Frisky but Appalling

[00:09]

Hello, dear listener, and welcome back to Maximum Power, the only Blake 7 podcast that would dearly like to know where last week's panel left their keys.

I'm Nathan.

I'm James.

I'm Una, and I'm Zoe.

Well, this week we're still recreating the show's premise, and our 1st task is to get the teleport working again, but can we manage to do that without a great deal of gratuitous sexism?

Let's find out as we discuss power.

All right, the 1st question that I really, really want to ask is, is this the worst of Ben Steed's 3 scripts?

Uh, so do you want my, do you want my gratuitously sort of uh, capricious response to that?

Yes.

I think I think if you leave aside, the rampant misogyny.

It's actually a pretty tight script.

[01:10]

It kind of cracks along.

You know, it's it, it gets in there.

It sets up a premise, does a bit of adventuring, breaks back the teleport, introduces a new character and you don't feel bored.

I was watching it.

Everybody's great in it.

And you go, well, that's a pretty solid episode, isn't it?

Except.

Except...

What do you think, so?

I struggle with it a bit more in terms of story because nothing really happened for me.

It didn't really have a place in the kind of overarching story.

And I think I spent so much time rolling my eyes so hard, I could see that my own brain, maybe I missed a few things.

And there's a lot of very terrible weeks, which are also deeply of putting um...

It is Blake 7 though, to be fair.

Even by those standards.

Yeah, I think sort of chatting at some of what I was seeing on the screen did take me out of the story a little bit.

[02:15]

I think potentially it could have been a good story about a split society, but it came down to, instead of being, oh, you know, split society, different groups, factions.

Oh, it's it's this again.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What do you think, James?

I would have to agree with both of you on that.

I see both your points.

I think it's probably his strongest script, but is it him?

Is that the script or is that the director and actors working actively working against the script to try and subvert it?

But also I have a huge problem with the misogy.

And yeah, I think it takes me out of the story.

I watched it twice in the last couple of weeks in preparation and I The 2nd time was easier.

But maybe it shouldn't have been.

I think I've got a record as being like the only person who likes the harvest of Chiros.

Like, I actually think the harvest of Chiros is a pretty fun story.

[03:19]

That was him, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So he does 2 last year.

So he does Harvest of Chiros and then Moloch.

And then he does this.

And you can see, I think, on the strength of harvest of Kyrus, why they've kind of gone, you know, they're scrambling to get the 1st half of the season together.

There's all sorts of script problems.

We're going to see, you know, animals in a few weeks time, which is kind of just clearly disastrous, so bad that, you know, it shouldn't be being put on screen, I think.

So you can see why they've gone to him, but he's really kind of taken the opportunity to pull out all the stops and make it entirely about what I imagine is his own divorce, even though I know literally nothing about the man's private life.

But yeah, so, so I don't think it's a bad script at all as far as, you know, having incident and sort of fun characters and things in it, but I just kind of think it's, it's that sort of sinking feeling.

[04:23]

I think that you fell, Zoe, where it's just, oh, I see we're doing this again.

Yeah, I mean, I got to ask the question then.

Do we think that Gumstar is actually Ben Steed's self- insert?

I would like to think that Ben Steed does embroidery. which...

That's my favourite bit.

Particularly charming bits, I think, of power.

My feeling is that something like Moloch is boring and stupid.

Whereas power is frisky but appalling.

My reading of this episode.

So I was...

I went into the BBC archives and I was going to do a book on Blakeson, but we never, we never got it to go, but I went to the BBC written archives at Caversham, and they got all the correspondence with the writers and, uh, and the file on Ben St.

There's practically nothing for Tanneth Lee.

Right?

Okay, except there's the beautiful handwritten score for Dana song, which is like, you know, a very important moment for me.

[05:25]

But the Ben Steed file is massive and it's basically people writing back to him going, dear Ben.

We read your script.

Here are our notes.

But in a way that they're going, we can turn this guy into someone who can deliver us a script that we can film.

And by power, they've turned him into someone who can write a script that they can film.

It's just not what they should have commissioned.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, how about this for a question?

Is this the most sexist of his 3 scripts?

Yes.

Yeah. undoubtedly, yeah.

This episode, when I watched it on transmission in, well, 1981, I was nine, this episode made me a feminist.

Yep.

I was so angry and upset about this episode. that that was it.

Literally I can date my feminist awaiting to watching those 2 women have that collar, Hudson Collars put on.

[06:31]

I was so angry about it.

That's awful, isn't it?

So well done, Ben. job done.

Yeah, I think I think it's not just the way the women are treated and presented is just awful and, um, The way that almost it's kind of, oh, well, women have the women have this psycho kinetic power, so they're manipulative and dangerous and sneaky and all those things.

But also this extreme, almost red pill, alpha male bullshit that we've got going on in the men's camp, which is just, you know, I mean, gun stars like, I'm the biggest, meanest, toughest, and I was just like, what the, really?

Really?

You know, it really is quite reminiscent of, yeah, some of this stuff that's going out on YouTube in the current day that's being pushed out there as a manly way to be that is just actually incredibly harmful.

Um, and it's bad all around in that respect.

[07:32]

So I do think it tries to undercut it, yeah?

because I think Gunsar.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think I think that's perform, you know, he performs for the crowd, but he's constantly going, where's Cato?

You know, I need my minister of spin.

Um, you've got Cato, who's a sort of much subtler.

You kind of look at Katie and go, oh, you, you just want to be living in a, in a, in a modern society with, with comforts and equal rights and all this sort of stuff.

But actually you're running a society full of masculinist idiots.

And I think it does try to undercut it.

The implication is that Nina is leading them at the end, isn't it?

But it's so woeful in its entire conception with this kind of what you, exactly what you said, Zoe, it's a split society, but you just don't do it like this, um, that it can't get past its basic misogyny.

So I think it's trying to rail against it, but it just, it's like it's wearing clown shoes.

Yeah.

I mean, I think that Moloch is nastier in the sense that it has the corrective rape thing, you know, and obviously poor old Pula and Chesel at the very beginning, poor old Pula and Chesel.

[08:40]

We had Pala this week, but we had Pula back then in his last script.

And that's awful.

Do you know what I mean?

But I think that this is so much, so there's nothing that compares to that, I think, in this, except that the entire conception of it is entirely about, you know, the message here.

It's not about whatever the Buck Moloch thought it was about.

It is entirely about, you know, women need to just settle down and stop rebelling or they'll be responsible for the destruction of the human race.

And if they don't just pull their heads in.

That's just what's waiting us, you know.

And so even though, even though it's not as nasty as Moloch, you know, the sexism is so inherent to the entire premise and the entire project.

And I think that nastiness is implied, isn't it?

We might not see the corrective rate, but we see that axe fall in front of that woman.

Well, what's going to happen next?

We see it.

We know that a nuclear bomb was dropped on a nursery.

[09:41]

So I think all of these things are implied.

They just they just don't make it to screen this time, which, yeah, is what makes Murdoch so repulsive.

And see, that's the thing.

I mean, you know, you mentioned that, okay, we don't have corrective rape like we had in Mulloch, which was awful, but we do have corrective surgery, which is actually some really scary handmade's tail kind of scary.

Yeah, you bang on there.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yep.

Yeah, it's mutilation.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, except it's just they take the necklace off. above the waist.

But there's also the thing about the exposure of female babies as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I think, I mean, that's symbolically lobotomy, isn't it?

So effectively as all they've done, they've automized them.

So it's a really and that, I think, makes it repulsive in a different way, doesn't it?

Because it's it, you can, you can see what's on screen on Moloch and go, that's obviously vile.

Whereas this, I think, is disguised in this jokiness and playfulness.

[10:46]

It's an awful.

I don't know how I don't know how it got made.

I really don't.

There's nobody there just going, lad, lads, let's back up on this one.

It's funny though, I think that some of the jokiness has to be from the production, you know, the actors and the director.

And so again, we've got Mary Ridge back.

Um, and she's generally pretty solid, I think. and like you can see at the script isn't really salvageable in any real sense.

There's no way of making this script and not having it be a kind of horror show.

But, but like that opening scene, for instance, with gun siren, his beautifully conditioned hair and, you know, his his moves, you know, he's got his shirt off.

He's like this doughy Yorkshireman who's constantly whinging.

Like, he's not really a very formidable.

Like, think about, think about Jarvik, right?

Like, Jarvik had a kind of gross 70s porn star kind of look, which I don't mind, you know, like...

[11:53]

But, but, you know, guns are just is not an alpha male in any kind of real proper sense of the word because he is such a pathetic whinger, you know, um, And he probably was.

He probably was.

The 1st when he saw off old Maverick or I forget his name.

We have different opinions.

When he saw him off, he probably was this strapping, you know, golden lion. but that's 20 years ago isn't it?

And he's been sitting around a bit and got a little bit comfy. you know.

It's like, it's like when a sportsman, you know, turns into a football manager or something, yeah.

Gansar actually reminded me very strongly of iron gron from the Time Warrior in Doctor Who.

There was something very much about that kind of kind of trying to cling on to power by being very loud, but actually being a bit rubbish at actually fighting.

[12:55]

Yeah.

Well, they're both kind of dumb blowhards, aren't they?

Like, you know, guns are is very stupid and I think, you know, people comment on that.

Oh yeah, it's it's Nina and Cato that are running this show. yeah?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's on top of the tech.

Uh, she's clearly going, right, gone, so what we need to do now is this.

And he does kind of ask her what do, you know, what do we need to do now?

And I think I think this is where the script is is trying to be even handed or, you know, be serious about its premise.

But it's not.

In fact, actually, like the only point at which he's really outwardly cruel to Nina. is when Avon enters the room and he goes to hit her.

So Avon will try and protect her.

And, and, and, I, you've got to wonder whether that's performative as in, as a character, you know, like he, when they're alone, he treats her relatively respectfully most of the time.

[13:58]

It's just that when he's being that sort of that blowhard that, um, like performing in front of his his man or in front of a stranger who he wants to challenge him so he can so he can kill him and exert his dominance.

Most of the rest of the time he's actually kind of decent.

I mean, misogynist.

There is kind of a problem, isn't there?

Because there is a scene, I think, where it's played quite tenderly between them and they are alone and she's sort of physically affectionate to him and she's kind of warm.

And I do think the actor who plays Nina is really good.

Like I really like her a lot.

I think she's really charming and stuff.

But if that's the sort of relationship that someone is supposed to be happy with, you know, if he talks to her, he calls her a bag of offal at one point in front of people, like, if that's okay with her, then that's a problem.

I mean, there's no way of reading her, you know, as other than kind of completely, I don't know, captured.

[15:06]

You know, she's smarter than him because he's an idiot.

But she's...

She's a surrendered wife.

Yeah, yeah.

The only way that I can read it is that people like Nina and Cato have gone, look, we've practically blown ourselves to extinction.

If our species is actually going to survive this.

There are certain steps that we need to take.

So we've got to control all these violent men.

Um, by this outward performance of uh, in, you know, um, submission and hiding from them that we've got any technology at all.

And give it a decade or 2 Um, you know, we can we can start saying, well, if you press that button, that's what makes the lights come on.

Um, and uh, maybe we should, maybe we should not, you know, put our girl children out on the hillside because that's not going to lead to species survival.

You know?

Yeah.

So that's the only thing is that I think it's like in Hamlet, where Gertrude and Claudius are trying to stave off a civil war.

[16:07]

Yeah.

Um, so they they killed Daddy Hamlets.

But that's the only reading I can give that sort of that is that they've made this sort of decision about what they need to do to make the species survive.

But I shouldn't have to work that hard to misogynize your script and I resent...

The use of my life, Ben.

Well, I mean, I noticed a similarity with another much maligned specific sci-fi episode and I just, you know, I want to mention here that I put the brain on the line because Nathan, you said that you watched this episode twice.

Not only did I sit and watch power, but immediately afterwards, I watched Spock's brain, which also features a Battle of the Sexes, with controlled by technology, and the women have a power over the men with some kind of magic device.

There were some similarities there.

[17:07]

So I, This is, this is not an unusual trope that's been seen before and it's strongly associated with bad episodes and I, I just want to mention that because I want the credit for putting myself through that kind of psychological experience.

You know, I rewatched this once and that was for this and that was enough.

That's, that's it now for me watching power.

I have a, I have a Star Trek podcast with my friend Joe Ford and we have a randomly rolled Spock's brain and while Joe thought that there was some fun to be had, I was clearly very, very bored.

Shatner was kind of absolute, like Christ knows what Shatner was doing.

He'd kind of checked out completely.

But it does have that superb moment where that woman in the Spangly miniskirt just turns up on the bridge of the Enterprise, which I don't think is magnificent.

And if I'd been tuning into series 3, because that was like the 1st episode, I think of series 3, am I wrong?

Like I would have thought, this is terrific.

[18:09]

Freiburger's gonna nail this.

And...

The weird thing about season 3 of Star Trek.

Doesn't it have more women writers than any other series of track until we get to something like Discovery?

Oh, I don't know.

I don't know I think if you look at the, if you look at the sort of writing credits, I think there's, I mean, we're not starting for a very high bar, yeah, okay.

So, but I think it's, I think it's got more women writers than until they get to something like disco.

Because there's usually like one woman or one or 2 women.

But then Disco just draws from a much wider pond.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know who's got the writing credit on spot spray.

But yeah, no.

No.

I think, I think with spot spraying, the whole, the whole kind of battle of the sexes and some of the similarities I saw with power has actually been lost and forgotten just because of the awfulness of spot walking around, with no brain, on remote control.

[19:09]

That's all anybody remembers, I don't blame them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's like they've put this headline up here so that you don't notice the other dreadfulness.

There's a whole kind of tradition in feminist science fiction of, of, um, feminist, separatist enclaves and utopias.

And they're really big in kind of the, there's a kind of boom in them in the late 70s and early 80s.

And I wonder if this is a reaction against some of that.

There's also a boom of some pretty pretty nasty male science fiction responses to that.

It's booked by Edmund Cooper called Who Needs Men?

And it's about a sort of female dominated society.

It's truly the worst book, one of the worst books I've ever read, and one of the most misogynous books I've ever read, and it reads very close to power.

You could, you could sort of see that they are from a similar cultural milia that just makes me cross.

[20:17]

Another book which was brought to mind when I was watching his episode is actually called The Power.

It's by Naomi Alderman. which I don't know if anyone here has read it, but it's about women suddenly discovering that they can like shoot electricity out their fingertips and actually have a weapon to kind of fight back against the violence against women and girls and how that changes the society.

And I thought about that a little bit while watching this episode because of course, the Cesca have this, um, it's not even really explained, but they can move things, action at a distance, psychokinesis, something like that.

It reminds me of that in some ways.

But of course, we do have Avon spouting that awfulness about any man.

He's always going to be stronger than any woman, which just ruins what could have been something a lot better.

And honestly, hearing Avon say that.

My heart broke a little bit.

It's like, oh, what are they making you say?

It seems really out of character.

I know.

[21:17]

The power was actually adapted to television, I think, last year.

Oh, yep.

Yeah, it's on prime, I think.

Yeah, and it's quite quite quite a good show, actually.

It doesn't it doesn't hold back on the making misogynists pay. kind of angled there.

Yeah, worth a watch.

The other thing that I think might be a background to this is there's a very famous tennis match that's called the Battle of the Sexist.

I don't know if you come across this, and it's, oh, God, I'm blanking on his name.

I literally just been writing about this.

It's a guy who's been a tennis champion and you're going to have to, you're going to have to look his name up because it's completely gone.

And he's slightly past his career, yeah?

So he's retired and he's on the kind of show circuit and he challenges Margaret Court, who at that time is the greatest, is the top number one.

He challenges her.

And he beats her.

[22:19]

Yeah.

And then he challenges Billy Jean King.

And Billy Jean King loses the 1st set and then wipes the floor with him.

Bobby Riggs.

Bobby Riggs.

Thank you, Bobby Riggs, yeah.

They've just made a movie of it a couple of years ago.

It's really good fun.

And it was a massive media event.

And in the middle of the women tennis players were trying to get equal pay.

And the their argument was, well, we might not be able to play to 5 sets, but we are as entertaining and ultimately this is entertainment.

And Billy does this big show and wins.

And I think something like that is feeding into.

It's great. a great little film actually worth a watch.

Who would have thought that Margaret Court would be the more problematic person going for.

I know, exactly.

I was really funny watching you, Margaret, come on.

Yeah, she's out.

Sorry.

Yeah, she shot something, my god.

[23:19]

So problematic.

Mother's Day massacre because he beats her on Mother's Day and then Billy Jean feels like she can't refuse the challenge and thank Christ wins.

So, so, you know, Ethan's sort of statement about, oh, he put any man against him.

Well, not a kind of little rotund ex-champion against the number one woman in the world.

I mean, I think the world is full of kind of unathletic men who think that they could beat Serena Williams in a tennis match.

I mean, take her to 3 sets.

Yeah, mate, come on.

See if you're standing after 5 minutes, you know.

So let's talk a little bit about where we are in the season because this, I think, is so I think I've said this before.

It takes 4 episodes to set up the premise of Blake 7 at the beginning.

[24:21]

It takes one episode to recover from the series, a cliffhanger, 2 episodes to recover from the series, B cliffhanger, and then 4 episodes again to kind of get back to the status quo ante, I guess, at the beginning of series four.

I mean, here we are in two.

And we have our 1st episode where they have a base.

And I just think that's actually really rather thrilling.

And also the way that the base actually isn't, you know, it isn't all that it's cracked up to me because it's a base, but it's not got any food.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's about to blow up.

Yeah.

Well, at least we've got a roof, but you know, we can we can start we can starving comfort.

Miller's halfway through the wine already, isn't he?

So, um, But, no, I like the idea of the base.

I mean, it makes absolute sense.

It's sort of mad that they never did that before.

In the back of my mind, there's loads of kind of rebel bases around people like Avalon and that kind of thing that we just never see.

They were looking to start a base in Obsidian, remember, in volcano.

[25:23]

That was the reason they went to volcano, was to scope out whether that would be a good base.

It also had a nuclear explosive somewhere buried in it too.

Wouldn't they have made sushi out of the sea devil downstairs?

They could have.

No, that turned into a twink.

That turned into a big twink at the end.

Yeah, that's true.

That's not, isn't that simple like Bruno Tonioli or something?

Is it someone really famous?

The twink at the end of...

Is that something I just made up in my head for a joke and then began to believe it?

There's always a twink in the air.

Is that the 1st Doctor Who reference?

I don't yeah, maybe.

But like I kind of really enjoy this setup and I think because Avon is sort of off doing his things and being generally insufferable.

Again, we pair up Dana and Tarrant, which I just think is the best pairing that the show has at this point.

[26:27]

And they are both so good.

There's that moment where, where they're talking about nuts and berries, you know, there's no food, it's nuts and berries.

And then Villa says, what about rodents?

And Darren says, I'm a growing lads villa.

Rats are not the answer, which is so properly funny and so charming.

Stephen Pacey is the unsung hero of the last 2 seasons of Blake Sonar.

I think he's just always pitch perfect.

He's completely brilliant.

But I think with one exception that Joe Simon is like absolutely the star of the show, I think.

Yeah, yep.

No, she's always great.

Oh, she, oh, she's brilliant.

I mean, I've actually got written on my notes here.

Dana is cool when she's, you know, fish is fighting gun star and quickly realises this guy cannot fight, you know, and yeah, I think she's really, really great.

[27:29]

I do think that Tarrant messed up quite early towards this episode, they're in this environment.

Avon's gone missing.

We've got uh, I'd say there was a hostile agency, wouldn't you?

At which point Tarrant goes, Avon at the top of his voice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You've just given away our location to everyone in a 10 mile radius, but okay.

Oh, get me back to the Dana Gunzar fight.

This being a Ben Steed script, she's not allowed to defeat him on her own.

She needs the help of 2 other women killing him.

Yeah, like she surely couldn't do that on her own.

Yeah, it's got to be it's got to be a chest.

Easily.

Yeah, he had.

That knee was at his throat.

I mean, a couple more seconds she'd have felled him.

No problem at all, I think.

Because he's not expecting it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I just love how she just walks into the room and says, all right, I challenge you.

[28:30]

And you've got Tara going, not your most brilliant idea, Dana, you know, like, and it is sort of super random and stuff.

I just think it's really terrific.

But also good to speak.

There are funny gags, aren't there?

The thing about the guy falling?

Like, you know, the Cato, Cato will only admit to 25 challenges having been defeated by Gunsar, and Gunsar goes, well, unless the guy's still falling, you know, yeah.

The implication that this happened about 15 years ago.

And he's still bitching about it.

So, you know, and that's that's all got to be Chris Boucher.

I mean, that's just got to be, yeah.

Oh, that is, you just go, that's a crisp batch of mine. you know, yeah.

Because that's the kind of, but then as I say, all these flashes of genius are disguising the, the, the wicked heart.

Exactly.

And I like the solidity of what they're trying to do.

[29:31]

It's a door, you know, we need to get through the door.

It gives Villa something to do and gives Villa the chance to be an expert at something that's really good.

I really like that 1st scene with Villa and Pella as well.

I think is terrific before Pella reveals her, you know, wicked feminine heart. you know.

It's really bad. isn't it?

It's so bad She's a she's a freedom fighter, right?

She's she's the moral...

We're supposed to like this.

That's right.

Yeah, exactly.

Are we on the side of these guys?

I mean, in my world, Dana joins forces with them and, you know, they just take the ship in the base and have Tarrant and Villa and Avon running around doing errands for them.

That's the actual end. to this.

The actress.

I recognise the actress who played Pella and I quickly realised that she played the antiques dealer who tried to scam Dell in Only Foolsome Horses.

[30:33]

One of the things that actually really struck me about this.

I know it's something that's been touched on before in this podcast is in a show with such incredibly posh accents and all the RP.

She takes it to another level.

I have never heard anything like the way this woman speaks.

It's beautiful.

It's crystalline, isn't it?

Yeah.

Isn't she isn't she a leading secret army at the time?

I think she's extremely well known at the time.

Right.

Isn't she one of the, I don't know how well you know, Secret Army?

No, not all.

Oh, see.

Right, okay.

Right.

Okay.

Do you know LOLO?

Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

Secret Army is the show that LOLO is based on.

Secret Army is about the resistance movement in Belgium during the Second World War.

But it's a drama.

And she is one of the resistance women.

And then the BBC being the BBC.

They take their phenomenally successful drama series that ran for 3 seasons, was a huge critical and acclaimed success, and turn it into a burlesque farce that runs...

[31:34]

That runs for logger than the 2nd World War.

So if you know I never know, go watch Secret Army because it's, and Juliet Hammond Hill was one of the leads in that.

So I think she was it was kind of like celebrity casting.

It's like when Nathan Turner, you know, cast people because the stars of big shows.

So she's very well, she's very well-known TV actress at the time.

But yes, not only where you were, Cesca.

You had a great Cesca.

Fairly anniversary.

I know.

The queen could not line up to that.

What you're saying is she's Beryl Reed.

Beryl Reed's got a little bit of north in her.

Yeah, she does.

I always think this there. yeah.

That's probably better stunt casting.

Yeah, basically, yeah, yeah.

She's kind of.

She's the Beryl reader, Blake 7.

Well, I think she is great.

And I do think that that 1st scene where, you know, she just turns up and Villa doesn't even notice, you know, it goes to pass, she offers to hold something for him and he doesn't even really notice that she shouldn't actually be there.

[32:41]

And like, she's terribly charming and he's charmed by her and it's not creepy.

Like, he's not playing it.

You know, sometimes they get Villa to be creepy. often with Dana, actually, in a way that's kind of upsetting. she's supposed to be what, like 19?

19 or 20.

Yeah, yeah.

But that's not here.

That's completely absent from this.

And I think that they're actually both really charming together.

But it's clearly a deception because she does reveal that she is thoroughly evil and of course she kills Kate at the end for kind of no reason.

We need we need to kill 2 Saska, don't we?

Because we need a crystal for each of the teleports.

Well, the one in Zenon base and the one, the one in the, um, yeah, in fact that, like Avan kills her.

In a way that's kind of justifiable.

She pulls a gun on him and goes to shoot him and, you know, this is a thing that would happen.

[33:43]

But he does also turn it into It's your fault for being a out of control woman.

You know, if you didn't like the answer you shouldn't have asked the question.

Yeah.

Peller is shooting Kate.

It's, you know, analogous to Avon.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But, you know, if you if you reframe it into that relationship of a rebel and the closest friend, that's what is it also an implication that that's her daughter, I think, or certainly it's a it's a daughterly relationship.

But, you know, our heroes have got a bit of form in these kind of things.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, yeah.

It's only going to be a couple more weeks before we kill another woman in order to upgrade our crappy new spaceship as well.

And did the same at the end, the other episode I rewatched recently was sarcophagus. which has a lot of connections to this.

Again, you've got kind of psychic powers boosted by it, sort of technological means. and uh, in a even comes and I'll have that ring.

Thank you very much.

[34:43]

It's awful what he consigns her to kind of bleak oblivion.

Yeah.

That's that's women for you.

Getting all upper tea.

Yeah, exactly, you know, wanting self-determination, bodily autonomy, outrageous.

I mean, that line about, you know, if you didn't want the answer, you shouldn't have asked the question is like textbook abusive kind of relationship.

It's absolute dull.

It's like, yeah, it's just like, you were asking for this.

And like it does turn what is an interaction that is perfectly reasonable into something much worse.

Like she pulls a gun on him.

He pulls a gun on her.

He wins.

Do you know what I mean?

But then he makes it into, you know, this is all your fault. you know, in a sort of creepy way.

Look what you made me do.

Exactly.

And there's the other scene as well, where he exhausts her power and then kisses her.

And you kind of wonder who thought that was a good idea.

Yeah, yeah.

[35:44]

Yeah, that was very impossible. the 1970s for you, wasn't it?

The 1970s thought it was a good idea.

I think that's it.

Even though this is 1981.

Yeah.

It's the long 70s.

Exactly.

Very, very, very, very long 70s.

Although, you know, Avon, it is quite satisfying in some ways that Avon gets repeatedly smacked on the head.

Yes.

So that makes me a little bit better.

And I think the lesson here is that advanced weapons are all well and good and pretty amazing, but you can get very far with a good solid smack on the head.

This explains a lot of even's actions for the rest of season four, actually, is that he's repeatedly concussed.

I have a very, very solid clicky keyboard here with a sort of aluminium case, and I tell you what, you wouldn't get up after Pella smacked you in the head with that.

[36:50]

Can I mention Avon Aurax relationship?

Yeah, yeah.

That is something I love.

I really, I love a smelky computer at the best of times.

I always find that entertaining.

Um, the way that Arak relates to the different members of the crew and giving the very snarky answers, but the difference in the relationship that Arak has with Avon, who does know how to speak to him to get what he wants.

I think is absolutely brilliant.

The idea of the computer treating different people differently based on what he can get away with.

I love it.

And conspiring against the others as well.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, like he conspires with Avon to keep that password from them.

So he doesn't get left behind.

That's fabulous.

I also love how venal aurac is in the get me away from here.

No less than...

Aurac's amazing and it's very pure love between him and Asian. something very special.

[37:51]

Stephen Paisey knows exactly how to get Aurak to talk because he says, you know, there's a bomb that's going to blow up in 13 minutes.

You know, is there anything more important than this right now, you know, and he just says, no, no, no, like, I'm not going to help you, just, you need to leg it and take me with you.

It is pretty great.

But, and then there's the similar scene with, with Slave, because in, in last week's episode, we only see Slave responding to Dorian, and we get the line of dialogue about, you know, turning those things off.

Aurac has sort of intervened and turned off the thing, which I think happened with Zen as well, at some point.

And so we get Avon being called master by slave for the 1st time and him enjoying that.

And it is a, it's kind of like quite a sweet reversal.

You know, you've got crotchety Aurak who can barely tolerate being told what to do and then you've got slave and you've got even appreciating slave, which is kind of great.

[38:57]

And so from here on in, I think Sir and Madam, for all of the other members of the cast and then Master, for Avon, from Slave.

The alpha male.

Oh dear.

Should we mention Sue Lin?

Yeah, so another way.

I think that the episode kind of gets undermined.

The episode's major message gets undermined.

Is Su Lin turns up at the end and says, no, I'm not giving you my loyalty and I sell my skill and she just sort of pulls a gun.

And I think that's kind of clearly not part of Ben Steed's thing.

You know, that's a scene that's almost certainly written by Boucher for the purposes of the arc.

Yeah, um Sue Lynn was his creation, Boucher's creation, wasn't she?

So she's created in a Chris Boucher script.

I think.

In a way, in a way, it's actually, it's like about coming along at the end of the episode and saying, well, that's enough of this sexist bullshit.

[39:59]

Let's move on quickly.

Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?

How about this?

Anyway.

Anyway.

But no one at any point goes, hang on.

Where have you been all this time?

We really could have done with your help a little bit earlier.

I actually quite like how she's just a lurking presence who Villa is slightly scared of.

You know, there's a lady gunslinger wandering around somewhere and he doesn't know where she is or what she intends.

And so that's wrong footing him and I think that's actually quite fun.

And so we get to have her emerge at the end.

I mean, you know, if we're a little bit more careful with how characters get introduced and stuff in this show, she would have been given a chance to participate in the resolution, I would think, but I guess Ben Steed's not interested in that either.

I like the idea that she sort of just going, well, I'll see how this plays out, yeah?

And why should I get my hands dirty?

Because if this plays out really badly, there's just me in a ship and a base, which is great.

[41:00]

So I really love the idea that she's kind of got her feet up and she's watching power.

Shaking her head.

I'm not getting anywhere near.

This misogynous bullshit, but I quite like that girl, you know.

It's a bit shit isn't it?

Yeah, it is a little bit, huh?

But I kind of enjoyed it.

I mean, that's Blake 7 right there, isn't it?

Isn't it?

It's a bit shit, but I kind of enjoy it.

I mean, next week there'll be no female guest stars.

Can I just say, like, we'll be back to men only?

It's Bob Holmes.

He's not interested in writing women and doesn't care at all.

It's all boys.

And so we get Serverland.

Well, she's a semi-regular and we get, I know she's fabulous too.

It's her best outfit ever.

[42:01]

Tracer is a banger.

I mean, it is brilliant.

Does power?

Here's a question for you.

Does power pass the Bechtel test?

No, I, I, I, I've got that written on my notes.

No, I believe it does not.

Monoch did.

Well, it did.

So it does have 2 women talking to each other, but they are always talking about men.

What the men are doing.

Yeah.

Yeah, I specifically thought about that.

It would have been the final irony if it was one of the few episodes I played seven.

To pass the Bechdel test, I think.

But I mean, it is a rare episode of Blake 7 that has more than 2 guest women in speaking roles.

Yeah.

You know, like they'll be the woman.

And I mean, you know, it's just a, it's a thing.

I was trying to think about what queer representations like on Blake Seven.

And obviously last week, we had Dorian, who was very definitely coded as gay and was clearly bringing a series of twinks home to his magic room and having his way with them.

But also, but also...

[43:02]

Well, he's cut his bi, isn't he?

He's also supposed to be banging soon.

That's absolutely not happening.

Yeah.

Dorian, it's too then. absolutely not.

Yeah, no way is that happening.

No, no, no.

She's getting makeup tips from it. partner.

Business partner.

Yeah, partner.

Yeah, yeah.

So, and we'll get a groin and pinder later in the season as well for queer representation.

So it's dismal, and obviously Blake 7 is like Doctor Who at this point, or like Doctor Who has been recently, I think, in the kind of mid 70s, where it's quite common not to have any female guest stars or any more than one female guest star.

So it's kind of the background noise.

And you remember the number of times that we'd have poor old Sally and Jan just stuck up in the teleport bay for an entire episode, pressing buttons and stuff if we saw them at all.

[44:04]

So, because their hair took too long to do.

Yes, that's what Chris Boucher says.

I wrote little fan fiction about that once, which is Callie and Dana are on the Liberator flight date together.

And a kind of alien starts materialising and threatening it.

And Dana goes, oh, do we need to call the boys?

And Kelly goes, no, let's just sort this out.

They sort it out.

It takes about 3 minutes and they kind of clear up and Callie goes.

It's much, much quieter if we just don't tell the point. implication that there's been loads of stuff that those 2 have just dealt with, but it's not been a big palaver or it hasn't been an episode.

Don't get Avon involved.

He'll come in with this karate chop hand and it'll just it'll just all go wrong at that point.

It left up with a kiss and another dead woman and we could just sort this on out.

And they've like got the hoover out kind of getting the vessels.

And then they kind of sit down with a glass of wine and the book screen, you know.

[45:05]

That's that's the trace of Blake 7.

Well, that's all the time we have for this week.

We'll be back next week to find out what the Federation has been getting up to in Traitor.

Until next time.

Remember to keep all kinds of nucleic bursters away from your procreation areas.

Thank you very much for listening and good night.

Ta-ta.

Bye bye.

Bye bye.

That's the power.

Go, go!

30 seconds thrust, amazing.

Switching man.

Maximum power on all drives. now.

Shit.

Yeah, Zencast is not recording.

[46:06]

Zencast is not recording.

You are...

Are you recording?

Shit.

I'm recording on voice notes.

Yep.

Well, I mean, we are.

Yep.

And I'm recording. recording on.

Okay, I think we'll be okay.

We'll be okay.

Shit.

I pressed 3 different things to record.

And for some reason, Zen Castles, okay, no, we're all good.

Yeah, no, no.

We're recording...

Okay. enough.

I've got my recording of myself that I'm going to send you, so it's not a problem.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I've got a recording of both ends twice and separate recordings of us. usually don't use it.

I'm the one who I'm the one who has to put all this together anyway.

That's just kind of a question.

Oh, why is that not rare?

Oh my god.

I'm just not used to saying that.

We don't use it. don't use it.

For a fight through entirety.

Yes, no, it'll be fine.

Good.

It'll be fine.

Okay, all right.

So what are we doing?

What are we doing?

What are we doing?

What's the countdown to the recital?

Oh, it's still 40 minutes or something, is it?

No less than that.

[47:07]

We've got about 20 minutes. 20 minutes. 20 minutes. 20 minutes.

Okay.

So we've talked Xen Bass, we've talked the regulars, we've talked Sulin.

We've talked about the premise.

We've talked about how terrible Ben Steed is.

We are about 48 minutes in.

Maybe we do kind of final statements or something and then and then wind up.

What do people think?

Yeah, it works for me.

Yeah, that's material, isn't it?

You've got a podcast there, I think.

I think so.

Yeah, no, I think it's been good.

I think it's true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah Jesus Christ.

Well, I've only been doing this for a decade.

Power, an episode so bad we couldn't bring ourselves to talk about it.

No, we'll just have to keep recording it every weekend until Morale approves.

This is the tag.

The tag is the bit where Tony thing?

After the closing, after the closing credit, sometimes I'll put a thing, like just outtakes and stuff, and I don't know, maybe we do that.

[48:13]

Anyway.

It's one episode of Flight through entirety, where we, the tag is Zencaster fucking up in such a way that the 2 guests start talking to one another and then they're introducing there and they can't hear anyone.

It's like they can't hear each other and then suddenly they can and then I come in and then like it's this sort of massive thing that you would have tried to script if you'd thought of it.

That just ended up working really well.

And I did cheat slightly in the edit, but yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's brilliant.

I mean, I think you've got a good episode title already, because Una, I think, described the episode as frisky but awful.

That's what I aspire to be.

Yes, your time is right there.

As soon as you said that, I was going to shout...

Well, a show sounds to one of my friends who describes Blake 7 as being about tinsel and nihilism.

Oh, that's awesome.

[49:14]

That's genius. renaming the podcast.

Renaming the podcast.

Tinsillin nihilism.

All right.

Let's do let's do final statements.

James.