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This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 22:11:39

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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.

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I'm Nathan.

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I'm James.

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I'm Una, and I'm Zoe.

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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?

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Let's find out as we discuss power.

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

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

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Yes.

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

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It's actually a pretty tight script.

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It kind of cracks along.

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

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

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I was watching it.

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Everybody's great in it.

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

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Except.

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Except...

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What do you think, so?

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

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

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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.

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

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It is Blake 7 though, to be fair.

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Even by those standards.

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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.

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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.

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Oh, it's it's this again.

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Okay.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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What do you think, James?

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

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I see both your points.

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

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

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But also I have a huge problem with the misogy.

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

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

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But maybe it shouldn't have been.

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

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

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That was him, yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So he does 2 last year.

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So he does Harvest of Chiros and then Moloch.

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And then he does this.

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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.

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There's all sorts of script problems.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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That's my favourite bit.

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Particularly charming bits, I think, of power.

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

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Whereas power is frisky but appalling.

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My reading of this episode.

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So I was...

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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.

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There's practically nothing for Tanneth Lee.

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Right?

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

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

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We read your script.

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Here are our notes.

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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.

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

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It's just not what they should have commissioned.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Well, how about this for a question?

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Is this the most sexist of his 3 scripts?

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Yes.

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Yeah. undoubtedly, yeah.

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

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Yep.

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

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

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I was so angry about it.

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That's awful, isn't it?

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So well done, Ben. job done.

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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.

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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?

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Really?

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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.

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

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

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because I think Gunsar.

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Yeah, yeah.

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

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You know, I need my minister of spin.

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

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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.

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

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And I think it does try to undercut it.

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

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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.

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

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Yeah.

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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.

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

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And that's awful.

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Do you know what I mean?

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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.

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

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

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

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Well, what's going to happen next?

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We see it.

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

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So I think all of these things are implied.

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

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And see, that's the thing.

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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.

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Yeah, you bang on there.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Yep.

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Yeah, it's mutilation.

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Yeah.

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

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

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Yeah, yeah.

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

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

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

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

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

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It's an awful.

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

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I really don't.

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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Like, he's not really a very formidable.

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Like, think about, think about Jarvik, right?

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

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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.

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He probably was.

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

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We have different opinions.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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Yeah.

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

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

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

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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He's on top of the tech.

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

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

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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.

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But it's not.

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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.

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So Avon will try and protect her.

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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.

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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.

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

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I mean, misogynist.

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

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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.

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

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Like I really like her a lot.

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I think she's really charming and stuff.

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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.

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

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

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But she's...

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She's a surrendered wife.

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Yeah, yeah.

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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.

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If our species is actually going to survive this.

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There are certain steps that we need to take.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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You know?

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Yeah.

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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.

197
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Yeah.

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Um, so they they killed Daddy Hamlets.

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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.

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

201
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The use of my life, Ben.

202
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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.

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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.

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There were some similarities there.

205
00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:21.839
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.

206
00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:25.980
You know, I rewatched this once and that was for this and that was enough.

207
00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.200
That's, that's it now for me watching power.

208
00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:45.240
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.

209
00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:49.680
Shatner was kind of absolute, like Christ knows what Shatner was doing.

210
00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:51.420
He'd kind of checked out completely.

211
00:17:51.480 --> 00:18:01.319
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.

212
00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:06.960
And if I'd been tuning into series 3, because that was like the 1st episode, I think of series 3, am I wrong?

213
00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:09.720
Like I would have thought, this is terrific.

214
00:18:09.779 --> 00:18:11.579
Freiburger's gonna nail this.

215
00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:12.960
And...

216
00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.720
The weird thing about season 3 of Star Trek.

217
00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:25.140
Doesn't it have more women writers than any other series of track until we get to something like Discovery?

218
00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:27.000
Oh, I don't know.

219
00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:33.359
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.

220
00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:39.240
So, but I think it's, I think it's got more women writers than until they get to something like disco.

221
00:18:39.299 --> 00:18:42.720
Because there's usually like one woman or one or 2 women.

222
00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:46.319
But then Disco just draws from a much wider pond.

223
00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:47.160
Yeah, yeah.

224
00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:49.799
I don't know who's got the writing credit on spot spray.

225
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.039
But yeah, no.

226
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:53.759
No.

227
00:18:53.819 --> 00:19:09.900
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.

228
00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:12.359
That's all anybody remembers, I don't blame them.

229
00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:13.980
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

230
00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:19.740
It's like they've put this headline up here so that you don't notice the other dreadfulness.

231
00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:38.220
There's a whole kind of tradition in feminist science fiction of, of, um, feminist, separatist enclaves and utopias.

232
00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:45.000
And they're really big in kind of the, there's a kind of boom in them in the late 70s and early 80s.

233
00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:48.180
And I wonder if this is a reaction against some of that.

234
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:54.299
There's also a boom of some pretty pretty nasty male science fiction responses to that.

235
00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:56.579
It's booked by Edmund Cooper called Who Needs Men?

236
00:19:56.700 --> 00:20:01.019
And it's about a sort of female dominated society.

237
00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:09.000
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.

238
00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:16.140
You could, you could sort of see that they are from a similar cultural milia that just makes me cross.

239
00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:22.559
Another book which was brought to mind when I was watching his episode is actually called The Power.

240
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:40.740
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.

241
00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:53.519
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.

242
00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:56.579
It reminds me of that in some ways.

243
00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:02.339
But of course, we do have Avon spouting that awfulness about any man.

244
00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:08.339
He's always going to be stronger than any woman, which just ruins what could have been something a lot better.

245
00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.559
And honestly, hearing Avon say that.

246
00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:11.579
My heart broke a little bit.

247
00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:13.859
It's like, oh, what are they making you say?

248
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:16.079
It seems really out of character.

249
00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:16.680
I know.

250
00:21:17.220 --> 00:21:22.680
The power was actually adapted to television, I think, last year.

251
00:21:22.740 --> 00:21:24.599
Oh, yep.

252
00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:26.160
Yeah, it's on prime, I think.

253
00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:29.339
Yeah, and it's quite quite quite a good show, actually.

254
00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:38.460
It doesn't it doesn't hold back on the making misogynists pay. kind of angled there.

255
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:39.779
Yeah, worth a watch.

256
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:49.500
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.

257
00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:53.940
I don't know if you come across this, and it's, oh, God, I'm blanking on his name.

258
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.319
I literally just been writing about this.

259
00:21:55.380 --> 00:22:01.319
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.

260
00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:04.019
And he's slightly past his career, yeah?

261
00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:13.680
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.

262
00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:15.359
He challenges her.

263
00:22:16.740 --> 00:22:19.200
And he beats her.

264
00:22:19.259 --> 00:22:19.859
Yeah.

265
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.519
And then he challenges Billy Jean King.

266
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:29.700
And Billy Jean King loses the 1st set and then wipes the floor with him.

267
00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:33.059
Bobby Riggs.

268
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:33.779
Bobby Riggs.

269
00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:35.160
Thank you, Bobby Riggs, yeah.

270
00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:37.859
They've just made a movie of it a couple of years ago.

271
00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:38.940
It's really good fun.

272
00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:40.799
And it was a massive media event.

273
00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:44.400
And in the middle of the women tennis players were trying to get equal pay.

274
00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:53.279
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.

275
00:22:53.339 --> 00:22:56.700
And Billy does this big show and wins.

276
00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:59.579
And I think something like that is feeding into.

277
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.519
It's great. a great little film actually worth a watch.

278
00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:07.619
Who would have thought that Margaret Court would be the more problematic person going for.

279
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.279
I know, exactly.

280
00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:13.920
I was really funny watching you, Margaret, come on.

281
00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:16.559
Yeah, she's out.

282
00:23:16.619 --> 00:23:17.640
Sorry.

283
00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:19.500
Yeah, she shot something, my god.

284
00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:21.359
So problematic.

285
00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:30.539
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.

286
00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:36.420
So, so, you know, Ethan's sort of statement about, oh, he put any man against him.

287
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:41.519
Well, not a kind of little rotund ex-champion against the number one woman in the world.

288
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:49.079
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.

289
00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:52.680
I mean, take her to 3 sets.

290
00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:53.640
Yeah, mate, come on.

291
00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:58.920
See if you're standing after 5 minutes, you know.

292
00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:16.680
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.

293
00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:21.420
It takes 4 episodes to set up the premise of Blake 7 at the beginning.

294
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:38.700
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.

295
00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:39.900
I mean, here we are in two.

296
00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:43.500
And we have our 1st episode where they have a base.

297
00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:47.039
And I just think that's actually really rather thrilling.

298
00:24:47.339 --> 00:24:54.480
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.

299
00:24:54.539 --> 00:24:56.579
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

300
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:57.779
It's about to blow up.

301
00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:58.920
Yeah.

302
00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:03.240
Well, at least we've got a roof, but you know, we can we can start we can starving comfort.

303
00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:05.700
Miller's halfway through the wine already, isn't he?

304
00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:08.700
So, um, But, no, I like the idea of the base.

305
00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:09.839
I mean, it makes absolute sense.

306
00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.759
It's sort of mad that they never did that before.

307
00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:18.000
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.

308
00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:23.279
They were looking to start a base in Obsidian, remember, in volcano.

309
00:25:23.339 --> 00:25:28.559
That was the reason they went to volcano, was to scope out whether that would be a good base.

310
00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:32.279
It also had a nuclear explosive somewhere buried in it too.

311
00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:34.859
Wouldn't they have made sushi out of the sea devil downstairs?

312
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:36.180
They could have.

313
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.700
No, that turned into a twink.

314
00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:40.619
That turned into a big twink at the end.

315
00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:42.480
Yeah, that's true.

316
00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:49.140
That's not, isn't that simple like Bruno Tonioli or something?

317
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:50.519
Is it someone really famous?

318
00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:52.920
The twink at the end of...

319
00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:58.440
Is that something I just made up in my head for a joke and then began to believe it?

320
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:02.579
There's always a twink in the air.

321
00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:07.859
Is that the 1st Doctor Who reference?

322
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:09.059
I don't yeah, maybe.

323
00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:19.680
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.

324
00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:27.779
Again, we pair up Dana and Tarrant, which I just think is the best pairing that the show has at this point.

325
00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:30.539
And they are both so good.

326
00:26:30.599 --> 00:26:37.920
There's that moment where, where they're talking about nuts and berries, you know, there's no food, it's nuts and berries.

327
00:26:37.980 --> 00:26:41.819
And then Villa says, what about rodents?

328
00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:47.220
And Darren says, I'm a growing lads villa.

329
00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:54.240
Rats are not the answer, which is so properly funny and so charming.

330
00:26:55.619 --> 00:27:00.720
Stephen Pacey is the unsung hero of the last 2 seasons of Blake Sonar.

331
00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:02.819
I think he's just always pitch perfect.

332
00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:04.380
He's completely brilliant.

333
00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:11.759
But I think with one exception that Joe Simon is like absolutely the star of the show, I think.

334
00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:13.079
Yeah, yep.

335
00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:14.519
No, she's always great.

336
00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:16.200
Oh, she, oh, she's brilliant.

337
00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:18.119
I mean, I've actually got written on my notes here.

338
00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:29.400
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.

339
00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:37.019
I do think that Tarrant messed up quite early towards this episode, they're in this environment.

340
00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:38.279
Avon's gone missing.

341
00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:42.240
We've got uh, I'd say there was a hostile agency, wouldn't you?

342
00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:46.259
At which point Tarrant goes, Avon at the top of his voice.

343
00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:48.539
Thank you.

344
00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:50.640
Thank you.

345
00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:54.599
You've just given away our location to everyone in a 10 mile radius, but okay.

346
00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:00.059
Oh, get me back to the Dana Gunzar fight.

347
00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:04.680
This being a Ben Steed script, she's not allowed to defeat him on her own.

348
00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:08.400
She needs the help of 2 other women killing him.

349
00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:13.500
Yeah, like she surely couldn't do that on her own.

350
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:16.140
Yeah, it's got to be it's got to be a chest.

351
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:16.740
Easily.

352
00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.059
Yeah, he had.

353
00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:19.559
That knee was at his throat.

354
00:28:19.619 --> 00:28:22.079
I mean, a couple more seconds she'd have felled him.

355
00:28:22.140 --> 00:28:24.420
No problem at all, I think.

356
00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.339
Because he's not expecting it.

357
00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:27.480
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

358
00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:30.599
I just love how she just walks into the room and says, all right, I challenge you.

359
00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:39.059
And you've got Tara going, not your most brilliant idea, Dana, you know, like, and it is sort of super random and stuff.

360
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:40.380
I just think it's really terrific.

361
00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:42.119
But also good to speak.

362
00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:43.740
There are funny gags, aren't there?

363
00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:45.660
The thing about the guy falling?

364
00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:59.279
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.

365
00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:03.059
The implication that this happened about 15 years ago.

366
00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:04.799
And he's still bitching about it.

367
00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:12.359
So, you know, and that's that's all got to be Chris Boucher.

368
00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:14.279
I mean, that's just got to be, yeah.

369
00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:18.059
Oh, that is, you just go, that's a crisp batch of mine. you know, yeah.

370
00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:25.799
Because that's the kind of, but then as I say, all these flashes of genius are disguising the, the, the wicked heart.

371
00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:27.359
Exactly.

372
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.920
And I like the solidity of what they're trying to do.

373
00:29:31.980 --> 00:29:35.579
It's a door, you know, we need to get through the door.

374
00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:41.160
It gives Villa something to do and gives Villa the chance to be an expert at something that's really good.

375
00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:45.660
I really like that 1st scene with Villa and Pella as well.

376
00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:54.000
I think is terrific before Pella reveals her, you know, wicked feminine heart. you know.

377
00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:57.480
It's really bad. isn't it?

378
00:29:57.539 --> 00:30:00.960
It's so bad She's a she's a freedom fighter, right?

379
00:30:01.019 --> 00:30:04.440
She's she's the moral...

380
00:30:04.440 --> 00:30:05.279
We're supposed to like this.

381
00:30:05.339 --> 00:30:06.240
That's right.

382
00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:06.900
Yeah, exactly.

383
00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:08.880
Are we on the side of these guys?

384
00:30:08.940 --> 00:30:18.059
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.

385
00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:20.640
That's the actual end. to this.

386
00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:23.160
The actress.

387
00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:32.759
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.

388
00:30:33.059 --> 00:30:36.420
One of the things that actually really struck me about this.

389
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:46.019
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.

390
00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:48.539
She takes it to another level.

391
00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:51.900
I have never heard anything like the way this woman speaks.

392
00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:53.099
It's beautiful.

393
00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:54.660
It's crystalline, isn't it?

394
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:55.019
Yeah.

395
00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:58.740
Isn't she isn't she a leading secret army at the time?

396
00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:00.839
I think she's extremely well known at the time.

397
00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:01.500
Right.

398
00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:04.740
Isn't she one of the, I don't know how well you know, Secret Army?

399
00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:06.059
No, not all.

400
00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:06.720
Oh, see.

401
00:31:06.839 --> 00:31:07.380
Right, okay.

402
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:07.619
Right.

403
00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:07.920
Okay.

404
00:31:07.980 --> 00:31:09.180
Do you know LOLO?

405
00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:09.480
Yeah.

406
00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:11.160
Yeah, okay.

407
00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:14.039
Secret Army is the show that LOLO is based on.

408
00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:19.079
Secret Army is about the resistance movement in Belgium during the Second World War.

409
00:31:19.140 --> 00:31:19.980
But it's a drama.

410
00:31:20.099 --> 00:31:22.680
And she is one of the resistance women.

411
00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:25.740
And then the BBC being the BBC.

412
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:34.980
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...

413
00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:39.359
That runs for logger than the 2nd World War.

414
00:31:39.420 --> 00:31:45.299
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.

415
00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.059
So I think she was it was kind of like celebrity casting.

416
00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:53.220
It's like when Nathan Turner, you know, cast people because the stars of big shows.

417
00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:56.519
So she's very well, she's very well-known TV actress at the time.

418
00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:59.279
But yes, not only where you were, Cesca.

419
00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:01.079
You had a great Cesca.

420
00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:04.019
Fairly anniversary.

421
00:32:04.079 --> 00:32:05.039
I know.

422
00:32:05.099 --> 00:32:07.680
The queen could not line up to that.

423
00:32:07.859 --> 00:32:11.099
What you're saying is she's Beryl Reed.

424
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:16.619
Beryl Reed's got a little bit of north in her.

425
00:32:16.619 --> 00:32:17.460
Yeah, she does.

426
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:18.480
I always think this there. yeah.

427
00:32:18.539 --> 00:32:20.640
That's probably better stunt casting.

428
00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:22.680
Yeah, basically, yeah, yeah.

429
00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:23.339
She's kind of.

430
00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:25.319
She's the Beryl reader, Blake 7.

431
00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:27.960
Well, I think she is great.

432
00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:41.339
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.

433
00:32:41.400 --> 00:32:47.160
And like, she's terribly charming and he's charmed by her and it's not creepy.

434
00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:48.599
Like, he's not playing it.

435
00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:58.559
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?

436
00:32:58.619 --> 00:32:59.880
19 or 20.

437
00:33:00.059 --> 00:33:00.900
Yeah, yeah.

438
00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:04.259
But that's not here.

439
00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:05.819
That's completely absent from this.

440
00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:09.599
And I think that they're actually both really charming together.

441
00:33:09.660 --> 00:33:20.759
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.

442
00:33:20.819 --> 00:33:23.579
We need we need to kill 2 Saska, don't we?

443
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:27.779
Because we need a crystal for each of the teleports.

444
00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:36.059
Well, the one in Zenon base and the one, the one in the, um, yeah, in fact that, like Avan kills her.

445
00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:38.880
In a way that's kind of justifiable.

446
00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:43.019
She pulls a gun on him and goes to shoot him and, you know, this is a thing that would happen.

447
00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:48.779
But he does also turn it into It's your fault for being a out of control woman.

448
00:33:48.839 --> 00:33:52.019
You know, if you didn't like the answer you shouldn't have asked the question.

449
00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:53.220
Yeah.

450
00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:54.960
Peller is shooting Kate.

451
00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:57.900
It's, you know, analogous to Avon.

452
00:33:58.019 --> 00:34:00.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

453
00:34:00.059 --> 00:34:12.840
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.

454
00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:16.739
But, you know, our heroes have got a bit of form in these kind of things.

455
00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:18.000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

456
00:34:18.059 --> 00:34:19.260
Well, yeah.

457
00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:27.960
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.

458
00:34:28.019 --> 00:34:35.880
And did the same at the end, the other episode I rewatched recently was sarcophagus. which has a lot of connections to this.

459
00:34:35.940 --> 00:34:42.960
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.

460
00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:43.559
Thank you very much.

461
00:34:43.619 --> 00:34:48.119
It's awful what he consigns her to kind of bleak oblivion.

462
00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:48.420
Yeah.

463
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.239
That's that's women for you.

464
00:34:51.900 --> 00:34:54.119
Getting all upper tea.

465
00:34:54.179 --> 00:34:59.340
Yeah, exactly, you know, wanting self-determination, bodily autonomy, outrageous.

466
00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:09.900
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.

467
00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:11.460
It's absolute dull.

468
00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:14.039
It's like, yeah, it's just like, you were asking for this.

469
00:35:14.099 --> 00:35:19.980
And like it does turn what is an interaction that is perfectly reasonable into something much worse.

470
00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:21.599
Like she pulls a gun on him.

471
00:35:21.659 --> 00:35:23.039
He pulls a gun on her.

472
00:35:23.099 --> 00:35:23.820
He wins.

473
00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:24.599
Do you know what I mean?

474
00:35:24.659 --> 00:35:30.119
But then he makes it into, you know, this is all your fault. you know, in a sort of creepy way.

475
00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:31.260
Look what you made me do.

476
00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:31.559
Exactly.

477
00:35:31.619 --> 00:35:39.239
And there's the other scene as well, where he exhausts her power and then kisses her.

478
00:35:39.239 --> 00:35:42.360
And you kind of wonder who thought that was a good idea.

479
00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:44.159
Yeah, yeah.

480
00:35:44.219 --> 00:35:47.820
Yeah, that was very impossible. the 1970s for you, wasn't it?

481
00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:49.739
The 1970s thought it was a good idea.

482
00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:51.179
I think that's it.

483
00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:52.619
Even though this is 1981.

484
00:35:52.739 --> 00:35:53.519
Yeah.

485
00:35:53.579 --> 00:35:55.920
It's the long 70s.

486
00:35:55.980 --> 00:35:56.579
Exactly.

487
00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.239
Very, very, very, very long 70s.

488
00:36:00.360 --> 00:36:07.679
Although, you know, Avon, it is quite satisfying in some ways that Avon gets repeatedly smacked on the head.

489
00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:09.539
Yes.

490
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.400
So that makes me a little bit better.

491
00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:19.559
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.

492
00:36:20.579 --> 00:36:28.139
This explains a lot of even's actions for the rest of season four, actually, is that he's repeatedly concussed.

493
00:36:28.199 --> 00:36:39.840
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.

494
00:36:50.699 --> 00:36:54.599
Can I mention Avon Aurax relationship?

495
00:36:54.659 --> 00:36:56.280
Yeah, yeah.

496
00:36:56.340 --> 00:36:57.719
That is something I love.

497
00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:01.980
I really, I love a smelky computer at the best of times.

498
00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:03.780
I always find that entertaining.

499
00:37:03.840 --> 00:37:18.000
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.

500
00:37:18.059 --> 00:37:20.280
I think is absolutely brilliant.

501
00:37:20.340 --> 00:37:24.900
The idea of the computer treating different people differently based on what he can get away with.

502
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:25.440
I love it.

503
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:28.739
And conspiring against the others as well.

504
00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:30.300
Yeah, yeah.

505
00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:35.039
Yeah, like he conspires with Avon to keep that password from them.

506
00:37:35.099 --> 00:37:36.960
So he doesn't get left behind.

507
00:37:37.079 --> 00:37:38.219
That's fabulous.

508
00:37:38.280 --> 00:37:44.400
I also love how venal aurac is in the get me away from here.

509
00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:46.800
No less than...

510
00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:51.119
Aurac's amazing and it's very pure love between him and Asian. something very special.

511
00:37:51.179 --> 00:38:01.619
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.

512
00:38:01.739 --> 00:38:12.059
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.

513
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:14.039
It is pretty great.

514
00:38:14.099 --> 00:38:28.920
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.

515
00:38:28.980 --> 00:38:35.880
Aurac has sort of intervened and turned off the thing, which I think happened with Zen as well, at some point.

516
00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:43.800
And so we get Avon being called master by slave for the 1st time and him enjoying that.

517
00:38:43.860 --> 00:38:47.579
And it is a, it's kind of like quite a sweet reversal.

518
00:38:47.639 --> 00:38:57.179
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.

519
00:38:57.239 --> 00:39:06.840
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.

520
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:09.059
The alpha male.

521
00:39:09.539 --> 00:39:11.340
Oh dear.

522
00:39:14.039 --> 00:39:16.500
Should we mention Sue Lin?

523
00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:18.780
Yeah, so another way.

524
00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:21.719
I think that the episode kind of gets undermined.

525
00:39:21.780 --> 00:39:23.880
The episode's major message gets undermined.

526
00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:32.280
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.

527
00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:37.260
And I think that's kind of clearly not part of Ben Steed's thing.

528
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:42.119
You know, that's a scene that's almost certainly written by Boucher for the purposes of the arc.

529
00:39:42.179 --> 00:39:47.579
Yeah, um Sue Lynn was his creation, Boucher's creation, wasn't she?

530
00:39:47.639 --> 00:39:49.860
So she's created in a Chris Boucher script.

531
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:50.760
I think.

532
00:39:50.820 --> 00:39:59.280
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.

533
00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:01.079
Let's move on quickly.

534
00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:04.199
Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?

535
00:40:04.260 --> 00:40:05.099
How about this?

536
00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:06.059
Anyway.

537
00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:07.980
Anyway.

538
00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:10.860
But no one at any point goes, hang on.

539
00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:12.480
Where have you been all this time?

540
00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:15.000
We really could have done with your help a little bit earlier.

541
00:40:15.239 --> 00:40:20.880
I actually quite like how she's just a lurking presence who Villa is slightly scared of.

542
00:40:20.940 --> 00:40:27.539
You know, there's a lady gunslinger wandering around somewhere and he doesn't know where she is or what she intends.

543
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:31.079
And so that's wrong footing him and I think that's actually quite fun.

544
00:40:31.139 --> 00:40:34.440
And so we get to have her emerge at the end.

545
00:40:34.500 --> 00:40:47.099
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.

546
00:40:47.219 --> 00:40:52.800
I like the idea that she sort of just going, well, I'll see how this plays out, yeah?

547
00:40:52.860 --> 00:40:54.840
And why should I get my hands dirty?

548
00:40:54.900 --> 00:40:59.639
Because if this plays out really badly, there's just me in a ship and a base, which is great.

549
00:41:00.059 --> 00:41:06.059
So I really love the idea that she's kind of got her feet up and she's watching power.

550
00:41:08.039 --> 00:41:09.840
Shaking her head.

551
00:41:09.900 --> 00:41:11.880
I'm not getting anywhere near.

552
00:41:11.940 --> 00:41:15.000
This misogynous bullshit, but I quite like that girl, you know.

553
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:29.280
It's a bit shit isn't it?

554
00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:30.659
Yeah, it is a little bit, huh?

555
00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:33.599
But I kind of enjoyed it.

556
00:41:33.659 --> 00:41:36.780
I mean, that's Blake 7 right there, isn't it?

557
00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:37.440
Isn't it?

558
00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:39.480
It's a bit shit, but I kind of enjoy it.

559
00:41:39.539 --> 00:41:43.199
I mean, next week there'll be no female guest stars.

560
00:41:43.260 --> 00:41:46.860
Can I just say, like, we'll be back to men only?

561
00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:48.420
It's Bob Holmes.

562
00:41:48.480 --> 00:41:51.420
He's not interested in writing women and doesn't care at all.

563
00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:52.920
It's all boys.

564
00:41:52.980 --> 00:41:55.380
And so we get Serverland.

565
00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:58.860
Well, she's a semi-regular and we get, I know she's fabulous too.

566
00:41:58.920 --> 00:42:00.239
It's her best outfit ever.

567
00:42:01.980 --> 00:42:04.079
Tracer is a banger.

568
00:42:04.139 --> 00:42:05.519
I mean, it is brilliant.

569
00:42:05.579 --> 00:42:06.539
Does power?

570
00:42:06.599 --> 00:42:07.380
Here's a question for you.

571
00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:10.619
Does power pass the Bechtel test?

572
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:14.039
No, I, I, I, I've got that written on my notes.

573
00:42:14.099 --> 00:42:15.360
No, I believe it does not.

574
00:42:15.420 --> 00:42:16.199
Monoch did.

575
00:42:16.260 --> 00:42:16.920
Well, it did.

576
00:42:16.980 --> 00:42:20.760
So it does have 2 women talking to each other, but they are always talking about men.

577
00:42:20.820 --> 00:42:21.780
What the men are doing.

578
00:42:21.840 --> 00:42:22.019
Yeah.

579
00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:23.880
Yeah, I specifically thought about that.

580
00:42:23.940 --> 00:42:29.099
It would have been the final irony if it was one of the few episodes I played seven.

581
00:42:29.099 --> 00:42:31.079
To pass the Bechdel test, I think.

582
00:42:31.139 --> 00:42:38.219
But I mean, it is a rare episode of Blake 7 that has more than 2 guest women in speaking roles.

583
00:42:38.340 --> 00:42:39.119
Yeah.

584
00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:41.340
You know, like they'll be the woman.

585
00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:43.739
And I mean, you know, it's just a, it's a thing.

586
00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:49.199
I was trying to think about what queer representations like on Blake Seven.

587
00:42:49.260 --> 00:42:59.639
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.

588
00:42:59.940 --> 00:43:02.519
But also, but also...

589
00:43:02.519 --> 00:43:04.679
Well, he's cut his bi, isn't he?

590
00:43:04.739 --> 00:43:07.320
He's also supposed to be banging soon.

591
00:43:07.380 --> 00:43:08.699
That's absolutely not happening.

592
00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:10.500
Yeah.

593
00:43:10.500 --> 00:43:14.039
Dorian, it's too then. absolutely not.

594
00:43:14.099 --> 00:43:16.199
Yeah, no way is that happening.

595
00:43:16.260 --> 00:43:17.579
No, no, no.

596
00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:21.659
She's getting makeup tips from it. partner.

597
00:43:21.719 --> 00:43:22.679
Business partner.

598
00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:23.280
Yeah, partner.

599
00:43:23.340 --> 00:43:24.000
Yeah, yeah.

600
00:43:24.059 --> 00:43:30.599
So, and we'll get a groin and pinder later in the season as well for queer representation.

601
00:43:30.659 --> 00:43:50.820
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.

602
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:52.980
So it's kind of the background noise.

603
00:43:52.980 --> 00:44:04.739
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.

604
00:44:04.980 --> 00:44:08.280
So, because their hair took too long to do.

605
00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:10.320
Yes, that's what Chris Boucher says.

606
00:44:10.380 --> 00:44:16.500
I wrote little fan fiction about that once, which is Callie and Dana are on the Liberator flight date together.

607
00:44:16.559 --> 00:44:20.519
And a kind of alien starts materialising and threatening it.

608
00:44:20.579 --> 00:44:25.079
And Dana goes, oh, do we need to call the boys?

609
00:44:25.079 --> 00:44:26.940
And Kelly goes, no, let's just sort this out.

610
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:27.659
They sort it out.

611
00:44:27.719 --> 00:44:31.380
It takes about 3 minutes and they kind of clear up and Callie goes.

612
00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:45.119
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.

613
00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.880
Don't get Avon involved.

614
00:44:48.059 --> 00:44:52.019
He'll come in with this karate chop hand and it'll just it'll just all go wrong at that point.

615
00:44:52.079 --> 00:44:57.119
It left up with a kiss and another dead woman and we could just sort this on out.

616
00:44:57.179 --> 00:44:59.940
And they've like got the hoover out kind of getting the vessels.

617
00:44:59.940 --> 00:45:05.219
And then they kind of sit down with a glass of wine and the book screen, you know.

618
00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:09.000
That's that's the trace of Blake 7.

619
00:45:12.059 --> 00:45:14.820
Well, that's all the time we have for this week.

620
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:20.099
We'll be back next week to find out what the Federation has been getting up to in Traitor.

621
00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:22.619
Until next time.

622
00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:27.539
Remember to keep all kinds of nucleic bursters away from your procreation areas.

623
00:45:27.599 --> 00:45:30.480
Thank you very much for listening and good night.

624
00:45:30.539 --> 00:45:31.739
Ta-ta.

625
00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:32.760
Bye bye.

626
00:45:32.820 --> 00:45:33.719
Bye bye.

627
00:45:39.780 --> 00:45:41.820
That's the power.

628
00:45:41.880 --> 00:45:42.719
Go, go!

629
00:45:42.780 --> 00:45:46.199
30 seconds thrust, amazing.

630
00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:48.239
Switching man.

631
00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:54.480
Maximum power on all drives. now.

632
00:46:03.599 --> 00:46:05.039
Shit.

633
00:46:05.099 --> 00:46:06.420
Yeah, Zencast is not recording.

634
00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:07.739
Zencast is not recording.

635
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:08.519
You are...

636
00:46:08.699 --> 00:46:09.360
Are you recording?

637
00:46:09.360 --> 00:46:11.760
Shit.

638
00:46:11.820 --> 00:46:13.559
I'm recording on voice notes.

639
00:46:13.679 --> 00:46:14.940
Yep.

640
00:46:14.940 --> 00:46:15.960
Well, I mean, we are.

641
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:16.199
Yep.

642
00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:18.119
And I'm recording. recording on.

643
00:46:18.119 --> 00:46:19.619
Okay, I think we'll be okay.

644
00:46:19.679 --> 00:46:20.400
We'll be okay.

645
00:46:20.460 --> 00:46:20.880
Shit.

646
00:46:20.940 --> 00:46:23.519
I pressed 3 different things to record.

647
00:46:23.519 --> 00:46:25.679
And for some reason, Zen Castles, okay, no, we're all good.

648
00:46:25.739 --> 00:46:26.219
Yeah, no, no.

649
00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:27.539
We're recording...

650
00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:28.320
Okay. enough.

651
00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:31.500
I've got my recording of myself that I'm going to send you, so it's not a problem.

652
00:46:31.559 --> 00:46:33.480
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

653
00:46:33.539 --> 00:46:39.840
And I've got a recording of both ends twice and separate recordings of us. usually don't use it.

654
00:46:39.900 --> 00:46:42.719
I'm the one who I'm the one who has to put all this together anyway.

655
00:46:43.199 --> 00:46:45.239
That's just kind of a question.

656
00:46:45.300 --> 00:46:46.440
Oh, why is that not rare?

657
00:46:46.500 --> 00:46:47.280
Oh my god.

658
00:46:47.340 --> 00:46:49.260
I'm just not used to saying that.

659
00:46:49.380 --> 00:46:50.460
We don't use it. don't use it.

660
00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:51.840
For a fight through entirety.

661
00:46:51.900 --> 00:46:53.099
Yes, no, it'll be fine.

662
00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:53.639
Good.

663
00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:54.780
It'll be fine.

664
00:46:54.840 --> 00:46:56.519
Okay, all right.

665
00:46:56.579 --> 00:46:57.780
So what are we doing?

666
00:46:57.840 --> 00:46:58.320
What are we doing?

667
00:46:58.380 --> 00:46:58.860
What are we doing?

668
00:46:58.920 --> 00:47:01.320
What's the countdown to the recital?

669
00:47:02.099 --> 00:47:05.820
Oh, it's still 40 minutes or something, is it?

670
00:47:05.880 --> 00:47:06.780
No less than that.

671
00:47:07.079 --> 00:47:11.280
We've got about 20 minutes. 20 minutes. 20 minutes. 20 minutes.

672
00:47:11.460 --> 00:47:12.840
Okay.

673
00:47:12.960 --> 00:47:16.860
So we've talked Xen Bass, we've talked the regulars, we've talked Sulin.

674
00:47:16.920 --> 00:47:19.440
We've talked about the premise.

675
00:47:19.500 --> 00:47:22.019
We've talked about how terrible Ben Steed is.

676
00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:25.500
We are about 48 minutes in.

677
00:47:25.559 --> 00:47:31.380
Maybe we do kind of final statements or something and then and then wind up.

678
00:47:31.500 --> 00:47:32.159
What do people think?

679
00:47:32.280 --> 00:47:34.199
Yeah, it works for me.

680
00:47:34.260 --> 00:47:35.579
Yeah, that's material, isn't it?

681
00:47:35.639 --> 00:47:37.500
You've got a podcast there, I think.

682
00:47:37.559 --> 00:47:38.639
I think so.

683
00:47:38.699 --> 00:47:40.019
Yeah, no, I think it's been good.

684
00:47:40.079 --> 00:47:41.219
I think it's true.

685
00:47:41.280 --> 00:47:43.739
Yeah, yeah, yeah Jesus Christ.

686
00:47:43.800 --> 00:47:47.159
Well, I've only been doing this for a decade.

687
00:47:47.340 --> 00:47:52.079
Power, an episode so bad we couldn't bring ourselves to talk about it.

688
00:47:52.139 --> 00:47:57.179
No, we'll just have to keep recording it every weekend until Morale approves.

689
00:47:59.340 --> 00:48:01.320
This is the tag.

690
00:48:01.440 --> 00:48:03.840
The tag is the bit where Tony thing?

691
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:13.260
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.

692
00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:14.159
Anyway.

693
00:48:17.219 --> 00:48:29.699
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.

694
00:48:29.760 --> 00:48:38.639
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.

695
00:48:38.699 --> 00:48:40.800
That just ended up working really well.

696
00:48:40.860 --> 00:48:44.340
And I did cheat slightly in the edit, but yeah.

697
00:48:44.460 --> 00:48:45.659
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's brilliant.

698
00:48:46.679 --> 00:48:52.500
I mean, I think you've got a good episode title already, because Una, I think, described the episode as frisky but awful.

699
00:48:52.980 --> 00:48:55.440
That's what I aspire to be.

700
00:48:55.500 --> 00:48:58.920
Yes, your time is right there.

701
00:48:59.219 --> 00:49:03.539
As soon as you said that, I was going to shout...

702
00:49:03.539 --> 00:49:11.940
Well, a show sounds to one of my friends who describes Blake 7 as being about tinsel and nihilism.

703
00:49:12.719 --> 00:49:14.760
Oh, that's awesome.

704
00:49:14.820 --> 00:49:18.599
That's genius. renaming the podcast.

705
00:49:18.659 --> 00:49:20.340
Renaming the podcast.

706
00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:22.800
Tinsillin nihilism.

707
00:49:23.579 --> 00:49:25.079
All right.

708
00:49:25.139 --> 00:49:27.539
Let's do let's do final statements.

709
00:49:28.980 --> 00:49:30.480
James.