WEBVTT

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This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 22:00:49

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Maximum power.

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Hello and welcome back to Maximum Power, the only Blake 7 podcast that's very keen on water sports, even at the worst of times.

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That's why I've covered everything around here in tarpaulins.

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Or plastic sheeting.

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Do we not have tarpaulins in England?

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We do have top wall, isn't it?

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Okay.

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Then it works.

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After that little bit of cross-cultural confusion.

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Let's introduce ourselves.

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I'm Nathan.

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I'm James.

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I'm Peter.

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And I'm Cy.

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We're back and we're going to talk about the 1st episode of series 3 of Blake 7.

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Oh, Nathan.

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Let's see.

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Look at the, I've got the Blu-rays over there.

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I believe Andrew Pixley Okay, all right.

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No, that's fair enough.

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Siri C, episode one.

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Aftermath written by Terry Nation and directed by Via Lorimer.

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And Ed on my birthday in 1980.

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Oh, wow.

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It's in fact the 1st episode of the 1980s, isn't it?

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It is.

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So I wanted to start by asking people, is there anyone here tonight who actually watched this for the 1st time not knowing that Blake and Jenner would be back?

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Yes, I did.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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So you were kind of surprised.

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Yeah, I mean, I have very strong memories of watching series B and series C because they were shown back to back in Australia in 1980.

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Right.

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And so Star one ran straight into Aftermath.

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And so it just seemed like one big season.

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And I had no idea that Blake was just going to disappear in the middle of things.

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It was quite extraordinary.

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But Siri C, even with Blake's absence remains potently the best season of any TV show that I have ever seen.

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Wow.

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That's pretty amazing.

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Cool.

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I think it is the best season of Blake 7.

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Oh, absolutely.

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Yeah.

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So, Cy, were you did you come back to this all much later?

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Yeah, I didn't see this till the BBC video came out.

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You know, the edited together version.

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Right.

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So that was my 1st taste of this one.

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So by then I'd seen episodes with Blake, I'd seen episodes without Blake.

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So my Blake 7 watching was all over the place.

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So I wasn't surprised.

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What I was surprised about was how efficiently they write Blake and Jenner out with a single line.

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Jenna's gone with...

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Jenna's gone with Blake, which makes me howl every time I hear it now because that's brilliant and it does the job absolutely wonderfully.

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I just, it's kind of like they're in another room and we haven't got any cameras there.

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They're in the life pod bay around the corner.

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It's so great.

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I just can't imagine like I would love to know what it's like because like you, Si.

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I watched this after I'd seen Blake 7 and after I'd seen some of series 3.

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So I have never watched it not knowing that this was where they were written out.

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But it is kind of amazing how well they do.

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And I think there's a little touch later on where Avon is down in Mellonby's bass and speaking to Aurak, and Aurak has news of Blake and Jenner, but not of Callie and Villa, who we've seen.

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Zen, Zen, Zen.

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Yeah, from the...

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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I think it's kind of a weird decision.

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I mean, don't get me wrong.

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I love it.

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But it's kind of a weird decision to keep the mystery about Blake going.

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It means that when you do watch it for the 1st time, You're kind of expecting Blake and or Jenna to turn up at any point.

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Or going forward for that to be more of the driving force of the series.

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Not just, oh, let's, you know, pop back to that like maybe in 10 episodes time and kind of go, oh, we've got we've got his scent kind of thing.

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It's it's, yeah, it's an interesting way of dealing with the fact that 2 people decided not to come back.

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But it's not just, it's not just that.

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It's a really efficient script.

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I mean, that's Terry Nation, isn't it?

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When he actually writes the script.

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It's not just them being written out.

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Star one is destroyed.

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Basically offscreen, the Federation is kind of destroyed, basically offscreen.

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The Andromedans are defeated offscreen in a line delivered by Mike, yeah.

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I mean, I won't defend the 5P space battle at the start, but I will move beyond that to say that that scene in the life pod bay between Avon Villa and Kelly is amazingly tense and really well shot on film.

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And it kind of imprinted on me.

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When I think of Blake 7, I think back to Aftermath and PowerPlay, which had such an impact on me the 1st time I saw them, and Avon Villa and Cali are Blake 7 for me.

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Yeah.

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And all that cutting backwards and forwards between them, the pod, the speaker, with Zen's readout over the top.

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And that incredible tension where we cut away from Villa and Cali.

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And they're actually, you know, the atmosphere is about to run out and we don't know if things are going to work and we don't catch up with them for a whole other episode.

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And as James said earlier, we hear about Bleak and Jenner, but what happened to Villa and Kelly?

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Are they dead?

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It's really exciting.

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It's clever isn't it?

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It's beautifully done.

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It's, I really like that because they're the ones that are coming back and yet we have no idea.

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At this point, anyone who's been written out could be written out completely.

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So we don't know what the face of anyone is other than Avon right now, and that's that's really great.

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That's good writing from Terry.

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I really like in that scene as well, that Avon is knocked out and Villa is tasked by Callie, was sort of lugging him about and putting him in a life capsule.

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This is the 1st of 2 season openers where Villa will be lugging around one of his unconscious crewmates with, let's say, Cali part of the scene.

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No I just wonder whether part of the thing is, is there a paratext, like, has there been announcements that Gareth and Sally are leaving and, you know, stories about the 2 new regulars, like, are most of the people watching this for the 1st time aware that they're not going to see Gareth and Sally again?

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I think there had been, if not publicity, Gareth had mentioned it in interviews that he was moving on and because he went on to the RSC straight after this.

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He moved into another job.

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And so I think it was well known, but I'm not sure there was like a big photo call with Stephen Pacy and Josette Simon.

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Right, right.

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Because, I mean, what it does lead to is a complete retooling of the show.

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And we talked when we were doing series A, and I remember doing Sik, locate, destroy, where that's a kind of minor retooling of the show, where we have Blake involved in yet another massacre of a bunch of people.

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You know, we've got Travis now, as well as Tarrant from episode one and so on.

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And that retooling of the show that centres it around Travis and Servoland is actually a good thing and series A and B work, I think, as well as they do because of that course correction in the middle of series A. Here, I think it's a really, really bold retooling of the show.

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And Terry Nation does such a brilliant job of it.

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I mean, to me, this is Blake 7.

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The Lake 7 with Blake doesn't quite hit for me, whereas Avon is the central character is just infinitely more interesting.

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The way that the crew relates to him just makes for an even better dynamic than we saw in series A and B. Because series A and B is so much centred on Blake and Travis.

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You've now removed both of those characters from the series.

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And so it's really clever to bring Servlan and Avon together and create their relationship and a personal relationship out of whole cloth, whereas we have never actually seen them relate.

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They have been in a scene together.

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Yeah.

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They've never actually...

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Two scenes together, actually.

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So what we have to do is we have to retool Avon so that he works as the protagonist and we have to give him a relationship with Serverland, which he never had in order to make her the proper antagonist.

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And now that we've decided to get rid of Travis, which was a good move.

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I think partly because the character had been kind of stuffed around in all sorts of ways, but also because he only works opposite Blake anyway.

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Not even there, most of the time.

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Yeah, well that's right.

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Is there a line in this episode?

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Oh, oh, we know he's heard each other so well, Ava.

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Yes.

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She's read the files.

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Federation Space Security, the space files.

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I've read the Blake 7 program manual.

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By the same guy who writes Otro Otworld.

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Oh my god yes.

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Yeah, I think, I mean, this episode takes pains to make Avon the centre of the show and it does a couple of things which one of which doesn't quite work and a couple of which really do work.

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So I think the scene where he says to Dana, who we will talk about, don't kill the sarin, is not particularly Avon-esque.

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He would just turn around and walk away, and they try to give it context by saying that if we kill him, his friends might kill us, and so it's Avon being calculating about it.

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But I just don't think it's quite Avon to say, yes.

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But there is an earlier scene where he has a dagger in his hand and he is, is he going to attack the sarin with a dagger and he looks at it, decides against it and punches him instead, knocks him unconscious, and then goes on.

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So already he's not just killing people unnecessarily.

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And I think that they do want that to happen.

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They do want to make it clear that he's still a good guy even though he's a little bit more morally ambiguous.

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Yeah, I think Paul Darrow had something to say about this because he said they've retooled Avon as the hero.

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He said, and then they backtracked on that when I said, this isn't how Avon would react in all of these situations.

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So I think we get more Avon-esque Avon later in the series, but at this point, they're bringing him up to be the lead character.

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So the lead character has to be a proper hero.

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But when Servoland talks about his character, like and says, you know, you would sell your own grandmother out for, you know, for any price. and he, what was it?

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You would sell people out for anything?

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He goes, I never got an offer that I thought was worthy of me.

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Which is an amazing Avon Line.

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Such a great line.

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So, and this time, just watching it today in preparation, just looking at the 2 of them looking into each other's eyes. and her offer offering him joint rule sort of joint rule over the galaxy now that the Federation's gone and they've got Aurak and the Liberator.

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I was very nearly buying that.

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I actually did buy it.

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At the very end, Avon says, killing us now is always part of your plan, and Servoland says, it's a pity I was willing to share with you.

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Yeah, yeah.

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She meant it.

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But and his reaction is great, even though it's sort of slightly, it's probably not what we would do on television now, but that, you know, rule of half the galaxy, I'd be dead in a week. like that's a great line.

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But it is still the person who was going to run in Horizon.

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You know, the person who was going to run in horizon is now in charge.

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Well, that's what I was going to say.

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That scene that you mentioned where Avon fights the sarin and does it so suavely.

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You can tell that Paul Garrow is channelling all of those Westerns that he really loves so much, where he actually tosses him over his shoulder and then has the dagger in one head, throws it to the other and punches him in this incredible move.

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That is where he becomes, I think, the lead character.

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And where he becomes the hero is that last scene where he says to Dana. come on, we've got to get to the bridge, the flight deck, we've got to locate the others and pick them up.

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This is the same character who 10 episodes ago was talking to Aurak about how, you know, what would happen if I just ditched them and ran.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Yeah, that's true.

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That's true.

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I think so I think that he's a great lead character and, I have to say, a better character than Blake.

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And I think you can see Paul Darrow absolutely loving being the centre figure of this episode and this show at this point.

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He's grasping every single opportunity it's giving him.

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And there's little bits of wonderful bits of business he does.

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My favourite being, the bit where he closes up Aurak's case, and then puts his feet up on it.

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That's the show. doesn't care about anything.

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It's absolutely wonderful.

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And I bet that's a bit that Paul Darrow worked out himself and thought, do you know what?

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I'm gonna do this.

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Just to show that I'm in command of Aurak and just to show Serverland that none of this matters and I'm really cool.

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And in that wonderful scene, where Servland's trying to flatter him and she says, there's one thing about you that I've always really admired and he just goes, yes.

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I think my favourite line between them in this...

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Sorry.

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I think my favourite piece of dialogue in this episode between the 2 of them is I'm going to be honest with you.

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Oh, that should be mildly disconcerted.

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It's all really good, isn't it?

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The dialogue is great.

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And obviously that's that's voucher rather than nation.

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I mean, I think we can do Terry a little bit badly by, because I think he actually is pretty good at dialogue, but there are certain exchanges in this episode that must be Boucher.

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It's just not Terry Nation.

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That's one of them, the scene between Servilan and Dana, where they're being catty about the dresses.

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There is no way that Terry Nation would love him, though I do wrote that.

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Yeah, I was thinking that as I was watching it.

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Maybe we should move on and talk a little bit about Dana, because again, what we what we do in series C, and I don't want to be mean because I love everyone, as is now well known, but I think that we're replacing 2 characters who depart with 2 much better characters.

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It's that I think Josette Simon, who is struggling with a character who is written, you know, you know how data doesn't use contractions in Star Trek, the Next Generation, or, or, you know, she's a, she's an exotic sort of primitive, so she doesn't talk normally.

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And so she keeps saying come instead of come on and stuff like that.

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But she's so fabulously posh.

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Like she's just got the most adorably posh accent.

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And she kind of doesn't play it like that at all.

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And I think the best bit is there's an obvious kind of wank fantasy moment where she kisses Avan awake.

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And then she's done.

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Do you know what I mean?

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It was sort of curiosity and then it's just, yeah, okay, like whatever. like, she never seems like an, like an anginue, you know, she never seems innocent or anything like that.

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We'll find out animals next season.

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Please, no.

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I mean that's true.

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I mean, she gets kind of a me gatch.

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Yes, yes, that's it.

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Servalang gets the full pella.

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She gets like the snog and the throws the floor.

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But I think she's just tremendously good.

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And I think one of the things that they do is we haven't had a weapons expert before, but that sort of fits very well.

210
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They've decided not to replace the female pilot with another female pilot.

211
00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:04.200
The new male character is going to be the pilot.

212
00:17:04.259 --> 00:17:08.099
And all of that is, you know, a good idea.

213
00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.259
But there's so much here.

214
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:17.759
The other thing that they do is they give her a reason to be in the show by giving her a personal relationship with server lab.

215
00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:21.660
Which is absolutely amazing and we forget just how well this is set up.

216
00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:23.880
There's proper hatred between them.

217
00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:34.440
I often wonder whether there's, whether Terry is being a bit smart here and thinking, well, other writers might pick up on this, but we could have a bit of a love triangle going on here.

218
00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:38.160
So I've set it up with Dana fancying Avon maybe.

219
00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:43.200
Serverland obviously does and then Dana and Serverland absolutely hate each other.

220
00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:50.880
It's not something that's ever actually sort of picked up on, but the setup is there just in case anyone else wants to play with that.

221
00:17:51.059 --> 00:17:58.140
I think it is mentioned again in this series that Dana has sworn to kill...

222
00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.059
Oh yes, that comes up a lot, doesn't it?

223
00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.720
It's just the Avon Dana bit doesn't ever come up.

224
00:18:03.779 --> 00:18:04.319
Yeah, yeah.

225
00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:11.279
There's the brilliant scene in Death Watch where Avon sends Dana down to menace Serverland and she does the whole thing of close your eyes.

226
00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:12.660
That scene.

227
00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:13.680
It's really great.

228
00:18:13.740 --> 00:18:14.819
Yeah.

229
00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:16.920
Yeah, it's probably good.

230
00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:26.220
And when you think about Doctor Who doing the same thing at about this time with Teagan and Auntie Vanessa, come on.

231
00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:28.259
And then it never gets mentioned again.

232
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.460
Do you know what I mean?

233
00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:37.680
Auntie Vanessa's spotlight photo is on the set. in Enlightenment, but otherwise we'd never mention it until Power of the Doctor.

234
00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:39.539
I thought you meant a love triangger for the moment.

235
00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:44.279
And how often and how often do those 2 characters interact?

236
00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:50.460
Well, I mean, you know, like Nissa, like the master is wearing Nissa's father's body.

237
00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:51.720
You know what I mean?

238
00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:52.859
And it never comes up.

239
00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:53.759
We never ever bring it up.

240
00:18:53.880 --> 00:19:01.019
So, but here we absolutely give her a reason to be in the show and give her a reason to hate the enemies.

241
00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:03.960
And I think that's really, really very well done.

242
00:19:04.019 --> 00:19:13.559
And then I think the other thing that's really, really striking is the complete off-scene off, the complete off-camera destruction of the Federation.

243
00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:18.119
So we're told something like 90% of the fleet is wiped out.

244
00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:19.440
I heard it was 600.

245
00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:24.720
I mean...

246
00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:29.099
That scene with Mike Yates and a Terreleptalism.

247
00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.019
It's your ex-position.

248
00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.480
They have nothing to say.

249
00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:34.319
But it's good.

250
00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:37.019
It's well done.

251
00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:38.160
Do you know what I mean?

252
00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:44.160
Like there's an officer and a sort of regular, they've got a very quickly drawn relationship.

253
00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.640
There's that moment where they go, oh, fantastic, we're out of the war.

254
00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:50.039
Like, I think it's well done.

255
00:19:50.099 --> 00:19:58.140
It isn't just exposition because it is also telling us about Shell and the sarins as well and making them a threat.

256
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:00.480
How does it feel to win the war?

257
00:20:00.539 --> 00:20:01.440
Yeah, yeah.

258
00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:02.339
And it's funny.

259
00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:03.299
Like, it's entertaining.

260
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.019
I mean, I think Dana is incredibly charismatic.

261
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:13.559
Josette Simon just comes hits the ground running and is clearly a new regular in the making.

262
00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:17.339
You wouldn't mistake her halfway through the episode as just a guest character.

263
00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:41.579
The thing that I think is really interesting is that I think Nation has gone back and looked at series one and 2 and has decided that the Federation that was set up in episode one never really returns as a thing.

264
00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:51.359
And we said, as we were talking about series A and B, that the Federation is different, you know, in just about every episode it appears in.

265
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.039
It's not a constant presence.

266
00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:55.859
It's not really that necessary for the show.

267
00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:03.420
If the show becomes about Serviland chasing Avon through the galaxy in order to get the liberator.

268
00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:05.640
We don't really need the Federation.

269
00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:11.160
And there's no, there's no story in series 3 that can't be done.

270
00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:14.220
They, you know, because oh, we destroyed the federation.

271
00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:26.460
And so it turns out that the Federation, which is hugely important and we imagine it still to be important in Siri C, is not really important at all.

272
00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:32.039
And it only really comes back when Lorimer takes over the reins of the show and says actually, let's have the Federation back.

273
00:21:32.099 --> 00:21:38.759
I think there's only one episode this series where Servoland is, in fact, the president and that's rumours of death.

274
00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:43.920
In every other episode, she could just be supreme commander in her ship.

275
00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:46.440
The Federation is reduced to being her personal fleet.

276
00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:47.759
Yes, yeah.

277
00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:49.559
That dreadful model.

278
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:54.299
Yes. very strange shit that she gets, isn't it?

279
00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:56.819
The Pooh ship.

280
00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:57.839
The Pooh ship.

281
00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:03.000
Except isn't there one, there's one episode where they accidentally use Space Command headquarters.

282
00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:04.259
Yes, Harvest of Chiros.

283
00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.480
Harvest of Chiros instead by mistake first.

284
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:07.859
But done.

285
00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:10.319
It's nice to see it back, though.

286
00:22:10.380 --> 00:22:14.220
Again, sort of conceptually, this is what the new titles are telling us, isn't it?

287
00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:16.079
That it's going to be...

288
00:22:16.140 --> 00:22:19.799
Some ships chasing the liberator, and that's what this series is all about.

289
00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:20.940
It's all about the chase.

290
00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:24.240
And it's all going to be a bit cartoony.

291
00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:25.319
Oh, that's awesome.

292
00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.779
And slightly overset.

293
00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:36.599
They're not great titles, but they're not bad, but they tell you everything you need to know in the same way that the original titles tell you everything you need to know about this show.

294
00:22:36.660 --> 00:22:42.000
So this is where we are, but this this year and boom, off we go.

295
00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:45.359
Well, because in fact, the Blake plot is tied up, isn't it?

296
00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:48.180
Several times, Avon says Blake won.

297
00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:55.019
We destroyed Star one, that's what we were trying to do, and we were trying to destroy the Federation, and it worked.

298
00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:55.440
We won.

299
00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:59.160
And so the Federation is kind of gone for this year.

300
00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:03.180
And Paul Darrow delivers that line with real conviction where he says he won.

301
00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:03.720
Yes.

302
00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:04.440
Yeah.

303
00:23:04.500 --> 00:23:06.420
No, we don't need him. back.

304
00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:11.339
And it's only because Serviland survives that everything sort of comes back together.

305
00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:12.359
Yeah.

306
00:23:12.779 --> 00:23:26.579
When I 1st saw her, like I've seen this 100s of times, obviously, like I've watched this a lot, but watching it today, and then just seeing her, like, kind of, you know, leaning on one elbow on a sand dune talking to her.

307
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:30.000
I just said, oh my god, you're so magnificent.

308
00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:32.759
And she is absolutely superb.

309
00:23:32.819 --> 00:23:34.259
She sings in this episode.

310
00:23:34.380 --> 00:23:36.480
This is the best she's ever done, I think.

311
00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:38.819
Oh yeah, it's a proper lead performance.

312
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:40.019
Yeah, it's amazing.

313
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:49.680
And can I just say, someone, I think it might have been Gareth Roberts, had, has his, uh, as his ringtone serverland saying, answer me, damn you, answer me.

314
00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:51.240
That's so good.

315
00:23:51.299 --> 00:23:52.980
She so great.

316
00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:58.500
The scene that you alluded to earlier, Peter, where we're having the bitchy conversation about the dresses.

317
00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:00.539
You're too young for you.

318
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:04.079
I do find unsophisticated clothes. amusing.

319
00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:05.759
Like unsophisticated.

320
00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:06.900
It's amusing.

321
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:07.559
Great.

322
00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:08.579
Obvious.

323
00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:13.440
Brilliant bit. where she says, and I want a gun.

324
00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:15.119
And Abel says, there is only one.

325
00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:18.420
And she smiles at him and says I only want one.

326
00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:20.640
So perfect.

327
00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:30.720
I texted that exchange to Peter this afternoon when I was watching it because I think it may be my favourite bit of dialogue in the whole of the show's run.

328
00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:31.859
It's so perfect.

329
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.519
It absolutely tells you everything you need to know about that character.

330
00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:38.880
But she also gets to be like really genial and stuff.

331
00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:51.119
Like there's that scene with melon bee where, which I think is actually, am I allowed to say this, it's a bit shittily directed, the actual action thing where he's blind and hurling himself around the...

332
00:24:51.180 --> 00:24:54.119
It's not the best, but it is a brilliant scene.

333
00:24:54.119 --> 00:24:56.579
And it really brings home how venomous she is.

334
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.400
Yes, because he she makes him relax.

335
00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:04.140
Like we actually see his hand relax because she persuades him.

336
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:05.160
The Federation's gone.

337
00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:06.240
There's nothing for you to worry about.

338
00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:11.759
You're safe. and she's really kind of genial and she's like that with Dana as well.

339
00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:16.500
You know, like we see her just acting as a normal person.

340
00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:24.779
She's venomous and she's manipulative, but she is charming and genial and stuff in a way that we've rarely seen, I think.

341
00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:29.339
And it's quite interesting because it seems like Servlaine is a true believer.

342
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:34.859
She really can't stick Mellonby because he doesn't like the Federation.

343
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:36.359
It's almost personal for her.

344
00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:37.680
Yeah.

345
00:25:37.740 --> 00:25:43.920
Yeah, I mean, that is very strange, but it is also just because she's terribly evil.

346
00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:47.339
And can we just say Hell Melonby, I think.

347
00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:52.440
One of the 5 top guest characters and actors of the series.

348
00:25:52.500 --> 00:25:53.279
Oh, wow.

349
00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:56.279
I think Sy Grant is amazing and really charming.

350
00:25:56.339 --> 00:26:01.079
Do you know, he was a World War 2 vet, a singer and also a barrister.

351
00:26:01.140 --> 00:26:02.039
Oh, wow.

352
00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:04.200
Because he didn't act much.

353
00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:06.900
No, I did look him up on IMDb.

354
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:07.740
He doesn't have a massive.

355
00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:09.779
No, he was in Captain Scarlet, though.

356
00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.220
Yes, he was.

357
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:11.880
Yes, he was.

358
00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:14.099
And he was in Mesal Mickey.

359
00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.700
I think that was actually his last acting role was Metal Mickey.

360
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.880
I also did look up the woman who played Lauren.

361
00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:25.500
Did she have a long career?

362
00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:26.519
No, she didn't.

363
00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:30.779
She didn't have a long career, but she did work again, and she just looks fabulous now.

364
00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:34.559
You know, like she's a woman in her 60s or whatever, just looking fabulous.

365
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:40.440
And she has just that cut glass posh accent as well, which I just think is fantastic.

366
00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:48.720
She, you know, Alan Lake brought her up and he sort of communicates in a series of grunts and things for no particular reason.

367
00:26:48.839 --> 00:26:54.839
But then somehow she's picked up this RP accent like Dana has.

368
00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:57.900
Yeah, it's because she's taken in, isn't she?

369
00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:00.480
So, because Dana says, oh, she's one of them.

370
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:12.660
But we took her in and educated her, which is great because it's a real reversal of white, white imperialism going on there, which is really brilliant and nice and subversive.

371
00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:17.099
I think they must have been getting in Viz tapes from Space Rada.

372
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:21.720
I mean, she does look a bit like young Miranda Richardson.

373
00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:24.119
Same hair.

374
00:27:24.180 --> 00:27:28.019
It's kind of awful too, the way that they kill her. brutal.

375
00:27:28.019 --> 00:27:28.559
It's really.

376
00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:39.480
And Alan Lake, that's his kind of best moment as well, where he's looking down at her, you know, the sun's behind him, so his face is in darkness and he just says, welcome back to your people.

377
00:27:39.539 --> 00:27:41.880
It's so brutal.

378
00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:43.079
Yeah, it's awful.

379
00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:45.119
Little known fact, Alan Lake was also where they shot it.

380
00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:55.259
So those of you who want to know about Alan Lake and his relationship with Diana Dawes should go back to the...

381
00:27:55.319 --> 00:28:06.480
I should go back to the flight through entirety episode and listen to what Richard has to say in our episode on Underworld because they were party animals.

382
00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:09.539
Oh, can I just say something regarding, yeah.

383
00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:10.980
Regarding underworld.

384
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:15.779
Okay, so, obviously, Alan Lake was in underworld and he's in aftermath.

385
00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:19.859
Underworld was shown in the same week that the way back was shown.

386
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:31.799
So I think that aftermath proves my thesis that whenever Blake 7 and Doctor Who were on in the same week, Blake 7 was without fail, better than Doctor Who.

387
00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:38.700
So aftermath is the only episode of late 7 that overlaps with the Dog 2 episode this season.

388
00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:40.920
It overlaps with the Horns of Nimon part four.

389
00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:41.759
Yeah, okay.

390
00:28:41.819 --> 00:28:42.720
So there we go.

391
00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:43.319
He's better than that.

392
00:28:43.380 --> 00:28:44.039
It is.

393
00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:50.880
And otherwise, we're just looking at the last 2 episodes of Underworld and Invasion of Time, and the last 2 episodes of Power of Crawl and the Armageddon Factor.

394
00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:53.819
Now, hostage is better than any of those episodes.

395
00:28:56.279 --> 00:28:57.779
Wow.

396
00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:05.099
So they are, you know, they're very standard now, aren't they?

397
00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:14.880
kind of posh-ish primitives on a planet like the like goth or sarin or whatever.

398
00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:16.799
Or the deliverance planet.

399
00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:17.880
The deliverance planet.

400
00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:19.380
But I think they're pretty good.

401
00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:20.700
And they have horses.

402
00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:31.319
Like, does this episode feel, and again, it's hard to kind of bring back all that context and things, but does it feel more expensive than previous episodes?

403
00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:33.240
I think so.

404
00:29:33.299 --> 00:29:47.940
I think maybe it's the location filming, and they've gone a long way from television centre, so they've gone right up north up to Bambra for this to that great big beach, and I think that makes it feel expensive because they've got plenty of extras.

405
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:56.579
They've got lots of horses and there's lots of action on location and I think that just seems to raised the game a bit.

406
00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:03.539
But also, I think the sets look magnificent as well, particularly the underwater spaceship set looks really good.

407
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.380
That's great.

408
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:06.420
Yeah, and they spent the money well.

409
00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:14.279
Yeah, and there's really interesting lighting that they've got then for the underwater bit as well, which makes it feel very different from anything we've seen so far.

410
00:30:14.460 --> 00:30:19.559
We do have the do we have the flight deck of the Liberator.

411
00:30:19.619 --> 00:30:20.220
We do.

412
00:30:20.819 --> 00:30:22.140
No, we get a couple of cutaways.

413
00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:26.579
We won't see it properly until that amazing sweeping shot in power plate next episode.

414
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:27.299
Okay.

415
00:30:27.299 --> 00:30:32.220
That's also a very clever way of building tension with that.

416
00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:35.339
You only see the escape pod bay.

417
00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:36.240
Yeah, yeah.

418
00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:42.480
And then also, and then at the end of the episode, which we'll get to, like the teleport bay.

419
00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:45.539
And so you're not sure what's happened to the ship.

420
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:46.440
Yeah.

421
00:30:47.339 --> 00:30:53.099
So it takes 4 episodes to set up the premise at the beginning of series A, right?

422
00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:57.119
So Times Squad Callie joins and then we've got the crew.

423
00:30:57.180 --> 00:31:06.359
And for that time, it's not an episode about a bunch of people in a ship travelling around having adventures, it really is setting things up.

424
00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:07.440
You know, we're on the London.

425
00:31:07.500 --> 00:31:10.619
You know, we're on CIGNA Sal for all of that sort of thing takes a while.

426
00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:18.299
And then series B, obviously, just takes one episode to get back to the status quo anti.

427
00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.839
But this one they take 2 proper episodes.

428
00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:29.880
And I think it gives it a real sense of scale that this has made a big difference to the show.

429
00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:33.720
And so next week when we have an A plot and a B plot.

430
00:31:34.500 --> 00:31:37.619
And we have all of these characters kind of moving into position.

431
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:45.180
Like, I think it's a, it does feel like a bit of an epic in a way that I don't think happens again.

432
00:31:45.240 --> 00:31:47.039
Structurally, it is a two-parter.

433
00:31:47.099 --> 00:31:49.680
Yeah, it's the only proper Blake 72 parter.

434
00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:53.400
We have cliffhangers at the end of seasons, but this is the only real cliffhanger between episodes.

435
00:31:53.460 --> 00:31:54.180
Yeah.

436
00:31:54.180 --> 00:31:56.279
I mean, next episode is separate.

437
00:31:56.339 --> 00:31:58.079
You know, it's got a different guest cast.

438
00:31:58.140 --> 00:32:07.740
It, uh, you know, has uh, different sets, the, that B plot with Villa and Cali.

439
00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:12.240
I'm not on next week.

440
00:32:12.299 --> 00:32:12.960
It's really fun.

441
00:32:13.019 --> 00:32:14.940
We'll talk about that. really enjoy it.

442
00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:17.880
I mean that's true.

443
00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:27.059
I mean, I think I said during Star one that it wasn't quite my favourite episode of Blake 7, but it was very probably the best episode of Blake 7.

444
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:36.420
I mean, welcome to my favourite episode of Blake 7 or in fact, my favourite episode of Blake 7 into halves, and this is the 1st half.

445
00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:42.839
I think this is just magnificent for the way that it reformats the series with such efficiency.

446
00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:48.059
And I also think what you were saying earlier, James, and Si about the budget.

447
00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:50.759
This season, I don't think had more money.

448
00:32:50.819 --> 00:32:53.160
Series B was where they got the cash injection.

449
00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:56.940
It's just they know what they're doing now and they're spending the money better.

450
00:32:57.000 --> 00:33:01.500
And it goes for the aesthetic as well, as much as I love June Hudson's costumes.

451
00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:08.579
They are a bit out there sometimes, whereas Siri C settles down into something where the aesthetic is actually quite good.

452
00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:09.539
It really works.

453
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:10.740
It's not outlandish in any way.

454
00:33:11.400 --> 00:33:19.619
Yeah, I mean, I would say that this is probably, for me, the best episode of Blake 7, and it is precisely that it does.

455
00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:24.119
It has a whole lot of series, you know, stuff to do.

456
00:33:24.180 --> 00:33:26.940
Like it has a job to do, but it doesn't feel like that.

457
00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:30.660
Like it just feels like an enjoyable episode of Blake Seven.

458
00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:34.920
You're not forced to endure lots of exposition dumps or anything like that.

459
00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:37.440
It's all just done terribly, terribly well.

460
00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:42.900
Do we think that's because Terry Nation only has to do 3 episodes?

461
00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:46.799
And so he's got time to actually devote to his writing here.

462
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:52.019
Well, I mean, we thought that countdown was very strong.

463
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:54.839
And pressure point and redemption are both pretty good.

464
00:33:54.900 --> 00:33:55.740
Yeah, yeah.

465
00:33:55.799 --> 00:34:05.880
I think that, I mean, look, Terry Nation is a hack in the sense that he is someone who will churn out content for you, but he's good.

466
00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:10.679
Like he didn't have a big TV career for no reason at all.

467
00:34:10.739 --> 00:34:12.960
He didn't just hit it lucky with the Daleks.

468
00:34:13.019 --> 00:34:17.699
He just wrote solidly good entertaining repulsive television.

469
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:21.119
And when he doesn't have to write...

470
00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:28.199
Yeah. you know, row and actually has the time to spend just on a few episodes.

471
00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:29.639
They're really good.

472
00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:32.579
But I also think he's raised his game even further.

473
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:35.579
So he does great work on Doc 2 for the most part.

474
00:34:35.639 --> 00:34:37.800
A lot of his series A episodes is good.

475
00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:42.119
His 3 series B episodes are all good, but still fairly straightforward.

476
00:34:42.179 --> 00:34:46.199
He's 3 episodes for Siri C, aftermath power play and terminal at the end.

477
00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:54.119
Oh, series best episodes. with amazing character work and brilliant dialogue, which can't all be Chris Alcho.

478
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:54.539
No?

479
00:34:54.599 --> 00:34:55.380
Yeah.

480
00:34:55.380 --> 00:35:03.480
I also think that this episode probably has more great moments than every Alan Pryor and Ben Steed episode put together.

481
00:35:03.539 --> 00:35:08.099
It's just scene after great scene.

482
00:35:08.219 --> 00:35:09.539
Yeah, yeah.

483
00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:21.000
I mean, this is one of the episodes that if someone had never seen Blake 7, you would show them, I think, because it just is a great jumping on point for the show.

484
00:35:21.539 --> 00:35:23.940
Yeah, it's funny, isn't it?

485
00:35:24.000 --> 00:35:34.440
Because it is like it's pivotal in the in the story, the overall story of the series, but it's still a functional individual episode as well.

486
00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:37.079
And I think that you're right.

487
00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:45.900
You know, you could just sort of watch and understand that there'd been some kind of giant space battle and this is the aftermath of that.

488
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.619
And it really sort of has an arc.

489
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:51.659
It takes us back to the liberator, all of that stuff.

490
00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:53.159
Oh, what about that scene?

491
00:35:53.219 --> 00:35:55.079
It's so unusual, isn't it?

492
00:35:55.139 --> 00:36:05.340
And perhaps that's the thing that makes this a two-parter, is the scene where Zen tells Avon about the little spaceship.

493
00:36:05.880 --> 00:36:08.880
Oh yeah, and Avon, uncharacteristically, forgets all about it.

494
00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:12.360
Because when you teleport on board, he's not even thinking about it.

495
00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:13.440
No, that's right.

496
00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:14.519
That's funny, isn't it?

497
00:36:14.579 --> 00:36:16.980
Well, to be fair, they have just escape from a fight.

498
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:18.360
Yeah, maybe that's it.

499
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:21.539
And again, that's really well done.

500
00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:40.500
I mean, we had that dreadful space battle, which, again, you know, they do what they can and they try and make most of it happen through a voiceover and then the scene with Michael Amelia and... and Dudley Simpson does good work to make that all hang together and make it exciting.

501
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:44.639
I think he doesn't get a lot of kudos all the time.

502
00:36:44.699 --> 00:36:48.059
But I think his his music in this episode is very, very good.

503
00:36:48.119 --> 00:36:48.900
It really is.

504
00:36:48.960 --> 00:37:02.400
It's that same trick that they do, I think, during Star one, where a lot of the, a lot of the action is, is in voiceover or over, over an intercom or over.

505
00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:03.719
For the PowerPoint presentation?

506
00:37:03.780 --> 00:37:04.679
The guy shows.

507
00:37:05.340 --> 00:37:07.500
Star one breaking down.

508
00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:09.960
But like that's all stock footage, but of real things.

509
00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:14.280
Instead, it's like, oh, there's the London, there's that other shoe from thing.

510
00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:16.139
You know, like it is...

511
00:37:16.139 --> 00:37:19.260
There's that crucial shot of the pursuit chips flying past the liberation.

512
00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:19.679
That's it.

513
00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:23.579
There's Space City being destroyed and then being destroyed again for some reason.

514
00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:25.920
There's enough to sell it.

515
00:37:25.980 --> 00:37:27.059
Yeah that's right.

516
00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:35.039
And that's all you need because none of the people watching this at this point would remember any of those models had been in the show before.

517
00:37:35.099 --> 00:37:37.980
So they'd been seen once and that was it.

518
00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:41.699
So it's just another big battle to start an episode off.

519
00:37:41.820 --> 00:37:43.500
I mean, I think they could have done without it.

520
00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:46.440
I think that it would have worked.

521
00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:54.239
In fact, they were just a little bit less confident in their ability to sell that than they needed to be.

522
00:37:54.300 --> 00:38:01.019
It actually would have been great if that scene in the life pod bay had been extended and it'd all been done with sound.

523
00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:01.440
Yes.

524
00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:02.760
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

525
00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:07.440
And, you know, shaking the camera and things falling off the ceiling and all of that sort of thing.

526
00:38:07.500 --> 00:38:10.619
I did like the thing that falls off and lands on Villa's head.

527
00:38:10.679 --> 00:38:11.639
It's pretty amazing.

528
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:17.460
But yeah, I don't know that we needed that and I don't think it's all that good.

529
00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:26.940
It's not, but I mean, if the, if you don't like this episode for that opening scene and you can ignore all the brilliant things about it, then you're a bit of a twat.

530
00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:28.380
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

531
00:38:28.440 --> 00:38:36.960
I mean, it's not like it's not like the specially shot scenes at the end of Star one were particularly impressive either, to be fair.

532
00:38:37.739 --> 00:38:39.780
They're cutlery draw.

533
00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:41.760
Yeah, that's right.

534
00:38:48.840 --> 00:39:00.300
It's really great how in that last scene, which is really exciting, by the way, when they get away and Servland finally goes down into the thing and Chell is there, it's all, you know, you've swept up in it.

535
00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:06.300
And then that nice little coder at the end where you have the scene between Avon and Dana.

536
00:39:06.360 --> 00:39:20.039
And it's what passes in kind of 70s television for Dana's just lost her father and her sister and everything that matters to her and they wrap it up in a really efficient scene where Avon basically says, have you had enough excitement?

537
00:39:20.099 --> 00:39:24.840
She repeats back to him, his line from earlier, where she says a little boredom wouldn't go on this now.

538
00:39:24.900 --> 00:39:26.760
It's really efficiently done.

539
00:39:26.820 --> 00:39:32.219
And then, of course, we get the appearance of Space Commander Tarrant.

540
00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:38.039
And again, that is terrifically well done, isn't it?

541
00:39:38.099 --> 00:39:39.179
Did they reshoot it for next week?

542
00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:40.500
Oh, I don't know.

543
00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:42.900
Or it's a different tape, or it's a different tape.

544
00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:44.579
They might just...

545
00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:45.000
Yeah, maybe.

546
00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:47.099
It does seem different.

547
00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:52.260
I think maybe they just had another camera on it Yeah, maybe that's it.

548
00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:54.119
It is a very, very good final scene.

549
00:39:54.179 --> 00:40:00.179
I think perhaps, though, that Avon has forgotten about it because we have as well.

550
00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:03.300
I think that we aren't expecting it either.

551
00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:11.699
So it does come as a surprise, even though it is completely set up for us in a very sort of visually striking and impressive way.

552
00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:14.219
So I think we've forgotten.

553
00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:17.460
And I think we're shocked when we see Terrence there.

554
00:40:17.519 --> 00:40:23.340
And also the fact that he's just wearing a Federation uniform is quite sort of, 0 my god, you know, it's not like an Amazon or something.

555
00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:24.000
No, no.

556
00:40:24.059 --> 00:40:27.420
And he says my ship, you know, he says it's, what are you doing on my ship?

557
00:40:27.480 --> 00:40:31.500
And Darrow looks furious. doesn't he?

558
00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:32.400
It's wonderful.

559
00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:37.500
It's such a brilliant close-up.

560
00:40:37.500 --> 00:40:46.739
Like, you know, Blake 7 doesn't get cliffhangers, but this is an amazing cliffhanger, and the way that the theme music comes in over it is so Doctor Who Scream.

561
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:54.840
It's fantastic Well, I think that we're on the brink of something fabulous over the next few months then.

562
00:40:54.960 --> 00:40:56.219
Oh, absolutely.

563
00:40:56.280 --> 00:40:58.079
This is the height of Blake 7.

564
00:40:58.139 --> 00:41:00.659
I mean, personally, and I just think quality wise.

565
00:41:00.719 --> 00:41:06.780
The series has never been so confident, and it looks brilliant, and we have great new characters.

566
00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:09.480
Um, you know, it can do no wrong for me.

567
00:41:09.539 --> 00:41:11.880
But, you know, wait for volcano and we'll see.

568
00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:17.219
Volcano has some...

569
00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:19.500
It does indeed have some things.

570
00:41:21.239 --> 00:41:29.099
Yeah, I just want more of Serverland striding round places and great big silver sandals and her white dresses, please.

571
00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:32.579
That's Blake 7 to a T for me.

572
00:41:32.639 --> 00:41:36.539
And yeah, this episode is just a spectacular return.

573
00:41:37.139 --> 00:41:41.699
I want more of serverland opening up bathroom vanities and finding guns inside.

574
00:41:43.860 --> 00:41:49.679
I love how Dana has the classic backless cupboard.

575
00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:55.860
Like Jackie Tyler's backless fridge and her backless washing machine.

576
00:41:56.460 --> 00:42:00.659
It's just a perfect piece of TV joinery there.

577
00:42:03.719 --> 00:42:08.219
I also like the fact that Dana's developed the biggest, greenest, most plasticky guns I've ever seen.

578
00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:11.460
It is a detergent bottle, isn't it?

579
00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:12.900
It's a detergent bottle.

580
00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:14.460
What about that?

581
00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:15.900
What about that fantastic cave?

582
00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:16.559
That thing?

583
00:42:16.619 --> 00:42:17.400
You know the cave?

584
00:42:17.460 --> 00:42:18.360
Oh, yes.

585
00:42:18.420 --> 00:42:23.099
It's kind of, because it's got to be a sort of fairyland thing, doesn't it?

586
00:42:23.159 --> 00:42:31.139
Because he's sort of rescued unexpectedly by a nymph by like a young woman in a sort of dress that is vaguely Greek and classical.

587
00:42:31.260 --> 00:42:35.340
Well, basically, it's, yeah, it's, it's Diana the Hunter.

588
00:42:35.400 --> 00:42:36.059
Yeah, yeah, really.

589
00:42:36.119 --> 00:42:38.099
It's an image, isn't it?

590
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:38.699
That's right.

591
00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:40.440
It's also...

592
00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:45.420
It's also The Tempest, or if we're being not kind to Terry.

593
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:48.000
It's probably forbidden planet ripped off the table.

594
00:42:48.059 --> 00:42:48.539
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

595
00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:49.199
Yeah.

596
00:42:49.260 --> 00:42:57.480
But that that sort of green plastic thing. for a cave, that is a classic piece of Blake 7 set design.

597
00:42:57.539 --> 00:42:59.460
It's sort of green and orange and stuff.

598
00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:02.039
We will see it again in rumours of death at the very end.

599
00:43:02.099 --> 00:43:03.059
It's the same cave, isn't it?

600
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:03.599
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

601
00:43:03.659 --> 00:43:04.320
She took it with her.

602
00:43:04.380 --> 00:43:07.199
They came back and teleported him up.

603
00:43:07.860 --> 00:43:22.260
And they go to the effort of on location, putting something with a doorway that's around the same shape, on location as a filter, almost, so that they can shoot through it, and then they can walk in and into the location.

604
00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:23.519
It's wonderfully done.

605
00:43:23.579 --> 00:43:24.659
It's so well done.

606
00:43:24.719 --> 00:43:26.639
Vill Lorima.

607
00:43:26.699 --> 00:43:27.119
We love you.

608
00:43:27.179 --> 00:43:29.639
He's one of the unsung heroes of Blake 7.

609
00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:44.099
That's all we have time for this week, and we'll be back next time to meet our posh new pilot in PowerPlay.

610
00:43:44.400 --> 00:43:46.800
Try saying that when you're drunk.

611
00:43:49.320 --> 00:43:52.679
So until then, it's good night for me.

612
00:43:52.739 --> 00:43:54.059
And me.

613
00:43:54.179 --> 00:43:54.780
And me.

614
00:43:54.840 --> 00:43:56.159
And for me.

615
00:44:03.420 --> 00:44:05.639
Switching to Manny.

616
00:44:05.699 --> 00:44:07.619
Maximum power on all drives.

617
00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:12.719
Maximal power.