The Series B Retrospective
Episode 30
Sunday 5 February 2023
And now on Maximum Power, we take a look back at Series B of Blake’s 7.
Our adventure has taken us from the clutches of The System on Spaceworld, to the machinations of the Terra Nostra on Space City. From the planet of the Clone Masters, to Space Command, and Horizon, Earth, Space Command, and to a planet with an ocean made of spit.
We’ve been to Federation Q-Base on the planet Fosforon, Exbar, Albian, Space Command, Atlay (and its conference centre), Freedom City, Goth, Space Command, and finally on, with luck, to Star One.
But what have we learned from the experience? Join us for The Series B Retrospective and find out!
Recorded on Saturday 16 April 2022 · Download
Transcript
Maximum power.
Hello, dear listeners, and welcome to the Maximum Power Series B, Retrospective Review, a Palooza, coming to you live from Space City.
I'm Brendan.
I'm James I'm Pete.
I'm Simon I'm Peter.
And I'm psy, and we can never get this right.
Oh, don't...
And we're all pointing at the screen saying it's you.
In fact, we're all in different positions on everyone else's screen.
It's an interesting definition of alphabetic law.
Well, we have reached the end of Blake 7 sophomore series series B slash 2 slash apple slash beta.
And yeah, it's time for us to go back across the whole series and this time with some input from you listeners at home.
So make sure that you drop some shadow and don't experience too many space crises as we look back over series B. Right.
So to start off with, we expanded our end of series survey, which last time just covered characters and sent it out to our viewers as well.
And I'd just like to ask, who do people think was the was the winner of the character poll this season?
Simon?
Well, I know that there was some controversy last time because I think some people admitted to not voting for the Serverland is number one, but I think it's certainly, frankly.
I think it ought to be Silverland.
You think it ought to be serverland?
Si, if it's not Serverland, it's going to be Avon who gradually takes over the series throughout this season, and I think Paul Darrow is reaching his height, but not quite reaching his pinnacle yet.
So, yeah, we'll see.
Terrific.
James.
Oh, I've heard it for Silverland, so I don't care.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Bruce Purchase doesn't run away with this.
There's Golar with his leather thong, then I don't know what's wrong with everyone.
All he needs is a parrot.
Yeah, some kind of space parrot, maybe.
Yeah.
Peter, who you think?
It's got to be Avon, I think.
I mean, Serverland is brilliant, but Avon, like Sai said, just runs away with this series and by the end of it is clearly the central character.
Right.
I'll put you all out of your misery.
By 1st preferences, because on this survey, we ask people to vote for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourite character.
By 1st preferences, Avon takes it away with 231st places.
Ooh.
Followed by Serverland with 151st places and then Blake with 61st places.
Six?
That's 6 too many.
Yes, well, like 7 too many.
Is this option on preferential voting?
Now that's the thing.
That's just counting 1st preferences.
That was the 1st part of the post result.
However, in order to fairly consider this, What I decided to do was a signed point.
So a 1st place gives 3 points.
The 2nd place gives 2 points, the 3rd and a 3rd place gives one point.
And the surprise winner is Gan.
That would be a very big surprise.
Okay.
If we want to start from the bottom in terms of those kind of points, we have Gan, who receives one point. 13rd place.
Oh my goodness.
Oh, send it to Eurovision.
Send it to Eurovision. be an improvement for us.
Coming in, 2nd last, with 12nd place vote, and this came through today, by the way, this character did not have any vote before today, is Zen with 2 points.
What's wrong with me?
Zen gets overlooked.
Yeah, it would have plenty of 4th places, I think.
Yeah.
Coming in 3rd last with 11st and two-thirds is Travis with 5 points. and specifically the Brian Croucher, Travis, ranks above Gannon's end.
He has his moments.
Then we've got Aurak.
Aurak has 63rd places.
Cali has a single 2nd place and 53rd places.
Okay.
This game respectable.
Yep.
Jenna. 11st place, 42nd places, 33rd places for a total of 14.
Hey, one of those 2nd places for Jenna was me and I was a bit disappointed.
Doubtless we'll talk about this because Jenna was in 1st place for me last year, this year, 2nd place, unfortunately.
Now we get Villa, who has 21st places, 72nd places, and the highest number of 3rd places with 14.
He is 13rd of our sample size as 3rd favourite character.
With 34.
Wow, you really want that on YouTube, Stone, don't you?
Along with, so that's in me back.
With little red cock.
How do you look so fresh every morning?
That's Emmy pack.
It is with great shame that I must admit, I made a mistake just then.
Villa is not in 4th place overall.
Villa is in 3rd place overall, in 4th place overall, and this is why preferences is important, right?
Because Blake originally came third.
Blake now comes forth because he's got 6 firsts, 5 seconds, 5 thirds for a total of 33.
So Villa just squeaks past him with those 3rd preference votes.
So for those of you listening, in a preferential voting system.
So he's the he's the greens.
Yes.
However, the top 2 remains unchanged.
Servolan on 74 points in total, and Avon on 92.
Wow, it's big endorsement for Avon this year.
The viewers agree with...
And looking forward to the next new episode that will show up, spoilers, in fact, it will be very Avon and Serveland centric.
So I'd say the series is moving in the right direction.
I mean, Peter, you've alluded to this.
Like, so, for instance, the fall of Jenner.
Let's talk about that because we finished series A saying, you know, even at the end of this 1st season, it's very much you've got the central three, which is Blake Avon and Jenner, and that really falls by the wayside this season.
It's such a shame because last year, even though I don't think Jenna was the best character overall, I liked her the most because it was a nice alchemy of good writing and a nice, sometimes idiosyncratic performance and sort of nice primacy in the action where, you know, she would have subplots all to herself and she'd be carrying things sometimes.
And I really liked that, but the disappearance of Jenna and Callie into the background around about episode 3 and both of them emerge at the end of the season again, but that's sort of that long patch in the middle of the season where they just fade into the background is criminal and it really robs the series of something.
Yeah, they only get to carry your act sometimes.
Not only plot strands, it's like, it's such an, and they're such well-created characters.
They're not sloppy, unfilled out characters.
They brilliant characters.
Just don't give them anything to do too many episodes, but when they do, they're great.
Like you said, especially in those 1st few episodes.
There's a sign of how it could easily have worked.
Yeah, it's very odd, isn't it?
Because throughout series A, you've got a feeling that there is an ensemble cast and they've all got something to do in every episode and they've all got a proper relationship with each other, which I think we said in the series A retrospective.
But here, there's a hierarchy of characters.
I wonder if this is something to do with bringing in writers from outside Terry Nation and Chris Boucher this year.
And suddenly we've got writers who have their favourite.
Robert Holmes, for instance, is really going to focus on the Avon and Villa relationship more than anything else.
Alan Pryor does whatever Alan Pryor does, which is much usually.
But I think maybe because we lose the sole authorship of the series, we also lose the focus on all of the characters and it's sort of very detrimental to the series.
I don't think Cali really recovers until we get to Star one, really, which is the 1st time she leaves the ship for the 1st time.
When Horizon, I think, was the previous time she left the ship, leaving a character that is has been such fully rounded and an action character to operate the teleport is criminal.
I don't know what they were thinking.
It's actually, there's no real excuse because, I mean, what is the producer in the script editor doing, what are they doing if it's not to make sure that the different characters have their moment in the sun?
And I think that Terry, when he had control of it or when he was writing every single episode, he was obviously trying to share it around, you know, he created all these characters, therefore he was trying to give them all the same or roughly equal amounts of oxygen.
Okay, other writers come in and have their favourites who always seem to be more or less the same favourites, but you do have like an A set of characters, a B set of characters, and AC character being Gan.
And, and yeah, it is, it is a bit inexcusable, really, from a production point. think there are 2 things happening there.
I think one is, as Cy said, lots of outside writers coming in and they're naturally latching onto Avon as the standout character from series A. They can really write him.
And Terry Nation does the same thing.
In all of his episodes for this season, Avon plays a big part.
And I think that can't help but be detrimental to the other characters, especially Jenna, who was the other kind of main sidekick role to Blake.
But, and this is referring back to the perhaps infamous interview, which I did with Chris Boucher, having a beer in the pub.
He said that there was a problem that when they went on location, the 2 leading ladies would change their dialogue a lot and he didn't like it.
And so I think maybe he just stopped sending them on location.
It could be as easy as that.
There's a story as well of George Spenson Foster saying, oh, he didn't want the ladies on location because they took up too much time with their makeup.
It's the boys' field trip.
They took up so much time with his misogyny.
But in practice, if they're not going on location, that generally means they're not going to the planet or...
Exactly, you know, wherever it is.
And when they do get to go to a planet, like they're in a car park with some party lights flashing on them.
And it's like, you know, what empowering thing are we going to do for women this week?
They're going to get into a cat fight?
to cause a distraction. 10 credit touch and a silly little space trap.
That's one of my favourite cat fights in any TV show ever.
I don't think dynasty ever served up, because it happened on an A because it happened to a carbon on an alien planet, which you did not if Joan Collins must have been riven with jealousy.
But also, and I think I don't know if this could be unrelated.
I don't know if it might be related, but Jacqueline Pierce emerging as such a strong as being when people started to think about Blake 7 by this point.
They think it's that thing with Jacqueline Pearce in it, I think.
And I wonder if the writers without on top of all those other factors, there's the added element of writers gravitating towards thinking of her as the female lead of the story.
And so giving her stuff to do and kind of forgetting about the others, which is awful.
But you could all, I can describe it as we've describing what the working environment was like back then, that I could imagine that being a bit of a factor too.
I think this is the series where she is absolutely cemented as being as much a part of it as any of any of the goodies.
It's funny, you can't imagine them having a story just because it's the 1970s where Blake is accompanied by Jenna and Kelly rather than 2 men and a woman.
And it's a bit of a shame.
Yeah, it's like Sally and Jan said that if they never had an episode where they got to do things together other than operate the teleport and just think what a kick-ass episode that could be.
It's something big finish have really grasped and done things with and particularly in their recent clone masters set.
They do an episode with Cali and Jenna going down to the planet, sneaking off the liberator together, and doing stuff, and it's brilliant.
They're so good together.
I want a sequel to Redemption with Callie and Jana versus Servolan and Space Casia.
Destruct.
With our viewer survey, one of the questions we asked was, if not Gan, who would you have written out?
And one quarter of our respondents actually said Jenna?
Now, just about everyone who said Jenna said, I wish it wasn't this way, but just the writers can't find anything for her to do.
However, shout out to whoever wrote Jenna because they weren't giving her anything too much.
Also, if we're talking behind the scenes, Alan Pryor.
They weren't giving him anything to do much.
They were giving you too much to do.
He's one of the 1st people other than Terry Nation to get to write a story and so he writes a story about people digging in mines in a cave under a planet and it's just like, okay, I've got this. really radical.
Here you go, Terry. you like it?
I think if Alan Pryor had just written one script a year, he'd be fine.
And I think Horizon is a really, really good script and a really good story and doesn't get enough love.
When they rely on him to fill in the gaps later on.
So he writes hostage and the keeper at the last minute.
I don't think they're necessarily as good.
Although the keeper has lots of fun role for Jenna, and that's a good thing, so, but hostage really doesn't have a great deal to recommend it.
It's interesting.
We'll come back to where the keeper and hostage ranked in our best and worst list later on.
And also where Horizon ranked, come to think of it, looking at the list.
Oh boy.
Obviously, Jenna's been underused this season.
Villa was meant to be written out, but became hugely popular.
So they decided to write out Gan instead.
What do we think of the lead up to Gan's departure because he's still there for the 1st 5 episodes of the series before he gets written out.
James?
Oh, if any had been written out sooner.
No, no, I mean, I actually, I mean, I really like his portrayal.
I like Jackson's portrayal of Afghan a lot. series 8.
I really wonder where you were going with that.
I really like his coat.
It was way that sounded...
That's what you were reaching.
No, no, like he's okay in series A, but he's just given nothing to do in series B, I think, is the problem.
Yeah, he goes from, like, you know, sort of also ran character to basically getting less lines than the girls, which is, I would just make the observation with Gan, that, and this isn't, I know this isn't entirely accurate, but you know how sometimes when there's a character in a series that you're watching.
And then they sort of disappear.
And then they suddenly come back for an episode just so they can be written out.
That's kind of my impression of it.
Like, I'm trying to think of what he did this season before pressure point, and the answer is basically nothing.
It's like he's less important than, or, and or, and Zen, and all that. he only he only comes back.
He's only there so that he can then be gotten rid of.
It's interesting because I think Chris Boucher is working on the character throughout Shadow to reposition him as the moral compass of the crew.
I think that would have been a very interesting way for his character to carry on, that he's going to be the one questioning Blake, whereas he'd been the one who had been very much, I'm with Blake, whatever he says, I'm Blake's friend.
I believe in what he's doing.
And so I think there is an attempt there to try and do something different with him and he's standing up and saying, this isn't right.
He's the only one who's standing up and saying, we shouldn't be using the pterra nostra.
We shouldn't be doing this.
But obviously, that's lost very quickly because there isn't a moral argument in the next 3 episodes before he dies.
That's right.
And also, I think Shadow is a really good example of when Chris Belcher gets hold of the series.
He does a really good job of writing for the ensemble.
Gan is strong in that episode.
He doesn't have maybe as much to do as Blake and Avon, but he gets some good scenes, and as you were saying, some good moral good points to put forward, and he's really good.
I think the problem with Gan is that all of the characters are brilliant and he's the least brilliant.
He's pretty good overall when you get something to do.
It's just he doesn't get anything to do.
So basically, Blake 7 was a bad idea.
It should have been Blake's 4 or five.
That would have been fine.
I mean, I'd read it, right?
So that sort of covers Jenna, Gan.
We've also mentioned how Callie is kind of underwritten this series.
Something that really surprised me watching this season is how much Zen is put into the background?
Because in the 1st season he's this mysterious force, and occasionally he won't do as he's told.
And he'll just kind of go, oh, well, if you want to fly over here and I told you it was dangerous.
Have fun.
I'm going to go.
I'm gonna go for a nap.
But that doesn't really happen here because Aurak turns up.
Yes, and you can only have 11 supercomputer that's irascible and not helpful at a time, I think.
Yes, one contrary computer at a time, please.
And yeah, I just thought it was really interesting.
And until this morning, when I was like, Zen has not had any votes in any category.
I'm like, it's because Aurax come along.
And, you know, because that thoughtful viewer came along and gave Zen some points, you know, now I can't say that, unfortunately.
It's a little disappointing, but we kind of go from Zen, who was a little bit unknowable because he was alien.
And we go to Aurak, who is a grumpy old man disguised as a box of lights.
Otherwise known as Peterton them.
So that brings us to our dynamic duo of Servolan and Travis.
Those scores again for those of you listening at home.
Serverland on 74 points.
Travis on five.
Suffering, I think, because of the change of cast member.
Poor Brian.
I do like him.
I like him, but I acknowledge that he is not Steady. don't particularly like him.
Blake, I have your cousin, Inga, on the planet.
X-par. et cetera, et cetera.
Well...
I'd like to know, and I'm sure we'll get to this, Brendan, where the legs came in the boat, but we'll get...
Oh, we are getting cut this bit. foreshadowing.
It is funny that if I can observe, it is that strange thing because I sort of saw Blake 7 in vaguely reverse order.
I saw basically series C first, then series, then the beginning, but then series B and then series.
So for me, this Travis was the 1st Travis.
And so I don't want to go as far as saying I prefer Brian Croucher, but I rank them virtually only slightly not equal to each other.
I confess.
Sorry to be up.
No, no, Simon, that might have exactly the same experience.
I saw Brian Croucher before I saw Stephen Grife.
So Brian Croucher always feels like proper traffic to me as well.
Yeah, yeah.
But he's just badly served.
I have the same relationship with Ramana. where Mama and Mary Tam is the actress who also played it.
And it's just...
Poor boy Crencher.
He's just badly served, isn't he, I think, by everyone from the scripting, particularly his 1st director, George Fenton Foster, who is the pennant Roberts, I think, of this year.
Yes, that name just keeps showing up.
Well, the thing is, I write down to his acting.
Yes.
I would say, though, actors seem to like Pennant Roberts.
I've read quite a few of the main cast, say, not naming names, but a certain director on series B with a hyphenated surname.
And Brian Croucher, Michael Keating, Paul Darrow, Sally Nevette, have all said they didn't like working with George Benton Foster.
I think he was only Jacqueline Pierce who did, but he really liked her, so he and her got on very well.
It's the thing about the Servolan and Travis Dynamic.
There's a lot of chemistry between Jackie Pierce and Stephen Griff.
And there's not much chemistry between her and Brian Croucher.
And so the relationship kind of falls apart and Travis is also a little bit surplus 2 requirements after he leaves the Federation and sort of becomes a loner.
And so, conversely, that actually allows Servland to fill the space.
And they give her another set of sidekicks, like they give her Carnel, and they give her Jerry air in Gambit, and Dirkim and Star one, and they're all better for her than Travis in this incarnation, I think.
Especially Carnell with his fabulous eyes.
Yeah.
I think so.
I think Servolane had a bit of carnal knowledge there, don't you?
We all, wouldn't we all?
Yeah, I feel bad for Brian Croucher because he's just got this almost impossible.
How camp is he supposed to be?
It seems to be just the look inside his eyes throughout the whole thing, because Jacqueline Pierce can just be camper and camper.
But with heat, but he can't be the sort of her straight man as such, because it's so over the top, some of her performance and her amazing charisma.
And so, and that's why I think, for example, I think, I really like the version of him that we get in Gambit, because he's like, he's realised he's in a Duran Duran video before Duran Duran had been invented and is posing around.
And it's quite silly, but it's sort of silly and in a male, well, Italy, but in a, but in a sort of being a male equivalent of serverland.
And in other episodes, you know, the dryness and the actual thuggishness of original Travis just wouldn't have fitted in that environment anyway.
I don't think it, Travis would have had an easy path through this season if, even if you hadn't been recast, because the whole, the tone of it has shifted and ultimately you would get abroad with the same guy, just, just being Serverland's fall guy every, every week.
So, yeah, it was always going to be a very difficult path for whoever was taking that role in this season.
Yeah, well, that's why Stephen Griff left.
One of the reasons he left was he kind of went, how long can this character be sustained if he loses every week?
You know, why hasn't he been executed yet, basically?
Has he met the Daleks?
Almost.
I mean, in story terms, you think of it in the, you think of it in the same way.
Why is Travis in this season?
What role does he actually play?
And yeah, they seem to sort of attempt to retool the character with trial that he's going to be sort of vigilante for, well, not vigilante.
He's going to be a sort of gun for hire.
But he's still the outside the law, yeah.
Deniable asset.
But he's still got this massive grudge for Blake and it's kind of like, well, you know, why, really?
But in then in Star one, he gets a new motivation and it actually makes a hell of a lot of sense and he's completely gone off the deep end and he's going to wipe out the whole humanity.
I can't fight on wiping out humanity.
It's strange because they fudge so much.
There's obviously an idea that they want these these ongoing storylines through series B, and so they want Travis acting outside of the Federation.
But in his 1st story outside the Federation.
He's, by the end of it, he's already done a deal to act with Servoland.
And it's like they don't really quite know how the character could work on his own without serverland, without the Federation, without all of these things.
Then they put him in the Chevan costume and yeah.
And then any hope for Brian Croucher has gone out of the window really, hasn't it?
Let's not get started on that because it's going to descend into silly races again.
But you know, as Brendan was saying, in Star One, even though Travis plays a big plot role.
He doesn't actually have a lot of screen time and yet written by Chris Belcher and directed by the show's producer David Maloney, he is perfectly good in that episode.
And I was really shocked because I hadn't seen Star Wars.
I was really shocked when Travis actually shoots Blake and had it not been for Avon, Travis would have gotten his wish kind of thing.
I didn't think it was going to be that close.
I knew from listening to Big Finish that Blake is injured at the end of Star one, but I assumed, you know, it was some polystyrene falling from the roof of the liberator when the when the plasma bonds started firing, you know.
Not being Gan.
Oh, poor Gan.
I will say that in terms of, if we're discussing whether Travis works or not, 4 of our survey respondents said they would have written out Travis, and basically all of them say the character had outlived his usefulness, even by the end of season one, and someone actually said, because he's not Stephen Griff anymore.
Oh, that was me.
That was you.
Well, it's perfectly reasonable.
Yes.
Yeah, absolutely.
Valid, valid complaint.
I really like this thing where the respondents are supporting what we're saying because we are the respondents.
I would like to thank the crew of maximum power for filling in the survey 5 times each.
Different answers.
It may not surprise any of you to know that no one suggested writing out Silverman.
Quite right too.
We won't have that.
Two people did suggest writing out Zen.
Okay.
Can you imagine what kind of creative universe you'd live in where at the end of Star One, they wrote out Servoland and kept Travis Bryant Crouch as the lead Maddie?
I'd also like to point out that despite the question being phrased as, if not Gan, who would you write out?
and 11 people wrote in, no, it still has to be Gan.
In a survey, who would you write out instead of cats?
Okay, still one.
Wide it out again.
It's all the way down, I'm afraid. all the way down.
Jenna came 2nd in who would you write out?
Blake came 3rd with 9 votes.
Yep.
Yep.
One of those for me.
Did one of us here say it would have been interesting to see how the series would have carried on without him, wink emoji.
James, you like emojis.
No, no, no.
I voted for Travis.
But a couple of people who said Blake said, but still only at the end of the series, but I want to know what happened to him within this episode.
Yeah, that is old, isn't it?
Which, um, which is, which is.
Why did they not?
Why didn't they give him an actual, because they knew it was, it was announced in advance.
This was definitely going to be his last episode.
And then he gets an offscreen exit. which is very odd writing.
Yeah, it is odd.
I don't understand why.
And then gets brought back.
Oh, or less.
Is it one of those things where they're hoping he'll change his mind?
I do wonder whether it's the same with Garafans and for Sally, whether the sort of perfunctoriness of getting rid of them in one line in aftermath is part of that.
Well, this is almost like your punishment for leaving the show, that we're not going to write you out.
We're just going through you, though.
Yeah.
Jenna's gone with Blake back to their own.
And that's it. her own planet.
I mean, could it have something to do with the fact that it's named Blake 7?
And so killing him off on screen just felt like it was undermining the series too much. don't know.
No, they didn't need to kill him off, but they could have just had it more of a departure that implies.
Yeah, getting into his going away.
He's injured significantly, whatever it is, just something to explain his sudden disappearance rather than, oh, he's actually just there out of shock.
Yeah, and you know what?
what you just said as well.
That's made me think about it. not in a nasty sense, but they want to they want to reward Paul Darrow for staying more than they want to give the others a big moment in the spotlight to reward them for going.
So the fact that it is, that final shot is completely on him.
And this is the Avon show now. is um, that actually that, in my mind's eye, that is the last line of the series.
I don't I don't think he actually says it, but I could of hear him say it's my series now.
That's right.
In effect, the final scene is not Blake's gone into a capsule and Jenna's gone with him.
His final scene is handing over to Avon on screen when he says for what it's worth.
I've always trusted you.
That's his final scene.
Well, that's a great scene.
Yeah.
I will say the only thing that undermines me for that scene is the close-ups at the end, and, you know, Villa looks scared.
Jenna looks determined, Callie looks like, do I have to buy milk on the way home?
She looks distracted.
I signed up for another year?
Why am I still here?
She's thinking she's thinking to herself.
Did I really have to order pizza?
And for those of you listening at home, Jan Chappel did sign up for another year, but with the stipulation in her contract that she would not have to film at any active nuclear power stations.
No, they had to jettison half dozen scripts.
Because she was breastfeeding during the production of redemption. and they were told, and they were told in the, you know, in the power station, you're not allowed to have any milk or eggs and she's like, um, excuse me.
If I'm not.
Because they do like him.
They do like taking his Tanucia power stations, certainly.
That's another black power station station.
Yeah.
Well, and even if they had been, she wouldn't have been allowed in them.
Because they didn't take any of any of the female cars on the case.
Someone should have said, you silly girl, you're going to be operating the teleport.
You don't want to be exposed to radiation.
You can stay on set, ruin your makeup.
Getting ahead of ourselves slightly.
It is interesting with that comment from George Benton foster about women on location and hair and makeup.
Callie's hair style is short and very simple.
Dana's hairstyle is incredibly short.
And suddenly the women get more action on location.
Yeah, and Jacqueline Pierce.
And Jacqueline Pierce.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, I think I think next series and getting ahead of ourselves.
Stephen Pacey's hair budget is probably the highest to be honest with you.
I'm not sure.
I mean, Paul Darrows.
That gets more...
Weller, he's worth it.
Right, moving on from talking about various characters of the series.
We have our 1st Snog, Mary, Kilmorris, Barry.
And this can only be for Si.
Si, your snog marry, kill Morris, Barry, Alta one, Carnell, or Durkum?
Ooh.
Oh, that's a tricky one.
All better options than the security robot that I got last year.
That's good.
Yeah, I looked back at what I gave you and it was like amphibian, a decima and a farting security robot.
I thought I'd better give you something.
Well, despite him being the most manipulative man in existence, I'm marrying Carnell because, oh my god, this is just waking up to that. those sparkly eyes every day.
And that purring accent.
But any man who manages to live after Serverland has stroked right down his torso.
Yeah, he's a he's a keeper.
I think I would snog Durkin because he's a really solid, good presence.
He'd been a very camp farm before in a different incarnation.
So yeah, I think there's there's definitely something there.
He's very good.
And so I have to avoid outer one, I'm afraid.
Should be a bit mechanical.
I've been mechanical.
To go through the motions.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
Thank you very much, Si.
Now that brings us to, where would you live?
So I'd like you to cast your mind back to the various locations.
We went to this series, and I'm just going to quickly list them here.
We've got the system.
We've got Space City.
We've got Zonda, where the shadow crystals live.
We've got Coz's hideout.
We've got Horizon.
Earth, Space Command, Zill's Planet, Q Base, X Bar, Albion, Asteroid PK 118.
Outer gal, Freedom City, Goth, All-Star one.
So, Pete, I'm going to start with you.
Where would you like to live from?
That's not the liberator.
I'm going to be take me down to Freedom City where the tinsel's shitty.
I don't know how does the song go?
I want goff tinsel, chest to the death.
Bride me with drugs and send me off with a smile on my face as long as I'm thinking I'm defeating Deep Roy, but failing to.
I think that's that's clearly where it's actually all at.
And yeah, that's my, that's me.
Peter?
Uh, I'm a fan of minimalism and also loft spaces, so I think I would live in control uh, down in pressure points where, you know, there's basically nothing there and just walk in some big doors and it's all white.
I'd be there before.
Failing that, I might live in the tents of Goth.
Did we ever find out what tents they were, by the way, past future present?
Oh, If you look at Brian Purchase in, if you look at Bruce Purchase in certain shots, Thank you very much, Peter.
Simon.
I would live in space command. for the views, I think. and I suspect that the service, assuming you are of a suitable rank.
I'm imagining I am of a suitable rank to live in space command, but I think that would be my choice.
Pl of people to order around, you know.
Simon, you'd also get to dine with Peter Miles.
Exactly.
The food's terrible.
You should have brought your own shed.
Certainly looks like Old Star Killer brought his own chef.
Thank you, Simon Si, where would you live?
I'm a big fan of Sunset, so I'm going to live on Outer Gile, which I think has beautiful sunsets, lovely spaceport, very nice cinemas.
So that will do me nicely.
It's the Hawaii of the Federation.
It is.
And James?
Well, I don't know where I'd live, but I'm sure I went clubbing at Q base back in...
Yeah, what was left of you was so crisped up it would only fit in a sandwich.
Funny, but it's true.
I think I'm actually with Simon here.
I think I'd like to live on space command.
Because I do like space stations, although if I want a bit of independence, I might want space city, but I do have a slightly addictive personality, so I'd have to make sure I get addicted to something that's not shadow.
So yeah, I'd totally be on the adrenaline and so much all the time at Space City.
Actually, I'm wherever villa disappears too. in that story.
Yeah, he's having a wonderful time, isn't he?
Yeah, and I thought, you know, we never saw him because he was, you know, losing a kidney or something, but no, they just couldn't afford to build a bar.
Right.
So, Snog marry, strontium grenade with a door chaser.
James.
Granter, Jarier, or Governor Legrand?
James, would you like to snog or marry me?
Well, I was I was gonna say, yeah.
No, I don't think I could, um, I could snug Governor Le Grom because just bite your face off.
She'd never, she, you can always see her teeth. shiny teeth.
I think I would snog crown tour.
Because he's just so delightfully sort of wicked and evil.
I'm sure he'd be quite good at it.
I would marry Governor LeGrand because she doesn't have long left, and I could maybe usurp.
I'm out of girl, after surf lens, kind of killed.
And she might fancy a triumvirate or two.
And I'm with Jerry, yeah.
Lovely.
Well, um, that's not what you were saying there.
You'd end up with very silver lips after consort if you've been snogging crantor, if easy to tell.
Well, let's say it's...
Snog marry strontium grenade in a door chaser.
Yeah.
So, yeah, you, you, you've thrown a strong...
You've thrown a strontium grenade and a door at Jerry Air. which funnily enough is what our listeners did as well.
So for our survey, because we noticed that Servoland was getting some far more competent assistance after Travis left.
Um, we said, well, do people prefer Carmel, Thania, Jarier or Durkin?
And Thania, who we haven't really talked about yet.
This episode was Travis's defence counsel in trial for those of you who weren't sure of that.
Jerry got 2 votes.
In that.
Thania got 6 and someone did write in afterwards that they said Thania and also wanted her to be a new regular because they fancy her.
Now, Durkin was...
We have heterosexual listeners?
Oh, it's Colin.
It might be a girl.
It might be a girl.
It might be an outer gal, yes.
Now, Durkin took a very early lead, and I was surprised.
For about the 1st 24 hours, Durkin was sitting on 6 votes with only 2 for Carnell.
And I was really, really shocked by that.
After we sent it out on our socials.
Durkin got 7 votes and Carnell got 33.
I must admit.
No, I must admit, I did originally vote for Carnell and then went for Durkin because I felt he was a really solid and really good foil for Serverland.
I really loved his performance and I really loved the fact that he is incredibly nervous in her presence all the time, but trying to be resolute.
I would love to have seen him through the 3rd series.
I think he would have been a really good foil for her popping up every so often with intelligence and stuff like that.
He was really good.
But I can't fault Carnell because it's a magnificent performance.
Yeah, totally.
Totally.
Yeah, Durkin was a character with great potential, but you know, TV just didn't work that way. you know, you couldn't say to an actor, we're going to hire.
We're going to hire you for 6 episodes.
Just make sure you're available whenever.
It's like, well, no, I'm doing a Zed car.
I can't.
John Boone, who played Durham, just has this wonderful ability to deliver exposition really urgently and interestingly.
He does have that nervous energy, but he knows exactly when to switch into something slightly more confident.
So when Zervoans basically were, well, I've overthrown the Supreme Council and now I'm president and he's just like, oh, well, congratulations, Madam President.
Like, he doesn't go into a panic there.
He's just like, Yep, okay, seems legit.
She's in here.
I'm in here.
She's probably got like 3 guns somewhere.
I'm just going to say yes.
I know which way the wind is blowing.
Yes, exactly.
I can see it on that launch over there.
This is kill and save.
So I want you to choose a member of the regular cast to write out, and because we do write out Gam this series, you can choose Gan and replace them with a one-off character.
So let's start with you, James.
So who would you kill and save?
I think I would kill Genghis.
I think it's the right choice creatively for the show.
I would save Duggan, Space Duggan.
Del Grass.
Del Grant.
Thank you.
Because Tom Chadman, come on.
He's just great in that episode and I think he has the potential.
He has this, the character has a, is developed enough and has a backplot with Avon, which could actually lead to some really interesting interaction.
Thank you very much.
Pete?
It seems such a long time ago going back right back to the start of the series, but I just loved seeing Peter Miles back as Rontaine.
I know that's a character that I could happily have seen more of.
Um, so I would have saved him and have him cropping up again, maybe in political as a political rival to serve land, that sort of thing.
Ah, yeah, Kilgam.
Fantastic.
Simon?
I'm afraid I have to kill Gan as well, just because, through Nofold of the actor, it's just, he's just been so poorly served that he's never properly developed, really, and so he is surplus to requirements.
I saved Dr. Belfriar.
He's my favourite character of the season.
He is so suave and sophisticated.
I would have loved to have seen more of him.
Absolutely adore that character.
Fantastic.
On the way he dies as well, it's just so...
It's so beautiful.
Yeah.
Just out of curiosity, Simon.
Was it you who wrote in the survey, Bellfriar, he has high class, he has such class.
Oh, yes, that's me.
Yeah, yeah.
Did you not tell?
He had style, he had a deadly space disease.
Yeah, yeah.
I was going to say, I thought that was going in another direction.
I was going to say, I don't think we ever saw him stand up.
But Si.
Okay, well, obviously, like everyone else, I'd kill Gan because reasons.
You've all stated it so eloquently.
And I would bring on Beck from Shadows. because I think he would have been a really interesting character, come along for the...
I think...
He had a really good...
He was really well played by Cole Howman.
He was had wonderful hair, loved his hair.
Although maybe that would have taken the budget for the rest of the season.
I don't know.
He'd have never been able to go and let that.
That's true.
But for the other reason, he'd just get the location in his hair. stuck.
But I really liked his sparky relationship with everyone in the crew.
There was loads of potential in that character.
It's a wonderful catchy dialogue.
He does.
He got his own show on the BBC soon after this, didn't he?
as Jacko the Loveable Window cleaner. which ran for...
Yes.
Well, he was a decorator, wasn't he?
A window cleaner.
That's right.
He was a decorator, yeah.
Yeah, I don't use a brush when you're cleaning windows.
You're like 55 seating?
It ran forever.
Yeah.
Well deserved.
Well, clearly James is correct and you would have Del Grant because he does have that backstory with Avon because he's Anna Grant's brother.
But also, I would have quite liked to have seen Blake written out and maybe the sister of the King of the Tents of Gola brought on board.
That would have been amazing.
I would have loved to have seen her.
I would love to have seen them squeezing her into a life port at the start of next series while she gurgled with laughter.
It would have been amazing.
I'd forgotten.
I forgot when I rewatched this in preparation for the podcast, I'd forgotten how fair pushed she is.
She's amazing.
She's so great.
And she gets a really brilliant scene with Jenna, which unfortunately fails the beg Delta, but, you know, we can't have everything.
Bechdel crumbs in this thing.
A woman's bone.
No, exaggerating.
Exactly.
You were exaggerating.
It's not that bad. nearly.
It's not season 12 adopted.
Although it does feature one of the guest cast.
Um, I would have to kill Gan still as well, but getting back to something I said earlier, I would have made sure that in those 1st 5 episodes his character would have been built up in a similar way that it was getting built up in shadow.
And I was like, you know, at this point, we can afford to like push Villa into the background for an episode or 2 because we know that David's leaving and let's actually give him something to do.
It's so telling that they shot killer before pressure point, but were able to cut Gan out of it because he only had one scene operating the teleport.
You know, yeah.
I mean, they write Callie out for half that episode as well, because there's nothing for her to do.
Yeah, except to be proto Deanna Troy and go, oh, there's something about that ship.
That's useful.
There's got to be some fan fiction out there where those 2 meet in some kind of telepathic mind bending game that just grinds to a halt because neither of them can do it.
I think she's a bit annoying.
What are you saying, Blake?
Did you shout?
Think loud.
Think louder.
I can't hear you But did Gan have to die?
Could he have gone off and looked, you know, run an animal sanctuary or something?
It could have, but his death does become a major motivator for Blake, doesn't it?
Blake's guilt.
Yes.
So it does actually have a more impact on episodes that he's not in than on someone that he's in.
Um, but that's the way.
His absence had more impact than his present.
He's never mentioned again after trial.
Never mentioned by name after trial.
Wow, isn't that interesting because, 0 no, I can't do those spoilers.
When another character leaves in the future, they are mentioned plenty of times after they leave.
Yes.
Yes, yes. interesting, isn't it?
The character who I would bring on board is Kasabi.
I would keep...
Yes.
And the whole reason I would do that is, you know, Blake becomes so much more determined and fanatical in this season, but it's never really addressed that it's easy to be this determined and this angry when you're on this luxurious ship that's the fastest thing in the galaxy, whereas Kasabi's been having to fight a battle on the ground.
And I think it would have been interesting to see that dynamic where, you know, Blake's getting really angry and Kasabi's like, you've had a bed for the last 3 years.
I've been eating mushrooms off the back of a log, you know, I think that I think that could have been interesting and, you know, same episode.
In terms of what people have said here on our survey, Carnell and Dell Grant were the 2 most popular choices from our listeners.
Um, and a couple of one-offs.
Someone suggested Coza.
The dress sense, the weapons he could invent and he's even grumpier than the rest of the cast.
Well, just so stupid. for Dana and there you go.
Two people suggested the croupier from Gambit.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, my...
Three people suggested grand tour with almost the same responses.
Camp banter with Serverland. camp banter, just imagine the banter he'd have with Serverland every week.
Three people suggested Beck.
Four people suggested Provine.
Oh yeah.
Two people suggested actually putting Travis on the Liberator.
And a few one-offs, Thania, the fool, the keeper.
Good at remembering people's phone numbers.
Blake's clone for alarm.
Kasabi's daughter, Veron, and this person has said, it's just madness to leave them behind.
They have something to prove.
Kasabi's daughter's name was...
No, her name is Janet from Vervoids.
Yeah.
Um, there, uh, someone suggested uh, Trooper Par from Triple...
Trooper Park?
Trooper Park?
Inspiration to ABBA.
Someone suggested no one.
No, no new regular.
That was Via Lorimer.
Someone suggested Siobhan, but specifically Siobhan, not Travers.
There was a suggestion for Dirk and a suggestion for Governor LeGrand.
My most favourite chaotic suggestion and shout out if this is you, Inga, just to make things awkward.
Dude, she's your cousin.
How many people?
on that show and no one thought to say.
She's your cousin in this scene, Gareth.
Now that brings us to Snog, Mary, and also Snog, but she's your cousin.
Simon.
The Klute, Thania, and Toys.
Oh, God.
Which one's Thania?
I, I, I, is, um, Tracy's lawyer.
Oh.
And Toys is John Leeson.
She said she's a backup time lord in Ark of Infinity.
Oh, there you go.
Did not know that.
No, no, no. character sounds like...
Oh, I see.
Time lady, sorry.
Obviously, I'm marrying Ziklute because he, you know, he's, apart from one unfortunate incident, he's obviously won lots of money on his, on his game.
And, uh, maybe, you know, after he, he's, he's lost it.
Hopefully I'll just inherit.
So that sounds good.
I think I'm probably snogging John Leeson, I have to say.
And then also, but but yet also Snogging Thania, yet she's my cousin because, you know, that's just like.
I mean, John Leeson is always, is always so deliciously sweet in everything he's in as a human. isn't he?
Sometimes he's a bit of a dog.
Sometimes he's a bit of dog.
But when he's in when he's in human form, He's actually got this lovely way he acts.
I think he's, he's, he, we miss it as canine, I fear.
It's twinkly, isn't he?
It's very twistly, very sweet.
I think he'd be a lovely, just a lovely person to be around.
Or maybe I should marry him.
No, no, American.
Simon, I think you're right to marry the glute because you wouldn't want for storage space because Ziklut would offer you a draw.
Oh, Peter.
Oh, good Lord.
Well, with that evil joke, it seems a good time to talk about our backup villains this season.
Now, I'm going to do this slightly differently, and rather than ask you each for your favourite secondary villain this season or secondary antagonist.
I want to ask each of you, who is your least favourite?
So we're not including Servoland and Travis because they're recurring, but anyone else who's an antagonist is fair game.
So Pete, I'm going to ask you first.
Oh, that's a tough one.
I have, I, and I'm going to tell you if our listeners agree.
I want to say the guy on the planet in Horizon, who's not the leader of the planet of the horizon people, but who's the grumpy federation guy.
Yeah, the Commissist.
He's just sprung into my mind.
And in a way, he's in the valley between the ones who are awesome and the ones who are entertainingly, chaotically not exactly awesome.
He's just a bit forgettable and so that's why I imagine he has sprung to my mind when I think about my least favourite.
He's not terrible, but he's just sort of there, and I'd rather prefer terrible to just sort of there.
I'm shocked and appalled.
I'm shocked.
Well, Pete, I can tell you that you've disappointed 2 of our listeners who are the 2 who voted the Commissar as their favourite.
God, that was me.
Good old Thomasar.
It might have been me as well actually.
It's a very Simon thing.
You silent always ganging up at everyone else.
Well, in that case, you disappointed none of our listeners.
Just disappointed.
Silent majority.
You voted 100% of the Simons who contribute to this podcast.
I suppose we should go to one of them next then.
Cy, who's your least favourite?
This is a really tough question.
I think for me. because I am not a fan of the episode, I'm going to go for tinus.
Oh, he's well played.
Nothing about killer really gels for me and I know this is a very, I heard your episode and I know how much, how loved it is, but I'm, it's just such a by the numbers character.
He's an old friend of Avon's who turns out to be betraying him to the federation and just feels a bit hackneyed.
He's very well played by Ronald Lacy.
I can't fault that at all, but it doesn't quite work for me.
That's fair enough.
We count him as a villain, really.
I suppose just because he's betraying that...
Yeah, I think.
I did actually wonder that when I was putting together the survey, which is why I then put in antagonist.
You know, because...
There you go.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, I see your point there.
And, you know, as much as I, as much as I really like, killer, um, so I, I do have to say having seen Roland Lacey in other things, especially his turns in the Avengers.
Yes.
In the Joker.
In the Joker.
I was actually a little disappointed with how straight he plays Titus.
But then again, you know, the episode does call for it, but even then Bellfriar is such a standout character in that episode.
Actually, yeah, I don't know.
I said this on the episode with the hope that Pete might hear it, but he may not have heard it yet.
Be an idiot.
Are you aware of remind me, the actor who played Benny in...
Oh, yes, him, isn't it?
Yeah.
It's him, yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And he's really good.
I need...
Yes.
It's all obviously. always really good.
And he's got, I'm going blanking on his name.
Because it's the same name as somebody else.
Oh, it's Cole.
I mean, the actor's name, sorry, which you just said a minute ago.
Yes, yeah, he's Colin Farrell.
Colin Farrell.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The other Colin Farrell.
Yeah.
The original Colin Harris.
The original, you must say.
Ends up in Hells are getting expected in a few other things like that as well.
Yeah, yeah.
Class act.
I just wanted to see your face when I said it.
Yeah, the penny hadn't dropped.
Penny had not dropped.
It lit up with joy and that's exactly what I needed.
Thank you very much.
James.
Your least favourite villain or antagonist.
Look, I'm going to say, I'm going to say the cremos.
Because they didn't stop Blake kissing his cousin.
Can I just say, ding, ding, ding.
Moloch and the Crimo's got one vote.
Her favourite.
Was that anyone here?
So you've only disappointed one listener, James.
And for that listener, James's Twitter handle is at 0 James Sandwood.
No, I agree.
They are incredibly, incredibly disappointing.
And also it means that Brian Croucher has to stand in a quarry.
Yeah, they're criminally disappointing.
Criminally disappointing.
But yeah.
Crimos.
You see, that's why I couldn't make them my least favourite because without them, that wouldn't happen.
And so that's why it's like, you can't take them away.
Yeah, it's like, you know, sometimes you go pick the exact moment we're enacted at society's not going to continue with the show and it's like, yeah, I think I think it's Brian.
I think it's Brian Croucher at 3 AM in a quarry screaming Cremos.
Thank you.
That's when he decided to destroy all of humanity.
Understandably.
Who wrote hostage?
Oh, yeah.
Simon, who is your least favourite?
I'm going to go for Bruce Purchase in the keeper because it's a terrible episode and he's big and over the top, but in a way which is sort of not suitable to the way the episode is otherwise being portrayed.
So he feels almost totally out of place for me.
You know, love him in pirate plant.
Hate him in this.
Yeah, I think I think I'd agree with you.
Yeah, for your reasoning. absolutely.
Thank you very much And Peter?
I think I must be the only person who quite likes the keeper.
Yes, you are the only fan.
Good.
I mean, with all the usual caveats that it is Alan Pryor, et cetera.
I think it's okay.
Anyway, I'm going to go for Chevedic in Gambit because I think he is fucking awful.
He's just...
What did you call me?
He's played by Bill Filer from the Claws of Axos, and he's played as a straight down the line villain, and he eats every line that he delivers, especially when he's talking to Cheney. and he's just terrible.
Yeah Actually, I may have changed.
Okay.
You know, that's interesting because I was sure I wrote Chevedic into the thing.
And so either he didn't get any votes or I forgot to write him in.
Maybe you were just being a Chevadick.
Maybe yes, maybe I was.
Now yeah.
No, he's in there.
Oh, okay, good.
Good, good.
So yeah, he he, so Chevadick is actually our last place spot.
People don't like him at all, followed by Moloch and the Crimos.
Tinus and Commissar both get 2 each for popularity.
Their next is Gola and the altars, which, um, actually, I think I saw their Eurovision entry for Bosnia Hetzegovinia.
Then we've got Coza and Stotton the Andromedans with 5 points each.
And then it's a big jump.
Largo and the Pter Nostra got 11 votes. beaten only by Provine, who got 16 votes.
And 4 of our survey respondents also wanted Provone to join the crew for him to kind of say, oh, I'll tell you where it is, but you have to take me with you.
I'll kill you on the way.
And I'll kill you on the web.
Did they decide this by themselves or was there some form of persuasion?
You'd have to enlighten me.
You may keep the pencil.
That's a great line.
Right.
So it is time for Snog, marry, get marked with...
And this one is for you, Pete.
Okay.
Gola?
Kasabi or Beck?
Well, Bruce Purges is getting my Emmy pack from a long range straight away.
I do just find them really annoying.
Sorry.
I think...
Oh, well, Mary Kasabi.
No, or do I want to start back?
No, I think yeah, Mary Kasabi.
And that means it's not Beck.
Buddy Fault.
Yes.
I agree with all those decisions.
Right, so it's time to talk about the individual episodes of this season.
And I would like to say that every single episode from the season got a vote.
Not all of them got the best, though.
I thought you were going to say I would like to, but of course.
However.
Yeah, I pity the person who thought hostage was actually the best episode of the season.
Now, I think we should start with the worst episode of the season.
And how I'm going to score these, is I'm going to take the best votes and subtract the worst votes to give us an overall numerical title, overall numerical score.
So at -14 points, with 15 worst episodes and only one best episode is voice from the past.
The voice from the past, if nothing else, is supremely entertaining, if incredibly dumb.
Yes, it has serve land.
Best eye after ever.
Here on the big screen.
How can any episode where that happens be the worst episode of anything?
Indeed, a shrewd maxim, Si.
I love that on that big screen.
The bit of the server interjection. can clearly say that it's obviously projected cinematically projected.
So she's actually gone into a film studio, serverland, like this is this is re-rationalizing what's actually happened in this world.
And she's been filmed in front of a film camera, giving her answers to gov Lola Grant.
And then someone's in the projection booth, actually projecting out all of her answers on reels, which I think is possibly her most dastardly theme.
In a different costume to the rest of the episode as well.
So she obviously has.
It's phenomenal. before the rest of the episode.
She's space pirate.
It's just so weird that you could think that voice from the past is the worst episode of the season because even though it is objectively terrible in so many ways, it's clearly not the least entertaining episode.
No, no, definitely not.
Exactly, yeah.
Although it's fun.
It's not great.
Could I get an idea at 321?
So next time I do that, what the least entertaining episode we all think is.
So three, two, one, the keys.
I heard hostage and the keeper and one other one.
That was me saying redemption, I think.
It was just 45 minutes of Terry Nation digging out of his made up cliffhanger from the previous episode.
We'll see if redemption's score reflects that when we get there.
I will say in terms of score, as we move up the ladder, it goes the keeper with -11 and then hostage with -9.
So it's much of a much less...
I mean, when I think about hostage, I just, yeah, the question I asked myself about hostage is what was the point?
What was the point of that?
Hostage is one of those episodes.
I sort of watched 3 quarters of the way into it.
I'm going, I just don't care.
I just don't care about anything that's going on and that's not a good sign.
Running around the location, stuck in a room, more running around on location, up we go.
And stalking your cousin.
Next up, and not very far off, is Horizon, which got no favourite.
And 7 worst votes.
And I'm like, I don't think it's that bad.
I think it suffers from the horror movie thing of, oh, we haven't heard from our friends.
Let's all go look for them and get taken prisoner.
It suffers a bit from that.
But I think it actually has interesting things to say about colonialism.
Yes, this podcast's official view is very much at odds with that.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's funny.
I almost voted for Horizon thinking that I bet Horizon does badly, but I voted for killer is my favourite instead.
Now I should have feel I should have voted for Horizon, but I think it's really, really good.
You know, I can get that some people sort of don't like it and it is quite different from a lot of other black seven, but I just think it's sublime.
Mostly.
That is the spectacular Avon episode.
He's really well written in that episode.
Yes, the way he works through.
The way he works through working out whether he can escape by himself, I just think is awesome, is so nicely done.
Yeah, he runs the numbers and decides not to imagine everyone.
Yeah, it's beautifully directed.
Really.
Jonathan Wright Miller was excellent.
Yeah, like the, you know, the jungle scenes work, you know, the lighting is great.
It's actually really atmospheric.
Yeah, and even the purple uniforms are like stylish and good in a way that lakes having uniforms often are a little bit more wacky.
Yeah, and the performances are universally excellent.
And also, those dialogue scenes, um, you know, between the Commissar and Row are just so beautifully done, and and Darren and Gardia is such a great actor, uh, and tragically lost too early.
Just beautiful, beautifully done.
And I love the fact, which I certainly absurd, but it's worth restating that the music is relatively minimalist in it.
Uh, and I think that's, uh, can only be a good thing.
Yeah, so any of our listeners out there who did vote for Horizon as being the worst episode of the season.
Please go and listen to our podcast where all 4 of us came in and didn't just say this is better than we thought, all thought this is actually really good.
Except poor David Jackson who had to be written in at the last minute, so he gets chained to a wall.
Wow.
Um, Coming up next with minus two.
So no best episodes and 2 worst episode scores is weapon.
Yeah, that's fair enough.
It's average, isn't it?
Yeah, it's quite interesting that you say that, you know, you've only got, like, there are only 2 votes there, 2 negative votes. not because a whole lot of people voted it best and a whole lot of people voted it worse.
So it's not divisive.
It's just that most people just aren't thinking about it at all.
It's yeah, it's a generic episode.
And that's and that's not a I'm not using that word utterly derisively.
Negatively, yeah.
No, I mean, maybe there's a bit of, I mean, It's a middling end.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's right.
It introduces some great concepts that they don't ever come back to like the psycho strategists and the clone masters, and IMIPAC.
I mean, yes.
Did Emma Pack disappear without a trace?
I thought it, um, you could buy it in your local case.
I put someone just before recording.
It's been clearing up nice.
I wonder what that big red dot was.
You can get own brand version.
It's cheaper.
But is it the most stupid weapon ever invented?
I mean, because, like, does it kills does it kill everyone when you press the button?
Anyway, that's for the episode.
Yeah.
As Nathan is fond of saying, it's this wonderful weapon, whereas actually, maybe if you push the button on a weapon, it should just kill someone.
They could have killed Blake and Avon and Gan.
Because they all stand there.
Get shot by EmmyPack.
Well, they stand there waiting for the special effect to live.
And pause and walk.
I don't see a base dragon's den with someone coming in and pitching this.
It's kind of like what Scott Evil says to Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies.
It's like, why are you locking him in the easily escapable room without cameras?
I have a gun.
Let's go kill him.
Father and son.
It'll be fun.
Let's.
But no, no, because we need we need to fill 50 minutes of drama.
I, you know, drama.
Drama.
I still think that Gareth Thomas's approach to playing the clone of himself is him going, well, I'm only getting 11 fee for this episode.
I'll give him one performance.
Thank you, across 2 characters. performance.
Yeah.
Yeah, and Blake gets the note.
Now, we move into, well, almost into positive numbers, and Pete, this slightly vindicates something you were saying earlier, redemption got one best vote and one worst vote, giving it an overall score of zero.
Yeah, I mean, maybe I'm being harsh.
But, but there's so much, there's so much tantalising stuff about it.
Finally, we discover who invented the liberator and they've got another one.
Have they got dozens?
We don't know, it doesn't matter.
Look, there we are.
So it's lost his cliffhanger all wrapped up.
Can we go home now?
No, Terry.
This script is only 20 minutes long.
It needs more stuff in it.
It is what I'm hearing in my mind.
It's exciting.
This redemption, more redemption-ish.
Yeah, it's a good example.
It's a very good example of unfulfilled promise.
I am so fond of redemption. love it.
Just because of space battan and space gazian.
Not just because of them. good enough.
What it got?
What am I missing?
Space, Space minor Bert as well.
I think positioned space minor.
Oh, of course, yes.
I don't know, it's just so much fun.
I've been, that's what I like.
I don't mind it. funkus ideas and there's lots of running around.
There's lots of explosion, lots of action.
And somehow, sometimes you just want a big dumb space adventure.
And that's a great way to start your series off.
It's really pacy.
It's nicely directed.
I think it's just just fun.
It also has the 2nd best scene in all of Blake 7 when the outer bumbling guards teleport onto the liberator, only to get teleported back and blow up their own command centre.
Why is that any the 2nd best scene, Peter?
The best is to come.
Something I also love in redemption.
And the weird thing about redemption was because I'd only seen like the 1st few episodes of series B before this watch.
I had it in my head that redemption was 2 episodes because there's just so much in it, but somehow, you know, they do cram it all into 50 minutes.
But at the end when they're making their escape and there's explosions going off, Paul Darrow falls over.
And so Jan Chapel sort of runs to help him up, but he waves her off.
And I get the impression that I'm like, because then he runs towards camera.
Okay, that wasn't a stunt double.
If that was deliberate, that would have been a stunt double doing the fall and then you cut and you see Avon's face.
Okay, that was a blooper.
Yeah, yeah.
So Darrow falls over and Jan is going, 0 my god, are you okay?
He's like, don't wreck the shot.
This took like 3 hours to set up and he gets up and carries on running.
And I just think that, and it gives the episode a wonderful urgency because, you know, Villa falling over. you go, yeah, of course.
Avon falling over.
It's like, no this shit's real.
It makes it, it does make it seem so much more real.
Like, then, you know, they manage to continue on with that shot.
It's not quite the guy running at the end of 1917 and falling over a couple of times and keep going with the shot, but you know, I acknowledge it.
I will say, though, something that tarnishes redemption for me somewhat is, I knew the basic structure of the season, and I thought the system attacked the Federation at the end of the season, and finding out it's these aliens we've never heard of, as interesting as they are, was just kind of like, oh.
Yeah, your idea is better.
I would have paid to have seen Space Cassia with her pizza army.
It's not the system.
It's Pizza Hut. tax at the end of the season.
Oh, dominoes.
No, it's dominoes.
You're order in 30000000 years or it's free?
Because it's coming from Andromet.
Anyway, um...
So getting into positive numbers now.
With 2 best votes apiece and no worst votes.
We have countdown and pressure point.
Ooh, Terry National Hood.
And I, yeah.
I think they're a really interesting combo to put together because both of them introduce major character motivations.
Gan's death is a major character of innovation for Blake and Anna Grant and Dale Grant will be built on later for Avon, but it does hark back to what we know of Avon as well.
They're obviously not the most popular episode of the season, which we'll come to, but they're reasonably popular with people.
I actually voted for Countdown.
Countdown was my favourite episode of the season.
I like Countdown.
I think Countdown is a very solid episode.
I'm not as much of a fan of pressure point.
I just find it, it's that style of Blake 7 that I just don't care about.
But yeah, countdown, I think, is really quite engaging and he's got some really great moments.
Well, redemption countdown and pressure point, that trio of Terry Nation episodes.
It just goes to show that you get such a bum deal for having to write 13 episodes of a season and occasionally falling a little bit flat.
When he's just asked to write three.
They are all massive hits and we'll see that repeated again next year.
I think he's great and I think his episode's brilliant too.
Fight me.
Do you say fight me or bite me?
Both, James.
Peter's had this Terry Nation awakening.
It's kind of like a born again Christian.
He's kind of like always evangelising the great things that Terry Nation is capable of.
This is true.
This actually hit me in the last couple of years when I realised that we used to mock him for his troops and everything, but his troops were everything.
His troops made Doctor Who.
And when he's not asked to write 13 episodes bleak 7 a year, all of his bleak 7 episodes are brilliant, I'm totally on board with the nation.
The other thing is, with Terry Nation's tropes, his 3 episodes, there's no radiation, like no one's falling over because they've been irradiated. there's except for Jan Chapel and redemption.
No fictional characters, of all...
Oh, God.
Oh my god.
There is a countdown.
There is a countdown.
I'm just imagining attack of the 50 foot Jan Chapel.
But yeah, there's none of that.
There's no, I don't think there's any characters with like corruptions of his name.
Maybe he went to Chris Boucher and said, well, he's obviously, I think you're right, Peter.
He wants to push himself and feels he can because Boucher's saying, you know, I've got you.
I know how this works.
He's really impressive this season.
But you can't have the Daleks in the last 2 episodes. such a shame.
I mean, love him like I do and we will come to this.
I don't think Terry would have done a better job of Star one than Chris Boucher does.
No. probably Up after that, with 4 bests and one worst is trial.
Okay.
Yeah, I think trials are fascinating episode.
It's as close as the series gets to being a federation focussed episode rather than a Blake focussed episode that works for me.
And it's one of Jacqueline Pierce's very best performances, I think, as well.
She is superb throughout that episode.
For the way she plays Barnia and the way her demeanour changes when no one else is watching her is magnificent.
And then the way she's charming with Travis at the end when it's in the middle of the emergency.
It's a tour de force for Jacqueline Pierce.
And she looks so different when she's playing Zill down on the planet.
That is the weak part of the episode.
The whole the whole 0 thing.
In fact, I entirely forgotten that it's part of the same episode.
Yeah, I would literally start thinking, why would anyone have put this last?
And then I'd, oh, right, yeah, then.
They're both going, they're both going through a trial.
Yes, it's team actually.
To get away.
So many so many levels to that that time.
This almost feels a piece with the concept of the show, the beginning of series A. Yes.
Yeah, that world.
Space corridors, lots of bureau- sort of evil but bureaucratic evil.
Yeah, it's almost, is it the last time you get the, you know, the Peter Miles type characters who are, who are not thoroughly evil?
They're just kind of playing along with the regime for their own, you know, so that they have a quiet life.
Yeah, they're not fanatics.
They're not fanatics, yeah.
Yeah.
I always like episodes where Servline is having to do some Wheeler dealering and that she's not just being supreme, uninterrupted, but she's got to play people off against each other and that sort of thing. because Jack and Pierce is so good at playing that.
And it's so interesting that we do get this version of the Federation, only 2 episodes after we got the Horizon version, which is entirely different but equally fascinating.
Yeah. interesting.
Um, I'd like to point out that in the, do you have anything to say before the tribunal passes judgement of the survey?
Someone said trial would have been great if not for zill in that plot line.
No, no disrespect to the performance of the actress playing zeal, but just the concept and costume didn't work.
But for people wrote in, if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you.
Yeah, I will put my hand up and say, yes, that was me.
Well it wasn't just you.
Which just makes it extra brilliant.
Yes.
Like to at least 3 clones of side, pleasure on the federation.
One of the things I absolutely love about this show is that you will get plenty of people who will cite something as being the best thing about it and someone else will cite it as being the worst thing about it, the exact same line of dialogue.
It's fantastic.
Someone did actually say about trial that they think that Stephen Griff would not have been a good choice for it.
It needed someone like Brian Croucher who could go further, sort of go further with the more histrionic.
Yeah.
And also someone said, it's not Brian Crouch's fault, but I do think if you fix Travis, this would be the best season.
Alas, they should have killed Gan in deliverance and kept me Gaton.
Their logic for this is if she is a character with a stereotypical feminine role, but a subversive twist, that would leave room to develop Jenna and Callie Moore while also developing MeGat. put a lot of thoughts into that.
Yeah.
Oh, and also love the podcast.
Please don't stop there.
About 4 or 5 people in that section just wrote, really love what you're doing.
This is great.
Oh, thank you.
I should also...
At least 4 people actually like it.
Whether they still will after hearing these opinions is another matter.
And now I'm just as grateful for these 2 comments.
Um, which were actually in the who would you write out?
One of them was none of them.
How dare you?
And the other one was.
None of them this question can fuck off.
And that's the end of the podcast.
Oh, we still have a few more episodes too.
We do.
I'm glad they didn't take it as meaning the podcast.
I would write out Peter.
That's the question for the end of series series D. Has Mark even heard the sevenfold crown?
So coming up next is Shadow with 4 top votes and no bottom votes.
It is very good.
It is very good.
It is.
Yeah.
It's Chris Boucher let loose on the show that he works really hard on through the 1st series.
He just goes for it.
Yeah, it's a superb episode.
And he manages to give everyone something to do.
Like even even though Callie spends a lot of the episode locked up.
She's then crucial to the solution.
And as we've discussed before, Gann gets to be the moral centre, Villa is off having a drink.
And instead of it just being a comedy moment, it's actually what allows Callie to be put into peril.
Yeah, it's very clever.
Yeah, it's a really good Cali episode.
Simon, I was going to say, do you remember that about a year ago, you sent me a YouTube clip of the ABC news from 1979 in Australia, and you said, watch it through to the end, and I watched it through the end, and there was a brilliant ad for Blake 7 Space Adventure, which was Shadow, and it looked so exciting.
Yes, it was brilliant.
We now get into our top 3 episodes for the season, and this is true both of top votes.
So this is the 3 with the most top votes and once we subtract the worst votes as well.
And so coming up 1st with 6 tops and one worst, and we know who this is, it's killer.
I'm so glad you said 6 tops and not drops. would be a very different vodka.
I think you can get that at Freedom City.
That's what Villa was up to.
Oh, no, that's Space City.
I used to be in freedom.
How could you get them mixed up?
Sorry.
Sorry.
Disney World and Disneyland.
I don't know.
I have such a dislike of killer that I can't explain because technically everything is really good.
But for me, the problem is Robert Holmes is writing Blake like he's the 4th doctor and he's suddenly a know all, knows everything about history, knows everything about everything, and it really bugs me.
I think he's really mischaracterized.
He doesn't really care about Blake and Jenna and Cali.
There's nothing, nothing at all for Jenna and Callie to do in the episode.
It's an Avon and Villa episode, and I think it's all a bit of a waste.
And June Hudson goes to her operatic best to try and save it and even she misses the mark hugely and it just doesn't come together for me at all.
I do like Paul Damon and I do love the chilling ending where he just offhandedly says, I've forgotten how to read.
And it's funny and it's scary at the same time, but I'm not a big fan of Blake 7 as horror and it just doesn't all work for me, I'm afraid.
I mean, I disagree with you on whether this is a good episode because I love this episode.
But I do agree with you with the characterisation of Blake.
And I also find it really odd that you put, you put lines in the mouth of a character who, you know, is a space vigilante, which really should be in the mouth of the person who is like bacteriologist or, um, you know, a scientist and Blake is saying, oh, should switch off switch off the air conditioning.
Just to stop to stop the virus, like taking over the base.
It's like, this guy is a professional in his space.
Why isn't he saying?
Let's switch off the air conditioning.
I think we did say at the time we recorded it that we felt that Blake's role on the planet would have been much better with Callie, who during the course of the 1st season was as close to a dedicated medic as the ship had.
And just a few episodes ago in Horizon, she's the one who notices that everyone's feeling unwell, et cetera, et cetera. needs R&R, what have you?
Of course she does.
She's a lady.
Woo-woo, like telepathic powers, except when she doesn't.
But, you know, she's all, she's also the one who picks up that there's something on the ship at first, and she could have been watching the operating theatre, and instead of everyone just gasping when the thing gets up, she would have been able to go, hold on. there's something wrong They could have even just sent her down to the planet with Blake.
She didn't have to replace him.
They couldn't have both of them there.
It would have been much more interesting.
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think it's possibly one of those instances because we haven't had something like this before on Blake 7 and I don't know if we get anything like it again.
I think it's a bit like Caves of Andresani in, again, Robert Holmes.
It's a fascinating script and it's really well done, but doesn't quite fit the series it's in.
However, having said that, those Avon Villa scenes are gold and that's why people love it.
I just think the whole thing hangs together really well.
I mean, I'm happy to acknowledge the flaws, including the characterisation of Blake, but I mean, given that I'm never much of a fan of the Blake character, this is at least an episode where I kind of sort of starts to warm to him.
I think one of the reasons I like it too is that everyone is taking it really, really seriously.
That's refreshing because quite often you get someone who's just having a bit of a laugh in one role or another and that can be behind the scenes as well and things very well directed.
It's not reliant on explosions and chases and things like that and special effects.
Uh, which inevitably let these kinds of things down.
It's relying on 2 handed scenes, 2 and 3 handed scenes, which are all executed really, really well.
I think that's one of the reasons why I'm drawn so much to it, I think.
Our 2nd highest episode of the season. is Gambit with 8 top scores and one worst score for a total of seven.
It's among my episodes for a lot of people, because it is so out there.
And so I'm surprised that it's done that well anyway, because, yeah, it's not an average episode of Blake 7 in anyone's book.
It was one of the 1st ones that got me into the series again as a teenager when somebody showed me it on video, so that, and because of that, I don't see it as a, as a sort of aberration in the way that some people maybe do.
But, um, but it is, but it's the, it's the Jacqueline Pierce show also.
It's just like the rest of them are a bit part players in her sort of tour de force moment, playing a different version of Servland, who has, who has to roll her eyes, as I have argued for years, is just one of my favourite lines. would argue with Servoland for years.
How is that possible?
And it probably doesn't close.
A different person every time because she had them all killed.
That's it.
It is a different person.
She's argued for years and there's a pile of corpses over there to show it to prove it.
Against that, you've got the really fun Avon and Villa subplot where they're just going to break the bank at the casino and have some fun.
That's brilliant.
Seeing Paul Darrow having fun and thinking, yeah, we can do this.
Come on, Villa. and it's him who's driving it.
It's not Villa who's driving it.
He wants to go and make this money.
Just because he can.
And that's wonderful.
There's a real joy in his performance in this episode that you don't often see in Avon, and I really like that.
It's also finally a George Spenton fosterproof episode in that I don't think it's particularly well directed, but he can't break it.
Well, but yeah, because there are the occasional smash cuts, smash cuts, which you think, oh, is he being avant-garde or no, he just, no, he's not.
It's just an accidental smashing.
Just a scalpel out.
Yeah, or it comes from a character in one scene, to the same character in another scene later.
But I think they had to cut quite a bit out, overran quite a bit, didn't it?
So, I don't know much behind the scenes stuff on plate 7, but I picked that up somewhere.
So I guess that's why there are those jumps.
But when you're set on a planet that's meant to be weird and disconcerting.
It enhances it even if it is by accident.
Yeah, and just casting Sylvia Coleridge as the sexy speaker of the of the casino.
That takes some balls, that does.
But she does it with such a plomb.
She's so good.
I really love it too, but I just sort of sort of bouncing back to sort of killer and this.
They're both outlies in their own way.
And I think it's great that both of them can exist in the same series.
And I think that's one of the reasons why I love it.
And both from the, yeah.
And both from the same author who just comes in and does his own theme.
Yeah, and apparently, Robert Holmes wasn't particularly happy with Killer because it was a late commission and he wasn't that familiar with the series.
And he wasn't particularly happy with Gambit.
And apparently some of some of the cast weren't happy with the way Aubrey Woods and John Leeson sent it up a bit.
Like Brian Croucher apparently is like, oh, you know, they really sent it up and it's like, has anyone shown?
You see who they were playing?
Yeah, and has anyone shown Brian Croucher?
Brian Croucher?
Have you read the script?
Yeah, I think John Leason is really good.
I think he's so great as the submissive, but obviously almost like the power behind the throne and is the power bottom.
Yeah.
Right, and his hatress is magnificent.
Oh, yes.
He love that headdress.
The period, Crantor.
Yeah.
They had some kind of meeting or they'd done some kind of agreement because everything is on the same level.
Everything's the same.
These things don't work.
When someone's being desperately serious and someone's being outrageously over the top camp.
Everyone is being outrageous.
That's why it works.
Everyone's up here and that's why it works.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think that's why, for instance, Bruce purchase as Gola doesn't work because he's not doing the same performance as the...
He's in gambit as well, is the problem.
Yeah, yeah, and you can get away with that, but it's much harder and in that one, for me, it doesn't work.
But it's not impossible to balance something like that.
But yeah, in Gambit, they are all definitely singing from the same hymn sheet.
Something I love so much about gambit is, especially crantor and toys.
This kind of thing when other sci-fi shows do it.
Like when the ridiculous MC wanders off the stage, you know, he'll he'll pull the moustache off and say, oh, well, we've had a good night's takings, but oh, we're, you know, we, you know, he switches back to a normal speaking voice and it's all an act.
It's like, no, Crantor and Toys, this is a way of life.
This is how they actually want to live.
And that means the show isn't afraid of showing us that.
They're grotesque.
Yeah, they're grotesque.
And whenever you have a grotesque character kind of go, oh, but I'm not really grotesque.
To me, that is the producers, the director of the show going, no, we're afraid to do an episode for me like that.
That Star Trek.
Blake 7 is they are actually that person.
Yes.
And that's the early original series Star Trek.
Early next gen Star Trek has those kind of grotesque characters that Gene Roddenbury in the original case and Rick Berman in the 2nd case beats out of the series.
No stop being camp.
You know, stop, stop being camp.
Patrick Stewart is over here in a one piece Lycra bodysuit.
How dare you be camp in front of that?
And we initially asked him to a French accent.
With a with a tooth.
But yeah, maybe Patrick Stewart should have played the croupier.
Well, the Dupe should have.
Now, of course, for our top episode, with no worst votes, and 20 best votes is Star one.
Well, of course.
I'm going to say it's the best episode of Blake 7.
It's not necessarily my favourite episode of Blake 7, but it is the best episode of Blake 7, I think.
It's the script editor writing and the producer directing and it's a big pivotal episode.
It can't go wrong.
Even with the kitchen sink coming in at the end.
Well, you see, no, that's exactly it.
It doesn't matter because the rest of it is so good.
As one of our listeners pointed out, it's a cliffhanger so good that Star Trek stole it.
Oh, yes.
Exactly.
Captain's incapacitated.
I have to be the outlier, I'm afraid.
Well, I didn't vote for this one either, Simon, but you go on first.
Well, I no, I don't think it's bad by an issue to the imagination.
I think it's very good, and I agree with you, Peter, that, you know, it's written by Chris Boucher. directed by Devin Maloney.
Of course, it's great.
But for some reason, it's like the opposite of a je ne sais quoi for me.
Sometimes everything can be right about an episode and should be right an episode about an episode and I should really love it, but for some reason, it just leaves me a little bit cold.
I don't know why it is.
I, I think it's, it's neither my favourite nor I think it's the best.
There's just something for me that's missing.
It's too Blake 7 by numbers in terms of the best numbers.
Absolutely, it's all done really, really well, but I kind of have the same relationship to it as I do to Earthshock, which I kind of go, yeah, I can see why it's supposed to be really, really good, but for some reason, I just don't warm to it.
That's all. perfectly reasonable?
Irrrational, I know.
No, I'm, I'm, I'm sort of with you there.
And like I said earlier, with redemption.
Star one, I think I think is very good, but I voted for Countdown because in Star one, I wanted it to be the system taking revenge, you know, and to me, that then becomes a story, I can ties everything up, or I wanted the Andromedans to be seated a few episodes earlier.
Because Travis has obviously been doing this for some time.
How much time has passed between him disappearing?
Yeah, we talk a lot about this in the episode.
Exactly.
Because the time frame is all askew at the end of series B. It's yeah.
And I think it's a reflection of the fact that a lot of the scripts are coming in at the very last minute, everything has fallen through with Terry Nation.
And things that are being shifted all over the place.
Yeah.
Unless it's taken 6 months for them to get from the end of gambit to the keeper to start one.
Yeah.
I mean, there is an implication that some time has passed.
Mm.
Yeah, well, the fact that they... infiltrate the place. not very clear.
Maybe it took them 6 months to get from the end of the keeper out to star one, in which case the fact that the Federation cruiser Beagle manages it in 4 hours is a bit of a problem.
Unless the beagle is from outer gal.
It's still an absolutely cracking end to the season.
And it's another episode where everyone pretty much gets something to do or gets to contribute, like, you know, Jenna still doesn't go down to the planet, but she does have stuff to do up on the ship and she's it's her and Villa figuring out how do we get through the protection grid to actually see what's out there?
And yeah, even Aurak contributes to that conversation.
I was surprised this whole season, how underused Aorak is compared to what I know later.
Um, but, you know, I am kind of nitpicking.
I saying, oh well, the episode doesn't have this.
It's like, well, no, but what it does have is really, really great.
And I think it's so appropriate that the season ends with, as Brian Groucher puts it, having to be put into a harness to do his final stunt at like 5 to 9 and having, as he puts it, the very camp dresser gentleman, between my legs, looking up at me and saying, now the metal is exposed, so it could poke in, dear.
And he's just like, this just sums up my time on the show.
It helped some safety before it went mad.
I made this point in our Star one podcast, but I think it's worth making again that between them, Callie, who removes the bombs from the base and doesn't blow it up and then Jenna and Servolan, who work out what's happening with the fleet and send all the ships against it.
Together the 3 women of the series save humanity.
So.
Yeah.
That's a nice way of saying it.
Before we get on to the final question, I asked our listeners, as well as ourselves, I'd just like to read out some miscellaneous comments that people made.
Of course, we have had some comments praising us, which is lovely.
So here are some comments I haven't read out in other sections.
A mixed season rescued by Star One.
Two people want Callie's powers to be expanded upon.
They think that's the best way to develop her character.
So it'd be interesting next year to see if that happens.
One person thinks the show should be Servoland all the time, and Nathan, we see you, we see you.
He was actually in Serverland drag when he did.
Um, someone someone had 3 things.
They wished Brian had been assigned a new character to develop all his own.
Can't disagree and didn't have to wear a stupid disguise in voice to the past and that the girls had more to do.
Someone said this trial is a mockery of justice, which is which is very true.
A few people said this is their favourite season.
It's hard to pick a favourite. and they wonder how strong series.
Someone wonders how strong series A would have been without all the faffing about and responding to distress signals.
If Chris Boucher had sort of been given a given more of a hand in developing the 1st series.
Well, you know, I think series C personally is the best, but I think series B gives it a very strong run for its money.
Yeah, yeah, I'd agree with you there.
Series B is someone's favourite, even if the story arc about Star one is horribly inconsistent from episode to episode.
A few people want to know precisely what happened to Blake.
That's something they would have liked for this series.
Big finish.
Someone thought they needed to tone down Aurac's power of the week or at least reuse a few of them.
We're looking at you, shadow.
Yeah.
I can shrink Cali because someone took me over.
Can you do it again?
No, I'd rather not.
But I can sugar myself.
Yes, you get us loads of money. shall we do it again?
Nah, better not.
And someone said that as much as they love pressure point, shame they had to kill Gan.
Big Gam fan, but really understandable, and they're glad that there was an episode with Blake actually saying I need to deal with what happened here.
There we go.
Big Gan fan fan of Big Gan.
Yeah.
Voice from the past is actually fabulous and I will not hear any arguments otherwise Siobhan forever.
Somebody's been pressing the skip button a lot during this episode.
Sorry.
Well, now, if I tell you, I might just have to kill you laughing and sweating emoji.
And where is Alta Morag?
We sent our roomiest shuttle for her.
Alter more eggs, the one from the way back.
Before we get onto the last question our listeners gave us, hopes for the future.
If you didn't know what was coming up in series C, what would you want to see?
Starting with you sigh?
I want to see the Galactic War and I want to see it big and bright and massive episodes spanning what's going on in the war and how it affects everyone and everything.
I think that would be a really great way to start a season.
And Blake and Jenner could be off doing different things.
The liberators in danger.
Yeah, I think that would be a really cool way to start a new series off.
Five episodes at least, Si.
Yes.
Wouldn't that be great?
Thanks, Cy.
Simon.
I have to go with Cy.
As I said before, I watched Blake 7 kind of in a random sort of order and certainly watched later episodes before I saw any of this.
If I was watching it in at the time and in order, I would be expecting the 3rd season to be entirely different to, or quite different to the way it was, yes, I think at least half the season needed to be devoted to the war, the aftermath of the war and all that sort of stuff.
It's, there's one or 2 episodes of that and then it's just completely forgotten effectively, really.
I mean, I know it's sort of integrated, but I think I think that's what I would have been expecting more, you know, liberation crisis.
Maybe, maybe the crew split up.
I think that would have been interesting actually, is if you'd have had some of the characters in a different location, but then not be out of the series.
Great.
Pete?
I'd be, yeah, I'd be interested in seeing more multipart stories. which they've obviously started with a multi-part story, and a 90 minute long Blake 7 story and 2 halves works fine, and I'm surprised they don't do more of that, and I guess that's more around production schedules and everything.
They haven't done that more so far.
And I'm just, yeah, I'm interested to see if they actually deal with the idea of them having to have this alliance with Serverland.
Is that just going to be swept aside and back to business as usual or are there going to be consequences?
I think I know.
Peter, I would like to see Mr. Bronson from Grange Hill as the head of the Federation's Death Squad.
There are only 7 actors.
You stolen by shtick, Peter, because I was just going to start listing things that happen.
Well, James, I would also like to see the exotic world of hour on depicted as an airport control centre.
And I think I would probably like to see Servolan employer henchwoman who communicates only through clicking her fingers.
Let's see if that happens.
Better wave.
James?
He's still amazing.
You still enjoy...
For me, yeah, I'd like to see the galactic war be dealt with, but maybe only for an episode or two, probably 2 episodes.
Like, as I said, I felt redemption was too short.
So maybe just 2 episodes dealing with that and then sort of a season with a new status quo in the Federation.
I don't want us just blowing, you know, let's, let's choose to hurt the Federation here this week or let's go to this planet this week because they have, they have a membership with the Federation and we can get under their skin.
I haven't had a problem with that this year, but much like series A for all its faults, was trying to find out what it was.
So you had some stories that didn't involve the Federation at all.
Series B has had its very different feel from that.
And I want another different feel next year. anticipating we get some new characters.
So I'm looking forward to new dynamics with the existing characters.
And whether there's sort of a pecking order and a hierarchy.
Can you imagine Villa being higher than anyone on a hierarchy?
He's got tenure.
And so that's kind of the interesting stuff.
I think we can do there with series C.
But before we leave series B. There's someone we're leaving behind in series B and that's Travis.
I asked our listeners, because it's the last chance they're going to have to put in, who is the best Travis?
They got to rank them.
So Stephen Griff, Brian Croucher, and the bloke who can't run properly from Aurak.
Surely we left Travis's behind at the end of Aura.
Brilliant.
Do we want to know the least popular Travis 1st or the most popular, Travis?
Let's go for the most.
The most?
Because that's the obvious one.
It's Stephen Grife.
With 37 top votes. 112nd places and 0 last places.
His second.
Second is Brian Croucher.
Assuming the legs.
Me too.
There is justice.
That would be cool.
I put the legs second.
For the 1st few hours, it was the legs because it was just us, I'm in the ship posting.
Croucher gets 9 top votes. 272nd place votes and 123rd place votes.
So the legs. get 363rd place votes. 52nd place votes and one person voted the legs.
Oh, brothers.
Who was it?
Was it anyone here?
Whoever you are, I salute your shit posting skills.
Yeah.
But converting that to a numerical score the way we did for the other characters, Stephen Griff wins with 133 points.
Brian Croucher comes behind that with a respectable 93 points and feet, Travis, is on 49.
He's got almost half the support of Brian Croucher.
And he's only playing 50% of the body.
He's got 3 shots.
That's Travis.
Has he been identified?
Travis Legs stand in person?
I should have asked making Blake 7 before we started.
Did we say in the series A, retrospective that we think it's the Lorimer?
Well, he was for acting out all the action in the offside, maybe.
He'd been down the gym a lot.
He'd been getting things, you know, nice and tight back then.
With that revelation, that legs, Travis, is not more popular than Brian Croucher.
It leaves us time for one more.
Snog, marry, brother.
I don't think there are enough ease in there, right?
I wasn't done.
Actually, help me, I'm having a stroke.
No.
Just my lungs, just fill out.
Snog, marry, brother.
That sounds like white noise now.
By the way, did we mention that Siobhan's fake eye is over Travis's eye patch?
We did it.
We did an episode.
Oh, good. glad.
Okay.
Peter.
Yes.
Your options are...
Then Glyndmark 2.
Zill.
And Shiva.
I would have to snog Van Glynn just to get access to his precious books of tricks.
I've heard he's easy that way.
I think I would marry Zill because we could then become one.
That would be great.
Yeah, we could share our oneness.
And I would obviously avoid she van because when you sleep with someone, you don't want to have to constantly check, is it calm?
Well, we don't know how far the bandages go down, really.
Well, dear listener, that's all the time we have this episode.
I would like to thank the entire panel, and I'd also like to thank you at home for listening.
You've given us some lovely feedback and especially those of you who participated in our vote.
We didn't give you much time to do it this time, but we will put it up much earlier next time for series C when we get there.
Well, we are off the air.
Don't forget, you can hear all some and many of us on our family of podcasts, flight through entirety, Bondfinger, Jody Interterra, trap one, and untitled Star Trek project.
And while you're at it, check out a hamster with a blunt penknife as well.
Sort of a cousin of the podcast, I think.
Hosted by friend of the podcast, Joe Ford.
Have we all been on it by this stage?
Have you been on it yet, Simon?
No, have you been on it, Peter?
moment.
Have you I begged.
You begged.
Oh, get on to Joe. get this sorted. that's right Sharpen that pen knife.
If you want to look up our old episodes, you can find our website at maximumpowerpodcast.com with amazing design work by James and Gift work by Pete, as well as on Twitter at Maximum Power Pod, on Facebook, Maximum Power Podcast, and wherever you find your podcasts.
Thank you all very much for listening, and until next time, make sure you don't get a Zonda on your queue base.
Thank you very much for listening and good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Switching to manual.
Maximum power on all drives.
Maximum power.
