, the Cardinal Sin of being boring, which I don't think this is. 19 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.680 Yes, this is certainly not dull or boring. 20 00:01:25.739 --> 00:01:30.780 And I was coming into it again, thinking, oh, this is not a very good one, is it? 21 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:31.319 Thinking. 22 00:01:31.379 --> 00:01:34.560 And then when I came to watch that, I thought, well, actually, I've really enjoyed that. 23 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:36.420 I was really pleasantly surprised. 24 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.760 I'd say at a bare minimum. 25 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:41.280 I would call it a perfectly fine episode, frankly. 26 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.159 Yes, I think that was the reaction that I had to it. 27 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:47.159 Having growing up watching like 7 repeatedly. 28 00:01:47.219 --> 00:01:51.000 And, you know, the perceived fan wisdom that this is shit. 29 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:58.739 Did colour, the opinion going in, but when I watched it, I, I like you, Simon, found it thoroughly enjoyable. 30 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:00.060 It was just entertaining. 31 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:03.060 It wasn't, you know, it was, it was a mess. 32 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:05.340 But it wasn't bad. 33 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.439 No, it's definitely not bad. 34 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:24.000 I think it's fairly well made in some aspects and very badly made in other aspects, but it's never less than watchable and quite often you're just laughing along at it more than anything else because some of it is just so incredible. 35 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:26.580 I have a real soft spot for this one. 36 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:29.340 Yes, there's not even the worst episode this season, is it? 37 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:32.520 I would give that accolade to hostage and it's crimose. 38 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.620 I love the cremos. 39 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:51.840 Does anyone feel like they're having a flashback to breakdown in the early parts of it where you've even got the whole scene with, well, you've even got the scene where Blake tricks Villa into letting him go. sort of exactly what Gan does to Cali, was it? 40 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:52.500 Was it Jenna? 41 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:53.520 I can't I can't remember. 42 00:02:53.580 --> 00:02:54.360 It feels like so long ago. 43 00:02:54.419 --> 00:02:54.960 Yes. 44 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:58.800 With another example of one of the regular characters being extremely curriculous. 45 00:02:58.919 --> 00:02:59.340 Yes, exactly. 46 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:06.719 The, um, the eye acting in that scene is really just concerting. 47 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:16.500 The way that Blake's eyes just dart left and right, left and right, left and right, is almost as if he's hypnotising villa as he's saying it. 48 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.300 It's really intense. 49 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.539 Yes, he's obviously playing the man-possessed role. 50 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:38.639 I quite like Gareth Thomas's performance in those scenes because it feels like Blake, but not quite Blake, and from sort of the earlier episodes of series B where Blake is a bit of a bastard taking charge of everything, not listening to the rest of the crew. 51 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:44.520 It actually feels like it belongs with that earlier version of Blake that we've seen. 52 00:03:44.580 --> 00:04:02.520 So it's not very far off what he's normally like, but it's just that little edge that Gareth Thomas, where he brings it right down and he plays the scene with, particularly with Villa very calmly and very, his voice is not sort of modulated a lot. is really good. 53 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:09.300 He's obviously made conscious decisions as an actor to do something specific with that. 54 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.400 He's certainly not voting it in in this at all. 55 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:20.279 You can always tell a good performer in sort of BBC science fiction at the time, late 7, Doctor Who, by how well they do with possessed acting. 56 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:28.319 So the people who are the very best at it, like Elizabeth Slayton in Doctor Who, just, you know, you can hand them anything and they'll do a credible job of it. 57 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:34.199 And I think here Gareth Thomas proves that he's not going to be all rolling eyes and, you know, evil looks. 58 00:04:34.259 --> 00:04:41.279 He just, he just, like you said, so he just brings the performance down a notch and makes it a little bit colder and it's really quite interesting to watch. 59 00:04:41.339 --> 00:04:49.319 Yeah, you can see why Villa falls for it. almost, I think, because it is Blake, but just not quite Blake. 60 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:58.199 And I, what I really like is the way that he's sort of throwing all these conspiracy theories at Villa like, oh, Avon and Callie, they're together. 61 00:04:58.259 --> 00:04:59.579 Didn't you know? 62 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:06.120 all these things are going on and you just haven't noticed and he's using the crew against him. is really good. 63 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:09.899 And I love the fact that he doesn't include Jenner in that. 64 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:13.259 He makes it more credible for Villa by saying, no, not Jenna. 65 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:16.019 She's just been duped by them and that makes Philip believe it. 66 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:16.980 Yeah. 67 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.920 I don't understand the possession though. 68 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:28.740 I mean, if he is possessed, you know, if he's mind controlled, how is he, like, how is he being directed? 69 00:05:28.740 --> 00:05:38.100 And how does that aid the, the plot of Van Glend, which we'll get you later, like having him behave in that way? 70 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.199 It's not possessed as in controlled. 71 00:05:40.259 --> 00:05:42.180 It's not like the way I read it. 72 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:47.399 He's not like he's being sent signals from the other place to do this and then that and then this other thing. 73 00:05:47.459 --> 00:06:02.279 It's more like he's been, It's like the power of suggestion that the hypnosis from years ago and the tone they're sort of pre-planted something in his mind to make him need to get to Asteroid PK 118 at any cost. 74 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:09.120 And so he's doing that to get there rather than rather than being controlled per se, the way I read it. 75 00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:12.540 Yeah, no, like it's influencing his behaviour. 76 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:21.300 I think that is one of the big problems with this episode in that that's a good setup, having like the mind control and referencing back to the way back, but they don't quite follow through with it. 77 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:27.540 And it doesn't really make sense plot-wise because Glynd and Governor LeGron's plan. 78 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:29.819 Just seems wildly convoluted. 79 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:40.319 They use the mind control thing to get Blake to go to the place where they want him to go when actually all they had to do was just contact the liberator and ask Blake to go to the place where they wanted him to go. 80 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:43.620 So it's a good setup, but then it's muddled in the execution. 81 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:44.759 You think, why are they doing this? 82 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:46.620 It sounds like it. 83 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:58.079 That sort of, to me, reeks of an earlier draft where they were going to do something else or someone else was involved or something and then certain aspects of that changed and then they forgot to tidy that part of it up. 84 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:07.319 Yeah, and also, I think a lot of the behaviour of those characters is in service of the red herring. 85 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:18.480 It's not, it's not logical, those characters wouldn't behave that way unless you were supposed to think that they were villains, so they could be revealed not to be villains. 86 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:19.680 Yes. 87 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:21.300 Yes, I get what you mean. 88 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.879 Yeah, it's just there for effect to make it look like they're doing something dodgy. 89 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:37.920 Like, especially those scenes with Travis slash Siobhan. where, you know, it's like, I know what you're up to. 90 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:39.360 I hear you, brother. 91 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:41.519 More French, James, more French. 92 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:45.120 Yeah. 93 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:49.019 Yeah, is this going to just send the question? 94 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:51.240 It's almost as convincing as the CSO back. 95 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:54.959 It's almost as convincing as the CSO backdrop on the asteroid when... 96 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:55.379 Oh, dear. 97 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.139 That is one of the worst moments in Blake 7. 98 00:07:58.199 --> 00:07:58.980 What were they? 99 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.740 someone said online that it looks like a child's drawing. 100 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:14.100 Yeah, well, well, I at least was trying to be kind by suggesting it's an impressionist painting rather than a child memory, but yes, it's like, why does he teleport onto the asteroid out on the asteroid? 101 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.079 why doesn't he teleport into the into the base itself? 102 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:18.180 like they do on every other occasion? 103 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:25.199 My notes for the filming of this were like literally just 2 lines. 104 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:32.340 Abstract CSO asteroid backdrop, and some polystyne rocks and airlock door, and some reused space sets. 105 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:39.299 Yeah, well, the door's back from trial from Travis's cell for a start, so... 106 00:08:39.299 --> 00:08:42.059 And then they go to the Wembley Conference centre. 107 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:49.679 Yeah, but if we're watching 70s BBC science fiction and we're complaining about CSO backdrops, polystyrene rocks and recycled bits of set. 108 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:53.159 Yes, some might say that this is the meat and drink of Bleak Seven. 109 00:08:54.419 --> 00:08:59.940 I think I think the question, the most important question here is is it better than underworld? 110 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:00.480 Yes. 111 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:01.679 The answer is yes. 112 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:06.539 At least at least it's one short scene. 113 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:07.500 It's not the whole thing. 114 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:08.519 The whole thing. 115 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:09.240 Yes, yes. 116 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:14.100 But you know, as Jenna says, wretched mining companies, no sense of aesthetics. 117 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:20.580 Another example of the brilliant dialogue. dialogue in this episode is fantastic, isn't it? 118 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:27.899 I was actually having flashes to Invisible Enemy, actually, in some of those sort of sequences, especially with the font of airlock or whatever it is that he walks in. 119 00:09:28.019 --> 00:09:28.320 Yes. 120 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:30.960 And it's the reused space suit as well. 121 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:33.299 At least the helmet from our invisible enemy. 122 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.279 Yes, contact has been made after all. 123 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:35.700 Yes. 124 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.860 The slow moving model shots as well. 125 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:39.600 Very slow. 126 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:41.519 They're beautiful, but they are very slow. 127 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:46.799 Yes, they're desperately trying to be 2001 and not quite achieving it. 128 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:53.460 Can I ask some questions about this episode and see that if you can answer them for me? 129 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:54.120 Yeah, go on. 130 00:09:54.120 --> 00:09:56.220 So why does Travis dress up as she, though? 131 00:09:57.120 --> 00:10:01.200 Just so you can get that 80s master reveal, surely. 132 00:10:01.259 --> 00:10:06.840 Because he's never had the chance to try out his foreign accent acting before. 133 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:09.480 So that's why he's felt it necessary. 134 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:16.679 I heard some foreign accent acting in trial where he says, if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, Then so are all of you. 135 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.500 Or is that just his normal accent? 136 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.919 You've been waiting all your life to get that out to an audience. 137 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:26.519 Yes, yes. 138 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:26.759 Yeah. 139 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:27.659 Can I can I tell you? 140 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:28.259 Yes, he has. 141 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.379 I may have performed time for many audiences. 142 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:34.080 The question is, worse slash are you on trial? 143 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:35.220 I have more questions. 144 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:42.240 Why does Blake switch off Aurak and then keep the key when Aurak has just insisted that Glyn's box of tricks couldn't harm him? 145 00:10:42.299 --> 00:10:44.639 Um, plot reasons. 146 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:45.179 Shut him up. 147 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:45.659 Yep. 148 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:47.100 I have him up. 149 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.379 Because he would... 150 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:50.159 Because he doesn't trust the others. 151 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:52.440 Yeah, like, I mean... 152 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:52.679 Okay. 153 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:54.179 So that's a good answer. 154 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:59.100 Why does she van remain behind when the others teleport down only to reveal himself? 155 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:00.000 Wah ha ha. 156 00:11:00.059 --> 00:11:01.980 And then demand to be teleported down. 157 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:04.500 So you get the reveal. 158 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.299 That's all it's for, isn't it? 159 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:11.519 It makes no sense because the one thing he's always wanted is the liberator. 160 00:11:11.580 --> 00:11:17.639 He's only got to take out 2 of the cast, and one of them's Callie, who is not in her kickoff phase at the moment. 161 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:21.360 So she's just on teleport duty, so she'll be easy to take over. 162 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:29.039 But surely his desire to kill Blake is overriding his his need to keep the liberator. 163 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:33.120 Yeah, I think you might be onto something there, James. 164 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:33.659 There we go. 165 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:43.019 And it does mean we get to have 2 moments where a character gets to say, Travis in a dramatic way. 166 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:55.200 If Peter, the point of these questions is to say that there are holes throughout the episode, I think we can take that as well, but they don't stop me from enjoying it anyway. 167 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:58.080 I would entirely agree. 168 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:02.159 And I do like the fact that Travis in that scene where he's revealed. 169 00:12:02.220 --> 00:12:09.240 And Avon gives a completely downplayed Travis as if he kind of suspected all along rather than, oh my god. 170 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:21.240 I do like that Travis could have said something because every day as ha ha, I now have control of you and you're going to teleport me down to the surface, but instead he says, to the teleport, which is just amazing. 171 00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:32.879 I love how he lampshades the fact that he's got an eye patch by putting a googly eye on top of his eye patch eye. 172 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.639 What would they think him with the googly eye? 173 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:43.740 I mean, you could have just ignored it, but it's just that little thing that's wobbling around every time his head moves and it's really disturbing. 174 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:45.659 Is it like a Muppet eye? 175 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:47.519 Like is it like a little Muppet eye? 176 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:48.840 It's like a Muppet eye. 177 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:53.340 I know, it's got this sort of element of the grotesque about it, though. 178 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:54.659 But it's quite good. 179 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:01.679 Although I think they should have put a googly nose on him because if they put a googly nose on him, it would have put a completely different spin on the line. 180 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:05.519 You'll imagine I haven't smelt you out. 181 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:19.919 Okay, we lied that he, every line he says with Siobhan is just, I just howl, let's it. really funny. 182 00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:23.159 But he's taking it so seriously. 183 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:25.019 He's giving he's all, I think. 184 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:25.559 It's great. 185 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:40.440 But going back to at the risk of picking further holes in it, you know, dressing up as Siobhan and being like terribly injured, you'd think, given that how injured he's supposed to be playing, at some point, he would have been given medical attention, at which point they'd find out that he's Travis. 186 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:41.580 You know what I mean? 187 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:43.440 It's very bold. 188 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:48.480 Are you saying that no one has ever thought to say, would you like us to please replace your bandages and dress your wounds? 189 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.120 No, I should do it myself. 190 00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:55.919 I like how his bandages are so encompassing as well that they cover his mouth. 191 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:58.259 So there's no mouthhole for him to speak through. 192 00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:01.139 It is. 193 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.980 It is rather good though. do enjoy it. 194 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:16.440 I've now just got the scene from Monty Python, the Holy Grail. scene is that? 195 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.960 I thought in your general direction. 196 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:22.080 Going back to the plot, if I may. 197 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:40.860 I actually quite like the fact that there's a rebel governor and a defector from relatively high up in the Federation, so you have 2 moderately, modestly senior federation officeholders who are prepared to stage a coup or, you know, realise that this is all terrible and we need to, we need to change it. 198 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:43.139 I don't think that happens anywhere else, does it? 199 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:46.379 Where you have actually insiders wanting to make the change. 200 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.500 The only other example I can think of is rumours of death. 201 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:50.399 Okay. 202 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:50.940 Yeah. 203 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:52.679 Do they know where they work? 204 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:55.500 Like, you work for the Evil Empire. 205 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:57.240 Do you're always going to die? 206 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:13.799 I just have this feeling that Feng Glend thinks he just believes in the legal system because he's part of the legal system and thinks he can expose this, despite having been part of the plot to destroy Blake's prosecuting counsel in the way back. 207 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.159 Despite being, yeah, being part of the conspiracy in the 1st place. 208 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:19.500 So how he thinks he's going to get away with it. 209 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:20.399 Yeah. 210 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:36.419 But it's going back to that kind of initial idea of, at the very beginning of the series where, you know, you have, it is an evil empire, but it's, there are potentially notionally good people who are involved and kind of believe what they're doing is right and they might find out at some point they will actually, actually you will know it's all terribly wrong. 211 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:43.019 It's a kind of a meshing of the 2 different kind of conceptualisations of the Federation, isn't it? 212 00:15:43.080 --> 00:16:04.799 The federation of the early parts of series A is very much a bureaucratic sort of final evil, whereas increasingly as the show goes on, it is this sort of, you know, villainous, um, fantastic. moustache twirling kind of villainy that becomes much more prominent. 213 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:07.440 And this is this is kind of... 214 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:08.399 As a foot in both camps. 215 00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:11.700 This where it really sort of flips, maybe. 216 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.320 No, I think it's already flipped long ago. 217 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:19.259 I think this is just a shadow. an echo of that original idea No, that was episode two. 218 00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:43.620 We've seen part of this earlier in the season in trial where Surferland is using what is perceived as sort of the best part of the Federation, so bringing old Star Killer in to be the judge because he's viewed as the good part of the Federation and under his jurisdiction, guilty verdict would be sort of obeyed a letter and wouldn't be questioned. 219 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:48.059 Yeah, there is sort of these hints that there are better parts of it around. 220 00:16:48.179 --> 00:16:49.320 That's right. 221 00:16:49.379 --> 00:17:01.320 She sort of goes through the legal processors and the mechanisms that are in place rather than just using her ginka kill switch or whatever, which is what happens in series C, because in series C, she is the evil dictator. 222 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:01.980 Exactly. 223 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.799 It's interesting, Simon. 224 00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:11.099 What you said, I think, goes to the heart of the problem with this episode, in that this feels like it actually should be an important episode. 225 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:22.440 There are big things happening in the Blake 7 universe with planets, revolting, and sort of, you know, important governors and a high level kind of betrayal of the federation. 226 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:28.500 And yet the tone is completely at odds with what you would think that would be. 227 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:34.380 And so it has the stilted grandiose feel in the performances and especially the dialogue. 228 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:42.900 And because it's all a bit confusing and thin as well, that tips it over into high camp, Rob, an interesting camp, and it's just, it's at odds with it. 229 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:44.579 And so the episode does not gel. 230 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.519 Oh, I think that was mostly Freedom was acting, wasn't it? 231 00:17:47.579 --> 00:17:51.900 Well, should we talk about Frieda Nore, because she is just amazing. 232 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:54.180 This is governor... 233 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:55.740 It is Governor LeGrand herself. 234 00:17:55.799 --> 00:17:58.380 Commander Summerland. 235 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:02.460 A shrewd maxim sigh. 236 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:10.619 She's yet another guest cast member who comes in and decides to have their own pronunciation of server. 237 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:10.920 Yes. 238 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:19.079 And it's like, surely the week that they spend at Acton, they've got, someone has told her, no, dear, it's pronounced Servolet. 239 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:22.019 But she pronounced it 3 different ways. 240 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:22.559 She does. 241 00:18:22.619 --> 00:18:24.359 And then Travis pronounces it in other ways. 242 00:18:24.420 --> 00:18:27.660 So she likes Sevalan, and Travis likes Servolan. 243 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:35.400 Sometimes there are moments that really take me by surprise because I can't understand what her motivation in her acting is. 244 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:43.380 So there are scenes where she's playing it straight down the camera at the audience at home for no reason whatsoever. 245 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:52.859 There are scenes where, like Serverland says, she is just so pathetically obvious that she's just awful. 246 00:18:52.920 --> 00:19:04.859 I mean, that 1st conversation between Friedenor and Jacqueline Piers. is a masterclass of just every of acting in general, I think, because Jacqueline Pierce is having so much fun. this episode. 247 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:06.779 She is just off the scale. 248 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:14.220 After she hangs up in that fabulous sort of line, someday, very soon, criminotherapists are good to have their sport. 249 00:19:14.339 --> 00:19:18.660 That just put me in mind of Carnell and her on the volleyball court having it go out. 250 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:36.420 I mean, really, the entire, the entire tone and sort of misplaced tone of the episode is present in Le Grand and Frieda Norse performance because it's all kind of eyes and accents and those shiny, shiny teeth of hers. 251 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:38.700 There's not a lot of realism there. 252 00:19:38.940 --> 00:19:42.839 She gets a few tears at the end when it's all gone wrong. 253 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:47.579 See, that is that is the most believable part of her performance. absolutely. 254 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:49.319 She's not saying anything, so that's good. 255 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:54.839 I think I would shed a tear or 2 at 30 foot high serve land as well. 256 00:19:54.900 --> 00:19:56.039 Yeah, yes. 257 00:19:56.099 --> 00:20:00.480 But is yet another one of those examples where, because obviously the filming is all done first. 258 00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:03.599 So her death scene is done first. 259 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:05.339 It's one of the 1st things she shoots. 260 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:06.960 Then she goes into rehearsal and does the rest. 261 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:13.079 So it's almost like her performance is good slash fine in Wembley, wherever it is, James, you were saying. 262 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:20.700 And then it obviously deteriorates when they get into the normal rehearsals and she decides that actually it's all a bit rubbish, isn't it? 263 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.160 Is that kind of what might be going on in there? 264 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:27.960 And so her performance becomes bigger and more stagey and more ridiculous. 265 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:30.960 I described it in my notes as space acting. 266 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:33.359 Yes, it's very... 267 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:38.579 It's a good example of someone who doesn't know understand how to act in a science fiction series, i.e. you just act normally. 268 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.420 So do we think this is down to George Spenson Foster? 269 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:43.500 Yes, as a director. 270 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:51.900 Because we've seen this earlier in the season, haven't we, in weapon, for instance, where he is favouring certain performers. 271 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:57.240 He is obviously working with them, but not looking after everyone, perhaps in the rehearsal rooms. 272 00:20:57.299 --> 00:21:02.759 Yes, that man is an enigma, George Spenton Foster, because sometimes he delivers. 273 00:21:02.819 --> 00:21:15.900 I mean, he directs pressure point, and pressure point is played for the most part very straight and is a really great episode, and I can think of image of the Fendal on Doctor Who as well, which also is very atmospheric and not particularly camp. 274 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:23.220 But then he will deliver something like this or something like weapon, where tonally, it just doesn't come together. 275 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:29.099 And mostly I think it's because the performances are too self-consciously flamboyant. 276 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:37.680 I mean, he'll do, he'll do gambit next episode and that teeters right on the edge and falls over the line quite a lot. 277 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:39.539 But it's comedy, so it gets away with it. 278 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:51.180 Whereas with this, I think there might be something in what you were saying, Simon, where you get free to Norse performance on location where they don't have rehearsals, so they've just gone into it and is a more subdued performance. 279 00:21:51.240 --> 00:22:02.220 And then when you get into the studio with all of those 2 weeks at the Acton Hilton behind them, it's suddenly this heightened performance with lines delivered down the barrel of the camera and it's just a bit off. 280 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:05.039 So he obviously has a problem directing actors. 281 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:08.700 Like if the actors are fine and doing what they should be doing. 282 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:12.539 It works, say, image of the Fendal or pressure point. 283 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:17.759 But when they're not, he maybe doesn't know how to ask them to do it differently. 284 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:18.359 I don't know. 285 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:20.220 I mean, that's just a guess. 286 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:35.579 From what I know of George Spenson Foster, which not a lot, obviously, what I've read, is that he was quite a flamboyant man in real life, and I think sometimes his aesthetic is layered over the top of an episode which doesn't sit well with it, and I think this might be an example. 287 00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:36.180 Does that make sense? 288 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:38.759 Yeah, I think you're definitely onto something there. 289 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.400 He's not a great fit for the script. 290 00:22:41.579 --> 00:22:53.099 Or I think I agree with you on that is perhaps that his natural inclination indirecting is towards the flamboyant in the camp. 291 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:56.039 And so if someone goes, how shall I play this? 292 00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:01.380 or, you know, should I play it like this, he'll go, ooh, that's, you know, a bit, a bit of John Nathan Turner. 293 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.279 Oh yes, that's fabulous. 294 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.500 Yeah, he wants to go bigger. 295 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:14.819 And of course, it's not helped by the fact that the dialogue in this episode is very flamboyant, very kind of very big and portentous on occasion. 296 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:21.900 So even Blake comes out with lines like Herald at Last, the Epoch of True Freedom, which is a very unblake line. 297 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:37.019 And it's interesting because Roger Parks, who writes this episode, goes on to write Headhunter in series D, which is really solid, and children of hour on in series C, which I rank amongst the series very best episodes. 298 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:38.880 So I'm not quite sure what happened here. 299 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:46.319 No, I wonder if it's a 1st time go and he's not quite sure of the series and he obviously wants to do something. 300 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:52.559 He's obviously watched series A and seen the way back and for, oh, this is really interesting and we bring this character back. 301 00:23:52.619 --> 00:24:00.299 So Ben Gloom coming back should be a really big moment in the series, but it all feels slightly off. 302 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.259 And I don't know whether it's because they haven't got Robert James back to play him. 303 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.180 That doesn't help, does it? 304 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:07.740 It doesn't help. 305 00:24:07.859 --> 00:24:08.579 It doesn't feel quite right. 306 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:11.099 I just assumed he was a time lord. 307 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:18.420 They could have just explained it by saying, well, I've had to have plastic surgery to escape the rest of the federation. 308 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.640 I mean it would be in character, wouldn't it? 309 00:24:20.700 --> 00:24:22.920 I've been to the space cosmetician. 310 00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:23.819 Yes. 311 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:26.940 Going back to the idea of the writing. 312 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:34.980 I actually think that just touching on, you know, what all the flaws slash hole slash inconsistencies, Peter, you brought up earlier in the form of questions. 313 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:46.740 I can't help thinking that combining that with the idea of it feels like it's supposed to be a significant episode, you know, when you've got like a governor assisting governors going to try and stage a coup or overthrow the Evil Empire. 314 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:48.839 Plus you've got all this other stuff going on. 315 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:54.119 It does feel like it was supposed to be more of a signature episode, an event episode. 316 00:24:54.180 --> 00:25:06.779 Yeah, an event episode, and I think that the stuff with, you know, Blake having using this hypnosis, the old, the latent hypnosis to move the ship and all that kind of business is sort of like a confusion left over from a previous draft. 317 00:25:06.839 --> 00:25:13.019 And I think it's a mush together of a couple of drafts and then they don't then go through the whole thing again and fix that all up. 318 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:16.440 And I think that's where you get a lot of the problems. 319 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:18.299 It's just like it's just unfinished. 320 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:20.940 Yeah, maybe the late season crunch hit them or something. 321 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.619 Yeah, it's entirely possible. 322 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:28.859 I mean, I think there were all sorts of scripting problems going on in the background at this point in the series, weren't there? 323 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:33.180 And this script also had to be shifted significantly around the season. 324 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:42.180 I think at one point it was episode 4 or 5 and possibly be because of the scripting problems, ended up being shunted to episode 10. 325 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:48.359 Yeah, and that would make more sense of the Travis and Servolan working together plot, wouldn't it? 326 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:54.000 That's right It then has to be sort of changed slightly to make it work with the context of the trial, yeah. 327 00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:59.460 And also the fact that the crew are trying to get to a pleasure planet. 328 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:04.319 Like, they just found out in the at the end of the previous episode that they have to find Dockerly. 329 00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:08.519 They really should be pursuing that right now. 330 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:16.440 It feels like this should be following horizon where they're all tired and they're all suffering from space fatigue and they need a break. 331 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:17.880 All those space crises, yes. 332 00:26:17.940 --> 00:26:18.599 Exactly. 333 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:19.559 That's why they're doing stuff. 334 00:26:19.619 --> 00:26:20.759 So it was. 335 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:22.559 It was supposed to be after a horizon, I believe. 336 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:24.240 Yes, I think that's absolutely right. 337 00:26:24.299 --> 00:26:27.059 It absolutely feels like an episode that should have come earlier in the season. 338 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:41.400 Does that sort of mean possibly that it was rejected earlier in the season because it was like, oh, this isn't quite working, and then something else has fallen through later, so they need to resuscitate a not quite finished script. 339 00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:42.119 Is that? 340 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:43.500 I mean, that could absolutely be. 341 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:59.880 We know that Chris Boucher did do a lot of work on this episode because the wonderful making Blake 7 Twitter account has posted bits of the original pre-boucher script of voice from the past and the dialogue is visible. 342 00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:02.099 There's no other way of saying it. 343 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:02.700 It's dinky. 344 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:03.660 It was awful. 345 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:05.640 It has to be meteorites. 346 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:06.420 That's right. 347 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:09.359 Avon says thundering mutants at one point. 348 00:27:09.420 --> 00:27:11.880 And when Jenna says something. 349 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:18.299 He turns around to her and says, miaow, pussy, and you think, yeah, has this person ever watched the show? 350 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:22.980 And so I think Chris Boucher did a lot of work to tidy it up, but maybe he just ran out of time. 351 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:24.359 So cracks, doesn't it? 352 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:30.240 Because it's a messy episode. it's not sure what the show is but it's got some great lines in it. 353 00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:36.900 Like there's a lot of sort of those sort of voucher cutting put downs and sort of snider sides. 354 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:39.420 But that's true of every Blake 7 episode, isn't it? 355 00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:41.519 Yes. 356 00:27:41.579 --> 00:27:43.019 But more so this one. 357 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:53.279 It makes me wonder if Chris Belcher did that to every Roger Parks script or if Roger Parks just got the hang of what the series was because children of our on and heads hunter are full of good dialogue. 358 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:54.720 That can't be all Chris Boucher. 359 00:27:54.779 --> 00:27:55.079 No. 360 00:27:55.140 --> 00:27:58.200 I think it's one of those situations where he's asked to do something. 361 00:27:58.259 --> 00:28:10.799 He submits it, or he fights against that because he wants to do something else, and they go, oh, no, you need to do this instead, and then nobody gets anything they want, kind of situation. a messy brief that then gets stuffed up. 362 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:13.559 Yes, too many cooks, everyone pulling in the wrong direction. 363 00:28:13.619 --> 00:28:15.599 And so it just ends up being a bit of a mess on screen. 364 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:16.019 Yeah. 365 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:28.319 Speaking of on-screen and her colour, we have so and finest moment to date. 366 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:29.039 I feel. 367 00:28:29.099 --> 00:28:30.900 Excellent eye acting. 368 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:34.380 Yes, yeah, that moment, isn't it? 369 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:37.319 Where you walk into the conference room. and there's no one there. 370 00:28:37.380 --> 00:28:39.240 So you think, oh, something is going on here. 371 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:42.539 The lights all dim very theatrically. 372 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:48.059 The screen comes on and then it's only bloody server land on there. 373 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:54.240 Can you imagine my disappointment at every university lecture I walked into that didn't end up like that? 374 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:56.880 Yes. 375 00:28:57.420 --> 00:29:07.619 There was that one lecture theatre at Sydney University which had the wood panelling down the walls, which looks exactly like that. 376 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:08.519 Was that Stephen Robert? 377 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:09.480 That auditorium. 378 00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:10.920 The old Stephen Roberts before it was done. 379 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:12.480 Yeah, I think it was the Stephen Roberts Theatre. 380 00:29:12.539 --> 00:29:12.779 Yeah. 381 00:29:12.839 --> 00:29:16.079 I mean, that whole secret is just awesome. 382 00:29:16.140 --> 00:29:20.339 And the slight pause just before she says now. 383 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:24.180 And then the shooting starts is just wonderful. 384 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:35.220 The eyes flicking from left to right as the lights flash on and there are like federation troopers. 385 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.259 It's like, look, to your left. 386 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:38.640 Look, you're right, you're about to die. 387 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:47.759 I think if you asked any Blake 7 fan, regardless of their opinion of this episode, they love that scene with the server face. 388 00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:48.779 It's just amazing. 389 00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:57.660 But it's that kind of big thing that you like about this series and it's just great. 390 00:29:57.720 --> 00:29:58.140 I love that. 391 00:29:58.200 --> 00:29:59.880 Yeah, I'm not sure. 392 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:04.680 And any other villain would get away with that in quite the same fabulous way. 393 00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:07.859 No, if it was 30 foot high, Travis, you wouldn't care, would you? 394 00:30:07.980 --> 00:30:08.519 No. 395 00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:15.059 Well, depends depends what it was Stephen Kry for Brian Croucher. 396 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:17.099 Or whether it was Sivan. 397 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.380 Oh, you're falling into my trap. 398 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:31.859 But yeah, that whole climax is emblematic of the problems with this episode because it's so confusingly directed. 399 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:37.500 You have that nice moment where Servolan gets the jump on everyone and you know that she's got the winning hand. 400 00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:45.539 But then it sort of goes to that conference room on the side where Villa's waiting, and you can't for love nor money follow what is going on in that scene. 401 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:52.200 So, Blake is suddenly affected by Venglyn's box again, for no reason, it just starts. 402 00:30:52.259 --> 00:30:55.619 That makes him tear off his bracelet and put it away. 403 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:56.519 We're not quite sure why. 404 00:30:56.579 --> 00:31:03.359 Jenna is there trying to get him to put the bracelet on and contacting the liberation, saying no, don't teleport us. 405 00:31:03.420 --> 00:31:15.420 At the same time, Travis, whose teleports down a Shivan, is standing over them with his gun pointed at them, while 30 seconds of dialogue and action happened, that he should be stepping in on and saying, no, don't talk to the liberator. 406 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:19.559 Don't put Bleak's bracelet back on, and that just cuts away to him and Glint. 407 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:20.880 It's really confusing. 408 00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:27.960 Yeah, and you've got Glind in the background going, oh, and obviously dying. 409 00:31:28.980 --> 00:31:33.779 I'm not so dying that he can't throw himself at Travis and overpower him. 410 00:31:36.900 --> 00:31:42.240 I think the point there is that the script needed it to happen so that's how it happened. 411 00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:53.279 And I think it's just a victim of the fact that these things are shot in a multicamera studio, not shot by shot on film, and the editing is done by the Vision Mixer simultaneously to that. 412 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:58.200 And so I think you end up with these kind of flabby executions of something that needs to be really sharp. 413 00:31:58.259 --> 00:32:00.059 Well, that's absolutely right. 414 00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:06.839 And so I think what they've tried to do is pull the scene apart and they've, you know, they've got to pause the action on one part of cassettes so that they can cover it on the other. 415 00:32:06.900 --> 00:32:19.319 But it really shows you who gets Blake 7 right, and who doesn't, because I can think of scenes like this, that Pennant Roberts, a director who we haven't been very kind to, should I say, I haven't been very kind to, a lot of the time. 416 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:21.660 Oh, no, I haven't been very kind to him either. 417 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:26.940 He's not able to successfully cover multi-camera scenes like this. 418 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:32.759 And like in this episode, it all turns into a bit of a mess, whereas you get someone like Douglas Canfield or Michael Bryant. 419 00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:45.359 And for some reason, they are able to cover scenes like this, they're able to put them together either continuously in multicam fashion or they're able to sort of prize them apart and do them in chunks and then edit it together and it works. 420 00:32:45.420 --> 00:32:48.720 It's just the difference between success and failure. 421 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:54.900 I think this episode is just one draft and one different director away from being really good. 422 00:32:54.960 --> 00:33:03.059 I suspect it's possibly 2 drafts away, but yes, I, I, just, just, yes, 2.5 . 423 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:09.839 Obviously, for me, obviously, those 2 names you mentioned are infinitely superior directors to the other ones that you're mentioning. 424 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:13.619 And I think it's partly, perhaps, this is just supposition. 425 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:17.819 There's a way of shooting multicamera successfully, obviously. 426 00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:20.700 They managed to do it, and yet others fail. 427 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:23.880 And I wonder whether it's because those people who fail. 428 00:33:23.940 --> 00:33:25.799 And we've often said that pennant does okay on film. 429 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:35.160 I wonder whether it's the one who, ones who fail, are trying to think of their shots as if they were being shot by in a single camera environment. 430 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:54.720 And so trying to then make that happen where you've got these 4 or however many there are cumbersome enormous cameras being wheeled around the studio and it all happening and all the vision mixing happening simultaneously, their plan for the shots can't possibly be made by that setup. 431 00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:57.900 So it's almost too ambitious, and the vision mixer can't keep up. 432 00:33:58.019 --> 00:34:01.859 I don't want to, I don't want to use the word ambitious, but it's just the way of visualising it. 433 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:03.240 Like, like, there's a hack. 434 00:34:03.299 --> 00:34:08.579 There's a hack to shoot multicamera drama successfully, I think, or, you know, those sequences better. 435 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:13.739 And I think Douglas Canfield knows how to do it, but Pennant Roberts and George Benton Foster don't. 436 00:34:13.800 --> 00:34:19.800 And so it's okay for Image of the Fendal whenever everything's moving slowly and serenely and everyone's being mysterious. 437 00:34:19.860 --> 00:34:26.460 Whereas throw an action sequence, an action-y sequence at him in the same environment and it all just becomes a mess. 438 00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:27.360 Absolutely. 439 00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:38.940 Yeah, I think he's very good if you've got an atmospheric script or a high camp script, but he's not necessarily so good at when you need a bit of action going on. 440 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.300 Although he doesn't do too bad in in pressure point, does he? 441 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:49.019 So there are, again, there are maybe the action is all on film, so that is a bit easier to control. 442 00:34:49.079 --> 00:34:50.340 So that's kind of what I'm trying to. 443 00:34:50.340 --> 00:34:52.860 There's further evidence to back up what I'm saying, I guess. 444 00:34:52.920 --> 00:35:06.719 And when it comes to next episode, Gambit, he actually does craft a very interesting atmospheric world for all of that action to take place in, because it is all quite slow languid scenes, but actually the world works. 445 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:10.619 And so that's a, that's a successful production in a way that I don't think this is. 446 00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:16.260 And it's slow language scenes, though, that are driven by the dialogue and the performances rather than the action. 447 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:22.139 And the dialogue is good and the performances, while they're mostly big, fit the script because it's big as well. 448 00:35:22.199 --> 00:35:23.099 Exactly. 449 00:35:23.159 --> 00:35:25.320 So we're just doing another avid podcast. 450 00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:28.440 Yeah, exactly. getting ahead of ourselves. 451 00:35:28.679 --> 00:35:32.760 But again, it's when he's got good material to work with. 452 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:33.719 He does fine. 453 00:35:33.780 --> 00:35:35.099 So pressure point. 454 00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:36.000 He does fine. 455 00:35:36.059 --> 00:35:42.960 This one, a gambit, he does fine, but he's not so good when it's weapon, which is a slightly lesser crisp Boucher script. 456 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:47.159 And this one, which is just a bit of a mess of a script. 457 00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:47.699 That's right. 458 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:49.139 And using another Doctor Who example. 459 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:50.519 He does the reboss operation. 460 00:35:50.579 --> 00:35:55.800 The rebos operation is quite a small scale atmospheric story, and I think it's done pretty well by him. 461 00:35:55.860 --> 00:35:59.699 Yeah, he does the world building pretty well there, doesn't he? 462 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:01.079 because he's got it. 463 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:02.579 It comes from the script. 464 00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:06.960 Whereas there's not much in this that you can get your teeth into. 465 00:36:07.019 --> 00:36:08.460 There's not much depth to this. 466 00:36:08.519 --> 00:36:13.500 It's a conference centre, it's space command, it's the liberator. 467 00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:16.380 PK X1 A. PK 118. 468 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:19.019 What was X18? 469 00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:19.679 What was the other one? 470 00:36:19.860 --> 00:36:22.260 I'm thinking of XK 72. 471 00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:23.639 Oh, right, okay. 472 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:25.800 It was looking for you. 473 00:36:28.860 --> 00:36:34.260 So maybe he just hasn't got the depth in the script that he needs to get some pull something out of it. 474 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:39.000 I think his sensibility just works better with a more comedic script. 475 00:36:39.059 --> 00:36:41.400 So in the reboss operation, we're talking about in Doctor Who. 476 00:36:41.460 --> 00:36:42.300 It's quite comedy. 477 00:36:42.360 --> 00:36:46.380 It lends itself to big performances, and so those performances you get are very enjoyable. 478 00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:54.599 Whereas I don't know how you would have saved the character of She Van, but not what we got on screen. rewriting the script. 479 00:37:00.780 --> 00:37:06.960 I do like to imagine what Stephen Greif would have done with that if he'd been in there. 480 00:37:07.019 --> 00:37:08.460 Terrifyingly good idea. 481 00:37:08.519 --> 00:37:12.719 Well, I was going to say, I was worried that he'd say during rehearsals, I'm not doing this. 482 00:37:14.099 --> 00:37:15.539 Yes. 483 00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:17.519 Probably to the betterment of the story. 484 00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:27.119 Can I give a shout out to Jenna, who seems to be the only one of the liberated crew who decided they were actually going to dress up to go down to the conference? 485 00:37:27.539 --> 00:37:34.440 Because she's wearing the lovely Eve. she actually looks like she's dressed up, whereas the others are just, you know, it's what I put on this morning. 486 00:37:34.500 --> 00:37:40.679 Yes, she should have been sent down as Bleak's envoy rather than Villa because she, you know, she's got her lovely blue dress on. 487 00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:44.460 I can imagine her and Governor LeGron sort of eyeing each other off. 488 00:37:44.519 --> 00:37:47.099 She should always have been sent down those blakes headway. 489 00:37:48.840 --> 00:37:52.199 Whereas Villa looks like he's wearing a painter's smock. 490 00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:55.139 I do like that Villa outfit. 491 00:37:55.199 --> 00:37:57.000 He does a lot of smocks, doesn't he? 492 00:37:57.059 --> 00:37:57.539 Yeah. 493 00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:00.719 Can I give a shout out at the same time to Avon and Cali? 494 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:04.980 Because I think those are the most successful of the episode. 495 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:13.739 We've touched on that relationship before in episodes like Mission to Destiny and Horizon, where they're also aboard the Liberator talking things through. 496 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:17.099 But here it's definitely laying down markers for next series. 497 00:38:17.159 --> 00:38:25.800 And I think this episode might be the basis for a lot of fanfic, which says that Avon and Kelly were actually together romantically. 498 00:38:25.860 --> 00:38:29.219 There's never any evidence for that in the series, but there's a lot of pointers. 499 00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:43.380 And I think this episode solidifies that by kind of making them birds of a feather, they work very tightly as a unit, and they kind of, they feed each other dialogue very easily, and they're just on the same page, whereas the others aren't. 500 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:44.940 I think it's a really interesting episode for them. 501 00:38:45.059 --> 00:38:51.000 Do you get the feeling that Cali is the only other person on the liberator that Avon actually respects? 502 00:38:51.059 --> 00:38:51.840 Yes. 503 00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:53.159 A lot of the time. 504 00:38:53.219 --> 00:38:57.360 I think he respects Jenna, but I think he understands Callie. 505 00:38:57.420 --> 00:38:58.440 Yeah, interesting. 506 00:38:58.500 --> 00:39:01.260 I think they find each other intellectually stimulating. 507 00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:01.980 Yeah. 508 00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:04.619 I think he looks down on Jenna still, even so. 509 00:39:04.679 --> 00:39:09.659 I get what you're saying, Peter, but I just get the feeling that the way it's written constantly. 510 00:39:09.719 --> 00:39:14.820 I keep feeling that Avon has time for Kelly, but he doesn't really have time for any of the others. 511 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:17.880 Yes, he doesn't dismiss her in the same way as he does the others. 512 00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:27.539 No, and I like those scenes of the 2 of them going backwards and forwards with Aurak, trying to work out what's going on and coming up with theories and sort of working that through. 513 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:28.860 Those work really well. 514 00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:32.760 Yeah, and it's because Blake is a little bit out of character in this episode. 515 00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:36.300 And so there's no natural central character that we're following. 516 00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:45.780 And so Avon and Kelly kind of assume that role of being the protagonists and sorting out the plot, the wider plot and also the villain's plot. 517 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:48.059 It's almost like we don't need Blake in the series at all. 518 00:39:48.119 --> 00:39:49.619 Oh. 519 00:39:49.619 --> 00:39:50.460 No. 520 00:39:50.519 --> 00:39:52.980 How could you have like 7 without Blake? 521 00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:56.039 I don't know Yes, I think you'll find that that will never happen. 522 00:39:56.880 --> 00:39:58.860 Do a couple of episodes. 523 00:39:58.920 --> 00:39:59.639 See how it turns out. 524 00:40:02.699 --> 00:40:07.739 I do quite like that Servland doesn't appear until about the halfway mark in this episode. 525 00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:10.559 So just when it's all getting that little bit too tedious. 526 00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:13.679 She turns up with her red flower and makes everything better. 527 00:40:13.739 --> 00:40:14.760 The red flower. 528 00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:15.659 Always love that. 529 00:40:16.980 --> 00:40:19.500 She makes every episode better. 530 00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:20.159 Let's just face it. 531 00:40:20.219 --> 00:40:21.599 She does. 532 00:40:21.659 --> 00:40:28.800 And I think this is the 1st time we see Serbalan actually having fun and enjoying what she's doing. 533 00:40:28.920 --> 00:40:34.619 I think before this, she's been very set on what she's up to and she's very focussed. 534 00:40:34.679 --> 00:40:40.679 And I think this is the 1st time we get a flamboyant movement and things like that from a... 535 00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:42.480 I wouldn't say it's the 1st bit of that. 536 00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:50.940 But certainly it seems to be one of the few episodes where she wouldn't, she's not sort of rushing around basically saying, why am I surrounded by fools kind of thing? 537 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:52.079 She's in total control. 538 00:40:52.199 --> 00:40:54.599 Smug serverland is always the best. 539 00:40:54.659 --> 00:41:04.139 And so there'll be an episode next series called Terminal, where she has very good reason to be smug, and she plays all of those scenes with this delicious smile on her face. 540 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:10.019 And so that scene with Legrand, where hopefully she hasn't imprinted on Legrand's performance for the rest of the series. 541 00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:20.940 She just plays everything with that knowing smile where she's in command and her evil plans are going to come to fruition and she's loving it. 542 00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:22.079 This is her game. 543 00:41:22.139 --> 00:41:27.659 She knows exactly what's going on. and is just playing with all of the characters where she can. 544 00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:28.739 Like a cat. 545 00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:29.280 That's right. 546 00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:31.199 She's got Travis's she van. 547 00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:33.059 Protocol for her property. 548 00:41:36.179 --> 00:41:38.820 You're not going to have a voice left by the end of this one, Peter. 549 00:41:39.840 --> 00:41:42.119 That's right, brother. 550 00:41:42.539 --> 00:41:50.340 I can't I can't help but keep seeing salamander every now and again when I... 551 00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:53.579 It's like salamand... 552 00:41:53.639 --> 00:41:53.820 Yes. 553 00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:58.320 If only she had a cat rather than a red flower. 554 00:41:58.380 --> 00:41:59.940 I think that would just make server lane perfect. 555 00:42:01.260 --> 00:42:04.920 You could have had Avon's line from the original script. 556 00:42:04.980 --> 00:42:06.059 Miaow pussy. 557 00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:07.260 Oh, dear. 558 00:42:07.260 --> 00:42:09.119 Delivered by Jacqueline Pierce. 559 00:42:09.179 --> 00:42:09.900 Oh my god. 560 00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:17.460 I mean, we are sneakering about this episode because it's very sneaker worthy. 561 00:42:17.519 --> 00:42:22.440 There's there's elements of a good episode here and that is what is so outer galling about it. 562 00:42:24.059 --> 00:42:28.559 Oh, you had that written down waiting. 563 00:42:31.860 --> 00:42:39.480 It's out a gal a place or is it a space phrase for the outer galaxy? 564 00:42:39.539 --> 00:42:42.239 I think it's what Gan nicknamed his cape. 565 00:42:42.300 --> 00:42:43.920 I've put on my outer guard. 566 00:42:46.380 --> 00:42:48.360 That's a good point. 567 00:42:49.139 --> 00:42:56.099 Yeah, there's nothing worse than seeing that there's a gem of an actually really good episode there and it just sort of ruined my stuff. 568 00:42:56.159 --> 00:42:57.360 Yes. 569 00:42:57.420 --> 00:43:05.820 I remember reading, before I saw the episode itself, I remember reading a synopsis of it and thinking, this one is going to be brilliant. 570 00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:07.619 There's so much good stuff in this. 571 00:43:07.619 --> 00:43:09.780 And on paper, it works. 572 00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:14.579 The plot follows logical reasons just about it, but onscreen. 573 00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:17.099 It just doesn't quite get there and it's so frustrating. 574 00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:20.280 That's the plot when summarising 3 paragraphs, right? 575 00:43:20.340 --> 00:43:21.360 Yes, exactly. 576 00:43:21.420 --> 00:43:21.780 Yes. 577 00:43:22.019 --> 00:43:24.360 Yeah, not line by line. 578 00:43:24.780 --> 00:43:26.639 And then this happens. 579 00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:29.880 And definitely not the script. 580 00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:30.420 No. 581 00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:33.900 And yet, weirdly, that's the essence of Blake 7 for me. 582 00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:36.840 I think half of the episodes are tremendously good. 583 00:43:36.840 --> 00:43:44.159 And half of them missed the mark like this one, and yet I really like how far they've missed the mark by. 584 00:43:44.219 --> 00:43:49.739 I'm really drawn to it and I love it as much as the really good episodes just in a slightly different way. 585 00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:53.280 It's an outrageous failure and that's fun. 586 00:43:53.340 --> 00:43:58.739 You could say Blake 7 is never anything short of tremendous. 587 00:43:58.800 --> 00:44:00.420 Sometimes it's tremendously good. 588 00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:04.619 Sometimes it tremendously misses a mark, but it's always tremendous. always tremendous. 589 00:44:04.679 --> 00:44:12.119 I just want to remind us that at the beginning of this, we all sort of said, oh, actually, I quite enjoy it, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, blah, blah, blah. 590 00:44:12.179 --> 00:44:15.960 And then we've spent the last hour totally saying how rubbish it is. 591 00:44:16.019 --> 00:44:17.639 But I just want to revisit those. 592 00:44:17.639 --> 00:44:18.300 I still enjoyed it. 593 00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:19.199 But we still enjoyed it. 594 00:44:19.260 --> 00:44:23.280 I just want to revisit those initial thoughts, saying that I do actually quite enjoy it. 595 00:44:23.340 --> 00:44:24.239 I'd say really enjoy it. 596 00:44:24.300 --> 00:44:29.219 But these notions that it's the worst episode of the season are shocking. the worst episode of the entire series. 597 00:44:29.280 --> 00:44:30.900 I think are completely wrong. 598 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:40.500 But I think one of the reasons, going back to what you're saying about, you know, seeing the germ of good idea, I think one of the reasons we like series like this is that you can see the potential of particular ideas. 599 00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:42.539 And I think that's what I was enjoying when I was watching it this morning. 600 00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:54.480 I was perhaps allowing my mind to wander off into the episode that it might have been, and that was making me actually enjoy it more rather than me being angry with what was in front of me for it not being that. 601 00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:57.000 Yes, you absolutely can't be angry with this episode. 602 00:44:57.059 --> 00:44:58.260 Can't be angry at it. 603 00:44:58.320 --> 00:45:04.019 And there's that old maxim about an interesting failure being better than a mediocre success. 604 00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:06.119 And this is a very interesting failure, I think. 605 00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:11.579 As we said, it should work and it should be brilliant, but it's just not quite there. 606 00:45:11.579 --> 00:45:13.260 And it's also brilliant. 607 00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:20.280 I'm not prepared to go as far as saying it's a failure. 608 00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:22.320 You know, on the report card. 609 00:45:22.380 --> 00:45:26.639 It's a C minus, you know, has the ability needs to try harder. 610 00:45:28.320 --> 00:45:35.280 And obviously, you know, Roger Parks takes that note because he comes back in year 3 and is a much improved student. 611 00:45:42.539 --> 00:45:50.699 Thank you very much for joining us for a really interesting discussion about voice from the past, and that's all we have time for now this week. 612 00:45:50.760 --> 00:45:54.059 So, until next time, know this. 613 00:45:54.179 --> 00:45:58.920 The high council have been aware of your pathetic plot from the very beginning. 614 00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:00.300 Goodbye. 615 00:46:00.360 --> 00:46:01.079 Bye bye. 616 00:46:01.139 --> 00:46:01.739 Ta- ta. 617 00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:03.659 You still need me, brother. 618 00:46:08.219 --> 00:46:11.340 I knew you were holding up to me last. 619 00:46:11.340 --> 00:46:16.739 You can try something like that, Eddie. brilliant. 620 00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:22.139 It's just in case the kids are giving. 621 00:46:32.639 --> 00:46:35.280 I think I'm putting all that laughter at the end of the credits. 622 00:46:40.500 --> 00:46:43.440 The eminent scream. 623 00:46:45.119 --> 00:46:47.940 What are you talking about? 624 00:46:52.980 --> 00:46:58.619 I wonder if Travis is inside that mask going, what ridiculous thing am I going to say next? 625 00:46:58.619 --> 00:46:59.280 ha ha. 626 00:47:01.199 --> 00:47:03.239 This'll fall, Blake. 627 00:47:03.300 --> 00:47:04.980 Yeah, menace, please. 628 00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:19.559 Can you imagine if Serblander decided to step in herself and be in the rebel she back? 629 00:47:19.739 --> 00:47:23.159 That would be... 630 00:47:23.159 --> 00:47:23.699 That would be good. 631 00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:25.679 That would be great. 632 00:47:25.739 --> 00:47:28.619 Then it would be in the rebel she. 633 00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:31.079 Or sheiva. 634 00:47:31.139 --> 00:47:31.739 Yes. 635 00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:36.719 She would have ripped off that mask and it would have made sense when she said Avon to the telly. 636 00:47:37.739 --> 00:47:41.460 But also, she still would have been immaculately made up. 637 00:47:41.519 --> 00:47:42.900 Oh, definitely. 638 00:47:42.900 --> 00:47:45.840 Rather than unshaved and everything. 639 00:47:45.900 --> 00:47:48.179 Yeah, with a big white dress under that. 640 00:47:49.679 --> 00:47:55.619 She ripped off the rest and the ball gown sort of flows out from... 641 00:47:55.619 --> 00:47:57.539 Like a drag race reveal. 642 00:47:57.599 --> 00:48:00.659 The gold lizard crawling up a de Calotage.