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This transcript was created on 2026-06-07 at 22:28:27

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Hello, dear listener, and welcome back to Maximum Power, the only Blake 7 podcast that's about to drop into a hole in the ground, but we may pop back out again for the inevitable Baban versus Alan box set coming soon from Big Finish Productions.

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I'm Brendan.

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I'm Nathan.

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I'm Pete.

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I'm Peter.

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I'm Cy.

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And I'm Simon.

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Well, after a surprise renewal, Blake 7 is back, but not as we know it.

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Callie is dead, but I'm sure her replacement Sue Lynn will find a way to become the cruise moral centre by force or something.

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In place of the liberator.

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We now have Scorpio, which can only go as fast as the liberator with a human sacrifice, and whose teleport requires a certain level of smugness to get it working.

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Servoland isn't coming back, so we have Sleer, but then Servoland does come back, so we have both, sort of.

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We also have a planetary base on Xenon whenever the writer of the week remembers it, and a new computer slave, who Avon and Dana like so much, they start cosplaying as him.

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From the quarry like world of Xenon, we visit the swampy heler tricks, the quarry like Casper, the bucolic bucol 2, the studio bound Pharos, the quarry like domo, a literal quarry on Mecron 2, the sentient sands of Vern, the golden planet Xeroc, the inhospitable Melodar, and the quarry like beta file, before finally settling down in a misty forest on Gouda Prime.

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Well, 6 feet under it anyway.

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It's a bold vision of the future, grim gray, and with only enough luggage space for 3 outfits each.

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Welcome, one and all, to our series D retrospective.

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You make that sound so good.

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I wanna watch it all again.

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More quarries than I remember, I must confess.

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There's a lot of quarries this season.

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Oh, we missed a quarry at the end of gold.

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Oh, yes, God.

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Of course.

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Yeah, gold. fine.

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There's more than one planet.

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Now, I would like to start by thanking our dear listeners.

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I privately set the target of wanting to have more responses than our previous series C retrospective survey, which had a very impressive 113.

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We actually got 10 more this time.

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So we got 123 responses.

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And I'd like to apologise to Fraser, who, I assume, did the survey, but just left out the last 4 episodes or gave them a 3 or something because that's what he did last time.

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With that out of the way, we're gonna go straight into what our listeners and we ourselves thought of the episodes this season, and you may recall that last series, we had a very clear bottom 5 and then a middle and then a top 5 which were all very close.

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In something that's a bit of a trend this season, there's a lot of very clear top 2s and then everything else.

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So, I'm going to start at the bottom.

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What do we think?

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Was the lowest rated episode this season according to our survey?

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I hear a star drive.

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Do I hear any, do I hear any advances on Star Drive?

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Yeah, it's definitely animals.

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I did beg your pardon.

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I hear animals.

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I hear a correction to animals.

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It's animals.

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Average with an average score of one.

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65.

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How many?

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Out of five.

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Okay.

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Out of 20, Simon.

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I have been, that's just as plausible.

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Much more plausible, actually.

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I can see exactly how Og is reacting to that.

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I think despite it being terrible, that is a little bit unfair, given that there was also star driving this scene.

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I would like to point out that while animals did get the highest amount of ones with 75 of our 123 respondents giving it a one.

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It did get 35 out of 5 ratings.

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Okay.

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Find these people, find these people and expel them.

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Who are the 2 who aren't making Blake seven?

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Well, I think another one's OG.

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Let's be honest.

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We sure that they are we sure that they aren't 3 people who sleer strapped into a chair and said, you love it.

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You love it.

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Now, moving up.

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So Animals is the only episode that gets under a 2 and also that includes series C.

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So it's rated worse than Moloch Volcano, Dawn of the Gods, which all got over it too.

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So we get, we're going to move up to under 2.5 now.

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We have already mentioned Stardrive.

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I'm going to throw out the uncontroversial notion that power would also probably fit into the bottom three.

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Do we think it's star drive or power lower?

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It had better not be power.

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It's almost certainly power.

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From that introduction.

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So with an average of 2.39.

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And indeed, the most amount of 2s in the survey, it's power.

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May I may I say something about power at this stage?

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Yes, yes, please do.

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Power is far, far better than its reputation suggests.

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It is a solid, well told, well characterised episode with great dialogue.

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Like, it's a great villa show, for instance.

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I'm not blind to the issues that people have with it, but frankly, I don't share them.

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I think it's not a campfest like Harvest of Chiros.

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It's not offensive, like Moloch.

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I think it's just a victim of Ben Steed's reputation and fairly bizarre preoccupations.

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But otherwise, it's pretty good stuff and I don't understand why people don't like it.

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I think, and I think we decided on the actual episode that we did that power is more sexist than Moloch.

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Uh, and cosmoloch features corrective rape as a hilarious tea time Saturday night theme.

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You know, it gets good solid kicking and it deserves it.

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But we have exposing, you know, female babies and stuff and a basic message from the very, very divorced Ben Steed, that these women don't just shut up. and take what they're given.

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They will be responsible for the destruction of the human race.

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So, I, you know, like we, we thought that it was a fun episode, and I think it has a lot going for it.

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It might be his best episode, except that I have a real massive soft spot for Harvest of Chiros.

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But I think that the sexism of it is really, really bad and people aren't wrong to take that into account, I think.

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But I think the script goes a long way towards mitigating those concerns by championing Dana and the Cesca and making characters like Gunsar, a big old dummy, and commenting on that in the text, and, you know, Dickon Ashworth's performance.

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And let's not forget it's helmed by Mary Ridge.

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And so while I do understand the problems and I certainly understand the problems that people might have with it, I don't share them.

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I think it's a really strong episode.

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There's a, yes, minister, I think it's a yes, ministry episode, where there's a female local counsellor who is giving them all a great deal of trouble.

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And I sort of put it into a very same similar category to that one in that she's represented as being a troublemaker and all the men, all these sort of old white grey-haired men, are all saying how dreadful this woman is, dreadful woman and all that sort of stuff.

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And we're not thanks partly to like the role that Jim Hacker's wife plays in that, for instance.

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You're left with the impression that these old men asked old and stupid and they need to kind of move with the times.

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So, so I'm inclined to agree with Peter.

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I, I, I get that, um, He doesn't do it right, doesn't do it perfectly, but I, I do agree with him that it's not, it is, it is more, much more maligned than it deserves to be.

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It's also the victim of a certain thing that's going on at the time to do with like the whole battle of the sexist thing and, you know, are women the equal of men and all that sort of stuff, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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So it is of that era, but I think if you understand that it's from that era.

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I think you can still kind of enjoy it for what it is of that of that time.

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I'd just like to throw in there.

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Molok got an average of 2.3 versus Powers 2.39.

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Yeah, no.

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So he's quite consistently bad.

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At the harvest, to Cairos for reference, got 2.92.

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So, now, moving up the list, of course, as I implied before, we have Stardrive, which breaks the 2.5 barrier.

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So everything from here on up is average to great.

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Star drive is at 2.76.

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Okay.

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I really enjoy Stardrive.

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I thoroughly enjoyed it this time round. unexpectedly, I think, and I, yeah, I really love those early scenes on Scorpio where they're trying to land on the meteorite.

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There's a real tension and the lights are down and there's it's really nicely done.

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So I know it, it's an episode of 2 halves and the 2nd half is all over the place, but it's always one that I enjoy coming back to watch and I enjoy it more than I expect.

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That 1st half has Dana's best line reading in the history of the show, which is the if there is a next time, which seems unlikely, where she's just so wonderfully, gloriously posh for like a 20 year old, she's fabulous.

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It's so good.

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And Bobocelli is one of our great guest stars.

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Well, we actually...

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Had to be.

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And we'll get to it later, but our listeners had a lot of praise for Barbara Shelley as well.

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She's dignified in the face of everything.

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That's a good thing to be.

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She's like an Eleanor Braun level performance, she gives in a Madcap episode.

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How about Napier?

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Did they have a lot of praise for him?

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Put a packet just goes off on lunch and comes back.

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Yeah, they did want to praise him, but Noah could find him, obviously.

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Yeah. post-title sequence and credit sequence, but like explaining Blake 7 did them.

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That one character that everyone forgot about.

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Oh, he wanders into the base on get out of Prime at the end.

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Oh, they're way too minutes.

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Right.

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Okay, so, look, we have a very clear bottom three, and all 3 of them are the only stories to average under 3 out of five.

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Our next spread of 6 episodes. are all between 3 and four, and in terms of percentage points, they cover a spread of about 15%.

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Okay.

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I have to say that there should be an honourable mention for bottom three, which is games, which is really quite extraordinarily bad, and that doesn't really get the hatred it deserves.

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I thought I thought we decided when we did it that it's at least entertaining.

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And...

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Well, several times how much I was reminiscing fondly about animals while I was watching it.

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James was my lowest rated episode of the year.

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Animals was fun in a messy and massively problematic way, but games, even though there's like there's explosions and there's some great little moments in it.

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Yeah, just Stratford Johns and Serverland scenes, it feels like they're really Jacqueline Pierce is really having to whack out the sort of punchline lines to give it a bit of a bit of something because that's all it's really got to me.

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It is Serverland's probably weakest episode.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, it's like she just...

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It's almost like she wasn't in it and they bunged her in. they thought this is really funny.

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Quick, let's bung her in as well.

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I don't think my doubt.

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That'll stop her being in the finale.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Yeah.

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Right.

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I'm not going to reveal where games is in this 6 just yet.

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Because it'll traumatise Nathan.

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Well, we'll just have to wait and see, but I will tell you, scraping in at 3.06, This one really surprised me.

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And it got the high, it got the highest amount of threes.

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It's traitor.

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Oh, I knew it was going to betray us.

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That's upsetting.

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I'm always very disappointed by traitor.

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I think it's a good Bob Holmes script that's really let down by its director, David Sullivan Hamfist or whatever his name is.

166
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I'm disappointed by your disappointment.

167
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I think the traitor. actually quite entertaining and quite good to watch.

168
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Yes, the direction is not as strong as it could be, but I think fundamentally there's a raft of episodes on the list in front of me which deserve to go below it.

169
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So, I mean, that's only because you would cosplay as Colonel Koot, if you could.

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Can't you see I'm doing it?

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I think it suffers from being in the 1st half of the season and gets tarred with where it is.

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Doesn't that make it like this shining beacon of positivity amongst a sea of subparness?

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But you see, that's what power is to me.

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Both power and traitor. for me.

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So there we go.

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We've all got our It's all downhill after train to really for me.

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Stardrive Animals, 800 and 3 words.

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I think there's that Blake 7 sweet spot where it's borderline getting ridiculous and yet it takes you with it.

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And there are episodes that do that perfectly, which I suspect headhunter hopefully does quite well in this poll. which is, you know, tweak the settings of headhunter a tiny bit and you've probably got an episode that falls to pieces, but they hit it bang on the mark.

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Whereas traitor doesn't really go there and it's just a really straightforward, here we are, we're having a venture on this planet and there's some rebels and, and so it doesn't, it does everything that it does fine and has some great things in it.

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But yeah, but it's that thing of it, who is it?

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Was it you, someone who said on one of the episodes, possibly gold or sand, that it's a great episode of television, but it doesn't give you what you want necessarily from Blake 7?

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That's what I get from Traitor is like the other extreme of that.

184
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It's a perfectly good adventure about some people helping some rebels.

185
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And I don't mark it down for that, but it doesn't give me that extra thing that Blake 7 usually does.

186
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And is that because it's the Dana Tarrant pairing who are down there rather than the Avon Villa pairing or...

187
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Well, why not?

188
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It worked so well in volcano.

189
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What exactly?

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I mean, you know, I think the Dana Tarrant pairing is the best pairing that the show has, except maybe in orbit where you have Bob Holmes doing, you know, Avon and Villa.

191
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But those 2 are really fantastic, I think.

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For me, it's just some incredibly great guest performances in wonderfully written Bob Holmes roles.

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Like, special marks to the general, who is another one of those characters like General Chalak, in case of Andrazani, who is a fucking idiot, or Paul Seeds character in Rebos operation.

194
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You know, where they're clearly an absolute moron.

195
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But they don't play it like they are, and they kind of do it really subtly.

196
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Like I love that stuff.

197
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Yeah, there's a lot to like about trader, but as the director, I truly believe, lets it down.

198
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He also does the studio sequences of Assassin and all of Stardrive.

199
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Like, the location scenes go on forever.

200
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I can only imagine that the production came in 3 minutes under because there's these incredibly long tedious shots on location.

201
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And then when he gets into the studio and the same thing happens in Assassin.

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He can't choreograph fights, and so he just does it all in wide short and it looks terrible.

203
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If I'm going to let a bit of dud studio direction and badly choreographed fight sequences get in my way of enjoying something.

204
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I don't think I'd be enjoying Blake 7 and Doctor Who nearly as much.

205
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There speaks a pennant Roberts fan.

206
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Well, one story that I don't think we can accuse of lazy or unfocused direction, which I'm rather surprised isn't scored higher, is Warlord with 3.17.

207
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Wow.

208
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Oh my goodness.

209
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Wow, okay.

210
00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:54.299
Shame, shame.

211
00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:01.500
I said on our warlord episode that this is another one which I think is criminally underrated.

212
00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.319
Warlord is very close to top tier, Blake 7.

213
00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:09.299
It's not quite there because of a couple of things, but there's a lot of interesting stuff that happens in it.

214
00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.460
I think it's put together in a really interesting way.

215
00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:13.680
Be ashamed if you're self listeners.

216
00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:16.740
It's really the power of the owner's wig.

217
00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:18.299
Like, which...

218
00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:19.680
Do you know what I mean?

219
00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:22.079
That would destroy Citizen Kane.

220
00:17:22.380 --> 00:17:26.220
It's very, very, very bad.

221
00:17:26.339 --> 00:17:29.279
I think that there are just one or 2 things like that.

222
00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:33.720
Like the performance of zookan is really bad and it is really hard to get over that.

223
00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:41.519
But I think it does some really, really exciting things and I watched it yesterday for the 1st time in ages and was astounded by how much I liked it.

224
00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:43.740
And I have been on those escalators.

225
00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:46.259
So that raises it up completely.

226
00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:56.279
I think it is one of those things that, yes, I remember seeing it for the 1st time and being sort of shocked and appalled by everything you've just mentioned, but then when you recover from that.

227
00:17:56.339 --> 00:17:58.140
I never recovered from that.

228
00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.599
Well, when I recovered from it.

229
00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:03.000
I agree with PJ.

230
00:18:03.059 --> 00:18:09.299
I mean, if you're saying it's almost top tier, if you're trying to say it's upper middle tier, then that's probably where I'd rank it.

231
00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:10.859
I think it doesn't deserve to be nearly as low.

232
00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:12.960
There's so much good stuff.

233
00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.059
And letting a wig get in the way with it.

234
00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.619
Well, I go back to my previous.

235
00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:17.940
It's a really bad win.

236
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.319
Yes, but I go back to my previous observation about directing fight sequences in studio.

237
00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:25.799
Okay, if we want to talk bad wigs.

238
00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:31.619
Coming up next with 3.34, it's assassin.

239
00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:39.299
I absolutely can't believe that assassin was rated higher than warlord.

240
00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:44.039
It is great. is great.

241
00:18:44.099 --> 00:18:48.900
I think it I think maybe it's so confidently insane.

242
00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:51.480
I thought you were going to say it so confidently inept.

243
00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:52.019
Yes, it is.

244
00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:54.539
It's confidently in it.

245
00:18:54.660 --> 00:18:55.380
Yeah.

246
00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.000
I mean, what can be said that was not already said on that episode.

247
00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:09.299
I would just like to give a shout out to Pete because he made the all-time best Blake 7 gift.

248
00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:11.759
It took a lot of editing.

249
00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:14.039
I work for absolute genius.

250
00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:18.779
I put more time into editing that her death scene down than I think was actually put into recording that scene.

251
00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:23.400
I have to go to under 10 seconds and...

252
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:29.099
I transcribe every ugh and every ugh...

253
00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:40.079
It's probably indicative of the many levels that we enjoy Blake 7 on, but Carolyn Holdaway's performance as Pirie is definitely one of my favourite Blake 7 performances.

254
00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:43.859
Did she have other work?

255
00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:48.960
No. an interior decorator, I think, now, or something.

256
00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:50.940
Lollipop lady, something.

257
00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:51.839
I remember.

258
00:19:51.900 --> 00:19:54.720
Totally in the what the hell are you doing, steaks?

259
00:19:54.779 --> 00:19:56.880
It's up there with Governor LeGrand.

260
00:19:57.059 --> 00:20:01.019
Yes, I think it's...

261
00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:04.440
Although she's in some BBC costume drama with Govel on the Grand and she was exactly the same.

262
00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:06.779
Oh, she was, sure.

263
00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:08.220
But she was playing an aristocrat.

264
00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:10.799
So it was kind of maybe that's her thing.

265
00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:13.259
A shrewd maxim, Pete.

266
00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:20.880
Shrewdly approaching the middle of the list with 3.50.

267
00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:23.460
Its headhunter.

268
00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:25.140
Oh.

269
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.660
I always think Headhunter deserves to do better.

270
00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:43.319
I really like the episode and I really enjoyed our discussion on it that didn't feel like we'd even scraped the surface of the episode because we were talking so much about the general chaos of getting Blake 7 on screen at the start.

271
00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:46.079
So yeah, there was lots to love in this episode.

272
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:52.500
And I would certainly rate it higher than another episode that is coming up that we haven't had yet that Nathan doesn't like.

273
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:53.220
Yeah.

274
00:20:54.059 --> 00:21:02.099
I think it is that thing of it being on that, the sweet spot of silliness to action to invest it and like, you know, when it's lumbering across the bridge.

275
00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:15.059
If that's the sort of clip, the headless robot lumbering across the bridge would get put in something like teleaddicts on BBC One to howls of laughter from the audience, which is completely different to howls of loving laughter from a Blake 7 podcast.

276
00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:19.140
People who don't get it aren't allowed to laugh.

277
00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.160
I could see that being where people might mark it down though because it is. silly.

278
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:23.880
But I love it.

279
00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:32.819
I was interested listening to our podcast on it that it was marketed at the time as a comedy horror because actually thinking about it, it is a comedy horror.

280
00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.200
Like, that is the 2 things it is.

281
00:21:34.259 --> 00:21:38.279
It also gets bonus points for giving Su Lyn, the 1st glimmerings of a character.

282
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:40.019
Absolutely.

283
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.619
Yeah, even if it's Cali that was originally having those lines.

284
00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.779
Kelly had a great character.

285
00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.720
You wouldn't know where to begin.

286
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:56.220
That's so good I think the location work at the end is really pretty great as well. really enjoy that.

287
00:21:56.279 --> 00:22:03.599
It left me wondering which of the tribes on that planet was responsible for bridge maintenance, though, because that little iron that little iron bridge was very well looked after.

288
00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:07.440
They're nailing and sort of things.

289
00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.779
No, I think it's the guy who ran the computers in his basement who did that almost.

290
00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:13.740
Oh, of course, yes.

291
00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:15.299
Pharaoh and ball.

292
00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.559
Yeah, of course he would.

293
00:22:16.619 --> 00:22:19.259
So moving up just ever so slightly.

294
00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:24.180
Only inching ever so slightly ahead of Headhunter with 3.54.

295
00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:25.980
It's games.

296
00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:32.339
So games is an episode that's about nothing at all and has no ending.

297
00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:35.579
It's completely incomprehensible.

298
00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:40.859
And no one's doing their best work, I find that absolutely baffling.

299
00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:42.660
How is that better than a saddle?

300
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:44.579
I mean it's just terrible.

301
00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.420
Nathan is firing up in those right now, listeners, I'm sending your surveys back to you.

302
00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.980
You have to say...

303
00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:51.299
Do it again, please.

304
00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:54.779
We're doing that.

305
00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:57.119
Can you please do power again and get it right?

306
00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:04.799
Yes, exactly Nathan, would games have been enlivened for you with the deleted porn scene featuring Stratford upon Avon?

307
00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.720
Oh my god.

308
00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:08.160
Oh no.

309
00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:10.680
Oh God, you've been saving that one up, haven't you?

310
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.240
That's been simmering there for a while.

311
00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.420
It depends about 1982.

312
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:24.299
He just took a post-it note off the top of his laptop monitor.

313
00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:31.200
I lived not far from there and I went to Trafford and I took a very nice picture of me and my sister there a while ago and I went to send it to her.

314
00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:34.380
I went to my phone and typed Avon into the search bar to find this picture.

315
00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:36.480
I touched Stratford on Avon.

316
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.720
It helpfully gave me 100s of bloody gifts for some reason.

317
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:56.220
For the next one, we do have a bit of a jump, and while this is the last story to be under an average of four, it is a fair bit ahead at 3.84 with rescue.

318
00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:56.640
Rescue.

319
00:23:56.700 --> 00:23:57.720
Yeah, okay.

320
00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:14.579
So kind of what we're seeing there is, the series starts off very strong, goes through an average to bad period which culminates with animals, and then we get headhunter, after which it only once drops below 3.5 again for our listeners and that's warlord.

321
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.640
I think that's sort of the received wisdom, isn't it?

322
00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:21.299
That sort of within fandom that rescue is a really great opener.

323
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:28.319
Chris Boucher really efficiently writes himself out of the situation they've got themselves into.

324
00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:35.640
And tells a competent tale with brilliant, brilliant dialogue.

325
00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:45.119
And it's a really difficult one because I really like it, but it's difficult to argue that it's top flight Chris Boucher in some ways.

326
00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:58.079
So I think he's got so much to do that he can't do the things that he normally does, but the direction and the dialogue are really fantastic and you can see everyone really enjoying being back, I think.

327
00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:04.019
I can just imagine him sitting at this typewriter, pounding it, going, lift, you scruffy bag of bolts, lift.

328
00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:06.720
I'll use that later.

329
00:25:06.779 --> 00:25:12.119
I mean, there's one or 2 episodes, which haven't been mentioned yet, which I put the rescue ahead of.

330
00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:25.140
Not just to do with the writing, as you've suggested, but also to do with the guest cast, because I think it's unquestionable that Jeffrey Burrage really adds so much to the character he's given, and he's just really, really great.

331
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:39.059
And when when for me, when I'm watching anything, whether it's Blake 7, Doctor, whatever, and average 2 moderately good story, as long as it sort of reaches a minimum threshold, is lifted into the stratosphere when you have performances like that.

332
00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:40.920
You mean you're here by choice?

333
00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:41.819
For example.

334
00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:43.259
Always the moment.

335
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:46.200
Yeah, he just changes and it's just art is superb.

336
00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:46.980
Yeah, absolutely.

337
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:51.299
Simon, also, I think about Darian Angardi from Horizon, who lifts an already good score.

338
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:52.859
Yeah, exactly.

339
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:53.460
Exactly.

340
00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:55.740
That's another excellent example of what I'm talking about.

341
00:25:55.799 --> 00:26:01.319
I think it's as good a season opener as redemption all the way back, which is high praise.

342
00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:03.299
Not as good as aftermath, but then very little is.

343
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:09.240
It's almost impossible to reformat the series without any of the architecture of the previous seasons around it.

344
00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:10.440
But somehow Chris Boucher does it.

345
00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:16.680
And it's an amazing basically giving us part 2 of a two-part, 18 months after part one as well.

346
00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:18.240
And there was a repeat.

347
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:18.839
I remember I think.

348
00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:25.019
But still, you know, picking those threads up and still writing something that works as a cohesive 50 minute story in its own right.

349
00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:27.299
That's very clever writing, that is.

350
00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:31.559
And it gets extra points for having a puppet alien, which I like.

351
00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:35.160
That's really good alien.

352
00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:36.240
A really probably good one.

353
00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:38.819
Not Moloch, properly good puppet alien, I think.

354
00:26:38.940 --> 00:26:41.400
You're not talking about the sea devil, are you?

355
00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:42.660
I was about to say.

356
00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:45.660
No, he's not even a twink.

357
00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:53.819
As we approach our top four, all of which got above four.

358
00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:58.319
And by the way, Headhunter got the highest amount of fours, but that didn't get it into this category.

359
00:26:58.380 --> 00:27:05.759
So in broadcast order, I'm going to say these top 4 are Sand, Gold, Orbit and Blake.

360
00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:10.079
So just missing out on a podium finish.

361
00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:13.500
With 4.08 is gold.

362
00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:17.460
Okay.

363
00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:19.259
I mean, that's fair.

364
00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:20.940
Yeah, with those other three.

365
00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:21.720
Yeah.

366
00:27:21.779 --> 00:27:22.140
Yeah.

367
00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:25.440
I mean, I've got my...

368
00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:30.000
Gold is quite a bit better than sand. but I think there's a lot of tenetly lovers out there.

369
00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:42.359
I think gold is basically 2 action sequences, and it's not really about anything, whereas sand is about something, and I think it has been...

370
00:27:42.420 --> 00:27:44.039
Yeah, that's right.

371
00:27:44.099 --> 00:27:44.880
It has no action.

372
00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:45.599
It is quite slow.

373
00:27:45.660 --> 00:27:51.119
But I was more bored by Gold's action than I was by Sands in action.

374
00:27:51.180 --> 00:28:04.859
It's nice just to have a proper science fiction writer come in once a year to tidy the place up a bit, I think, you know, and this is if anything better than uh, better than sarcophagus.

375
00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:07.619
Gold is my favourite of the season.

376
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:17.640
So I just think it's a stunningly brilliant, entertaining, fun story with possibly the best guest star of the year.

377
00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:21.180
I think Roy Kinnear is absolutely perfect.

378
00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:26.940
Me and Pete were discussing this last night, actually, because he's he's not paired with Servolan.

379
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:31.859
He gets to really shine because he's paired with Avon and the crew throughout.

380
00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:41.759
And so you've got that extra level of jeopardy about what's going to happen, sort of his reactions and his nervousness all the way through.

381
00:28:41.819 --> 00:28:53.940
I think it's a really brilliant, entertaining episode and it would always be the episode of series D that I would choose to put on for someone who'd not seen series D at all because everyone gets something to do.

382
00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:57.779
I like the fact that he has individual relationships with each of the crew.

383
00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:02.519
He has like, he has his relationship with Villa where he's like, you know, Villa's not around.

384
00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:03.839
He's always cagey around him.

385
00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:07.440
The way he sort of sidles up to Su Lin and calls her pretty one and everything.

386
00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:08.940
It's really well written.

387
00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:15.720
And can I also say, Brian Lighthill, who directs gold and orbit brings an incredible confidence to the productions.

388
00:29:15.779 --> 00:29:25.079
Yeah, considering he's not directed the show before, and it's not an easy show to direct, he makes it seem effortless and does different things with both of his episodes.

389
00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:28.259
Let's see how he goes on audio 10 years later.

390
00:29:29.099 --> 00:29:31.079
Well, no one's perfect.

391
00:29:33.180 --> 00:29:46.319
Moving into the top three, the remaining episodes in order of broadcast are Sand Orbit Blake, and I'm just going to do a quick round, Robin, and I want you each to give me what you'd put first, 2nd and third.

392
00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:47.279
So, Nathan.

393
00:29:47.339 --> 00:29:48.900
Sand Orbit Blake.

394
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:49.559
Simon?

395
00:29:49.619 --> 00:29:51.119
Orbit Blake Sand.

396
00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:52.079
Pete?

397
00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:53.759
Orbit Sand, Blake.

398
00:29:53.819 --> 00:29:54.720
Peter?

399
00:29:54.779 --> 00:29:55.980
Orbit Blake Sand.

400
00:29:56.039 --> 00:29:56.880
Sorry.

401
00:29:56.940 --> 00:29:58.740
Blake Orbit Sand.

402
00:29:58.799 --> 00:29:59.519
Right.

403
00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:02.220
I don't think I would put Blake in the top three.

404
00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:07.500
I don't think I put sand in the top three I'm going to tell you.

405
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:10.920
I'm going to tell you all. that one of you got the order exactly right.

406
00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:16.799
Coming in 3rd with 4.28 is sand.

407
00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:17.940
Yeah.

408
00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:18.539
Okay.

409
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:19.019
Yep.

410
00:30:19.079 --> 00:30:24.059
I can see that because Tanaflee's stories generally divide people.

411
00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:39.599
There are people who absolutely love them and there is quite a lot of people who really don't get on with them, but I think this does so much great work for Jacqueline Pierce, who this year has been hugely underserved a lot of the time.

412
00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:59.099
And so to give her an episode where she is the central character, is long overdue, and the fact that Taniflee based lots of stuff in this episode, on her, on Jacqueline Pierce's own life experiences, give it that extra Frisson and stuff, and she is magnificent.

413
00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:02.819
That line, which says there are no women like me.

414
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:04.440
I am unique.

415
00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:07.019
It's just power is my love.

416
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:08.880
Yeah, it's it's brilliant.

417
00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:16.859
But it's an difficult production, and I think sometimes that puts people off.

418
00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:23.220
The planet is very much like vortice on film with lots of greenstand.

419
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:24.480
You say that like it's a bad thing.

420
00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:27.539
It's not.

421
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:30.480
It's not what Blake Stefan does a lot of the time.

422
00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:35.220
And I think maybe that's what sort of takes it down a couple of points perhaps.

423
00:31:35.339 --> 00:31:40.079
It's a dinner party. and that's that's amazing. and I love it.

424
00:31:40.140 --> 00:31:56.099
But like it's, I'm pleasantly surprised that it, well, that it is in the top 3 because I think it does deserve that and it's good to have a left field episode scoring so highly when we've got plenty of straight down the middle, straight down the line, action episodes as well. if it's holding its own against.

425
00:31:56.220 --> 00:32:00.059
There are so many good moments and it's so many good lines and so many good sequences.

426
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:04.559
But as I said during the episode, I just, for me, as a whole, it just doesn't hang together.

427
00:32:04.619 --> 00:32:08.039
I'm not particularly entertained by it as a whole.

428
00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:15.299
There was some great moments, but shame there wasn't sort of better stuff around it or it didn't go together. well It's just my...

429
00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:16.319
Well, there you go.

430
00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:33.779
See, for me, it's the last gasp of weird Blake 7 and things like dawn of the gods, web, duel, you know, the sort of thing where there is some something in the past that's alien and incomprehensible, sarcophagus is one of those as well.

431
00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:41.460
And those episodes don't always succeed, but it's something that I love about Blake 7 that occasionally, it's not just pursuit ships chasing the liberator.

432
00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:58.380
It's something weird and and Eldrich and unknowable, and that's what we get here, and it operates in such a way that it reveals character, which again is something that Blake's haven't really, really doesn't do for all the reading character stuff into it that we, we enjoy doing.

433
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.900
It doesn't really do it, but it does properly do it here.

434
00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:04.799
And I think it's bigger than the 50 minute episode as well.

435
00:33:04.859 --> 00:33:10.380
You know, there's that wonderful thing. the little tiles that Avon is moving around.

436
00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:23.700
It's a probability square, and so there's something about that world and the way the elements interact, sand and water and air and electricity and stuff that's not really in there, but it's hovering around the edge of it.

437
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:32.400
It's a bigger episode than the 50 minutes and it is a proper science fiction episode, which is not something I think Blake 7 should generally attempt.

438
00:33:32.460 --> 00:33:36.059
But it's nice to see it do it, you know, every so often.

439
00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:41.940
I'm not surprised that Kate really likes it, for instance. as a science fiction writer.

440
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:48.180
And also, you know, even for all of that, Nathan, it still operates like sarcophagus does as a ghost story.

441
00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:53.819
And so it's got that kind of traditional atmosphere to it, which does work.

442
00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:54.480
I'm with Simon.

443
00:33:54.539 --> 00:33:55.619
I think it's got lots of good stuff.

444
00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:00.240
I don't think it quite all comes together, so I wouldn't put it in the top three, but it is good.

445
00:34:00.299 --> 00:34:07.980
I thought Zion's wig was the last gasp of weird, like said. weird in a much worse way.

446
00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:16.079
I think calling a character diva and getting David Collings to play him is the last gasp of weird.

447
00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:19.199
Ah, David Coins.

448
00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:46.500
I do like that Taniffle comes in and fixes lots of things that we've all been missing in series D and deals with Callie's death and deals with how Servoland got off the liberator, even if it's a cursory thing, that she's got that little attention and there's that little bit of time all this way along to mention Callie and for the way that Villa reacts and says, shut up.

449
00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:47.820
You don't, you were there.

450
00:34:47.880 --> 00:34:49.559
You don't know about this moment.

451
00:34:49.619 --> 00:35:05.699
It's really brilliant. sort of little bit of grief, you know, it's, uh, yeah, it's just that attention to the characters that she brought with sarcophagus as well that I think really, really works as the character dynamics as well.

452
00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:16.559
Well, I think she manages to do that and do a Blake 7 episode with the Federation chasing the sheep. which he doesn't do in sarcophagus, which kind of makes it sort of perfect for me.

453
00:35:17.579 --> 00:35:18.960
Right.

454
00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:20.940
So moving on to the top two.

455
00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:28.679
Now, last time I do recall, there was some controversy because we only had a .01 between the 2 averages.

456
00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:40.800
I'm pleased to say that we have a wider gap between the scores for Blake and Orbit, not by much, so we have one at 4.54 and one at 4.58.

457
00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:42.960
Okay.

458
00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:46.739
And last time, it was 4.54 and 4.55.

459
00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:48.599
I remember Simon New in particular.

460
00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:52.679
I think your words were statistically similar enough to count as a tie.

461
00:35:53.159 --> 00:35:54.719
Sounds like it.

462
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:56.039
That sounds like I might have said something like that.

463
00:35:56.099 --> 00:35:58.440
Which is totally fair.

464
00:35:58.500 --> 00:35:59.460
Okay.

465
00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:02.219
So I'm just gonna blurt it out.

466
00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:04.199
At number two, we have orbit.

467
00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:05.579
At number one, we have Blake.

468
00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:08.039
Yeah, as explained, that's the wrong end.

469
00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:10.019
Not surprised at all in the slide.

470
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:19.860
Blake also gets the highest amount of fives of our 123 respondents 90, which is almost 75% gave Blake a five.

471
00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:22.500
I think I gave it a three.

472
00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:30.360
Orbit was not far off. with 86 hikes.

473
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:35.280
I don't think it's surprised that those are the top 2 for this season.

474
00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:40.079
They're both doing very different things, obviously, but one's being good.

475
00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:45.179
One has a brilliant ending.

476
00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:50.579
I think Orbit's the best episode of the season.

477
00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:56.880
It's not in my top 5 episodes of Blake 7 because there are so many good episodes in series B and C.

478
00:36:56.940 --> 00:37:09.900
But I just I struggle to think of another sci-fi TV show that could pull off something because majestically camp and entertaining us orbit and not even have to stretch the format very far to do it.

479
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:11.400
Yeah, yeah.

480
00:37:11.460 --> 00:37:12.360
And that's the point.

481
00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:13.380
The remarkable. yeah, you're right.

482
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.380
Because the remarkable thing about it is that it doesn't feel like it's broken the show.

483
00:37:16.440 --> 00:37:19.440
It doesn't feel like it's doing something different.

484
00:37:19.559 --> 00:37:21.119
Oh, you know, we've only got 3 episodes to go.

485
00:37:21.179 --> 00:37:21.960
Let's just have a laugh.

486
00:37:22.019 --> 00:37:29.099
I can see an episode in a parallel universe which would have been exactly that and it would have been appalling and everybody would absolutely hate it.

487
00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:34.619
But you're right, orbit just works so perfectly, even though there's no other Blake 7 episode like it.

488
00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:37.139
Yeah, and it's because it's Robert Holmes, isn't it?

489
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:37.860
Yeah.

490
00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:47.760
Give a comedy drama episode to someone, give it to Robert Holmes because he can absolutely do it while keeping the characters absolutely true to form.

491
00:37:47.820 --> 00:37:53.519
And again, lifted into the stratosphere by performances, John Severdon being absolutely spectacular.

492
00:37:53.579 --> 00:37:54.420
Absolutely amazing.

493
00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:58.079
I think if I and Simon, the problem was they couldn't lift into the stratosphere.

494
00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:18.360
It's an example of taking, even though it's, it's a very heightened performance and very camp performance, it's still, it, every single line is thought about how he's going to deliver it and every single line is delivered consistently with the one before.

495
00:38:18.420 --> 00:38:25.860
There's never a, my god, where did that performance, something come from inner sequence. all beautifully constructed by him.

496
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:27.239
And that sells it.

497
00:38:27.300 --> 00:38:30.179
I mean, for me, yeah, in amongst us all at all.

498
00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:45.780
It can almost overlook the revelation of what happened to Pinder and what Agrarian had done to him and his fate there is so moving and like Robert Holmes doesn't just write satirical action, this is a really moving episode and then that sets up.

499
00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:49.500
Is Avon going to do you absolutely believe that Avon Wood?

500
00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:54.360
Oh, I have to believe that he would, but also, but also that he is a bit conflicted about it.

501
00:38:54.420 --> 00:38:57.000
And he'd rather not at the end.

502
00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:04.199
That and Jacqueline Fierce just hit having a final real blast of perfectly written campness.

503
00:39:04.260 --> 00:39:09.119
This is my favourite episode of Blaze Haven by a mile. yeah Ah, that's a good one.

504
00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:13.559
I think that's an absolutely understandable position today.

505
00:39:13.619 --> 00:39:19.679
You know, we've been putting Servoland alongside the kind of secondary villain all season.

506
00:39:19.739 --> 00:39:24.119
We haven't had her interacting with people and she's been with Stratford Johnson.

507
00:39:24.179 --> 00:39:29.880
She's been with various people with spherical heads in that hotel room that she...

508
00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:31.440
And paradise around the galaxy.

509
00:39:31.619 --> 00:39:33.599
And Karen...

510
00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:39.840
Like her and those 2 are just absolutely superb, unbelievably great.

511
00:39:39.900 --> 00:39:45.719
And they've stopped doing the thing they were trying to do in series C of trying to find her a replacement, Travis.

512
00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:51.900
I mean, she does that, there are, she has some, you know, officers around her, but that's not the focus of her relationship anymore.

513
00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:56.219
It is, yeah, it's her being camp and evil to someone from Rada.

514
00:39:56.340 --> 00:39:59.880
And it just, this is what science fiction was invented for.

515
00:39:59.940 --> 00:40:01.260
Absolutely.

516
00:40:01.320 --> 00:40:08.039
And, you know, it's so beautifully written because it's got the smallest guest cast of any Blake 7 episode.

517
00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:11.460
There are so few characters in this episode.

518
00:40:11.579 --> 00:40:22.199
And so you get so much time to get to know those characters, and it's so economical, and it's probably, Chris Boucher say, we haven't got much money.

519
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:26.219
You can have 2 extra speaking parts and the regulars.

520
00:40:26.280 --> 00:40:30.539
Go for it and see what happens and look what happens.

521
00:40:30.599 --> 00:40:31.199
This is amazing.

522
00:40:31.619 --> 00:40:40.739
The Jeremy Bentham school of Doctor Who critique was fond of talking about Robert Holmes' double X. Holmesey and double X, they used to call them.

523
00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:44.639
There has never been a better one than Agrarian and Pinder.

524
00:40:44.699 --> 00:41:00.059
And I think something that's not often commented upon is the way the users are growing and Pinder, as a reflection of Avon and Villa, and the fact that Avon, not so much this season, but previously could be quite casually cruel to Villa.

525
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:05.940
And it's just interesting that that is what Robert Holmes has picked up on because he clearly likes Avon and Villarous characters.

526
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.400
And so he's put some thought into what makes their dynamic work.

527
00:41:08.460 --> 00:41:11.099
So that's orbit.

528
00:41:11.159 --> 00:41:16.980
Now, we all had a shot at Blake, but does anyone have anything to ask?

529
00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:18.780
Avon was the only man who actually hit him.

530
00:41:22.679 --> 00:41:35.820
It's very interesting because as we record this, the 2 sides haven't heard each other's episodes, so I don't know what what you Australians think of this and you don't know what me and Pete think of the episode.

531
00:41:35.820 --> 00:41:39.420
I mean, Nathan's already said, what he thinks.

532
00:41:39.480 --> 00:41:40.440
Yes exactly.

533
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:58.019
Actually, yes, my opinion wasn't widely shared, but I do think I do think that we did manage to get some sort of agreement that some things in Blake are done much better in terminal, you know, the sort of final things in terminal.

534
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:04.500
And maybe everyone agreed that everyone was being a massive fucking idiot on that day for some reason.

535
00:42:04.559 --> 00:42:07.380
And we couldn't quite work out why.

536
00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:22.559
But for me, like I think the ending is astounding and there's a reason why people, we went out to dinner a couple of weeks ago and someone had just arrived 50 minutes after seeing Blake for the 1st time because of the podcast.

537
00:42:22.619 --> 00:42:24.900
It's absolutely incredible.

538
00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:31.860
It's an amazing choice, but I think it's in an episode that is really not very interesting and isn't about anything.

539
00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:37.619
There's just sort of lots of people wandering around a forest until we make some dumb decisions and then all die.

540
00:42:37.679 --> 00:42:40.260
I mean, that does sound like Blake 7 to me.

541
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:41.639
I was going to say that.

542
00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:43.739
Except for the all die.

543
00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:45.000
That's harvest of Cairos.

544
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:51.179
I mean, you can distil any episode down to its parts like that and make it sound dreadful.

545
00:42:51.239 --> 00:43:05.280
But I think for some reason, I think it works despite that there are other comparable episodes which are equally uneventful, which I don't like, for instance, dual cyclicate destroy and so on like that, that are very popular out there.

546
00:43:05.340 --> 00:43:12.719
But Blake is the one which I really do actually like and I do think is actually properly good, especially as a way to wrap up the show.

547
00:43:12.960 --> 00:43:20.039
I mean, I think the parts of it are also very good, but it is the ultimate example of the whole being better than the parts.

548
00:43:20.099 --> 00:43:27.659
What it delivers and the way it ends the series is, I think, unmatched in virtually any other television show.

549
00:43:27.719 --> 00:43:28.920
Absolutely.

550
00:43:28.980 --> 00:43:47.639
And one of the parallels we drew was the fact that the way back features an underground massacre with faceless federation guards coming in and the series ends with a faceless bunch of guards coming in and massacring people underground.

551
00:43:47.699 --> 00:43:54.599
And it's just like, I don't know if that was intentional and it was like something that hits as we were recording it.

552
00:43:54.659 --> 00:44:02.940
It's not something that, because we'd been thinking about it, but that unintentional mirroring of where we began absolutely works.

553
00:44:03.000 --> 00:44:09.659
It's like terminal. is an episode that wrongfoots you from the start where the tone is is wrong.

554
00:44:09.719 --> 00:44:14.519
Everything from the Xenon base exploding behind them as the Scorpio takes off.

555
00:44:14.579 --> 00:44:23.219
Everything is. is unsettlingly just weird and strange and not like a normal Blake 7 episode.

556
00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:25.500
And I think that's what gets you through to the end.

557
00:44:25.559 --> 00:44:28.380
Yeah, there's that shock of how have they just blown up the base.

558
00:44:28.500 --> 00:44:40.440
That would have been, surely, that's an entire episode's worth of drama about the episode where the bass gets blown up. and the fact that they just do it in scene one. immediately leaves you a bit, you know, where is this taking me?

559
00:44:40.500 --> 00:44:47.940
Of course, Star Trek, the Next Generation, completely ripped off of Blake's, a previous Blake 7 cliffhanger, right down to the fire as they go into battle on their cliffhanger.

560
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:55.559
I mean, it was, it was 4 years until Dynasty got around to completely ripping off the end of this episode with the Moldovan wedding massacre.

561
00:44:55.619 --> 00:45:11.159
Which I suspect, had there been a series E, would have got a pretty similar, anyone whose agent accepted to a slight reduction in their contract, would probably have miraculously had a copy of the safe... that saved them from the laser blasts or something.

562
00:45:11.280 --> 00:45:16.619
God, I would have loved to have seen Dana trying to get off Galta Prime dressed up as a nun.

563
00:45:18.420 --> 00:45:20.280
That would be Villa.

564
00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:21.059
That would be Villa.

565
00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:25.440
I have an observation to make, though, about all these episodes.

566
00:45:25.500 --> 00:45:29.219
Si, did you say that you'd show someone who'd never seen Black 7 before?

567
00:45:29.219 --> 00:45:30.420
You'd show them gold?

568
00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:34.199
I think someone who'd never seen series D. Right.

569
00:45:34.679 --> 00:45:45.420
Because yes, well, because an extension of that is the observation I would make is if I had to show a Blake 7 episode to someone who'd never seen one before, I would choose none of these.

570
00:45:45.539 --> 00:45:49.260
I would choose none from series D. And now that's what I'm saying.

571
00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:50.579
I don't like a lot of them.

572
00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:55.260
There are some that I don't like, but there are many that I do and quite like.

573
00:45:55.320 --> 00:46:00.599
Yet you cannot give a Blake 7 newbie any of these episodes to start them off, I feel.

574
00:46:00.659 --> 00:46:01.380
No.

575
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:07.739
The one that I chose when my new partner wanted to see what Blake 7 was like was aftermath.

576
00:46:07.800 --> 00:46:10.019
Yeah, excellent choice.

577
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:10.679
Excellent choice.

578
00:46:10.739 --> 00:46:11.159
F choice.

579
00:46:11.219 --> 00:46:11.760
Fair choice.

580
00:46:11.820 --> 00:46:12.300
Yeah.

581
00:46:12.360 --> 00:46:15.659
I mean, you've also had to choose the kind of episode that appeals to somebody.

582
00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:21.900
So when I showed Jack Shanahan his 1st plate 7 episode, I showed him rumours of death, and I knew he would like that style of episode.

583
00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:23.880
Good pick.

584
00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:30.000
Right, we have...

585
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.219
Our first North Marrier void.

586
00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:35.159
And I'm giving this one to Si.

587
00:46:35.639 --> 00:46:36.360
Okay.

588
00:46:36.420 --> 00:46:39.000
Snog, marry, big hair, don't care.

589
00:46:39.059 --> 00:46:41.340
Your options are Zookan.

590
00:46:41.400 --> 00:46:46.679
Atlan and Chulcer, who is Rick James in Warlord.

591
00:46:47.460 --> 00:46:53.940
Well, I mean, what a what a choice of riches I've got.

592
00:46:54.420 --> 00:47:00.840
I think in some ways you've probably got to avoid Atlan because he probably smells awful.

593
00:47:00.900 --> 00:47:04.800
You know, and his hair is unwashed.

594
00:47:04.860 --> 00:47:07.199
Yeah, I think that's probably fair.

595
00:47:07.260 --> 00:47:12.119
So, That puts me an invidious choice.

596
00:47:12.179 --> 00:47:21.480
So I think I'll probably just snog, Chelsea, because words are just, Words.

597
00:47:22.860 --> 00:47:31.260
And so I'm going to marry Zukan because I might at least stand a chance of getting out of this alive.

598
00:47:31.320 --> 00:47:34.380
Yeah, he does have a lot of new territories.

599
00:47:34.440 --> 00:47:37.199
You might inherit them, perhaps. absolutely.

600
00:47:37.260 --> 00:47:38.519
He's got a lovely man, man.

601
00:47:38.579 --> 00:47:40.619
You'd also inheritance, yeah.

602
00:47:40.619 --> 00:47:41.579
Your name was a stepdaughter.

603
00:47:41.639 --> 00:47:42.960
She is dead, to be fair.

604
00:47:43.079 --> 00:47:43.980
Yeah, yeah.

605
00:47:44.039 --> 00:47:46.920
She took a glove off. took her glove off.

606
00:47:51.300 --> 00:47:56.820
So we're gonna move into what our listeners thought of our regulars.

607
00:47:56.880 --> 00:48:01.980
I asked our listeners to choose their top 3 regulars, one, two, and three.

608
00:48:02.099 --> 00:48:09.900
And as with last time, if someone got a one, that was worth 3 points, if someone got a two, that was worth 2 points, and if someone got a three, that was worth one point.

609
00:48:09.960 --> 00:48:23.280
I'm pleased to say that much like the episodes, every character out of Avon, Villa, Dana, Tarrant, Sulin, or Ak, Servolin, and Slave got at least one top vote.

610
00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:24.599
Even slain?

611
00:48:25.019 --> 00:48:29.039
People actually thought Slave was the best character in the season.

612
00:48:31.019 --> 00:48:35.280
Exactly, one person thought Slave was the best character of the season.

613
00:48:35.340 --> 00:48:36.119
Okay.

614
00:48:36.179 --> 00:48:39.480
I'm going to start at the bottom of the list.

615
00:48:39.539 --> 00:48:43.619
And so with 5 points, it's slave.

616
00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:45.659
I'm ever so humble.

617
00:48:45.780 --> 00:48:47.400
He's very endearing.

618
00:48:47.460 --> 00:48:48.179
Yeah.

619
00:48:48.420 --> 00:48:50.760
I'm not I'm not shocked.

620
00:48:50.820 --> 00:48:51.900
I'm not shocked.

621
00:48:52.019 --> 00:48:54.179
I mean, it's a nice, it's a really nice conceit.

622
00:48:54.239 --> 00:49:03.960
Going from a computer, a computer that is Zen, that is God, and you don't understand that it's material to a computer that is completely obsequious and looks up to you and all of that.

623
00:49:04.019 --> 00:49:05.940
They wanted to do something different.

624
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:08.460
Yeah, it restored my faith in the human race.

625
00:49:09.659 --> 00:49:15.179
I quite like the prop, I have to say. looks good.

626
00:49:15.239 --> 00:49:16.980
And he gets some nice moments of humour.

627
00:49:17.039 --> 00:49:20.760
I do always love the, I can find no flight controls.

628
00:49:21.659 --> 00:49:24.059
Sorry, that was the backup?

629
00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:24.719
Was that?

630
00:49:25.079 --> 00:49:25.559
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

631
00:49:25.619 --> 00:49:26.699
That's a great moment.

632
00:49:26.820 --> 00:49:35.820
There's also that amazing moment where Terrence is trying to get out of trouble and you just go like, come on, to slave and slaves like, oh, oh, um, try these coordinates.

633
00:49:36.059 --> 00:49:36.960
It's just fantastic.

634
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:38.099
Yeah.

635
00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:52.800
I also really like one of the idiot ball moments of Blake, which is Slave tries to tell them something and they tell him to shut up and Aurak tells him to shut up and then Slave finally reports, we are approaching Gau to Prime and the Scorpio is under attack.

636
00:49:52.860 --> 00:49:53.699
Boom.

637
00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:56.460
Right.

638
00:49:56.519 --> 00:49:59.280
So moving, moving ever so slightly up, look.

639
00:49:59.340 --> 00:50:05.039
Look, thank you, slave, for 13 episodes where you probably did more than Gan, who knows?

640
00:50:05.099 --> 00:50:05.880
Probably.

641
00:50:06.179 --> 00:50:08.099
Or in a cape.

642
00:50:08.159 --> 00:50:16.739
Moving up with an equal score of 26, we have 2 characters, but one did get 3 top slots and one did get 2 top slots.

643
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:20.519
It's Taranton Aurak on 26 apiece.

644
00:50:20.639 --> 00:50:21.539
Wow.

645
00:50:21.659 --> 00:50:22.860
Okay.

646
00:50:22.980 --> 00:50:28.079
Tarant gets one more top score than or actors.

647
00:50:28.139 --> 00:50:29.880
Why do people hate Tarant?

648
00:50:29.940 --> 00:50:31.440
I don't understand it at all.

649
00:50:32.699 --> 00:50:34.980
It's Blake 7.

650
00:50:35.039 --> 00:50:39.539
They're all twats, you know, I love Harry, but I wouldn't actually vote in number one.

651
00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:42.599
I vote everybody else apart from the computers, number one.

652
00:50:42.659 --> 00:50:45.780
I've got to say I warmed to him a bit. in this season.

653
00:50:45.900 --> 00:50:51.780
Because he isn't trying to be acting like he ought to be thinks he should be the captain anymore.

654
00:50:51.840 --> 00:50:53.280
He knows his he knows his place.

655
00:50:53.340 --> 00:50:54.300
He goes off, he has his missions.

656
00:50:54.360 --> 00:50:57.840
He sometimes disobeys his orders out of a sense of right and wrong.

657
00:50:57.900 --> 00:50:58.980
That's still a thing for him.

658
00:50:59.039 --> 00:51:01.739
So, yeah, I warned him this year.

659
00:51:01.800 --> 00:51:04.679
He's a bit more chill and he's kind of funny.

660
00:51:04.739 --> 00:51:06.659
You know, I'm a growing landfilla.

661
00:51:06.719 --> 00:51:08.280
Rats are not the answer.

662
00:51:08.340 --> 00:51:16.019
He's like much more relaxed, and you pair him with Josette Simon, who is just the best actor in the show.

663
00:51:16.079 --> 00:51:18.300
And the 2 of them are really great together.

664
00:51:18.360 --> 00:51:20.579
Like, I don't know, I don't get the hatred at all.

665
00:51:20.639 --> 00:51:23.460
Nathan, I think the answer is he's young.

666
00:51:23.519 --> 00:51:24.780
Brave, handsome.

667
00:51:24.840 --> 00:51:28.199
There are 3 good reasons for anyone not to like him.

668
00:51:29.159 --> 00:51:31.079
He be it.

669
00:51:31.139 --> 00:51:32.039
That may be it.

670
00:51:32.099 --> 00:51:35.340
Us basement probably nerds.

671
00:51:35.820 --> 00:51:40.559
However, you can't say that about Aurak, who's also on 26.

672
00:51:40.739 --> 00:51:43.079
Or actually, I'm David Hansen.

673
00:51:44.460 --> 00:51:53.099
Or is fascinating this year because he's written Prissier than ever and is very much the lead computer now.

674
00:51:53.219 --> 00:51:54.239
Of course, yeah.

675
00:51:54.300 --> 00:51:55.139
It's really great.

676
00:51:55.199 --> 00:52:00.960
And he gets his hero moment of just being a box of flashing lights, which is part of the plot in orbit.

677
00:52:01.019 --> 00:52:04.320
So, you know, yeah, I think Peter Tottenham is really great.

678
00:52:04.380 --> 00:52:14.340
And my favourite ever Aurak moment is the moment where he sort of almost stifles a laugh before he says, It's worse than that.

679
00:52:14.460 --> 00:52:16.320
Yeah, yeah, so good.

680
00:52:16.380 --> 00:52:18.239
It's so brilliant.

681
00:52:18.300 --> 00:52:21.300
He gets the punchline of the episode, which is so good.

682
00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:25.440
And the same in Headhunter with the, yes, master.

683
00:52:25.500 --> 00:52:26.280
Yes.

684
00:52:26.340 --> 00:52:33.059
That moment where the girder comes crashing down on Aurak in Warlord, left a mark on 10-year-old me.

685
00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:33.900
I was quite shocked.

686
00:52:34.019 --> 00:52:38.639
Yeah, and when his sound effects goes all wobbly after that, it's, yeah.

687
00:52:38.699 --> 00:52:47.579
So we do have a very clear bottom 3 with Tarrant Aurak and slave because we immediately jump to 42 and 45 points in the middle of the list.

688
00:52:47.579 --> 00:52:50.280
Now, here's the interesting thing.

689
00:52:50.400 --> 00:52:57.059
The character who gets 42 gets more 1st places, then the character who gets 45.

690
00:52:57.539 --> 00:53:04.440
However, the character who gets 45 was a lot of people's 3rd favourite choice.

691
00:53:04.619 --> 00:53:15.300
So at 42 points, we have Dana and at 45 points, we have Su Lin, but Dana was more people's favourite than Su Lin was.

692
00:53:15.360 --> 00:53:17.039
That surprises me.

693
00:53:17.099 --> 00:53:18.960
I thought it would be at least the other way round.

694
00:53:19.019 --> 00:53:20.760
I was expecting them to be around the middle.

695
00:53:20.820 --> 00:53:30.719
What surprised me watching this season back was how well served even if it is animals, but how well served Dana is in the 1st half of the season.

696
00:53:30.780 --> 00:53:33.780
She is really driving a lot of the story.

697
00:53:33.840 --> 00:53:38.820
She's, she's there. really, really strong, much stronger than I remembered.

698
00:53:38.880 --> 00:53:49.139
Because I always thought this was the season where they let Dana down and they didn't do enough for her, but actually she gets a lot to do throughout, at least that 1st half.

699
00:53:49.139 --> 00:53:52.079
And she's always, always brilliant.

700
00:53:52.139 --> 00:53:53.099
Yeah.

701
00:53:53.159 --> 00:54:03.000
There does seem to be a thing that they can only cope with writing for 2 really good female characters at once, and Jacqueline Pierce parks her van on one of those, and then the rest of the season.

702
00:54:03.059 --> 00:54:05.699
You have phases where through this series.

703
00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:10.139
Yeah, like the 1st half, lots of good stuff for Dana, the 2nd half, lots of really good stuff for Sulin.

704
00:54:10.199 --> 00:54:25.260
I think Sulin, finding her groove, or no, the writers, collectively, finding a really good groove for Sulin towards the end of the series, as, you know, the Colin Davis, the writer of gold, said that Boucher told him always gives Sulin the nastiest thing to say in any of her scenes.

705
00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:27.300
She the one who has something nasty to say something.

706
00:54:27.360 --> 00:54:29.639
And he really went with that.

707
00:54:29.699 --> 00:54:35.219
And I think Dana suffers in the 2nd half of being a bit eclipsed by that because she's the nice one.

708
00:54:35.340 --> 00:54:36.900
I want to say nice.

709
00:54:36.960 --> 00:54:47.099
I mean, I mean, she's she's very reliable and she doesn't have any of the sort of foibles that all the other characters have, particularly through that last half.

710
00:54:47.159 --> 00:54:55.559
But then in the 1st half she's having to be Calli in animals in particular, which doesn't work at all where she's trying to use her telepathy to appease the animal.

711
00:54:55.619 --> 00:54:57.360
That's not going to work.

712
00:54:57.420 --> 00:54:58.019
You just shot his friend.

713
00:54:58.079 --> 00:55:11.400
I guess that was originally written for the 2 different characters to do, and then when they weren't sure whether they'd have saloon or not, both of those acts got given to her, which puts her front and centre, but also makes her character just a bit disconnected from itself in some ways.

714
00:55:11.460 --> 00:55:21.480
In a way, Sulin, if she's being given the role of person who says the nastiest thing, we already have one of those, I think, and that's Avon.

715
00:55:21.539 --> 00:55:25.500
And her and Avon aren't too similar, I think.

716
00:55:25.559 --> 00:55:30.960
And I just don't think they ever land with anything for her to do as a character.

717
00:55:31.019 --> 00:55:34.619
Um, and I do think the Glynis is pretty great.

718
00:55:34.679 --> 00:55:35.760
Do you know what I mean?

719
00:55:35.820 --> 00:55:39.000
And has some quippy lines which she handles really well.

720
00:55:39.059 --> 00:55:42.059
She's really good in warlord in particular, I think.

721
00:55:42.119 --> 00:55:54.300
But, you know, Josette, Simon is so, so far better than her, just generally as an actor, and she really, really only ever fails in, in animals.

722
00:55:54.360 --> 00:56:02.159
I just think it's, it's, um, that's a bafflingly strange kind of set of choices that lead to that outcome.

723
00:56:02.219 --> 00:56:03.900
I think she's easily.

724
00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:05.400
I think she's the best actor on the show.

725
00:56:05.460 --> 00:56:07.139
Like, you know.

726
00:56:07.199 --> 00:56:11.579
And not the best character, obviously, but she's pretty great.

727
00:56:11.699 --> 00:56:14.820
I think Glynis is a match for any of the other regulars.

728
00:56:14.820 --> 00:56:21.360
Once they start writing for Su Lin, I would argue, like you said, Nathan, she's one of the best things about Warlord and maybe Assassin as well.

729
00:56:21.420 --> 00:56:35.340
But it is a shame like you were saying, Pete, that Dana loses her kind of pleasant, sarcastic edge that she has in SiriC, where she will just sit there castigating the other characters for inaction and whatever.

730
00:56:35.400 --> 00:56:38.159
She kind of loses that a little bit and becomes a bit more generic.

731
00:56:38.280 --> 00:56:42.539
You know, I've just been watching Josette in the latest Bridget Jones film.

732
00:56:42.599 --> 00:56:45.000
She's reliably wonderful and she's looking radiant.

733
00:56:45.059 --> 00:56:49.380
And there's a moment where Bridget says to her, says to her character.

734
00:56:49.440 --> 00:56:52.380
I love your early work and I sat there thinking, what, animals?

735
00:56:54.780 --> 00:56:56.699
Me, surely.

736
00:56:58.980 --> 00:57:03.599
That brings us to our top 3 and surprising. absolutely no one.

737
00:57:03.659 --> 00:57:05.280
It's the same top 3 we had last season.

738
00:57:05.340 --> 00:57:07.440
Also surprising, absolutely no one.

739
00:57:07.500 --> 00:57:08.639
There's a huge jump in points.

740
00:57:09.599 --> 00:57:17.219
So the top character gets 299 points with the most amount of 1st being 82.

741
00:57:17.400 --> 00:57:20.400
The 2nd character gets 165 points.

742
00:57:20.460 --> 00:57:30.840
With the most amount of seconds at 49 and the 3rd character gets 130 points with the most amount of 3s at 30.

743
00:57:32.280 --> 00:57:34.320
And look, I'm not going to make people guess.

744
00:57:34.380 --> 00:57:37.199
We all know, Servolan is third.

745
00:57:37.260 --> 00:57:40.199
Villa is 2nd and Avon is first.

746
00:57:40.320 --> 00:57:42.179
I'm not surprised by that.

747
00:57:42.239 --> 00:57:44.699
No, she's underused in it.

748
00:57:44.760 --> 00:57:45.960
I mean, she's clearly...

749
00:57:45.960 --> 00:57:47.460
Yeah, her best work is not...

750
00:57:47.460 --> 00:57:48.599
The best stuff is mostly seasoned.

751
00:57:48.659 --> 00:57:49.679
Yeah, yeah.

752
00:57:49.739 --> 00:57:50.219
But yes.

753
00:57:50.280 --> 00:57:50.820
Yeah, yeah.

754
00:57:50.880 --> 00:57:51.659
Yeah.

755
00:57:51.719 --> 00:57:52.559
And you know what?

756
00:57:52.619 --> 00:57:54.300
I think even if she hadn't been underused.

757
00:57:54.360 --> 00:57:57.719
I don't think she would have beaten Villa and Avon.

758
00:57:57.780 --> 00:58:20.340
No, I don't think Avon is so front and centre throughout most of this series that, obviously, he's he's going to win because he's got more to do than anyone else and Darrow is going full Darrow this year and it's a startling performance in a lot of cases, but you can't take your eyes off him the whole time.

759
00:58:20.400 --> 00:58:26.400
It's startling, but but often not actually very good, I think, is a problem.

760
00:58:27.780 --> 00:58:38.820
Whereas Michael Keating, I think, gives his best performances most of this year. and he's really consistently brilliant even when he's not got a lot to do.

761
00:58:38.880 --> 00:59:00.840
So in something like gold, that subtle change where he takes charge after they think Avon and Sulin have been have been killed is really great, and he's really competent at it unexpectedly, and he's got a real edge a lot of the time, and he's not always the victim like he is in orbit.

762
00:59:00.900 --> 00:59:02.039
He's really really good.

763
00:59:02.099 --> 00:59:08.340
I think we've noticed on previous seasons that Michael Keating is able to save anything.

764
00:59:08.400 --> 00:59:16.679
And I think that stands him in good stead this season, especially in the 1st half where things are a bit choppy and rushed and characters are miscaracterized a little bit.

765
00:59:16.739 --> 00:59:20.219
He is just thoroughly consistent all the way through.

766
00:59:20.280 --> 00:59:22.500
And I think of power.

767
00:59:22.559 --> 00:59:27.659
I think that's one of his best performances because Villa is very well served.

768
00:59:27.719 --> 00:59:31.860
And Villa is kind of this binding agent in scenes.

769
00:59:31.920 --> 00:59:39.480
You can reliably turn to him for a bit of comedy or a quick quip or to undermine what's happening in the scene and poke at it or whatever.

770
00:59:39.539 --> 00:59:41.519
Not only the other characters fulfil that function.

771
00:59:41.699 --> 00:59:51.780
Yeah, I always remember that bit in rescue where they're talking about the guns failing, and the way he looks down at the gun that he's got, and then sporting have a gun, you know?

772
00:59:51.840 --> 00:59:56.400
It's just that quiet, silent moment that he's so good at.

773
00:59:56.880 --> 01:00:06.179
I just think that this series benefits now, really, from no, where a series C is very much a series about the absence of Blake and how are we going to factor that in?

774
01:00:06.239 --> 01:00:12.719
Now that they've got that kind of over and done with, ironically, considering where this series does end, we know we're not hunting for Blake anymore.

775
01:00:12.780 --> 01:00:14.099
We're not, what are we going to do now?

776
01:00:14.159 --> 01:00:14.820
We not got Blake.

777
01:00:14.880 --> 01:00:18.000
We're going to have heists and missions and most of them will go wrong.

778
01:00:18.059 --> 01:00:19.139
Do it even go right?

779
01:00:19.199 --> 01:00:19.980
Do they want?

780
01:00:20.039 --> 01:00:23.159
They get the teleport and they get the star drive, don't they?

781
01:00:23.760 --> 01:00:25.920
Are the only episodes that they win?

782
01:00:25.980 --> 01:00:30.420
I think there's a bigger problem with Siri C, which is that they're not doing anything.

783
01:00:30.480 --> 01:00:31.320
Do you know what I mean?

784
01:00:31.380 --> 01:00:37.139
Blake gets one or 2 mentions, but basically we're just wandering around the ruins doing things.

785
01:00:37.260 --> 01:00:38.039
There's nothing.

786
01:00:38.099 --> 01:00:48.659
And I think that one of the things that Lorimer brings is a actual shape to the season and a mission statement, which is made clear at the beginning and is there all the way through to the end.

787
01:00:48.719 --> 01:00:49.980
I think that's good.

788
01:00:53.579 --> 01:00:55.800
Wrap it fire round.

789
01:00:55.860 --> 01:00:58.079
What planet would you like to live on?

790
01:00:58.139 --> 01:01:21.420
So just to give the listener a recap of the planets this season, we, of course, have Xenon seen in several episodes, we have Helotrix in Traitor, Casper in Stardrive, Buccol 2 in Animals, Faros in Headhunter, Domo in Assassin, Micron 2 in Games, Vern in Sand, Xeroc in Gold, Maladar in Orbit, Betafal in Warlord, and Gouda Prime in Blake.

791
01:01:21.480 --> 01:01:25.679
So, Si, where do you want to live?

792
01:01:25.739 --> 01:01:28.619
What an embarrassment of quarries.

793
01:01:28.679 --> 01:01:39.000
I'm going to go for the one from games because at least it's by the sea and it's really sunny and warm. you have been there, haven't you?

794
01:01:39.059 --> 01:01:41.099
And I have been there several time.

795
01:01:41.159 --> 01:01:49.440
Cole went just before we started recording these episodes and it's a spectacular location is really cool.

796
01:01:49.500 --> 01:01:51.119
Despite the oldest used mining equipment.

797
01:01:51.179 --> 01:01:51.780
Yep.

798
01:01:51.840 --> 01:01:58.860
So, Psy is living on Mecron 2 and hopefully he doesn't get a triangular game cartridge in his back.

799
01:01:58.920 --> 01:02:00.300
That would be about.

800
01:02:01.320 --> 01:02:02.940
Nathan.

801
01:02:03.000 --> 01:02:09.000
I'm gonna live on Xenon, I think, on Xenon base, actually, before the wine runs out.

802
01:02:09.059 --> 01:02:11.519
When I was a kid.

803
01:02:11.579 --> 01:02:18.420
I really, really love the idea of them having a bass and I loved how absurdly 80s it was.

804
01:02:18.480 --> 01:02:22.559
You know, like it's just one Ple 80s with the, you know, waiting room, isn't it?

805
01:02:22.679 --> 01:02:28.860
Yeah, yeah, the maidenhair ferns and stuff and like those little sort of computer things with buttons to press.

806
01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:30.719
I was watching Dana Press buttons today.

807
01:02:30.780 --> 01:02:33.539
I thought I could press the hell out of some of those.

808
01:02:33.599 --> 01:02:35.280
I love Tracy Island.

809
01:02:35.340 --> 01:02:45.599
And like it's nice outside, you know, like there's a quarry at one end, but there's quite a nice forest at the other end, you know, so I think I'm definitely there.

810
01:02:45.659 --> 01:02:47.760
They have a big tally, you know, it's good.

811
01:02:47.760 --> 01:02:48.239
Great.

812
01:02:48.300 --> 01:02:49.619
Thank you very much.

813
01:02:49.679 --> 01:02:50.460
Peter.

814
01:02:50.519 --> 01:02:52.679
I'm going to live somewhere that you didn't mention.

815
01:02:52.739 --> 01:03:06.420
I'd like to live on Zondor in Warlords because spending all day going up down the escalator at a shopping mall in a pile in 50 stupor sounds very attractive to me and probably not that divorced from my daily life.

816
01:03:09.179 --> 01:03:18.719
I think Tarrant has the best drugs of the season, though, like better than the pylene 50 that those guys have. in gold has the best drugs of the season.

817
01:03:18.780 --> 01:03:20.460
What a good idea.

818
01:03:21.960 --> 01:03:23.579
Brilliant.

819
01:03:23.639 --> 01:03:24.719
And yes, you're right, Peter.

820
01:03:24.780 --> 01:03:28.619
I did miss the planet of the escalators and the jelly numbers on the head.

821
01:03:28.679 --> 01:03:30.840
So thank you, Brendan, how could you?

822
01:03:31.320 --> 01:03:33.480
Pete, where would you live?

823
01:03:33.539 --> 01:03:51.179
I feel being glittery and shiny, so I'm going to live on Xeroc. the planet of gold, where they mysteriously mind gold, despite the fact that the planet has gold all over its surface as well, because it's gold, when you look at it hanging in space, because the people doing the FX shot didn't get the memo that the gold is actually meant to be underground, but actually they're pretending it's vegetables.

824
01:03:52.619 --> 01:04:00.420
I could nip onto the space princess every time I wanted to get stoned and pretend that I was going on a cruise and actually it's just a freight run.

825
01:04:00.599 --> 01:04:02.219
Marvellous.

826
01:04:02.280 --> 01:04:04.139
And finally, Simon.

827
01:04:04.199 --> 01:04:06.599
Well, I have to live on Xenon base as well.

828
01:04:06.659 --> 01:04:07.739
I mean, how could you not?

829
01:04:07.800 --> 01:04:09.000
It's luxurious.

830
01:04:09.059 --> 01:04:09.780
I mean, it's great.

831
01:04:09.840 --> 01:04:11.219
And I love the spiral staircase.

832
01:04:11.280 --> 01:04:14.880
And I wouldn't even mind being Dorian's sea devil twink in the basement.

833
01:04:18.780 --> 01:04:25.920
Simon, I think you would go very well on Gauder Prime amongst all the other thieves, killers, mercenaries.

834
01:04:26.460 --> 01:04:28.260
Psych.

835
01:04:28.260 --> 01:04:34.320
And they're the nice people.

836
01:04:34.440 --> 01:04:44.639
I think I'm going to go for Xenon bass as well. add myself in there because yet, you both make a very good argument, particularly, you know, it's it's the one place that doesn't just seem to be one environment.

837
01:04:44.699 --> 01:04:46.739
Yeah, Zenon, here where I come.

838
01:04:46.800 --> 01:04:49.500
Doesn't Xenon sound like a gay nightclub?

839
01:04:49.559 --> 01:04:50.880
Probably.

840
01:04:50.940 --> 01:04:53.460
There's a twink in the basement.

841
01:04:59.639 --> 01:05:01.079
Okay.

842
01:05:01.139 --> 01:05:05.760
Pete, Snog, Mary, dear God, I hope that's a gun in your pocket.

843
01:05:06.599 --> 01:05:09.179
Agrarian.

844
01:05:09.239 --> 01:05:12.659
Keila Belkov.

845
01:05:17.340 --> 01:05:21.179
I mean, he's hoping that you like the bigger gentleman, Pete.

846
01:05:24.420 --> 01:05:25.980
Yeah.

847
01:05:26.039 --> 01:05:26.820
Yeah.

848
01:05:28.800 --> 01:05:32.400
Okay, I'm going to marry Keila because he's funny.

849
01:05:32.460 --> 01:05:33.840
He would keep me entertained.

850
01:05:33.900 --> 01:05:34.619
Fair enough.

851
01:05:35.039 --> 01:05:35.519
Yep.

852
01:05:35.760 --> 01:05:47.460
I, I, I'm gonna have to slog Agrarian, um, and, uh, because he, I, maybe he'll take away my youth and I, no, I don't want to do that.

853
01:05:47.519 --> 01:05:48.480
Don't go around.

854
01:05:48.539 --> 01:05:49.260
Okay.

855
01:05:49.260 --> 01:05:54.599
He butter the tack it on funnel for a connubial relationship with you.

856
01:05:58.019 --> 01:06:01.260
Vitachion funnel's got me into enough trouble over the years.

857
01:06:01.980 --> 01:06:04.440
Actually, I'm going to switch.

858
01:06:04.500 --> 01:06:05.340
I'm going to go.

859
01:06:05.400 --> 01:06:14.159
I will I will stog Stratford Jones because at least, I don't know, the Rada is maybe could be a turnoff for some people.

860
01:06:14.340 --> 01:06:17.400
And I hope it's a gun for a glory.

861
01:06:17.460 --> 01:06:19.139
Because of what he did to his lovely Pinder.

862
01:06:19.199 --> 01:06:22.739
Actually, the maltreatment of young Twinks is a theme in this series.

863
01:06:23.219 --> 01:06:26.579
What do you at least look what Totalad does to all of hers.

864
01:06:32.940 --> 01:06:37.920
Moving on, though, we're going behind the scenes to look at writers and directors.

865
01:06:38.099 --> 01:06:41.340
Oh, this had better go the way I think it does.

866
01:06:41.400 --> 01:06:49.199
So for writers, I'm just going to go rapid fire and say that there were 4 writers who didn't get a single vote apiece.

867
01:06:49.260 --> 01:06:52.559
And I think for some of these, it's deserved and for some of these, it's not.

868
01:06:52.619 --> 01:07:05.400
So with no votes whatsoever, we have Ben Steed, who wrote Power, Jim Follett, who wrote Star Drive, Alan Pryor, who wrote Animals, and Roger Parks, who wrote Headhunter.

869
01:07:05.460 --> 01:07:08.519
Oh, Roger Parks deserves more, I think.

870
01:07:08.579 --> 01:07:12.059
I think Roger should have got at least a one, in my opinion.

871
01:07:12.119 --> 01:07:15.780
He deserves a retroactive one for children of our on, surely.

872
01:07:15.840 --> 01:07:17.340
You were only as good as your last work.

873
01:07:17.400 --> 01:07:21.360
I mean, he's the most improved writer across the series, I think.

874
01:07:21.420 --> 01:07:29.460
He gives he gives Linda Bellingham, the amazing how the hell are you going to read that line line of, I'm not a cyberneticist, which he says with a meaning smile.

875
01:07:31.320 --> 01:07:36.179
As if she was really telling you what the star sign was. can only make gravy.

876
01:07:36.719 --> 01:07:40.019
Moving up with one vote.

877
01:07:40.739 --> 01:07:46.619
And Nathan, if you could keep your reaction to under 10 minutes, it's Bill Lyons for games.

878
01:07:46.679 --> 01:07:48.480
We drink wine tonight?

879
01:07:48.539 --> 01:07:50.699
Who voted again?

880
01:07:54.000 --> 01:08:01.260
It's his 1st science fiction and not just the 1st he's written, the 1st he's ever read or seen.

881
01:08:01.260 --> 01:08:04.619
Not the 1st he's been in.

882
01:08:05.159 --> 01:08:06.780
That's true.

883
01:08:07.139 --> 01:08:09.119
You should not run here.

884
01:08:09.239 --> 01:08:10.739
This is dangerous to run.

885
01:08:14.039 --> 01:08:19.199
As always, we hope there's a white crossover between our listeners and Doctor Who fans.

886
01:08:19.920 --> 01:08:22.020
What are the chances of that?

887
01:08:22.439 --> 01:08:27.359
He wrote the ending to games after Mary Peach gave him a swift kick to the head.

888
01:08:27.659 --> 01:08:38.579
Our next 3 writers all get 2 votes apiece, and they are Rod Beecham for Assassin, Colin Davis for Gold, and Simon Masters for Warlord.

889
01:08:38.640 --> 01:08:50.579
And, you know, considering that the big disparity in score between gold and Warlord, I think I think that really speaks to who the top 3 are.

890
01:08:50.640 --> 01:08:55.020
But yeah, I think possibly Colin Davis deserved more, but I'm glad he at least got some votes.

891
01:08:55.199 --> 01:08:57.659
Simon Masters was one of mine.

892
01:08:57.720 --> 01:08:59.939
I don't think he's actually the best writer of the season.

893
01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:08.039
That is clearly either Chris Boucher or Robert Holmes, but I wanted to give him some praise for coming in and doing a really 1st rate 1st time job on Warlord.

894
01:09:08.159 --> 01:09:08.880
Yeah.

895
01:09:08.880 --> 01:09:09.779
Absolutely.

896
01:09:09.840 --> 01:09:16.680
And there are so many people who are writing for the series for the 1st time this year, that's that's quite laudable in its last year.

897
01:09:16.739 --> 01:09:30.779
You know, Chris Boucher has gone out and found new authors and they just haven't had maybe the experience that our top 3 have had of writing for the show before or knowing the show inside out, you know?

898
01:09:30.840 --> 01:09:34.500
So I think it's sort of understandable that these people are there.

899
01:09:34.560 --> 01:09:45.659
And also that we do have some who have written consistently badly for the show are write down at the bottom and they are living down to their reputations.

900
01:09:51.720 --> 01:10:00.000
Can I add a caveat to that at this point because I think one of the things that series D really suffers from what the show misses terribly is Terry Nation.

901
01:10:00.119 --> 01:10:01.439
Absolutely.

902
01:10:01.439 --> 01:10:04.439
His steady hand would have vastly improved the season.

903
01:10:04.500 --> 01:10:04.859
I think.

904
01:10:04.920 --> 01:10:22.380
And can you just imagine replacing, say, Stardrive animals and games with 3 episodes of the quality of pressure point countdown and God, power play or terminal, which is really miss his clarity of storytelling, I think, and the season would have very different if we'd had some episodes from him.

905
01:10:22.560 --> 01:10:35.939
I think it would have then changed the flavour of it such. because he would have been writing for a different series and I think the series is too different in series D. Maybe because he's absent. right.

906
01:10:36.000 --> 01:10:48.359
I also think that he's displayed in the past an inability to come up with new ideas for something he'd successfully created and did a really good job on.

907
01:10:48.420 --> 01:10:51.539
You know, so I think he basically runs out of ideas.

908
01:10:51.600 --> 01:10:59.279
But, but, okay, if Chris Boucher was feeding him ideas like, okay, Terry, we need an episode about this and it was heavily sort of edited.

909
01:10:59.340 --> 01:11:00.840
Maybe I'd agree with you.

910
01:11:00.899 --> 01:11:20.460
I'm going to have to challenge you on that, Simon, because I agree with you in respect of series A, where he was trying to put together 13 episodes and was struggling, but I think the 3 episodes he writes for series B, and especially the 3 episodes he writes for series C, are brimming with ideas and some of the best examples of Blake 7.

911
01:11:23.520 --> 01:11:25.859
There aren't any plagues in series D, either.

912
01:11:28.560 --> 01:11:30.600
People mining at least.

913
01:11:30.659 --> 01:11:32.399
Yes, exactly. here.

914
01:11:32.460 --> 01:11:35.760
There's a radioactive airborne virus at some point.

915
01:11:35.819 --> 01:11:37.260
Oh, there we go.

916
01:11:37.319 --> 01:11:37.500
Yeah.

917
01:11:37.560 --> 01:11:39.000
It's 2 things.

918
01:11:39.479 --> 01:11:41.819
Yes, and a virus.

919
01:11:41.880 --> 01:11:42.840
It's really touristy.

920
01:11:46.619 --> 01:11:54.659
Now I don't think the top writer is going to be a surprise to anyone, but with 71 votes, it's Chris Boucher.

921
01:11:54.720 --> 01:11:55.560
Okay.

922
01:11:55.560 --> 01:11:56.039
Yeah.

923
01:11:56.100 --> 01:12:01.380
And he, you know, he does write the episode that our listeners have declared the best of the season.

924
01:12:01.439 --> 01:12:15.840
He writes Blake, he writes rescue, and, you know, he does invent a new format, which doesn't always work, but I think it was John Helm, who was one of our guest gave us a lot of insight into the development of the season, when he joined us.

925
01:12:15.899 --> 01:12:18.359
I mean, Chris Boucher never lets you down, does he?

926
01:12:18.479 --> 01:12:18.720
Ever.

927
01:12:18.779 --> 01:12:19.800
No, no, no.

928
01:12:19.800 --> 01:12:25.439
Chris Boucher's hand is all over the dialogue throughout the season, you know, like it always is.

929
01:12:25.500 --> 01:12:29.399
And he's that steadying presence throughout this.

930
01:12:29.460 --> 01:12:48.840
He's the one who knows the show best at this and without him, the show would really flounder, he keeps the characters steady, generally, he writes brilliant dialogue, and even in an episode, you can always sense where he's come in and just improved things.

931
01:12:48.899 --> 01:12:54.539
You know, he's really, really consistently good throughout the whole 4 years.

932
01:12:54.600 --> 01:13:05.460
And let's use the example of the 1st half of the season, which we do know was put together in a hurry and was, you know, people were chasing their tails a little bit. everyone else comes in and does a rush job.

933
01:13:05.520 --> 01:13:11.159
He comes in and writes a perfectly great, awesome episode under the same restrictions.

934
01:13:11.819 --> 01:13:16.859
That leaves Robert Holmes and Taneth Lee in 2nd and 3rd place.

935
01:13:16.920 --> 01:13:20.159
And I can tell you there's one point between them.

936
01:13:20.279 --> 01:13:23.399
Okay, what an amazing couple they would have made.

937
01:13:25.500 --> 01:13:30.539
I would want to invite them to every dinner party or extra dinner party that I don't have.

938
01:13:31.800 --> 01:13:36.239
So they got 22 and 23 second.

939
01:13:36.300 --> 01:13:39.239
Is Robert Holmes with 23 and Tanneth Levy.

940
01:13:39.300 --> 01:13:43.560
Very respectable 22, considering there's only one script.

941
01:13:43.619 --> 01:13:46.619
Which basically means the top 3 this season.

942
01:13:46.800 --> 01:13:51.960
Just substitutes Robert Holmes for Terry Nation compared to last season.

943
01:13:52.079 --> 01:14:03.840
I just think Bob Holmes should be praised all the time by everyone about everything that he ever does because I suspect that he never realised how incredibly great he is.

944
01:14:03.899 --> 01:14:18.300
You know, he's the person who wrote, he's written the 2nd biggest amount of Doctor Who, you know, and he's produced just a variety of really wildly great scripts for Blake 7 over the years.

945
01:14:18.359 --> 01:14:20.220
So I'm kind of happy for that.

946
01:14:20.279 --> 01:14:34.739
I think, you know, Tannethlea is a science fiction writer and a literary science fiction writer and you can see that in her script, but he's just a proper, solidly entertaining and funny television writer, and both of his scripts this year are great, I think.

947
01:14:34.800 --> 01:14:36.899
He can turn his hand to anything.

948
01:14:36.960 --> 01:14:37.859
Look on Doctor Who.

949
01:14:37.920 --> 01:14:40.920
You can write spearhead from space, he can write cave zone designing.

950
01:14:40.979 --> 01:14:43.199
He can come over to Blake 7 and right orbit.

951
01:14:43.260 --> 01:14:47.399
They are all wildly. different genres within sci-fi.

952
01:14:47.460 --> 01:14:48.779
And he's like Chris Boucher.

953
01:14:48.840 --> 01:14:52.199
He can turn his hand to any genre within sci-fi and make it work.

954
01:14:52.500 --> 01:14:55.680
I just want to say it as well about Taneth Lee.

955
01:14:55.739 --> 01:15:09.720
You know, we hear stories now from where Doctor Who is at this time and in the years to come, trying to get science fiction novelists in, and them struggling to put together a television script.

956
01:15:09.779 --> 01:15:17.340
And I'm including Stephen Gallagher in that as much as I love Warrior's Gate, you know, even he talks about they had to take out so much stuff.

957
01:15:17.399 --> 01:15:20.640
I'm not a script writer, someone else wrote the script of my ideas.

958
01:15:20.699 --> 01:15:29.819
Taneth Lee, who is a respected novelist, comes along to this camp old sci-fi show and gives us sarcophagus and sand.

959
01:15:30.359 --> 01:15:34.020
Do you think part of that could be the quality of the script editor?

960
01:15:34.140 --> 01:15:35.399
Absolutely.

961
01:15:35.460 --> 01:15:40.500
I think it could well be the quality of the script editor they're working with. and Tannifle...

962
01:15:40.500 --> 01:15:41.640
Lack thereof on Doctor Who.

963
01:15:41.699 --> 01:15:42.000
Yeah.

964
01:15:42.060 --> 01:15:46.619
Yeah, and Cannibley was a fan of the show before she wrote for it.

965
01:15:46.680 --> 01:15:55.619
She really enjoyed the 1st year and and loved the characters, particularly Avon and Canny, who she puts into one of her novels.

966
01:15:55.680 --> 01:16:00.060
So you can see this love for the show, sort of coming from her.

967
01:16:00.119 --> 01:16:03.479
She wants to give them really good stuff to work with.

968
01:16:03.539 --> 01:16:15.000
And I think you don't have to invent the world in Blake 7, although you often do, and you have to write something that has a sort of set shape that goes for 50 minutes.

969
01:16:15.060 --> 01:16:17.819
I think Doctor Who's a harder job. than that.

970
01:16:24.359 --> 01:16:29.100
Right, speaking of coming in and creating worlds, we move on to directors.

971
01:16:29.159 --> 01:16:38.159
We had five directors this season, in rough order of appearance, we had Mary Ridge, David Sullivan Proudfoot.

972
01:16:38.819 --> 01:16:40.439
Blake 7's 1st Hobbit director.

973
01:16:40.500 --> 01:16:41.279
Yes.

974
01:16:42.720 --> 01:16:48.539
Vivian Cousins, Brian Lighthill, and Victor's Rotellus.

975
01:16:48.600 --> 01:16:54.180
So again, I'm going to start at the bottom and this was presaged earlier by some comments about direction.

976
01:16:54.239 --> 01:16:57.060
David Sullivan Proudfoot only gets 2 votes.

977
01:16:57.899 --> 01:17:01.319
That's 2 unexpected votes.

978
01:17:01.800 --> 01:17:05.819
These things always remind us that, you know, we it's nice.

979
01:17:05.880 --> 01:17:11.520
You know, sometimes we get consensus episodes and yeah, there's people out there who are like shaking their fists at us right now.

980
01:17:11.579 --> 01:17:12.539
I love it.

981
01:17:12.600 --> 01:17:14.100
What a mad reason.

982
01:17:14.100 --> 01:17:16.560
I don't get a Sullivan proudfoot.

983
01:17:16.619 --> 01:17:18.960
I've found a little bit out about.

984
01:17:19.020 --> 01:17:21.060
He was an alcoholic.

985
01:17:21.119 --> 01:17:23.460
He was very difficult to work with.

986
01:17:23.579 --> 01:17:29.340
He was in a relationship with Verity Lambert at the time, if this was being made.

987
01:17:29.399 --> 01:17:40.380
He was the director that JNT found cutting Genesis of the Daleks to shreds for the Doctor Who and the Monsters repeat, and JNT had to take over the edit.

988
01:17:40.439 --> 01:17:48.119
So it's, yeah, he's a really difficult and interesting character.

989
01:17:48.239 --> 01:17:54.119
In fact, in a lot of ways, he's very much like George Spenson Foster without the love of camp, really.

990
01:17:54.180 --> 01:18:00.300
And I think it's pretty amazing we got anything decent.

991
01:18:00.359 --> 01:18:10.560
I think he was, was very good at, um, early in his career as a director, but by this point, the alcohol was sort of taking taking its toll.

992
01:18:10.619 --> 01:18:13.319
And I think maybe that shows.

993
01:18:13.380 --> 01:18:27.060
I mean, it's such a relief when we get those location shoot for Assassin directed by Via Lorimer and the difference between the location work and the studio work on that episode's kind of shows, I think.

994
01:18:27.119 --> 01:18:27.960
So, yeah.

995
01:18:28.020 --> 01:18:38.760
I think David Sullivan Proudfoot has a strong claim to being the worst director on Blake 7 because he's given fairly shitty script and makes them worse mostly.

996
01:18:38.819 --> 01:18:43.920
Maybe he's challenged by the guy who does Volcano and Dawn of the Gods, but no, I think he's worse.

997
01:18:44.039 --> 01:18:48.779
Well, I had no idea about David Sullivan Proudfall.

998
01:18:48.840 --> 01:18:51.300
Thanks for that research there.

999
01:18:51.359 --> 01:18:52.140
Simon.

1000
01:18:52.199 --> 01:19:02.039
And yeah, Peter, I think I think you make a good case because as much as we have a dig at, say, pennant Robertsitis, you know, all the actors say pennant Roberts was lovely, you know, dear pen.

1001
01:19:02.100 --> 01:19:03.359
Maybe that was the problem.

1002
01:19:03.420 --> 01:19:04.439
Yeah.

1003
01:19:04.439 --> 01:19:06.899
Now that's the thing.

1004
01:19:06.960 --> 01:19:09.239
It's the old earth shock versus time flight thing, isn't it?

1005
01:19:09.300 --> 01:19:15.060
Everyone who worked on other shark had a pretty horrible time because they were whipped like dogs to produce something amazing.

1006
01:19:15.119 --> 01:19:17.819
Whereas Time Flight was a hoot and they all had an absolutely lovely time.

1007
01:19:18.239 --> 01:19:20.460
It's a lust.

1008
01:19:20.579 --> 01:19:22.619
Be mean to your actors.

1009
01:19:23.399 --> 01:19:34.020
Coming in next with 7 votes, and I think this could be because he only does one episode, but I don't think anyone could accuse it of being directed lazily, it's Victor's Reitellis.

1010
01:19:34.079 --> 01:19:36.359
He's stylish, isn't he?

1011
01:19:36.479 --> 01:19:38.939
I mean, you know it's directed by Victors.

1012
01:19:39.000 --> 01:19:44.760
I mean, anyone who's watched his secret army episodes as well will instantly know the style.

1013
01:19:44.819 --> 01:19:49.619
This is a man who is never knowingly underdirecting anything at all.

1014
01:19:49.680 --> 01:19:52.380
And he does some really great stuff.

1015
01:19:52.439 --> 01:20:00.720
I mean, that shot where Avon grabs Tarant by the neck and pushes him across the set is just an amazing moment, for instance.

1016
01:20:00.779 --> 01:20:03.960
There are lots of great moments in Warlord.

1017
01:20:04.020 --> 01:20:09.420
I think the thing is that he's got no idea of how to do special effects or what they're supposed to look like.

1018
01:20:09.479 --> 01:20:12.180
And so when Finn goes out the airlock.

1019
01:20:12.300 --> 01:20:14.640
It's just like, what the fuck is that video effect?

1020
01:20:14.640 --> 01:20:19.380
And also, why does dying from a radioactive virus look like that?

1021
01:20:19.439 --> 01:20:26.279
And why does it look so much like clinking all your glasses together at the end?

1022
01:20:26.340 --> 01:20:33.479
Like all of that stuff is like I think he's marvellous and I think it's visually, really stunning and super interesting.

1023
01:20:33.779 --> 01:20:42.060
And I absolutely kind of have a very soft spot for those absolutely bafflingly weird, special effects decisions.

1024
01:20:42.119 --> 01:20:44.760
Give me that over Pennant Roberts.

1025
01:20:44.819 --> 01:20:46.619
What colour shield this wall be?

1026
01:20:46.680 --> 01:20:47.699
Beige?

1027
01:20:47.760 --> 01:20:49.619
Beige is the future?

1028
01:20:50.880 --> 01:20:52.739
Spent in Foster.

1029
01:20:52.800 --> 01:20:54.000
What colour should this wall be?

1030
01:20:54.060 --> 01:20:57.060
Red, blue, or green, depending on the level?

1031
01:20:59.279 --> 01:21:02.100
Just saying this because he's Uncle Victor's.

1032
01:21:02.159 --> 01:21:03.359
In fact, he's not Uncle Victor's.

1033
01:21:03.420 --> 01:21:06.119
We talked about this on the Warlord episode.

1034
01:21:06.180 --> 01:21:09.779
He's actually a distant relative by marriage, but we call him Uncle Victor's in this house.

1035
01:21:09.840 --> 01:21:10.859
I think...

1036
01:21:10.859 --> 01:21:15.300
I think he directs in poetry rather than prose.

1037
01:21:15.300 --> 01:21:33.300
And so I think a lot of warlord is really interestingly put together by someone who's not necessarily au fait with television sci-fi, but he's sort of channelling the things that he's seen and around the ether like Star Wars with the wipes and Flash Gordon with the wigs and all that kind of thing.

1038
01:21:33.359 --> 01:21:42.060
And I just think it stands by itself a little bit, but is very interestingly directed, and in some instances very effectively directed.

1039
01:21:42.659 --> 01:21:44.460
I agree with that.

1040
01:21:44.520 --> 01:21:46.560
Up next with 12 votes.

1041
01:21:46.979 --> 01:21:50.579
Another newcomer to the series, Vivian Cousins.

1042
01:21:50.640 --> 01:21:58.020
He's good. director of games and unfortunately losing a special effect shot that would have explained things, but also the director of sand.

1043
01:21:59.399 --> 01:22:13.500
Again, she gets a great performance out of Jacqueline Pierce, and there's just that wonderful thing of having an episode written and directed by a woman that is long overdue for Blake 7.

1044
01:22:13.560 --> 01:22:16.199
Again, same as last year with Fiona Cumming.

1045
01:22:16.260 --> 01:22:19.319
You know, it just gives it a completely different feel.

1046
01:22:19.439 --> 01:22:22.319
Yeah, I'm sure we would have seen more of her if they've been in another series.

1047
01:22:22.920 --> 01:22:25.560
Wasn't it her 1st job as well?

1048
01:22:25.619 --> 01:22:36.180
Because I know they had Scrabble to get directors, which is why Mary Ridge does so much because they're able to, you know, they're able to twist her arm into doing more than just the one block.

1049
01:22:36.239 --> 01:22:41.699
But because it was sort of a late commission and it came back, they really struggled with where to find the directors.

1050
01:22:41.760 --> 01:22:50.100
And so you get a lot of young 1st time directors and it goes horribly wrong in some instances, but I think with Vivian and with Brian Lighthill, it's great.

1051
01:22:50.159 --> 01:22:52.260
Speaking of Brian Lighthill.

1052
01:22:52.319 --> 01:22:55.680
Director of Golden Orbit, 36 votes.

1053
01:22:55.739 --> 01:22:58.380
They both look so great, don't they?

1054
01:22:58.439 --> 01:23:00.600
They both look amazingly good.

1055
01:23:00.659 --> 01:23:03.659
And the science fiction stuff, the model stuff.

1056
01:23:03.720 --> 01:23:13.319
That shot in the in the shuttle, you know, which is sort of going along with the CSO sort of model work in the in the background and stuff. really good.

1057
01:23:13.380 --> 01:23:14.460
Probably.

1058
01:23:14.579 --> 01:23:24.779
And the space princess is really beautifully shot and there's that shop where they zoom pan down over the ship to see it then coming sort of front on towards you.

1059
01:23:24.899 --> 01:23:29.699
Really great stuff in the docking and he makes the model work tense as well.

1060
01:23:30.060 --> 01:23:32.880
They're both just really well paced episodes too.

1061
01:23:32.939 --> 01:23:36.180
And like, you know, the talky bits are as dramatic as the action bits.

1062
01:23:36.239 --> 01:23:41.699
And sometimes you get a director who's better at one or the other of those, but he nails it both ways, yeah.

1063
01:23:41.760 --> 01:23:43.199
Absolutely.

1064
01:23:43.260 --> 01:23:52.140
And you can see if we had had a series E, that him and Mary Ridge could have taken the series between them and done something really, really good.

1065
01:23:52.439 --> 01:23:54.060
Oh, wow.

1066
01:23:54.119 --> 01:23:56.699
Seriously with producer Mary Ridge. would have been amazing.

1067
01:23:59.039 --> 01:24:17.579
Well, speaking of Mary Ridge, I don't see how you could direct 5 episodes, including the opener and the closer, which, as I've said a few times, our listeners have picked as the top episode of the season and not have received 66 votes, it's Mary Ridge.

1068
01:24:18.539 --> 01:24:31.319
I think what the thing about someone like Mary Regent, also Brian Lighthill, is that it's about finding the actors and getting them to be on the same page in a production.

1069
01:24:31.319 --> 01:24:38.760
And I think both of them, broadly speaking, I mean, Mary, which has some challenges in some of the episodes which are just unsalvageable.

1070
01:24:38.819 --> 01:24:48.180
But even then, I think the episodes can kind of be better to watch because of the fact that everyone is kind of doing the same thing.

1071
01:24:48.239 --> 01:24:55.800
Whereas I think often, often the episodes that fail for me more, like something like, you know, star drive.

1072
01:24:55.859 --> 01:25:13.739
I think it was mentioned in like, I mean, people, I like traitor, but other people don't like traitor as much of what ruins traitor, what Peter, you said before, is the direction, is the fact that you're not, you're kind of getting different people doing different things in different scenes and there's no kind of thought through line, if I can put it that way.

1073
01:25:13.800 --> 01:25:17.579
It's like the rehearsal process went awry.

1074
01:25:17.640 --> 01:25:22.619
Like rehearsals are meant to get everyone on the same page and get everyone delivering the same vision.

1075
01:25:22.680 --> 01:25:27.119
They're all in the same room together, even if they're not going to be in the same room in the studio.

1076
01:25:27.180 --> 01:25:28.739
They all get to see what each other's doing.

1077
01:25:28.800 --> 01:25:32.340
And I think that's what you get in the when it works really well, it works perfectly.

1078
01:25:32.520 --> 01:25:36.000
And it's the thing about confident world building as well.

1079
01:25:36.060 --> 01:25:52.680
I think even though orbit and gold exist in very different Blake 7 universes, I believe both of them, and they are both presented in a confident and interesting way, and I would go so far as to say, I think power is the same.

1080
01:25:52.739 --> 01:25:58.439
I know it has its detractors, but I think Mary Ridge does a really great job of making power a world.

1081
01:25:59.100 --> 01:26:00.600
I agree.

1082
01:26:00.600 --> 01:26:03.960
Remarkable that you went on to direct terminus.

1083
01:26:04.020 --> 01:26:06.180
Don't quite know what.

1084
01:26:12.539 --> 01:26:16.439
So, we leave directors behind, and Nathan, Snog, marry.

1085
01:26:16.500 --> 01:26:20.100
They're a doctor, honey, Phorbus, Justin.

1086
01:26:20.159 --> 01:26:21.239
Dr. Paxton.

1087
01:26:22.140 --> 01:26:24.119
Sport for choice.

1088
01:26:24.779 --> 01:26:30.060
So I think I'm avoiding Phorbus.

1089
01:26:30.119 --> 01:26:36.960
It's always sort of tempting to marry a character who is sort of horribly killed because, you know, at least you don't have to tolerate them for very long.

1090
01:26:37.020 --> 01:26:40.739
Um, but I will, I will avoid him.

1091
01:26:40.800 --> 01:26:47.640
Um, I guess I could marry Dr. Paxton and then inherit her all her stuff on that planet.

1092
01:26:47.699 --> 01:26:48.600
Maybe not.

1093
01:26:48.659 --> 01:26:53.220
And I would wait, no, yes.

1094
01:26:53.279 --> 01:26:58.800
Yes, and then I could snog Justin because at least that would be age appropriate.

1095
01:27:01.680 --> 01:27:06.060
So now we know what happens when we stick Nathan in a chair and say Nathan.

1096
01:27:06.119 --> 01:27:07.859
You won't kiss him.

1097
01:27:07.920 --> 01:27:09.359
You want to kiss him.

1098
01:27:09.420 --> 01:27:10.739
You want to kiss him.

1099
01:27:10.800 --> 01:27:23.159
It's time to move on to a category that I didn't initially include in the survey, and that is server lackey because I didn't feel they were as well defined as in past seasons, but the group convinced me.

1100
01:27:23.220 --> 01:27:40.859
So we had in order of parents, lights from traitor, uh, the captain from Animals who, as Nathan revealed, is played by William Lindsay, who would very shortly afterwards go on to play Zargo in Doctor Who and the state of decay.

1101
01:27:40.920 --> 01:27:49.199
Verlis from Assassin, and also the captain from Assassin, and Assistant from Sand.

1102
01:27:49.260 --> 01:27:50.039
So.

1103
01:27:51.119 --> 01:27:53.159
They don't get names.

1104
01:27:53.220 --> 01:27:54.539
They don't last long enough.

1105
01:27:54.600 --> 01:28:05.340
So starting from the bottom, and this person did not have any votes until like the 90th survey response, and I was surprised because they're so terribly pretty.

1106
01:28:05.399 --> 01:28:09.300
It's the captain from Animals played by William Lindsay.

1107
01:28:09.359 --> 01:28:12.000
And it might just be because he's in animals.

1108
01:28:12.659 --> 01:28:15.779
He has a perfectly spherical head.

1109
01:28:15.840 --> 01:28:17.640
Like it's...

1110
01:28:17.640 --> 01:28:19.079
Mathematically.

1111
01:28:21.180 --> 01:28:25.979
I'm just pulling up his image now and yeah, you're not wrong.

1112
01:28:28.439 --> 01:28:31.079
Moving up with 6 votes.

1113
01:28:31.140 --> 01:28:39.300
Uh, we have the captain from Assassin who, um, who has sort of like new series Doctor Who Auton Hair.

1114
01:28:39.359 --> 01:28:42.300
Like, you know, it's just perfectly parted to one side.

1115
01:28:42.359 --> 01:28:48.840
I mean, I think maybe Serverland was taking lessons from Justin with that one because he barely looks like he's out of short pants.

1116
01:28:48.899 --> 01:28:51.060
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1117
01:28:51.479 --> 01:28:58.739
Jumping up to 16 votes, we have the assistant from Sand, who does actually get a bit more character.

1118
01:28:58.800 --> 01:29:01.500
You know, he hates this planet.

1119
01:29:01.800 --> 01:29:04.380
Sorry, that's Thingo from Shada, is it?

1120
01:29:04.439 --> 01:29:06.899
No, no, no, it's a phrase.

1121
01:29:06.960 --> 01:29:07.739
He did raise.

1122
01:29:07.800 --> 01:29:10.739
Yes, it's an encyclocate destroy as well.

1123
01:29:10.800 --> 01:29:12.180
Yes, that's right.

1124
01:29:12.239 --> 01:29:13.619
He's prel...

1125
01:29:13.680 --> 01:29:17.159
He's the one who says, yes, pig, no pig, that one.

1126
01:29:17.220 --> 01:29:18.359
Yes, yeah.

1127
01:29:18.420 --> 01:29:22.020
I knew he was Michael Craz's brother, but I couldn't think of his name.

1128
01:29:22.079 --> 01:29:28.260
And he's is he water guard Fisk or water guard Costco?

1129
01:29:28.319 --> 01:29:29.699
He's one of the two.

1130
01:29:29.760 --> 01:29:32.100
Yes, he's the one who's...

1131
01:29:32.159 --> 01:29:33.000
Alter gods.

1132
01:29:33.060 --> 01:29:33.479
Yes.

1133
01:29:33.539 --> 01:29:37.140
He's the one who's not the bloke from Image of the Fender.

1134
01:29:37.199 --> 01:29:45.779
Uh, look, I would say fair enough, him coving the top of the unnamed characters because he has the most character out of the three.

1135
01:29:46.439 --> 01:29:48.659
Harry's a nice light stick.

1136
01:29:50.579 --> 01:29:53.159
I didn't include Chesco.

1137
01:29:53.279 --> 01:29:57.180
Honourable mention to Chesco, but he doesn't particularly work for Servolan.

1138
01:29:57.239 --> 01:29:58.560
He seems to work for Reeve instead.

1139
01:29:58.619 --> 01:29:59.880
So, yeah.

1140
01:30:00.119 --> 01:30:06.779
Uh, so that leaves lights and verlis as our top two.

1141
01:30:06.840 --> 01:30:09.359
There is a definitive winner, but there's only 7 votes in it.

1142
01:30:09.420 --> 01:30:12.119
They're both incredibly gay for different reasons.

1143
01:30:13.979 --> 01:30:16.260
Indeed indeed.

1144
01:30:16.319 --> 01:30:27.420
So with 45 votes, we have Verlis, which is pretty respectable for someone who doesn't have much bearing on the plot, which means 52 votes, we have pretty pretty lights.

1145
01:30:28.380 --> 01:30:30.779
He's amazing, isn't he?

1146
01:30:30.840 --> 01:30:33.300
And he's the 1st half Romulan to appear on the show.

1147
01:30:34.739 --> 01:30:37.619
He's pretty brave.

1148
01:30:37.680 --> 01:30:41.340
But he has that incredible cut glass accent.

1149
01:30:41.399 --> 01:30:42.840
The incredible precision.

1150
01:30:42.899 --> 01:30:44.460
I mean, I just think he's wonderful.

1151
01:30:44.579 --> 01:30:51.479
He's obviously superb in that scene with Jackie at the end, but just showing the president around as well, he's wonderful.

1152
01:30:51.539 --> 01:30:52.920
He's just really great.

1153
01:30:52.979 --> 01:30:57.060
And his precision goes all the way to his sideburns as well.

1154
01:30:57.119 --> 01:30:57.659
Yeah, yeah.

1155
01:30:57.659 --> 01:31:02.279
And sideburns and brows are both very characterful.

1156
01:31:02.520 --> 01:31:07.260
It's pretty clear from that last scene that Serverland turned the lights on.

1157
01:31:10.859 --> 01:31:18.359
I mean, Verlis is fun and it's a big broad camp performance and she is a public servant.

1158
01:31:19.739 --> 01:31:22.680
You go cracking her voice when she says that.

1159
01:31:22.680 --> 01:31:23.579
It's amazing.

1160
01:31:23.760 --> 01:31:27.180
Absolutely and her and Jacqueline Pierce.

1161
01:31:27.239 --> 01:31:40.800
I always remember there was a quote in Blake 7 magazine where they'd got a picture of her and Jacqueline Pierce just laughing their heads off and it said, the skies above them were bright blue, as was a lot of the language they use.

1162
01:31:41.520 --> 01:31:47.159
Just to have been a fly on the wall to see that filming sounds like it was a blast.

1163
01:31:48.300 --> 01:31:52.260
I like to think that Verlis is a contraction of Via Lorimer.

1164
01:31:53.100 --> 01:31:54.720
You know what?

1165
01:31:59.220 --> 01:32:04.079
Well, from Verlis to Vere to Guest Villains.

1166
01:32:04.140 --> 01:32:18.239
Much like the server lucky Sleer ally, and also with what I mentioned earlier about top episodes, a lot of these polls with multiple options did quickly move into a 2 horse race and this is no exception.

1167
01:32:18.300 --> 01:32:24.300
So I'm going to start at the bottom of the list and I'm kind of just going to quickly run through everyone who got less than 10 votes.

1168
01:32:24.420 --> 01:32:29.399
With a surprising zero, but I think it could just be the competition.

1169
01:32:29.460 --> 01:32:32.880
With a surprising 0, it's Zookan.

1170
01:32:34.140 --> 01:32:35.520
Okay.

1171
01:32:35.579 --> 01:32:37.680
Atlant...

1172
01:32:37.739 --> 01:32:38.699
You don't know what's zero.

1173
01:32:40.380 --> 01:32:43.739
Atlan and Reeve both get one apiece.

1174
01:32:43.859 --> 01:32:53.640
Getting 2 apiece each are Gunsar, the Android from Headhunter, and Pella, with three, we have Colonel Koot.

1175
01:32:54.659 --> 01:33:00.119
And with seven, we have cancer, as in Piri.

1176
01:33:01.319 --> 01:33:04.439
His rather cancer eligible for this or not?

1177
01:33:04.560 --> 01:33:07.979
I didn't put rada cancer in there because he's not really a villain.

1178
01:33:08.039 --> 01:33:09.779
Yes, he is.

1179
01:33:09.840 --> 01:33:12.899
Yeah, but he's very a bitch.

1180
01:33:12.960 --> 01:33:14.279
Yes, that's true.

1181
01:33:14.340 --> 01:33:18.659
He says that with the tone of voice of someone who's been called it himself quite a bit.

1182
01:33:20.460 --> 01:33:22.380
The Lorrima.

1183
01:33:23.279 --> 01:33:28.260
Okay, so just some general thoughts on that bottom eight.

1184
01:33:29.039 --> 01:33:33.300
I think actually Pella and Guns are underrated.

1185
01:33:33.359 --> 01:33:34.260
I think they're both great.

1186
01:33:34.319 --> 01:33:36.000
I think Pella's a fantastic villain.

1187
01:33:36.119 --> 01:33:39.779
And I think Gunsari is really good and one of the best things about power.

1188
01:33:39.840 --> 01:33:43.260
You know, he's there with his moves out moaning about things.

1189
01:33:43.380 --> 01:33:49.500
Like he really is the least impressive alpha male and it's a really, really funny.

1190
01:33:49.560 --> 01:33:52.920
It's like Bruce Purchaserly entertaining, isn't it?

1191
01:33:52.979 --> 01:33:55.560
Bruce Purchase only not quite so much scenery.

1192
01:33:55.619 --> 01:33:57.300
See, Nathan, Powers very good.

1193
01:33:57.359 --> 01:33:58.680
Yes, exactly.

1194
01:34:00.539 --> 01:34:13.020
I'm going to throw my lot in with quote because I think that Christopher name is absolutely brilliant. in everything, but in this as well, he chews the scenery beautifully in just the right amount.

1195
01:34:13.079 --> 01:34:16.079
He's terribly posh and yeah, what's not to like.

1196
01:34:16.140 --> 01:34:18.779
They love casting people from Shada in this show.

1197
01:34:19.020 --> 01:34:21.779
Yeah, and from Star Trek Voyager.

1198
01:34:22.319 --> 01:34:26.760
So I just think up against the general, he's fantastic as well.

1199
01:34:26.819 --> 01:34:33.479
Just he's absolute kind of, I'm having to be really patient with this moron sort of acting.

1200
01:34:33.539 --> 01:34:34.380
I think is just wonderful.

1201
01:34:34.500 --> 01:34:41.399
I think Roy Boyd as Zukan is pretty good and deserves far more points than he got there.

1202
01:34:41.460 --> 01:34:43.380
Far more points than Atlin, really.

1203
01:34:43.439 --> 01:34:45.239
Yeah that's the one I'm really surprised by.

1204
01:34:45.359 --> 01:34:47.460
Yeah, I just think he's a bit embarrassing.

1205
01:34:47.520 --> 01:34:51.840
Like those scenes at the end where he's yelling about his nylon haired daughter.

1206
01:34:51.899 --> 01:34:54.840
Like, it's a little bit hard to watch.

1207
01:34:54.899 --> 01:34:56.520
It's not a great performance, I think.

1208
01:34:56.579 --> 01:34:57.960
I don't think he's very good.

1209
01:34:58.079 --> 01:34:59.819
I agree with you, Si.

1210
01:34:59.880 --> 01:35:00.720
I think he is pretty good.

1211
01:35:00.779 --> 01:35:03.539
And I think people take against him for the silly orange bun on his head.

1212
01:35:03.779 --> 01:35:08.100
It was interesting for me because I've seen him in Doctor Who.

1213
01:35:08.159 --> 01:35:14.279
He's in the hand of fear and I've seen him in the new Avengers where he's a last minute replacement for the great Frederick Yeger.

1214
01:35:14.399 --> 01:35:17.399
And in both of those, he's quite underwhelming.

1215
01:35:17.460 --> 01:35:19.979
Like it just about works in hand affair because he's hypnotised.

1216
01:35:20.039 --> 01:35:26.159
But in his role as a villain in the new Avengers target, he's very underwhelming.

1217
01:35:26.220 --> 01:35:29.939
So to see him here a few years later, and really giving it his all.

1218
01:35:30.060 --> 01:35:34.199
Whereas, yeah, Atlan, Zukan has levels.

1219
01:35:34.260 --> 01:35:35.760
Atland is not.

1220
01:35:35.819 --> 01:35:42.420
And they're both they're both very entertaining to watch, but yeah, I would put Zukan above Atlanta as well.

1221
01:35:42.539 --> 01:35:45.119
Who's Zoocan in hand of fear?

1222
01:35:45.180 --> 01:35:46.680
Is he the nuclear power plant?

1223
01:35:46.739 --> 01:35:50.039
Is the nuclear PowerPoint guy who actually takes the hand into the reactor?

1224
01:35:50.100 --> 01:35:51.119
Right.

1225
01:35:51.180 --> 01:35:55.739
You say he doesn't look like Sukan because he's got big curly hair in hand to fit.

1226
01:35:55.800 --> 01:35:56.399
Yeah, yes.

1227
01:35:56.460 --> 01:35:56.699
Yeah.

1228
01:35:56.760 --> 01:35:59.100
Yeah, he's got Tarrant hair, basically, at hand.

1229
01:35:59.159 --> 01:36:06.600
And look, I think I think maybe Mueller's Android is maybe so low just because...

1230
01:36:06.659 --> 01:36:07.979
It is really funny.

1231
01:36:08.220 --> 01:36:10.560
Here's the thing I wonder, right?

1232
01:36:10.619 --> 01:36:20.880
They put the actor in platform shoes because obviously there has to be another actor or possibly the same actor inside the headless suit, right?

1233
01:36:20.939 --> 01:36:23.399
Why not just get a short guy?

1234
01:36:23.460 --> 01:36:25.140
We are in high supply.

1235
01:36:25.199 --> 01:36:26.699
I'm sorry.

1236
01:36:26.760 --> 01:36:27.960
I could have played that.

1237
01:36:28.020 --> 01:36:29.039
I'm just saying.

1238
01:36:29.100 --> 01:36:35.220
And, you know, I just have to pull my shoulders up a bit to the Blu-ray team if we want to reshoot that bit in the corridor.

1239
01:36:35.279 --> 01:36:36.119
I'm available.

1240
01:36:39.180 --> 01:36:46.439
I do wonder if that if that costume for our headless friend had been less silly, basically.

1241
01:36:46.500 --> 01:36:49.199
If he'd been dressed like an actual, like a vampire.

1242
01:36:49.260 --> 01:36:51.479
Well, I know, that would be silly also, wouldn't they, want to say?

1243
01:36:51.600 --> 01:36:56.579
But he's wearing those big 80s shoulder pads of bright blue and bright red.

1244
01:36:56.640 --> 01:36:58.199
It's just not remotely scary.

1245
01:36:58.260 --> 01:37:01.020
It does just look like a very tall, headless children's entertainer.

1246
01:37:01.079 --> 01:37:01.619
Yeah.

1247
01:37:01.619 --> 01:37:14.100
Of course, there's a practical reason for that because they have to fit their head inside the outfit, and so the shoulders have to come out further down below where the shoulders will be, and so they've got to have those big things draped over it.

1248
01:37:14.159 --> 01:37:15.300
The whole effect is very silly.

1249
01:37:15.779 --> 01:37:29.340
And you know, something else that could have made it work is if Linda Bellingham and the other people on Faros were dressed in something similar, but he's not dressed in anything else.

1250
01:37:29.399 --> 01:37:30.539
I would have made it much better.

1251
01:37:31.680 --> 01:37:35.039
It wouldn't have been... wearing this year.

1252
01:37:35.279 --> 01:37:41.100
Are you saying Nicholas Rocker is not across the costuming in a consistent way?

1253
01:37:42.000 --> 01:37:47.159
Well, he consistently dresses Jessette Simon as slave.

1254
01:37:47.220 --> 01:37:48.960
Let's let's leave it there.

1255
01:37:49.020 --> 01:37:50.579
Moving up.

1256
01:37:50.640 --> 01:37:53.460
Pun intended, the top 2 are head and shoulders above 3 and four.

1257
01:37:53.520 --> 01:37:55.800
So 3 and 4 are very close.

1258
01:37:55.859 --> 01:37:57.060
We have 11 and 10.

1259
01:37:57.359 --> 01:38:00.779
Alan gets a 10. and Belkov gets 11.

1260
01:38:01.800 --> 01:38:03.180
Okay.

1261
01:38:03.180 --> 01:38:06.300
I'm struggling to have an opinion about any of that.

1262
01:38:06.359 --> 01:38:09.539
Yes, that's...

1263
01:38:09.600 --> 01:38:11.760
I think Austin is a good performance, though.

1264
01:38:11.819 --> 01:38:15.000
Yeah, Alan, I think, is a really good performance.

1265
01:38:15.060 --> 01:38:16.739
She's 17.

1266
01:38:16.979 --> 01:38:18.840
It's incredible Wow.

1267
01:38:18.899 --> 01:38:19.439
17.

1268
01:38:19.619 --> 01:38:20.399
Yeah.

1269
01:38:20.399 --> 01:38:22.859
She's really young.

1270
01:38:23.159 --> 01:38:26.399
We saw her at the convention last year.

1271
01:38:26.460 --> 01:38:29.399
There was a Blake 7 convention and she said, yeah, I was 17.

1272
01:38:29.579 --> 01:38:32.699
This was I was plucked out of nowhere to come and do this.

1273
01:38:32.819 --> 01:38:35.819
Wow, still too old for Justin.

1274
01:38:38.220 --> 01:38:42.060
Oh, God. very young to be a Federation officer.

1275
01:38:43.439 --> 01:38:46.319
So yeah, she deserves some kudos for that.

1276
01:38:46.380 --> 01:38:51.359
Yeah, well, just tie in with the idea of these young fanatics, which was managed to think again and probably is again now.

1277
01:38:52.140 --> 01:38:55.199
They're both good performances and she is very good.

1278
01:38:55.260 --> 01:38:57.779
Yeah, that impresses me all the more.

1279
01:38:57.840 --> 01:39:07.199
And, you know, I think I said during games, I can't tell if Stratford Johns is giving a bad performance or if he's giving a very good dithering performance.

1280
01:39:07.260 --> 01:39:14.220
And obviously, at least 11 of our listeners think it's a very good performance and game to Belkov.

1281
01:39:14.279 --> 01:39:14.640
Yeah.

1282
01:39:15.359 --> 01:39:17.640
Do you know what I think, Brendan?

1283
01:39:17.640 --> 01:39:19.380
I think he's giving a Stratford John's performance.

1284
01:39:19.439 --> 01:39:21.359
I think he probably got that in everything he was in.

1285
01:39:21.420 --> 01:39:22.979
Fair enough. that, yeah, that's true.

1286
01:39:23.039 --> 01:39:23.640
That's true.

1287
01:39:23.699 --> 01:39:26.399
Okay, so that leaves our top two.

1288
01:39:26.460 --> 01:39:30.420
And not only are they very close in score, with only 4 votes between them.

1289
01:39:30.479 --> 01:39:33.600
They also share 5 letters of their names.

1290
01:39:33.720 --> 01:39:36.659
So we have Dorian and Agorian.

1291
01:39:39.060 --> 01:39:40.619
Brilliant.

1292
01:39:40.680 --> 01:39:42.600
And they're both gay as well.

1293
01:39:42.720 --> 01:39:48.239
So there's Roundtable, again, I want to know who you think has won Peter.

1294
01:39:48.300 --> 01:39:51.659
I think Dorian's won, but I actually think Agoririan should.

1295
01:39:51.779 --> 01:39:52.199
Pete.

1296
01:39:52.260 --> 01:39:56.399
I think Agorian comes on top of the Twink consumers.

1297
01:39:56.460 --> 01:40:03.060
I'm sure he does I'm so glad I ate a few hours ago.

1298
01:40:03.119 --> 01:40:04.199
Si.

1299
01:40:04.739 --> 01:40:08.039
Dorian for me, I think he's brilliant, right?

1300
01:40:08.100 --> 01:40:09.119
Simon.

1301
01:40:09.239 --> 01:40:10.800
I think Agrarian would have won.

1302
01:40:10.859 --> 01:40:11.699
And Nathan?

1303
01:40:11.760 --> 01:40:14.520
I think I'm with Pisa.

1304
01:40:14.579 --> 01:40:17.399
I think Dorian's probably one, but Agorian, should win.

1305
01:40:17.520 --> 01:40:18.300
Right.

1306
01:40:18.779 --> 01:40:23.880
Dorian received 40 votes and Agrorian received 44.

1307
01:40:24.119 --> 01:40:25.560
Oh, good.

1308
01:40:25.619 --> 01:40:27.840
Although Dorian is amazing.

1309
01:40:27.960 --> 01:40:29.699
Yeah, absolutely.

1310
01:40:29.760 --> 01:40:37.979
And look, let me tell you, because we're also talking about potential allies and potential new regulars, we have not heard the last of Dorian.

1311
01:40:38.399 --> 01:40:40.560
I think Segorian.

1312
01:40:40.560 --> 01:40:41.880
That would be amazing.

1313
01:40:41.880 --> 01:40:48.659
Brendan, you know the Blake 7 scale of hotness, which runs from Nova to Agorian.

1314
01:40:48.720 --> 01:40:51.119
Perhaps it should run from Dorian to Aglorian.

1315
01:40:53.460 --> 01:40:55.319
I would agree with that.

1316
01:40:55.380 --> 01:40:56.819
The gamut.

1317
01:40:57.060 --> 01:40:59.039
Lights is near the top.

1318
01:40:59.699 --> 01:41:08.399
You have to give John Savadan a lot of kudos because he comes in knowing exactly what to do with that part and playing it to the hilt.

1319
01:41:08.520 --> 01:41:12.720
What is it that generation A call a performance like that?

1320
01:41:12.779 --> 01:41:15.000
It's so zesty, that performance.

1321
01:41:15.060 --> 01:41:16.380
It's just like, you know.

1322
01:41:17.100 --> 01:41:19.380
Yeah, it's just brilliantly camp and gay.

1323
01:41:20.159 --> 01:41:26.520
And you know, and he's so different to when he appeared in Blake 7 before when he was old star killer in trial.

1324
01:41:26.579 --> 01:41:32.100
Yes, I keep forgetting he's there. the same person. that's brilliant acting.

1325
01:41:32.159 --> 01:41:38.340
It just struck me that Pinder in orbit is basically a male Jenny Thomasin from Revelation of the Daleks performance.

1326
01:41:38.399 --> 01:41:40.020
And there's a rule.

1327
01:41:40.020 --> 01:41:47.640
It's, say, what is fishing in the homes and structures for characters there between those 2 in that and this in this.

1328
01:41:47.699 --> 01:41:52.739
I mean, it's very cruel to say that Jenny Thomasson was affected by Hoffle's radiation, but I can see what you mean.

1329
01:41:54.659 --> 01:41:58.800
I just remember Graham Harper at a convention going, I can't do his accent.

1330
01:41:58.859 --> 01:42:00.659
He's got a great accent, but people misunderstood.

1331
01:42:00.720 --> 01:42:03.239
I was telling her, oh, be more wretched, be more wretched.

1332
01:42:03.300 --> 01:42:06.000
And then everyone thought it was just because she couldn't do anything else.

1333
01:42:06.060 --> 01:42:10.680
Oh, that is a fantastic performance in Revelation of the Dalek.

1334
01:42:10.739 --> 01:42:11.819
Oh, yes, it's brilliant.

1335
01:42:11.880 --> 01:42:13.680
It's operatic, isn't it?

1336
01:42:13.739 --> 01:42:15.000
Yeah, it's just like, yeah.

1337
01:42:16.020 --> 01:42:18.479
But we mustn't talk about Bill too.

1338
01:42:21.720 --> 01:42:26.939
So, Peter, I need to wind up to this.

1339
01:42:28.140 --> 01:42:30.539
Snog, marry.

1340
01:42:39.479 --> 01:42:41.399
Note perfect.

1341
01:42:42.180 --> 01:42:47.340
That's the problems that can actually be transcribed using musical notation.

1342
01:42:50.159 --> 01:42:52.199
Rada cancer.

1343
01:42:52.260 --> 01:42:55.739
Piri cancer. and knee brox.

1344
01:42:56.699 --> 01:43:02.220
I think I'd avoid kneebrocks because I don't like the faint whiff of mangan on his breath.

1345
01:43:02.460 --> 01:43:04.380
And pineapple.

1346
01:43:04.439 --> 01:43:06.420
You can tell he's been.

1347
01:43:09.539 --> 01:43:14.819
I think I would snog Rada cancer because, you know, why not?

1348
01:43:14.880 --> 01:43:18.479
And I would definitely marry Piri.

1349
01:43:18.539 --> 01:43:22.199
I mean you might think I'm awfully silly, but I would definitely do that.

1350
01:43:24.239 --> 01:43:25.739
Lovely.

1351
01:43:25.800 --> 01:43:27.239
Thank very much.

1352
01:43:33.300 --> 01:43:39.060
Having talked about our server lackeys, leer allies, and guest villains.

1353
01:43:39.119 --> 01:43:43.020
We now move on to who would be a good ally for the crew.

1354
01:43:43.079 --> 01:44:01.140
So the nominees were, in order of appearance, Dorian, Phorbus, Dr. Paxton, Guerin, Justin, Keeler, and I put them all together, Borva, Chaucer, Meda, and Lod from Warlord.

1355
01:44:01.199 --> 01:44:02.640
Good grief, lod.

1356
01:44:04.140 --> 01:44:09.720
Now, does anyone want to take a guess as to who of these people got 0 votes?

1357
01:44:10.199 --> 01:44:13.140
The last vanish, yeah.

1358
01:44:14.279 --> 01:44:16.260
It's Justin.

1359
01:44:16.319 --> 01:44:19.619
Yeah.

1360
01:44:19.619 --> 01:44:19.979
Yeah.

1361
01:44:20.039 --> 01:44:24.119
So, yes, our listeners clearly agree, no one likes a nonce.

1362
01:44:25.920 --> 01:44:28.800
You should have lived on the planet Beta Files.

1363
01:44:34.260 --> 01:44:41.760
Moving up with one vote, clearly a fan of BBC press on beards and the classic Doctor Who story, The Caves of Andrazani.

1364
01:44:41.819 --> 01:44:43.079
Guerin from games.

1365
01:44:43.140 --> 01:44:44.279
Yeah.

1366
01:44:44.279 --> 01:44:46.079
Well, he does get shot twice.

1367
01:44:46.079 --> 01:44:49.739
Fatally shot twice in that episode, which I thought was impressive.

1368
01:44:49.800 --> 01:44:51.659
Impressive achievement.

1369
01:44:51.720 --> 01:44:54.000
And it even moves shoulder the 1st shot.

1370
01:44:54.239 --> 01:44:55.859
It's all right.

1371
01:44:55.920 --> 01:44:57.359
I believe he was 50 at the most.

1372
01:44:57.420 --> 01:44:58.260
So, you know.

1373
01:44:58.260 --> 01:45:06.420
With a pretty respectable 3 votes, we have Forbus from Traitor.

1374
01:45:06.479 --> 01:45:08.100
They couldn't add him to the crew.

1375
01:45:08.159 --> 01:45:10.500
The Scorpio's not really accessibility friendly, is it?

1376
01:45:12.060 --> 01:45:17.279
With a surprising 5 votes, which is more than one vote per person.

1377
01:45:17.340 --> 01:45:20.699
It's Borver, Chaucer, metre and lot.

1378
01:45:20.819 --> 01:45:25.680
So, do you know, I'm giving them votes. and I'll tell you why.

1379
01:45:26.100 --> 01:45:38.640
One of the best things about Warlord, I think, is that it starts in the middle of something and things have changed and they've been doing stuff and now they're working together with a group of people and they're stupid people, like whatever.

1380
01:45:38.699 --> 01:45:40.319
But it's playing seven, right?

1381
01:45:40.380 --> 01:45:45.840
But there's something about that setup, which is unique, I think, to Blake 7.

1382
01:45:45.899 --> 01:45:50.760
Perhaps the closest in vibe, I think, is in children of our on.

1383
01:45:50.819 --> 01:45:51.539
Do you know what I mean?

1384
01:45:51.600 --> 01:45:54.300
When you've got the people in the in the control tower.

1385
01:45:54.359 --> 01:46:00.479
But here they're sort of working together and they're doing things and there are things happening and people coming and going and stuff.

1386
01:46:00.600 --> 01:46:01.979
And I like that.

1387
01:46:02.039 --> 01:46:05.340
I thought that was maybe the best feature of warlord.

1388
01:46:05.399 --> 01:46:08.699
And so I'm I'm giving them a point, I think.

1389
01:46:08.760 --> 01:46:13.140
It's very interesting that Xenon base is now no longer underpopulated.

1390
01:46:13.199 --> 01:46:16.199
It's not just the 5 of them walking around in Trooper Aurak.

1391
01:46:16.260 --> 01:46:19.199
They've got people and like extras around everything.

1392
01:46:19.260 --> 01:46:20.100
It makes it really interesting.

1393
01:46:20.159 --> 01:46:27.779
It put me in mind, a voice from the past, where you have all of those people on the liberator with them, and it gives to show a different dynamic.

1394
01:46:28.079 --> 01:46:29.640
Yeah, fair.

1395
01:46:29.699 --> 01:46:35.760
I think some of those votes may also be for Chelsea's abs, which is totally acceptable, in my opinion.

1396
01:46:35.819 --> 01:46:37.680
Yeah he's looking good.

1397
01:46:37.739 --> 01:46:38.699
Yeah, looking good.

1398
01:46:38.760 --> 01:46:54.960
Yeah, but Brendan Abs are only Abs. Now, we really do take a jump here with 25 votes, and this is possibly unsurprising given that he was also in the villain category.

1399
01:46:55.020 --> 01:46:56.100
It's Dorian.

1400
01:46:56.159 --> 01:46:59.220
Because he is set up as a potential ally.

1401
01:46:59.279 --> 01:47:00.659
Absolutely.

1402
01:47:00.720 --> 01:47:07.140
And you can absolutely see how he could fit in with the crew with him being like Avon slightly out for himself.

1403
01:47:07.199 --> 01:47:16.319
Yeah, it would be a really interesting dynamic that he I think he would face off against Avon pretty well and sort of challenge the leadership.

1404
01:47:16.380 --> 01:47:19.380
You can absolutely see how it could play out.

1405
01:47:19.439 --> 01:47:27.779
I think in the episode itself, we were trying to work out whether anyone might have thought that he was the new guy.

1406
01:47:27.840 --> 01:47:33.779
And because you'd never know sort of what sort of publicity and stuff's been done for shows like this at this point in time.

1407
01:47:33.840 --> 01:47:40.859
And I think probably not just because they were always going to replace Callie with a new girl.

1408
01:47:40.920 --> 01:47:41.939
Do you know what I mean?

1409
01:47:42.000 --> 01:47:45.060
I think we just know that it's going to be Soolian in that 1st episode.

1410
01:47:45.119 --> 01:47:46.979
But he is great.

1411
01:47:47.039 --> 01:47:49.260
Like, he does a range of things.

1412
01:47:49.319 --> 01:47:55.920
I think, you know, is he the best guest actor in the, maybe he's the best guest actor in the season.

1413
01:47:55.979 --> 01:48:01.979
Although Simon, you sort of said that he was perhaps too good to be a regular, I seem to think.

1414
01:48:01.979 --> 01:48:04.439
Like, he's actually...

1415
01:48:04.439 --> 01:48:06.060
Simon did indeed say that.

1416
01:48:07.380 --> 01:48:11.039
It doesn't sound like the kind of thing I would say, surely.

1417
01:48:12.600 --> 01:48:18.000
Well, the kind of actor that would do a week on a show like this was not going to sign up for 2 years.

1418
01:48:18.060 --> 01:48:18.899
Exactly.

1419
01:48:19.020 --> 01:48:19.560
Yeah, yeah.

1420
01:48:19.619 --> 01:48:21.000
At the same time, Simon.

1421
01:48:21.060 --> 01:48:27.659
And I said, so they must have had auditions and he came in and they went, hmm, guest actor. barber came in and they went, uh, regular.

1422
01:48:30.899 --> 01:48:44.939
But he is kind of does give the kind of performance, and he's the kind of person that if, you know, in a different universe where you watched it in 2 halves of a separate night, you could imagine, and you had that sort of time to kind of think about what could be about to happen.

1423
01:48:45.239 --> 01:48:50.340
I probably imagined a universe where he does join them.

1424
01:48:50.340 --> 01:48:53.340
Because, you know, I mean, it would just work so well.

1425
01:48:53.399 --> 01:48:54.600
But yeah, he's too good.

1426
01:48:56.039 --> 01:49:05.460
You can totally imagine if they couldn't get Stephen Pacey back, you know, Dorian, pilot of the ship, et cetera, et cetera. antagonistic towards Avon.

1427
01:49:05.520 --> 01:49:06.239
Yeah.

1428
01:49:06.300 --> 01:49:07.260
Right.

1429
01:49:07.319 --> 01:49:12.000
So again, we have a top 2 who are very close in votes. 46 to 43.

1430
01:49:12.239 --> 01:49:18.960
Keila has one with 46 to a very respectable 43 for Dr. Plaxton.

1431
01:49:19.020 --> 01:49:30.300
I just thought with her, you have an older woman and then you have a kind of interesting dynamic with her and Avon, and it's early in the season where you might expect a new character to come on board.

1432
01:49:30.359 --> 01:49:36.300
And certainly, I think that was some of the discussion that we had about her how well she would have fitted in.

1433
01:49:36.359 --> 01:49:43.680
Like, again, I think probably Roy Kinnear is someone who is also too good to do 30 episodes of the show.

1434
01:49:44.220 --> 01:49:46.140
So there's that.

1435
01:49:46.199 --> 01:49:48.779
Any other thoughts on either of those too?

1436
01:49:49.859 --> 01:49:52.260
Can I ask for someone who's missing?

1437
01:49:52.319 --> 01:49:53.640
Yes.

1438
01:49:53.699 --> 01:49:55.260
Diva.

1439
01:49:55.319 --> 01:49:56.399
David Collings.

1440
01:49:56.460 --> 01:49:57.600
Surely he's.

1441
01:49:57.600 --> 01:50:00.420
How old do you have joined the Scorpio crew?

1442
01:50:01.380 --> 01:50:05.939
I know I know he's leaving his run a little late to do that.

1443
01:50:06.000 --> 01:50:13.199
But, you know, to launch him into series E. I mean, you know, he's he's just he's just got this program written all over him.

1444
01:50:13.260 --> 01:50:15.300
He's always brilliant and everything we see him in.

1445
01:50:15.359 --> 01:50:20.640
Is there some sense in which we think maybe he is being set up in that way in that final series?

1446
01:50:20.699 --> 01:50:28.439
Because we blow up the premise really early on, like really quite early compared to what happens in terminal?

1447
01:50:28.500 --> 01:50:36.539
Maybe we imagine, you know, we have a base, we have Blake, we have, you know, maybe Blake doesn't survive, but we have new characters.

1448
01:50:36.600 --> 01:50:39.479
We've got Alan, we've got David Collins.

1449
01:50:39.539 --> 01:50:43.560
Maybe we do think that this is the series E setup.

1450
01:50:43.739 --> 01:50:48.659
Can you imagine them flying from planet to planet in one of those little hopper things.

1451
01:50:50.819 --> 01:51:02.880
I'm I'm kind of with you there in the, you know, Diva and Blake relate to each other in a slightly Blake Avon way, and Blake and Klein relate to each other in a slightly Blake Jenner way.

1452
01:51:02.939 --> 01:51:05.279
I think there is that effort, as you say.

1453
01:51:08.340 --> 01:51:13.739
Simon, you'll be happy to know that moving into our next section, which is on new regular.

1454
01:51:13.920 --> 01:51:16.739
There were a few people who wrote in diva.

1455
01:51:16.800 --> 01:51:20.039
And I'll tell you how many in a few minutes.

1456
01:51:20.100 --> 01:51:23.399
Except Paul Darrow turned around and said there's only one diva on this crew.

1457
01:51:24.420 --> 01:51:26.760
And that's Jacqueline Pierce.

1458
01:51:28.380 --> 01:51:33.000
Did anyone did anyone write in for Gambit to replace Aurac?

1459
01:51:34.800 --> 01:51:37.199
Gambit was a right in.

1460
01:51:37.739 --> 01:51:42.180
Did anyone write in 1st or act 2 to replace Aurac?

1461
01:51:43.439 --> 01:51:45.600
No one wrote it or act two.

1462
01:51:45.659 --> 01:51:47.819
Zorac 2, just the box of flashing lines.

1463
01:51:47.880 --> 01:51:48.600
Yes.

1464
01:51:50.760 --> 01:51:56.579
So I'm going to quickly go over just some of the single write-ins.

1465
01:51:56.640 --> 01:52:00.479
And quite a few of these actually come from Stardrive.

1466
01:52:00.539 --> 01:52:01.739
So I'm going to put all them together.

1467
01:52:01.800 --> 01:52:06.180
All of the space rats because it'll be something new and totally bonkers.

1468
01:52:06.239 --> 01:52:07.260
Got that right.

1469
01:52:07.319 --> 01:52:08.579
Atland.

1470
01:52:08.760 --> 01:52:11.579
That big fucking asteroid?

1471
01:52:11.640 --> 01:52:12.180
Is that one of them?

1472
01:52:14.279 --> 01:52:20.159
And the space rat sofa got a write in to give some...

1473
01:52:20.279 --> 01:52:23.819
Well, that has been a recurring guest star as it is.

1474
01:52:24.300 --> 01:52:28.500
Some comfier chairs for Scorpio's flight deck.

1475
01:52:28.560 --> 01:52:33.539
No, no, that space rat Sofra was going to come in and do one episode, but couldn't be asked to do 13.

1476
01:52:34.319 --> 01:52:36.060
It's too good.

1477
01:52:36.119 --> 01:52:39.779
Sulin, if only the writers had thought of that, someone says.

1478
01:52:42.420 --> 01:52:50.760
This took me a little while to understand what they meant, but someone said Sleer, as in the real Sleer whose identity has been assumed.

1479
01:52:51.239 --> 01:52:54.420
Ah, which was a very interesting idea.

1480
01:52:54.479 --> 01:52:56.760
And he votes for the sea devil.

1481
01:52:56.819 --> 01:52:58.319
Oh, come into it.

1482
01:53:00.539 --> 01:53:02.279
Reeve?

1483
01:53:02.279 --> 01:53:04.380
From Sand?

1484
01:53:04.439 --> 01:53:07.439
Dorian Sea Devil as a drinking partner for Villa.

1485
01:53:07.500 --> 01:53:09.180
Someone said kneebrocks.

1486
01:53:09.239 --> 01:53:11.880
Oh, you see, I think that is quite cute.

1487
01:53:11.939 --> 01:53:15.359
I can't quite see him as a regular, but the dynamic's interesting.

1488
01:53:15.420 --> 01:53:16.319
Yes.

1489
01:53:16.380 --> 01:53:17.039
Yes.

1490
01:53:17.100 --> 01:53:20.520
What, kneebrogs or the sea devil drinking muddy of villas?

1491
01:53:20.579 --> 01:53:22.500
Well, both assignment, of course.

1492
01:53:22.560 --> 01:53:26.819
No, knee Brocks, because he brought out different sides of different characters.

1493
01:53:26.880 --> 01:53:27.659
Yes.

1494
01:53:27.720 --> 01:53:30.420
Gambit, to give Villa a friend.

1495
01:53:30.720 --> 01:53:35.579
And that's an interesting idea because it's kind of like Aurak is Avon's computer.

1496
01:53:35.640 --> 01:53:37.079
Give Villa a computer, you know.

1497
01:53:37.140 --> 01:53:43.800
Like a house with 2 cats, as I said, that adapts to one of each of the inhabitants of the house as their particular human.

1498
01:53:43.859 --> 01:53:48.420
God, I can just imagine that bitch fighting Blake between slave orac and Gambit.

1499
01:53:50.819 --> 01:53:54.600
Someone suggested Kate from power?

1500
01:53:54.659 --> 01:53:56.880
She's very orange, isn't she?

1501
01:53:56.939 --> 01:53:57.899
Did anyone think that?

1502
01:53:57.960 --> 01:54:00.779
Like she'd kind of overdone the spray tan?

1503
01:54:01.079 --> 01:54:03.239
No, maybe it's just me.

1504
01:54:03.300 --> 01:54:12.359
Well, the listener who suggested that said, a useful power, and also, you know, we've lost our telepath, but also an ally to the Cesca, because we're on this planet.

1505
01:54:12.420 --> 01:54:15.779
Also, has Vaseline in her pocket for any tight stretches?

1506
01:54:15.840 --> 01:54:16.500
Yep.

1507
01:54:18.119 --> 01:54:23.819
Now, there were a couple of answers I didn't understand, which I'm going to read out in full.

1508
01:54:23.880 --> 01:54:30.000
Fred Elliott's Space Butchers, I say Fred Elliott's Space Butchers.

1509
01:54:30.060 --> 01:54:30.960
Any ideas?

1510
01:54:32.220 --> 01:54:45.359
John Sappendant, who played Fred Elliott in Coronation Street, who was a butcher, who tended to repeat his lines and someone would say, I do this.

1511
01:54:45.420 --> 01:54:49.800
I say, I assume there's a vocal pick that he had, so...

1512
01:54:49.800 --> 01:54:52.619
Hoffles radiation, I say, Hoffles radiation.

1513
01:54:53.220 --> 01:54:54.659
Okay.

1514
01:54:54.720 --> 01:54:55.680
Cool.

1515
01:54:55.739 --> 01:54:57.000
Here's another one.

1516
01:54:57.119 --> 01:55:01.439
I didn't quite get because I don't think this actor is in this episode, but I could be wrong.

1517
01:55:01.979 --> 01:55:08.460
Ken Masters in Sand because Ken Masters. instead of a massive speedboat.

1518
01:55:08.520 --> 01:55:15.899
He has a massive dildo shaped spaceship where he travels the galaxy, nobbing posh, Rada trained actresses and then double crossing them.

1519
01:55:15.960 --> 01:55:18.539
I'm basically saying space Howard's way.

1520
01:55:18.840 --> 01:55:28.619
Yeah, so Stephen Yardley, who plays investigator Reeve, is Ken Masters, who is the sort of sneezing man from Howard's way.

1521
01:55:28.680 --> 01:55:34.020
Spends lots of time shouting into mobile phones or just jousting off. draped across his shoulders.

1522
01:55:34.079 --> 01:55:34.859
Right.

1523
01:55:34.859 --> 01:55:37.140
So Reeve actually gets 2 votes.

1524
01:55:37.199 --> 01:55:37.680
There we are.

1525
01:55:38.880 --> 01:55:41.340
And the final single votes.

1526
01:55:41.399 --> 01:55:44.399
And I'm pretty sure this person said this last season as well.

1527
01:55:44.520 --> 01:55:46.199
Blake to piss off Avon.

1528
01:55:47.100 --> 01:55:50.520
Chaucer, for the hair, not for the abs.

1529
01:55:50.819 --> 01:55:55.500
And Justin, for the raw sexual tension.

1530
01:55:57.300 --> 01:55:59.220
You insist.

1531
01:55:59.880 --> 01:56:02.819
Oh, sexual tension from Ong.

1532
01:56:03.899 --> 01:56:06.960
Actually, Og, bring Og on board.

1533
01:56:07.020 --> 01:56:08.579
He's exactly Og.

1534
01:56:08.640 --> 01:56:10.079
Always horny.

1535
01:56:10.140 --> 01:56:11.699
Yeah, everyone needs a pet.

1536
01:56:11.760 --> 01:56:15.060
Please note, I've only reported the ones so far.

1537
01:56:16.079 --> 01:56:17.939
August is still in the running.

1538
01:56:18.720 --> 01:56:20.100
Right.

1539
01:56:20.159 --> 01:56:29.460
So next up, we have the twos. 2 votes for Pella, including one who says we could have added an extra 10 minutes to Blake when she got shot.

1540
01:56:33.779 --> 01:56:39.000
We also have Forbus, and one person has just said headgear.

1541
01:56:39.539 --> 01:56:40.979
Okay.

1542
01:56:41.039 --> 01:56:41.460
Yep.

1543
01:56:41.460 --> 01:56:41.880
Yep.

1544
01:56:41.939 --> 01:56:48.060
We have 2 votes for Aglorian, although I suppose with Fred Elliott Space Butchers, We have 3 votes for Agorian.

1545
01:56:48.119 --> 01:56:51.000
And we have 2 votes for lights, pretty, pretty lights.

1546
01:56:51.119 --> 01:56:54.539
Both people suggest that he joins the crew.

1547
01:56:54.600 --> 01:56:56.880
So not that he's a replacement for Travis.

1548
01:56:56.939 --> 01:57:03.779
One person says he joins the crew and is basically then a double agent for Sleer.

1549
01:57:03.840 --> 01:57:09.180
Having someone who useless secret as a member of the crew, would have opened up some interesting plot twists later.

1550
01:57:09.239 --> 01:57:11.520
He could have helped the crew to undermine her with what he knew.

1551
01:57:11.579 --> 01:57:14.939
But everyone in the crew knows her secret.

1552
01:57:16.739 --> 01:57:18.359
I know.

1553
01:57:18.539 --> 01:57:19.920
Okay.

1554
01:57:20.220 --> 01:57:23.579
I just learned not to mention that they know it.

1555
01:57:25.920 --> 01:57:30.000
Are we still doing the thing of pretending we're, yes, forgot.

1556
01:57:30.000 --> 01:57:34.619
She killed the dinner lady.

1557
01:57:35.520 --> 01:57:41.220
But the other person who voted for light said lights in a similar manner to how Tarrant was originally planned.

1558
01:57:41.279 --> 01:57:42.359
You don't know if he's good or not.

1559
01:57:42.420 --> 01:57:46.140
At the end of the season, he takes the place of Arlan in Blake.

1560
01:57:46.199 --> 01:57:47.520
Oh.

1561
01:57:47.520 --> 01:57:48.359
Ooh.

1562
01:57:48.479 --> 01:57:49.680
That could be a thing.

1563
01:57:49.739 --> 01:57:52.920
Also, in the 2 vote category is Vina.

1564
01:57:52.979 --> 01:57:58.619
One person has said, Linda Bellingham in it, but someone else has said, for reasons that would reflect poorly on me.

1565
01:57:58.619 --> 01:58:05.460
And followers on Blue Sky may recall, I alluded to someone having impure thoughts about a guest stop, and this was it.

1566
01:58:05.939 --> 01:58:12.180
Oh Okay, moving on to the threes.

1567
01:58:12.479 --> 01:58:17.880
We have Alan, a reformed veteration officer could have blurred a few lines.

1568
01:58:18.960 --> 01:58:22.800
And she could have stayed there, you could have got a good tension from the issue.

1569
01:58:22.859 --> 01:58:30.300
I mean, they do in the episode, but they could have gone further with the whole, should be tempted to betray everybody, but then it doesn't or something, you know.

1570
01:58:30.479 --> 01:58:32.760
There's mileage in that, isn't there?

1571
01:58:32.819 --> 01:58:34.020
Absolute.

1572
01:58:34.079 --> 01:58:39.659
And the original idea for the character that was very quickly dismissed was that she was Serverland's daughter.

1573
01:58:39.720 --> 01:58:44.520
So just imagine if that had been a reveal sort of down the line.

1574
01:58:44.579 --> 01:58:51.600
That would have been, especially if she had sided with the crew, you know, yeah, that could have been...

1575
01:58:51.659 --> 01:58:59.699
On the sound episode, we decided that Silverland was going to turn up with twins in series E, one of which with curly hair and one with a very severe bulb.

1576
01:59:02.880 --> 01:59:10.140
That would have given a reason for Serve Land to turn up at the end of Blake, where she could step in and look at Ireland, say, she was mine.

1577
01:59:10.199 --> 01:59:11.579
I felt her die.

1578
01:59:13.380 --> 01:59:24.060
Another 3 is Major Hunda, and everyone suggested, you know, a more moral foil, and also someone said another freedom fighter this time played by a good actor.

1579
01:59:24.119 --> 01:59:28.199
But only if he washes his fucking face, though.

1580
01:59:29.039 --> 01:59:31.680
I'm sure he would, you know.

1581
01:59:31.739 --> 01:59:33.479
He's in the Martians, Nathan.

1582
01:59:33.539 --> 01:59:34.140
Give him a break.

1583
01:59:34.199 --> 01:59:34.979
Okay, all right.

1584
01:59:35.039 --> 01:59:40.079
I wasn't a hairdresser anyway, not an academic.

1585
01:59:41.939 --> 01:59:43.319
Right.

1586
01:59:43.380 --> 01:59:47.100
And getting 3 votes is OG.

1587
01:59:47.159 --> 01:59:52.079
Oh, OG because he's OG.

1588
01:59:52.680 --> 01:59:54.600
It's an OG thing.

1589
01:59:54.659 --> 01:59:55.800
It's an old thing.

1590
01:59:55.859 --> 01:59:58.859
But had Dana thrown over a cliff every episode.

1591
02:00:00.479 --> 02:00:08.159
And I'm not quite sure what this means, but Og, he's the man on the Clapham omnibus and would have been an excellent chef.

1592
02:00:14.279 --> 02:00:14.640
Okay.

1593
02:00:14.699 --> 02:00:16.319
What everyone says about him.

1594
02:00:18.060 --> 02:00:26.939
It could have a role doing something unspecified on the Scorpio, come in for 30 seconds every episode, roar a bit, and then just go back to doing whatever it does.

1595
02:00:27.119 --> 02:00:29.340
Isn't that Terrence role?

1596
02:00:32.399 --> 02:00:34.979
Moving into the fours.

1597
02:00:35.220 --> 02:00:37.439
We have Ziona.

1598
02:00:37.500 --> 02:00:46.680
Same argument as Dr. Paxton, the woman, the crew could use a woman scientist. and unlocking interesting traits in Tarrant and Su Lin.

1599
02:00:46.739 --> 02:00:48.840
Different hairstyles every episode, please.

1600
02:00:49.140 --> 02:00:51.720
Ziona obvious reasons.

1601
02:00:53.579 --> 02:00:55.739
Not obvious.

1602
02:00:57.359 --> 02:01:00.659
And Simon, this is your moment.

1603
02:01:00.720 --> 02:01:01.859
Diva.

1604
02:01:01.920 --> 02:01:02.340
Oh, God.

1605
02:01:02.399 --> 02:01:03.720
Ah, for four.

1606
02:01:03.779 --> 02:01:04.439
Yes.

1607
02:01:04.500 --> 02:01:07.199
You thought it was going to be you, didn't you, Simon?

1608
02:01:07.500 --> 02:01:10.140
I thought he's going to stage.

1609
02:01:10.199 --> 02:01:15.239
Yes. led me up the garden path there Brennan.

1610
02:01:15.300 --> 02:01:18.000
Yeah, they already have a pissy computer.

1611
02:01:21.600 --> 02:01:24.899
Two people said, look, it's David Collings.

1612
02:01:24.960 --> 02:01:25.439
How can you not?

1613
02:01:26.460 --> 02:01:32.460
Diva might have done the whole alliance building thing without killing any of the actual allies.

1614
02:01:32.760 --> 02:01:41.340
Also could have made Blake more open and acted as a good conduit between Blake and Avon as a sort of more level-headed character.

1615
02:01:41.399 --> 02:01:49.020
Yeah, so people are like, like you, someone, looking ahead to how you could, how you could do a new series.

1616
02:01:49.079 --> 02:01:51.359
Right. moving up to 6 votes.

1617
02:01:52.199 --> 02:01:54.000
We have cancer.

1618
02:01:54.960 --> 02:01:57.119
Which cancer?

1619
02:01:58.140 --> 02:01:59.880
Right, okay.

1620
02:01:59.939 --> 02:02:01.739
Real cancer.

1621
02:02:01.800 --> 02:02:02.640
Yeah.

1622
02:02:04.079 --> 02:02:07.020
Does she get to kill someone every episode?

1623
02:02:07.079 --> 02:02:09.119
Like that one.

1624
02:02:09.180 --> 02:02:14.699
She would just need to turn off the lights on Scorpio flight deck and have everyone wander around.

1625
02:02:14.760 --> 02:02:18.779
No, she can't kill someone every episode because that bitch is probably dead already.

1626
02:02:21.000 --> 02:02:23.100
Ongoing jeopardy.

1627
02:02:23.159 --> 02:02:25.800
Merciless Cunningham camp, she'd fit right in.

1628
02:02:25.920 --> 02:02:28.619
She also wouldn't be the worst performance of a regular we've ever had.

1629
02:02:29.640 --> 02:02:33.239
She should have replaced Serverland and killed them all at the end.

1630
02:02:34.079 --> 02:02:36.779
She ends up dating Avon.

1631
02:02:36.899 --> 02:02:39.840
I wanted to kill people with a variety of clockwork toys.

1632
02:02:40.079 --> 02:02:42.600
She's got a little clockwork spiders.

1633
02:02:42.659 --> 02:02:44.159
Never a tab.

1634
02:02:44.220 --> 02:02:46.199
Like as a spider, it's a centipede.

1635
02:02:46.260 --> 02:02:46.800
Whatever.

1636
02:02:46.800 --> 02:02:49.140
A little mouse.

1637
02:02:49.140 --> 02:02:50.039
Ch crab.

1638
02:02:50.939 --> 02:02:55.020
It's a small off-duty Czechoslovakian traffic warden.

1639
02:02:56.699 --> 02:03:01.560
Adding an element of will she won't she shag or murder Tarrant?

1640
02:03:01.680 --> 02:03:07.260
And imagine the gravitas Carolyn Holdaway would bring to the final scene of Blake.

1641
02:03:10.020 --> 02:03:12.420
Oh, that would be amazing.

1642
02:03:12.479 --> 02:03:14.159
Everyone else is dying in slow motion.

1643
02:03:14.220 --> 02:03:15.420
She's there going, oh.

1644
02:03:22.680 --> 02:03:25.439
Now, we move into double digit territory.

1645
02:03:25.500 --> 02:03:29.100
And we have 2 people very close for number two.

1646
02:03:29.159 --> 02:03:34.859
And look, just to let you know, our top 3 are Dorian, Keeler and Dr. Paxton.

1647
02:03:34.859 --> 02:03:36.539
The order is not the same.

1648
02:03:36.539 --> 02:03:39.840
With 18 votes, it's Dr. Paxton.

1649
02:03:39.899 --> 02:03:51.420
So people say, you know, another woman character, a scientist, more level-headed, a mature, assured lady despairing at the rest of the crew's antics, one listener says.

1650
02:03:51.779 --> 02:03:56.340
I think she would have balanced Avon's character and hopefully Darrow's overacting.

1651
02:03:56.399 --> 02:03:59.279
The rational voice of the team after the loss of Cali.

1652
02:03:59.340 --> 02:04:00.239
Definitely.

1653
02:04:00.300 --> 02:04:01.079
Yeah, yeah.

1654
02:04:01.140 --> 02:04:06.000
Bring in Dr. Paxton for animals instead of Dana.

1655
02:04:06.060 --> 02:04:10.739
That would put a whole different complexion on Dana. if Dr. Paxton had had an affair with her.

1656
02:04:15.300 --> 02:04:19.020
So we can make who a recurring catchphrase?

1657
02:04:20.340 --> 02:04:24.420
If only so the show could have more Barbara Shelley, which is fair enough.

1658
02:04:25.199 --> 02:04:32.880
You know, a lot of people said to balance out Avon, and someone even pointed out, Avon should have realised Scorpio does not have self-repairing tech.

1659
02:04:32.939 --> 02:04:38.880
It's good to have someone who understands how to how to repair starships.

1660
02:04:39.479 --> 02:04:43.560
I was very upset on 1st transmission when she was incinerated.

1661
02:04:43.619 --> 02:04:44.819
She was deliciously firm.

1662
02:04:44.880 --> 02:04:48.359
I presume this respondent means attitude.

1663
02:04:48.420 --> 02:04:51.479
I certainly hope so. never know.

1664
02:04:51.539 --> 02:04:55.380
So with one vote more than Dr. Paxton, we have Keeler.

1665
02:04:55.439 --> 02:04:56.039
Okay.

1666
02:04:56.039 --> 02:04:57.300
With 19.

1667
02:04:57.539 --> 02:05:05.760
A lot of people have said, because it's Roy Kinnear, which is very good, in my opinion, they said he's he's a proper crook, he's properly devious.

1668
02:05:05.819 --> 02:05:07.920
He's fun, he's funny.

1669
02:05:07.979 --> 02:05:12.000
Best chemistry with the cast and clashes with Su Lin were excellent.

1670
02:05:12.180 --> 02:05:16.619
He's just a decent enough bloke getting by in a shitty universe.

1671
02:05:16.680 --> 02:05:19.560
I don't really think Keel is that decent, though.

1672
02:05:19.859 --> 02:05:24.060
He has that crossing a line moment, doesn't he, where he shoots the doctor just for the hell of it pretty much?

1673
02:05:24.119 --> 02:05:25.079
Yeah.

1674
02:05:25.140 --> 02:05:27.960
No, because he thinks it's cool, doesn't he?

1675
02:05:28.020 --> 02:05:31.140
He thinks they're going to think he's cool because they're such assholes.

1676
02:05:31.199 --> 02:05:34.859
And then they kind of turn on him, even though they're killing people all the time.

1677
02:05:34.920 --> 02:05:37.439
It's just like, seems very unfair to me.

1678
02:05:37.500 --> 02:05:38.760
Bunch of hypocrites.

1679
02:05:38.819 --> 02:05:42.659
Yeah. screw those guys That could be an ongoing thing.

1680
02:05:42.720 --> 02:05:45.899
Everywhere they go, they kill everyone and then he pulls out his gun and goes, I can do this too.

1681
02:05:45.960 --> 02:05:50.279
And they're like, he kills the wrong people.

1682
02:05:50.340 --> 02:05:51.479
Servolan turns up.

1683
02:05:51.539 --> 02:05:53.699
He just brings out a gun and shoots and they're like, what are you doing?

1684
02:05:54.659 --> 02:05:57.779
She's got 8 episodes this season.

1685
02:05:59.819 --> 02:06:03.539
Just before we get to number one.

1686
02:06:03.600 --> 02:06:10.739
Nine people actually said they didn't want to bring anyone else on board and one respondent even said, this is my favourite crew lineup.

1687
02:06:12.000 --> 02:06:14.220
Yes, I'd agree with that, right?

1688
02:06:14.279 --> 02:06:14.880
Certainly mine.

1689
02:06:14.939 --> 02:06:26.640
Just before we do which number one, Brendan, if it's not Pinder, I'm going to be quite annoyed because he would have been an amazing edition, sitting up the back of the Scorpio flight deck glowering at everybody.

1690
02:06:26.699 --> 02:06:28.140
That would be amazing.

1691
02:06:29.340 --> 02:06:30.779
Right.

1692
02:06:30.840 --> 02:06:34.380
Well, with 29 votes, it's Pinder.

1693
02:06:34.439 --> 02:06:36.119
No, it's Dora.

1694
02:06:36.840 --> 02:06:38.220
Wow.

1695
02:06:38.340 --> 02:06:43.979
Another, another, well, not a twink age before his time, a twink aged quite far after his time.

1696
02:06:44.039 --> 02:06:44.819
Sorry.

1697
02:06:45.300 --> 02:06:46.260
Sorry, didn't hear that.

1698
02:06:46.319 --> 02:06:47.340
Dorian.

1699
02:06:47.399 --> 02:06:48.779
It is Dorian.

1700
02:06:48.840 --> 02:06:51.000
It is Dorian, which is Dorian again.

1701
02:06:51.060 --> 02:06:53.520
Dorian, how can Dorian be entered into so many categories?

1702
02:06:53.579 --> 02:06:55.079
Shouldn't there been like a regulation against that?

1703
02:06:55.140 --> 02:07:03.779
See, this is the problem I had. like there are blurred lines between who's an ally who's a villain who's supporting Serverland.

1704
02:07:03.840 --> 02:07:06.720
Yeah, this one was difficult. together.

1705
02:07:06.779 --> 02:07:08.760
But also, you got to remember in this category.

1706
02:07:08.819 --> 02:07:10.619
This is viewers writing in.

1707
02:07:10.800 --> 02:07:15.180
So 29 people have written in...

1708
02:07:15.300 --> 02:07:16.680
Wrote in Dorian unprompted.

1709
02:07:16.739 --> 02:07:17.880
That's pretty amazing.

1710
02:07:17.939 --> 02:07:22.140
Yeah, Simon, maybe entering a number of things at the same time was one of his vices.

1711
02:07:23.159 --> 02:07:28.500
Maybe, maybe the sea devil in the basement can have a say in what's happened there.

1712
02:07:28.739 --> 02:07:30.659
Reveal all.

1713
02:07:30.720 --> 02:07:41.039
Well, isn't it interesting that that that one character can be can leave such an impression and people can see all sorts of different things about him.

1714
02:07:42.840 --> 02:07:46.680
It's a mark of what Chris Boucher did with that character, really.

1715
02:07:46.739 --> 02:07:50.579
It's yeah, he's really multifaceted and very, very good.

1716
02:07:51.600 --> 02:07:56.640
What's really great is people have sort of come up with ways he could have been utilised throughout the series.

1717
02:07:56.699 --> 02:08:01.260
The salvage merchant version, not the matters of box of frogs one at the end, please.

1718
02:08:01.319 --> 02:08:03.359
You know, you can't maintain that over a year.

1719
02:08:03.420 --> 02:08:06.420
Someone else said he's not dead at the end of rescue.

1720
02:08:06.479 --> 02:08:15.239
He's incapacitated, and he turns up throughout the series getting older and older before finally being a part of the finale as well.

1721
02:08:15.359 --> 02:08:16.439
Sounds great.

1722
02:08:16.500 --> 02:08:17.340
Yeah.

1723
02:08:18.300 --> 02:08:22.020
Lots of people have said good foil for Avon.

1724
02:08:22.079 --> 02:08:28.199
Lots of people have said he's very pretty, like also hot, partly for the eye candy.

1725
02:08:32.819 --> 02:08:35.220
Okay, 2 people have said that.

1726
02:08:39.180 --> 02:08:44.520
Some people have said like, you still had the reveal of what's going on, but you wait a few episodes.

1727
02:08:44.579 --> 02:08:49.140
The basic consensus seems to be untapped potential for Dorian.

1728
02:08:49.199 --> 02:08:49.560
Yeah.

1729
02:08:49.560 --> 02:08:52.439
Simon.

1730
02:08:52.500 --> 02:08:55.739
Snog, marry, it's science gone mad.

1731
02:08:55.800 --> 02:08:59.819
Muller's Android, OG, and Gambit.

1732
02:09:00.300 --> 02:09:03.119
Well, I'm obviously marrying Gambit.

1733
02:09:03.180 --> 02:09:06.479
I mean, that's just the easiest choice in the universe.

1734
02:09:06.779 --> 02:09:09.180
It's science gone mad.

1735
02:09:09.300 --> 02:09:10.020
Now that's the hard one.

1736
02:09:10.079 --> 02:09:13.020
I think, uh, I think, I think definitely.

1737
02:09:13.079 --> 02:09:15.060
Oh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

1738
02:09:15.119 --> 02:09:20.159
Oh Oh, there's no way in hell I can snog og.

1739
02:09:20.220 --> 02:09:24.479
So I have to, I have to snob the Android.

1740
02:09:24.479 --> 02:09:26.220
Because I just couldn't.

1741
02:09:26.279 --> 02:09:27.000
I just really couldn't.

1742
02:09:27.060 --> 02:09:29.100
It handles to hold onto at least.

1743
02:09:30.960 --> 02:09:33.600
Which did are you snogging, exactly?

1744
02:09:33.659 --> 02:09:35.460
Yeah, exactly.

1745
02:09:35.520 --> 02:09:38.640
You couldn't just snog the lazandroid. did expect you to give him head.

1746
02:09:40.500 --> 02:09:43.079
I'm sure I could find.

1747
02:09:43.199 --> 02:09:47.340
I'm sure I could find something appropriate and I'd be more confident that it was sterile.

1748
02:09:50.220 --> 02:09:52.020
Oh my goodness.

1749
02:09:55.560 --> 02:10:02.939
We come to something which was quite controversial last season, and that is picking a character to write out.

1750
02:10:03.000 --> 02:10:05.340
Aren't they all written out?

1751
02:10:08.039 --> 02:10:10.199
Two people answered that.

1752
02:10:11.819 --> 02:10:14.760
Who would you shove overboard on the Titanic?

1753
02:10:14.819 --> 02:10:16.979
Yeah, sure.

1754
02:10:17.579 --> 02:10:25.920
One person just said all of them were written out and another person said, all of them, in say, a bunker all gunned down to death.

1755
02:10:27.600 --> 02:10:30.060
Did people mention Callie?

1756
02:10:30.119 --> 02:10:32.279
I think they could have written her out.

1757
02:10:32.340 --> 02:10:34.260
Two people did mention Kelly.

1758
02:10:34.319 --> 02:10:39.359
Callie, both basically said, but I'd follow the original plan of getting rid of her part way through.

1759
02:10:39.420 --> 02:10:40.380
Okay.

1760
02:10:40.439 --> 02:10:41.819
That's cheating.

1761
02:10:41.880 --> 02:10:42.659
That's keeping her, really.

1762
02:10:43.260 --> 02:10:53.939
One person says Cali, mid-season, up the anti-by losing one of the original, long underserved characters, but not a von or villa and not offscreen, which agreed.

1763
02:10:54.000 --> 02:11:00.000
One person suggested I'd have her in the 1st few episodes and then die activating the star drive.

1764
02:11:00.060 --> 02:11:01.920
Imagine how chilling.

1765
02:11:01.979 --> 02:11:03.300
What about Cali?

1766
02:11:03.300 --> 02:11:04.439
Who?

1767
02:11:04.800 --> 02:11:06.479
Ooh.

1768
02:11:06.539 --> 02:11:07.680
Yeah.

1769
02:11:07.739 --> 02:11:16.140
I mean, the planned death for Cali would have been pretty awful with her thrown out of Serverland ship and... in animals.

1770
02:11:16.199 --> 02:11:17.159
Yeah.

1771
02:11:17.220 --> 02:11:19.800
In the Aspro turf. you know, yeah.

1772
02:11:20.220 --> 02:11:25.020
Yeah, she looked at that script and script and said, I'd rather tie off screen in a bunker.

1773
02:11:25.079 --> 02:11:25.979
I'm sure it.

1774
02:11:26.039 --> 02:11:26.939
Two words.

1775
02:11:27.000 --> 02:11:27.539
That's it.

1776
02:11:27.600 --> 02:11:35.340
I like to think that they could have, instead of dying off screen in a bunker, they could have just said, I have to go now.

1777
02:11:35.399 --> 02:11:36.539
Aron needs me.

1778
02:11:36.659 --> 02:11:40.439
And then a caption on screen saying, Kelly died on her way back to her home plant.

1779
02:11:43.500 --> 02:11:46.260
Kelly's gone with Jenna and Blake.

1780
02:11:48.239 --> 02:11:52.500
Controversially, one person suggested getting rid of Avon.

1781
02:11:53.880 --> 02:11:55.739
Wow, okay.

1782
02:11:55.800 --> 02:12:02.520
Because Paul Darrow's hammery spoiled the season for me, and he'd been brilliant in past episodes.

1783
02:12:02.579 --> 02:12:03.359
It was such a shame.

1784
02:12:03.420 --> 02:12:04.619
Interesting.

1785
02:12:04.680 --> 02:12:06.119
Yeah, valid.

1786
02:12:06.180 --> 02:12:07.199
Yeah, yeah.

1787
02:12:07.260 --> 02:12:09.239
I think, yeah, it's about it's a valid criticism.

1788
02:12:09.300 --> 02:12:14.399
Interestingly enough, one vote apiece for 2 behind the scenes figures.

1789
02:12:14.520 --> 02:12:16.319
Ben Steed.

1790
02:12:16.380 --> 02:12:18.659
Oh, wait a minute, he's not a character, is he?

1791
02:12:18.779 --> 02:12:20.939
More of a caricature.

1792
02:12:21.000 --> 02:12:21.899
Yes.

1793
02:12:21.899 --> 02:12:25.800
And a very detailed description of Chris Boucher.

1794
02:12:25.859 --> 02:12:29.340
Oh, they would get rid of Chris Boucher.

1795
02:12:29.399 --> 02:12:29.880
Yeah.

1796
02:12:29.939 --> 02:12:30.539
Why?

1797
02:12:30.600 --> 02:12:31.260
If this is you.

1798
02:12:31.319 --> 02:12:35.819
I apologise for not reading out the whole thing, but you've given me a lot to work with here, which is great.

1799
02:12:35.880 --> 02:12:38.220
He keeps hiring Ben Steed.

1800
02:12:38.279 --> 02:12:41.760
What is with the idiotic serverland sleer stuff?

1801
02:12:41.819 --> 02:12:43.619
How did she lose the presidency?

1802
02:12:43.680 --> 02:12:44.579
Who were her backers?

1803
02:12:44.640 --> 02:12:45.539
Were they loyal?

1804
02:12:45.600 --> 02:12:47.100
Who really controlled the Federation?

1805
02:12:47.159 --> 02:12:48.539
Why not explore any of that?

1806
02:12:49.079 --> 02:12:50.699
Traitor.

1807
02:12:50.760 --> 02:12:52.380
Oh, is it server man?

1808
02:12:52.439 --> 02:12:53.039
Daft.

1809
02:12:53.100 --> 02:12:54.600
Rescue should have been a two-parter.

1810
02:12:54.720 --> 02:12:58.079
Another day of filming with fake Blake, Callie, and Avon.

1811
02:12:58.199 --> 02:13:00.720
Dorian should have rescued Serverland first.

1812
02:13:00.779 --> 02:13:03.659
Yeah, there's some really interesting ideas here.

1813
02:13:03.720 --> 02:13:07.079
Um, Sulin should have been an engineer who knew Dr. Paxton.

1814
02:13:07.140 --> 02:13:12.239
Why didn't they try going and hunting down another DSV from the system?

1815
02:13:12.779 --> 02:13:14.520
Yeah that's true.

1816
02:13:15.659 --> 02:13:20.939
This person says, I love series D or the Paul Darrow show, as I call it.

1817
02:13:21.119 --> 02:13:23.460
It's mostly fine and good.

1818
02:13:23.699 --> 02:13:27.420
With unfortunately, some of the worst TV ever broadcast.

1819
02:13:27.479 --> 02:13:31.140
I know it was a rush commission and crisp Boucher was under a lot of pressure.

1820
02:13:31.199 --> 02:13:35.880
He does turn it around and Blake is wow, but again, we're Serverland.

1821
02:13:36.000 --> 02:13:40.319
Actually, the mistakes are made up by a big part in the 2nd half.

1822
02:13:40.859 --> 02:13:43.619
As I say, this is with regret.

1823
02:13:43.680 --> 02:13:46.020
Anyway, fantastic podcast.

1824
02:13:46.079 --> 02:13:47.279
Please do Big Finish too.

1825
02:13:47.340 --> 02:13:48.359
Warship was superb.

1826
02:13:48.420 --> 02:13:51.000
Hopefully animated on the series C Blu-ray.

1827
02:13:51.060 --> 02:13:54.359
So, thank you for that wonderful description.

1828
02:13:54.420 --> 02:13:56.100
What do we think of those ideas for Boucher?

1829
02:14:00.600 --> 02:14:06.000
I can't say I completely agree with much of it, ideas. dare I say?

1830
02:14:06.659 --> 02:14:11.279
I think, yeah, no, I don't think that's fair comment, sorry.

1831
02:14:11.340 --> 02:14:16.199
Yeah, I'd have to say if you want to kill this series, Stone Dead, get rid of Chris Belcher.

1832
02:14:16.260 --> 02:14:28.560
I can understand that if the series were to continue into a series E, you would need to start looking at a succession plan, but I don't think he's, I don't think he's at the point in this season that you could say he's past it.

1833
02:14:29.640 --> 02:14:31.199
Fair enough.

1834
02:14:32.100 --> 02:14:40.319
I think, like, a lot of theories that we're hearing are are just not the show that we have.

1835
02:14:40.380 --> 02:14:41.760
Do you know what I mean?

1836
02:14:41.819 --> 02:14:47.520
So these things where a character comes and there's a long game arc thing and something's revealed about them.

1837
02:14:47.579 --> 02:14:48.779
That's not what the show is.

1838
02:14:48.840 --> 02:14:51.899
The show is we do an adventure every week.

1839
02:14:51.960 --> 02:14:56.520
And you can see, we're introducing a crucial new character for the final year.

1840
02:14:56.579 --> 02:14:57.600
We've lost Callie.

1841
02:14:57.659 --> 02:15:03.779
She's been with us all along, and we put no effort at all into establishing who she is as a person.

1842
02:15:03.840 --> 02:15:09.539
And we think that's bad and weird and wrong, and in a way it is, but it's not what the show is.

1843
02:15:09.600 --> 02:15:11.520
Like, the show just isn't that.

1844
02:15:11.579 --> 02:15:26.520
And so, a whole heap of kind of, of, of things that we're hearing from people are things that are just not what Blake 7 is and and I'm kind of glad that Blake 7 does what it does instead.

1845
02:15:26.760 --> 02:15:33.779
Yeah, it feels like those are things that would happen in a genre TV show now.

1846
02:15:33.779 --> 02:15:41.819
Now, exactly. all of those things and you're applying that to something that was made 40 years ago when the sensibilities of TV were very different.

1847
02:15:41.880 --> 02:15:44.699
You could absolutely do that with Blake 7.

1848
02:15:44.760 --> 02:15:50.159
The format would allow that, but it wasn't what was done here in 1981.

1849
02:15:50.399 --> 02:16:05.579
And, and, you know, they even considered it with the character of the captain, who they were going to introduce in series 3, who was going to have some complicated backstory and we were going to have someone who butted up against David and we weren't sure who he was and all of that sort of thing.

1850
02:16:05.640 --> 02:16:07.979
And they rightly said, no, we're not doing that.

1851
02:16:08.039 --> 02:16:14.399
We just need, uh, you know, like an attractive male lead to, you know, fight with Avon occasionally and look pretty.

1852
02:16:14.460 --> 02:16:16.979
And you know, that's how the show works.

1853
02:16:17.039 --> 02:16:20.159
The show is a different thing, there's sort of an arc.

1854
02:16:20.220 --> 02:16:27.539
There's sort of ongoing arcing series, B and D. But they're very light.

1855
02:16:27.659 --> 02:16:31.680
And that's what was always going to happen, I think.

1856
02:16:31.739 --> 02:16:35.159
And Nathan picking up on what both you and Cy were saying.

1857
02:16:35.219 --> 02:16:38.280
I think in genre television all of the time.

1858
02:16:38.459 --> 02:16:42.360
In fact, in television of the time, no, you can't play those kinds of long games.

1859
02:16:42.420 --> 02:16:46.200
And so what characters rely on is a really great 1st episode.

1860
02:16:46.260 --> 02:16:51.780
And so Dana and Tarrant both got that. which is why they are set up so well.

1861
02:16:51.840 --> 02:16:59.520
And the way that this series comes together and the rush and the fact that Jan Chappell wasn't going to do it means that Su Lin is denied that and that's the problem.

1862
02:16:59.579 --> 02:17:00.120
Yeah.

1863
02:17:00.120 --> 02:17:01.079
Yeah.

1864
02:17:01.139 --> 02:17:06.659
Yeah, even Callie's 1st episode is all about establishing who she is as a person, isn't it?

1865
02:17:06.719 --> 02:17:07.620
way back then.

1866
02:17:07.680 --> 02:17:08.340
Yeah.

1867
02:17:08.340 --> 02:17:09.780
Right.

1868
02:17:09.840 --> 02:17:14.280
So next with 6 suggestions is Villa.

1869
02:17:14.639 --> 02:17:21.420
And most people who've suggested getting rid of Villa are actually suggesting that orbit goes the other way.

1870
02:17:21.479 --> 02:17:24.299
Wow, that would have been really dumb.

1871
02:17:24.600 --> 02:17:25.139
Yeah.

1872
02:17:25.200 --> 02:17:31.319
One person suggests you do it in the 2nd last episode and Villa goes out trying to get one big score.

1873
02:17:32.819 --> 02:17:36.000
Which, you know, is also appropriate for the character.

1874
02:17:36.180 --> 02:17:43.739
Yeah, I wonder, do the others, does anyone else know that what Avon's done and does that become something that haunts Avon at the end of the?

1875
02:17:43.920 --> 02:17:52.739
We're always watching this with our knowledge that Blake is the last episode, which ironically, they didn't think at the time, did they, for certain?

1876
02:17:52.799 --> 02:17:56.879
that it was written as a cliffhanger, not a not an ending.

1877
02:17:56.940 --> 02:17:57.600
Yeah.

1878
02:17:57.659 --> 02:17:59.340
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

1879
02:17:59.399 --> 02:18:05.040
Interesting you should say that because 2 people who suggested getting rid of Villa in orbit.

1880
02:18:05.100 --> 02:18:15.000
One person says, Avon just tells everyone that Villa was pissed as a fart and ejected himself from the airlock, mistaking it for the bathroom, totally believable.

1881
02:18:15.059 --> 02:18:22.440
The other side of that is no one except Aurak and Avon know the truth, but the rest of the crew suspect the hell out of Avon.

1882
02:18:22.559 --> 02:18:25.020
Suspicion, paranoia, distrust ensue.

1883
02:18:25.139 --> 02:18:27.719
Now again, that's some of that arcing that we're talking about.

1884
02:18:27.780 --> 02:18:29.579
Also, it's a good idea.

1885
02:18:29.639 --> 02:18:31.739
And I should correct myself.

1886
02:18:31.799 --> 02:18:37.860
The person who suggests getting Villa to leave in the 2nd last episode with some big score is actually saying don't kill him off.

1887
02:18:37.920 --> 02:18:40.319
He gets a big score and settles down somewhere with lots of money.

1888
02:18:40.379 --> 02:18:52.860
So, I mean, again, I don't think it's the kind of thing that Blake 7 does, but certainly it would have been very interesting character wise for Avon to kill Villa and that being the thing that sent him over the edge.

1889
02:18:52.920 --> 02:18:54.299
Yeah, yeah.

1890
02:18:54.420 --> 02:18:55.979
Even then, though.

1891
02:18:56.280 --> 02:19:02.040
So, uh, 7 people have said Aurak, a lot of people think he's surplus to requirements.

1892
02:19:02.100 --> 02:19:10.020
Yeah, I was going to say if I was voting for someone, I'd probably vote for Aurak to be written out because I think he's done what he can do in the show.

1893
02:19:10.079 --> 02:19:11.340
Yeah.

1894
02:19:11.399 --> 02:19:14.219
People have suggested some interesting ways to get rid of him.

1895
02:19:14.280 --> 02:19:18.000
He just gets bricked when they push out a software update, obviously.

1896
02:19:19.379 --> 02:19:21.600
He becomes a doorstop.

1897
02:19:23.639 --> 02:19:28.020
An episode where the villain of the week takes him apart and he can't be repaired.

1898
02:19:28.079 --> 02:19:39.899
Destroyed by the Android in headhunter. to force the crew to go back to basics, finally captured by the Federation, and Avon reluctantly destroys the ship, he's on to stop him going into Serverland's hands.

1899
02:19:39.959 --> 02:19:41.700
So yeah, there's some good ideas there.

1900
02:19:41.819 --> 02:19:45.239
Next up, with 8 votes is slave.

1901
02:19:46.200 --> 02:19:51.780
On the other side of that, some people found him cringy, annoying.

1902
02:19:51.840 --> 02:19:53.219
He wasn't really needed.

1903
02:19:53.280 --> 02:19:56.100
He was more irritating than Aurak.

1904
02:19:56.280 --> 02:20:03.360
All part of the monochrome misery of series D. It's yellow.

1905
02:20:03.479 --> 02:20:04.379
There's yellow.

1906
02:20:09.420 --> 02:20:18.000
So, um, 12 people didn't want to get rid of anyone, and that's fair enough. 14 people.

1907
02:20:18.000 --> 02:20:19.440
Said Sulin.

1908
02:20:19.500 --> 02:20:21.540
Not distinct enough from Dana.

1909
02:20:22.139 --> 02:20:27.479
Their roles are interchangeable, but get rid of her in a massive Bonnie and Clyde gunfight.

1910
02:20:27.540 --> 02:20:34.260
Lack of development, Sulin, because Cali would have survived, Avon just wouldn't have purchased Sulin skill.

1911
02:20:34.319 --> 02:20:35.700
I like her.

1912
02:20:35.760 --> 02:20:36.780
She wasn't given enough to do.

1913
02:20:36.840 --> 02:20:39.180
She's just there to make up the numbers.

1914
02:20:39.239 --> 02:20:41.040
Keep the hair extensions.

1915
02:20:42.299 --> 02:20:44.520
Give them to Siona.

1916
02:20:44.639 --> 02:20:47.760
Festoon them around the flight deck, I think.

1917
02:20:48.239 --> 02:20:50.399
Like Christmas lights.

1918
02:20:50.459 --> 02:20:54.299
It was like nylon, we'd have had...

1919
02:20:54.299 --> 02:20:57.959
Next up, with 15 votes is Servolan.

1920
02:20:58.079 --> 02:20:58.979
Okay.

1921
02:20:59.040 --> 02:21:01.260
I can see this Yeah.

1922
02:21:01.319 --> 02:21:03.840
At the hands of Dana, who also snuffs it.

1923
02:21:03.899 --> 02:21:05.159
Wow, bloodthirsty.

1924
02:21:06.180 --> 02:21:08.700
She deserves a proper exit.

1925
02:21:08.760 --> 02:21:12.479
I'd have written her out before the final episode to keep the focus on the crew and Blake.

1926
02:21:12.659 --> 02:21:20.639
Perished with the liberator rather than be made to put up with this nonsense. cut her from most of the series, but do bring her back for Blake for a final showdown.

1927
02:21:20.760 --> 02:21:23.520
She's experiencing villain decay.

1928
02:21:23.579 --> 02:21:27.420
The change embraced for the series means we could embrace a new villain.

1929
02:21:27.479 --> 02:21:30.840
Wait, so someone who's not Jacqueline Pierce.

1930
02:21:30.959 --> 02:21:31.680
Yeah.

1931
02:21:37.739 --> 02:21:42.059
Yeah, lots of people, lots of people just saying the characters outstayed her, welcome.

1932
02:21:42.120 --> 02:21:43.860
The slayer plot doesn't do her justice.

1933
02:21:43.920 --> 02:21:47.040
Have the Scorpio crash into her for irony.

1934
02:21:47.100 --> 02:21:49.860
I'm not sure how that's ironic, but okay.

1935
02:21:51.180 --> 02:21:54.360
Yeah, she wouldn't want to steal Scorpio, would she?

1936
02:21:57.420 --> 02:22:00.180
So any thoughts on getting rid of Serverland?

1937
02:22:01.200 --> 02:22:02.940
Unthinkable.

1938
02:22:03.000 --> 02:22:04.739
Yeah, exactly.

1939
02:22:05.280 --> 02:22:06.959
I mean, impossible.

1940
02:22:07.020 --> 02:22:15.059
I could kind of see it because of the very confused Sleer Servoland thing, and obviously this is part of them.

1941
02:22:15.120 --> 02:22:17.520
She's pretending to be Sleer.

1942
02:22:17.579 --> 02:22:21.899
She's really Surfland. complicated.

1943
02:22:25.440 --> 02:22:31.799
It's such a shame she's not Serverland, Serverland, and in power and all of that.

1944
02:22:31.860 --> 02:22:35.280
I can completely understand why people would suggest that.

1945
02:22:35.399 --> 02:22:37.440
Because of the sleer thing.

1946
02:22:37.500 --> 02:22:40.139
We're not getting Servoland at her finest.

1947
02:22:40.200 --> 02:22:44.340
I think I can absolutely see why Jacqueline Pierce was not happy about this.

1948
02:22:44.340 --> 02:22:54.840
And the bizarre decision to keep her separate from the crew a lot of the time, I think, really affects the show and the situation.

1949
02:22:54.899 --> 02:23:04.739
So, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't get rid of her at all, but I can understand why people would think that would work and you could have a new villainess in.

1950
02:23:04.799 --> 02:23:08.760
But if Jacqueline Pierce is suddenly available, why wouldn't you have her?

1951
02:23:10.979 --> 02:23:12.540
Absolutely.

1952
02:23:12.899 --> 02:23:17.459
Okay, now with slightly more votes, it's Dana with 18.

1953
02:23:17.819 --> 02:23:20.459
And pretty much it all comes down to...

1954
02:23:20.459 --> 02:23:24.000
The writing isn't doing the character justice.

1955
02:23:24.059 --> 02:23:26.340
Everyone likes Gisette.

1956
02:23:26.399 --> 02:23:39.420
Many suggestions that she goes out in a blaze of glory taking down Serverland, and one person even says if they really wanted to do series E, you redo the ending in such a way that Dana can be the one holding the guards back while everyone else escapes.

1957
02:23:39.600 --> 02:23:43.260
And that's how Dana goes out is a great suggestion I see there.

1958
02:23:43.319 --> 02:23:44.520
But in the other room.

1959
02:23:45.120 --> 02:23:47.579
We just say that she's doing that.

1960
02:23:47.639 --> 02:23:49.319
That's right Yes.

1961
02:23:51.120 --> 02:23:54.719
There are 100s of guards out there and Dana's holding the rules.

1962
02:23:57.360 --> 02:24:01.020
Would have been great if Dana's last word was an off camera.

1963
02:24:01.079 --> 02:24:01.680
Blake.

1964
02:24:05.280 --> 02:24:12.600
Some of the other suggestions say perhaps going out in star drive to save her from the shame of doing animals.

1965
02:24:14.819 --> 02:24:20.399
Or flip animals and Justin kills her and Avon nukes his lab in revenge.

1966
02:24:20.879 --> 02:24:25.500
I mean, I suppose in a very real way she does die in animals, so, you know.

1967
02:24:25.500 --> 02:24:26.940
Yeah, several times.

1968
02:24:27.000 --> 02:24:27.899
Along with the viewer.

1969
02:24:32.520 --> 02:24:34.559
Just going through this.

1970
02:24:34.620 --> 02:24:36.239
I have found a couple I've missed.

1971
02:24:36.299 --> 02:24:42.659
So just before we get to number one, I'm just going to say 2 people want Justin to have been killed even earlier.

1972
02:24:43.680 --> 02:24:45.479
Before animals.

1973
02:24:48.840 --> 02:24:52.020
Sometime during voice from the past, I think.

1974
02:24:53.819 --> 02:24:57.239
One person says, kill off Travis in season four.

1975
02:24:57.299 --> 02:24:58.559
So we have 2 more seasons of him.

1976
02:24:58.620 --> 02:25:00.899
I know that's not what you meant, but that's my answer.

1977
02:25:03.120 --> 02:25:05.399
But a different person each year.

1978
02:25:05.459 --> 02:25:09.780
Exactly, each season has a different. his legs.

1979
02:25:11.340 --> 02:25:17.040
One person says, does the flight deck of Scorpio count because my, oh, my eyes.

1980
02:25:17.100 --> 02:25:28.739
If not, write them all out, but spin the show off to Avon ousted present Serverland, an Aurac flying around the galaxy trying to steal tech, credits valuable minerals, and not caring about the little people.

1981
02:25:28.799 --> 02:25:31.020
It is the 1980s after all.

1982
02:25:32.700 --> 02:25:34.860
That is a show I'd watch.

1983
02:25:36.840 --> 02:25:39.299
So that brings us to number one.

1984
02:25:39.360 --> 02:25:42.420
A very convincing number one with 27 votes.

1985
02:25:43.079 --> 02:25:45.899
If you say Avon, I'm going to kill you.

1986
02:25:47.040 --> 02:25:49.500
It's not Brendan's fault.

1987
02:25:50.459 --> 02:25:52.860
He's in charge of a survey.

1988
02:25:52.920 --> 02:25:53.879
It's his fault.

1989
02:25:54.180 --> 02:25:56.219
It's Tarrant.

1990
02:25:56.520 --> 02:25:58.559
Oh, that's nice.

1991
02:25:59.879 --> 02:26:04.799
Some comment includes Kill Tarrant in the terminal explosion.

1992
02:26:04.860 --> 02:26:07.920
A few people think that Servolam would have killed him in sand.

1993
02:26:08.219 --> 02:26:11.399
Not interesting, never liked his smugness.

1994
02:26:11.459 --> 02:26:15.059
He's nicer and less abrasive, but it isn't obvious why.

1995
02:26:15.120 --> 02:26:16.440
Serves no purpose.

1996
02:26:16.500 --> 02:26:22.139
Tarrant, because he's Tarrant, replace him with his surprise triplet who has different hair after a terrible accident.

1997
02:26:29.459 --> 02:26:32.219
Would that be Diva Taran, then?

1998
02:26:32.280 --> 02:26:34.079
Yes, David Tara David.

1999
02:26:34.139 --> 02:26:36.000
Diva Tarrant is alive.

2000
02:26:36.059 --> 02:26:36.899
Yeah.

2001
02:26:36.899 --> 02:26:45.239
In a dramatic moment, he develops insight into the brown blanc mange that is his hairdo and is too embarrassed to stay.

2002
02:26:46.620 --> 02:26:49.139
Tarrant, it's all his fault.

2003
02:26:49.440 --> 02:26:52.079
Villa snaps and fights him to the death.

2004
02:26:52.680 --> 02:27:03.540
But some people want him to have died heroically, but even someone who says, Tarrant, in a suitably heroic death, he's just a bit of a dick.

2005
02:27:04.139 --> 02:27:07.860
But one person suggests he develops a drug addiction.

2006
02:27:07.979 --> 02:27:13.739
They've all got flaws, but I think Tarrant has the potential to be written out and come back as a guest before being killed off in Blake.

2007
02:27:13.860 --> 02:27:18.479
So it's not all written out of hatred, but a lot of it is written out of hatred.

2008
02:27:18.540 --> 02:27:19.620
No, sorry.

2009
02:27:19.680 --> 02:27:22.559
Drug addicted Tarantin Gold is pretty good.

2010
02:27:22.620 --> 02:27:24.239
Yeah, yeah, awesome.

2011
02:27:24.299 --> 02:27:25.200
Yeah.

2012
02:27:25.260 --> 02:27:32.520
Yeah, hatred is perhaps a strong word, but I think, you know, people are kind of saying with Dana, it's because the part isn't being done justice.

2013
02:27:32.579 --> 02:27:36.719
People are saying with Tarant, the part kind of doesn't work.

2014
02:27:36.780 --> 02:27:46.559
Like, someone's pointed out, having a great pilot on the liberator, well, the liberator flies itself, having a great pilot on Scorpio, removes some of the drama of Scorpio being a crap ship.

2015
02:27:46.799 --> 02:27:49.620
It does take talent to fly a dead ship, though.

2016
02:27:49.680 --> 02:27:50.760
That's true.

2017
02:27:50.819 --> 02:27:51.540
Yeah, that's true.

2018
02:27:51.600 --> 02:28:04.200
I've heard that That discussion of Terence's hair brings us to campus episode.

2019
02:28:04.260 --> 02:28:11.940
And I'm just going to race through the bottom 11 because there's a bit of a gap in votes after that.

2020
02:28:12.000 --> 02:28:14.579
The bottom 11, the bottom 11.

2021
02:28:15.059 --> 02:28:21.659
So with no votes, and therefore the butchers episodes of the season, we have traitor and Blake.

2022
02:28:22.319 --> 02:28:25.680
Traitors, one of the Butchy Steppers.

2023
02:28:25.739 --> 02:28:29.280
Crater is not one of the Bush's episodes of the season.

2024
02:28:31.620 --> 02:28:36.239
Those fairy lights in the Federation headquarters are pretty Butch, I think.

2025
02:28:36.299 --> 02:28:38.639
How about Servoland's feathers?

2026
02:28:39.899 --> 02:28:44.700
But it's called men swimming up sewage pipes to do something.

2027
02:28:44.940 --> 02:28:48.540
It also has lights and Christopher name, but anyway.

2028
02:28:49.440 --> 02:28:51.840
With one vote apiece.

2029
02:28:51.899 --> 02:28:58.020
It's Headhunter, which has possibly the campus title for an episode and rescue.

2030
02:28:58.860 --> 02:29:02.399
Rescue only got one vote.

2031
02:29:02.399 --> 02:29:04.079
That's also, that's also nonsense.

2032
02:29:04.139 --> 02:29:04.860
Never mind.

2033
02:29:04.920 --> 02:29:05.219
Yep.

2034
02:29:05.280 --> 02:29:08.159
Power gets to, and I can understand that.

2035
02:29:08.219 --> 02:29:12.840
I think there's an argument to be made for power to be camp, but it would be a very divisive argument.

2036
02:29:13.139 --> 02:29:31.139
With 3 votes apiece, we have games and sand, 4 votes for animals, 6 for gold, 11 for warlord, which I think is entirely for the wigs. 13 for Stardrive, which again is probably for the weeks.

2037
02:29:31.680 --> 02:29:34.680
So that leaves orbit and assassin.

2038
02:29:39.719 --> 02:29:41.340
I bet it's assassin.

2039
02:29:41.940 --> 02:29:44.159
It's a real toss up.

2040
02:29:44.459 --> 02:29:46.200
No, it's not.

2041
02:29:46.260 --> 02:29:49.079
Well, the leader is ahead by 15 points.

2042
02:29:49.200 --> 02:29:51.000
Wow, okay, that's a convincing win.

2043
02:29:51.059 --> 02:29:52.379
It has to be orbit.

2044
02:29:52.440 --> 02:29:54.840
It's 47 to 32.

2045
02:29:55.079 --> 02:29:58.020
Okay, so we have, I've heard votes for orbit.

2046
02:29:58.079 --> 02:29:59.159
I heard votes for assassin.

2047
02:29:59.159 --> 02:30:01.860
We're 32. is assassin.

2048
02:30:02.219 --> 02:30:03.719
Yeah.

2049
02:30:04.500 --> 02:30:05.639
Meaning.

2050
02:30:05.879 --> 02:30:06.479
I don't know anything.

2051
02:30:07.079 --> 02:30:21.899
Orbit has, you know, a very loud gay man in it, but but Assassin kind of fails in all sorts of spectacular ways. by being too over the top.

2052
02:30:21.959 --> 02:30:22.799
Do you know what I mean?

2053
02:30:22.979 --> 02:30:27.959
But yeah, but no, but can you, okay, but okay, well, I suppose there's 2 different definitions.

2054
02:30:28.020 --> 02:30:31.079
If there's there's successful camp and there's unsuccessful camp.

2055
02:30:31.079 --> 02:30:34.319
I think it's successful. highly successful camp.

2056
02:30:34.440 --> 02:30:36.479
Unless convincing.

2057
02:30:36.479 --> 02:30:44.579
I think orbit's a better episode, but I think, I think assassins definitely can.

2058
02:30:44.639 --> 02:30:50.100
And you've got Verlas and you've got Ben Os and his fucking abs and you've got, you know, just all of that stuff.

2059
02:30:50.159 --> 02:30:51.299
Rada cancer.

2060
02:30:51.360 --> 02:30:58.079
The, the, the, the, the, the, the, Not at all.

2061
02:30:58.139 --> 02:31:00.540
That's off of Goran best.

2062
02:31:01.319 --> 02:31:03.899
I stand corrected, evidently.

2063
02:31:04.200 --> 02:31:09.959
I think it's just that that slave auction and here's something for the lady.

2064
02:31:11.700 --> 02:31:13.500
That's right.

2065
02:31:13.500 --> 02:31:15.659
The lady's friend Nandritov.

2066
02:31:16.559 --> 02:31:20.520
It would be amazing if they'd actually auctioned slave.

2067
02:31:20.579 --> 02:31:21.959
Here's something for the ladies.

2068
02:31:22.020 --> 02:31:23.040
Oh, sorry sir.

2069
02:31:25.200 --> 02:31:29.819
And he'll still have energy afterwards.

2070
02:31:30.000 --> 02:31:33.180
For any other little jobs you might want.

2071
02:31:33.299 --> 02:31:35.940
He can just about manage a blister force wall.

2072
02:31:42.000 --> 02:31:43.440
Right.

2073
02:31:43.500 --> 02:31:45.420
Cause I did come up with extras.

2074
02:31:45.479 --> 02:31:49.500
Does anyone else want to have a 2nd go at Snog Mario Void later in the episode?

2075
02:31:49.559 --> 02:31:50.340
I've got 2 more.

2076
02:31:50.399 --> 02:31:52.739
So if anyone wants to, just have a think.

2077
02:31:52.799 --> 02:31:54.719
How about you, Brendan?

2078
02:31:54.780 --> 02:31:56.579
Yeah, I could do one.

2079
02:31:56.700 --> 02:31:57.180
Okay.

2080
02:31:57.239 --> 02:31:57.840
All right.

2081
02:31:57.899 --> 02:31:58.680
Okay.

2082
02:31:59.760 --> 02:32:02.940
Snog, marry, twink death.

2083
02:32:03.059 --> 02:32:04.920
Oh, I so should have gotten that one.

2084
02:32:08.700 --> 02:32:10.440
Dorian.

2085
02:32:10.500 --> 02:32:14.399
Dorian Sea Devil, Dorian's Twink.

2086
02:32:17.459 --> 02:32:18.899
I really should have gotten that one.

2087
02:32:19.319 --> 02:32:21.659
We all should have got that one.

2088
02:32:22.139 --> 02:32:31.200
I'm going to avoid the sea devil because it's just decaying.

2089
02:32:31.260 --> 02:32:33.780
Like, it's just decaying latex and that's not good for anyone.

2090
02:32:33.840 --> 02:32:36.180
I'm going to...

2091
02:32:36.180 --> 02:32:39.180
Snogdorian.

2092
02:32:39.899 --> 02:32:43.500
And I'm going to marry the twink to get him out of there.

2093
02:32:44.459 --> 02:32:47.399
Oh, aren't you a gentleman?

2094
02:32:48.479 --> 02:32:52.079
You can end up co-hosting Strictly Come Dancing with him.

2095
02:32:56.399 --> 02:33:01.500
That brings an end to the topics of the survey that we're covering here.

2096
02:33:01.559 --> 02:33:02.100
Do not worry.

2097
02:33:02.159 --> 02:33:10.260
The character showdowns that were on page 2 of the survey will form part of a fuller series retrospective later down the line, so those will not be wasted.

2098
02:33:10.319 --> 02:33:16.079
However, Normally, in a retrospective, we would ask, what would we look forward to?

2099
02:33:16.200 --> 02:33:22.500
But we know there's nothing beyond here for televised Blake 7.

2100
02:33:22.559 --> 02:33:26.459
So I'd like to more have a quick discussion.

2101
02:33:26.639 --> 02:33:38.639
About what we overall think of series D, what worked, what didn't, and how we might carry forward to series E. And I'll start with you, Peter.

2102
02:33:38.700 --> 02:33:42.420
I like series D on its own terms.

2103
02:33:42.479 --> 02:33:48.600
It's another season of my favourite ever show and it has some top tier episodes in it.

2104
02:33:48.659 --> 02:33:49.979
So there's no reason not to like it.

2105
02:33:50.100 --> 02:33:51.059
I always be grateful for that.

2106
02:33:51.120 --> 02:33:57.479
But when I think we could have had a series D that looked and felt like series B and C, I feel slightly cheated.

2107
02:33:57.540 --> 02:34:01.559
Aesthetically, it's just a different show, a more generic show.

2108
02:34:01.620 --> 02:34:08.219
Everything's been replaced from the ships, to the guns, to the costumes, and the teleport, which actually really liked the new teleport effect.

2109
02:34:08.280 --> 02:34:11.100
And it is less than what came before.

2110
02:34:11.159 --> 02:34:15.059
So it's like kind of 80% as good as Siri C.

2111
02:34:15.120 --> 02:34:20.219
But considering that series C is the best season of sci-fi TV ever aired.

2112
02:34:20.280 --> 02:34:21.780
I think it's a pretty decent hit rate.

2113
02:34:22.799 --> 02:34:24.180
Great.

2114
02:34:24.239 --> 02:34:25.260
Nathan.

2115
02:34:25.319 --> 02:34:38.819
Yeah, I kind of get the impression, and I think I've said this before, that they were trying to make it more sensible and trying to make it more generic and trying to finally make it post Star Wars with the design.

2116
02:34:38.879 --> 02:34:45.899
And so everything was much more sensible, and they were kind of jettisoning weird Blake 7, and they were trying to sort of play it a bit straight.

2117
02:34:45.959 --> 02:34:50.879
And obviously that just failed spectacularly, like face planted.

2118
02:34:50.940 --> 02:34:53.100
We've just talked about assassin.

2119
02:34:53.159 --> 02:34:58.739
Like, it's preposterous and, you know, like unbelievably camp.

2120
02:34:58.799 --> 02:35:01.020
And I'm glad that that happened.

2121
02:35:01.079 --> 02:35:10.620
I understand what Peter's saying about the aesthetic being wrong and it feeling a bit unlike Blake 7 for that reason.

2122
02:35:10.799 --> 02:35:40.979
But I remember at the time, just thinking, wow, you know, this was like the leisure hive, you know, like suddenly, suddenly Blake 7 looks thrilling in sort of 1980s, in retrospect, it looks a bit crap, but it's, like that's just a fun fact about Blake 7 now, you know, 45 years later or whatever, that the final season kind of looks a bit pants, but he's still really enjoyable in everyone's, you know, all of the things that we're here for are still here.

2123
02:35:41.399 --> 02:35:42.780
And still intact.

2124
02:35:42.840 --> 02:35:47.219
So we still have serverland, even though she's not quite how we might want to debate.

2125
02:35:47.340 --> 02:35:48.719
We still have the crew.

2126
02:35:48.780 --> 02:35:52.680
You know, the whole thing is still just tremendously fun.

2127
02:35:52.739 --> 02:35:57.120
And as Peter says, there are some really, really excellent episodes in it too.

2128
02:35:57.479 --> 02:36:01.079
If only we still had the liberator and it was still intact.

2129
02:36:01.139 --> 02:36:02.219
Yeah, well, yeah.

2130
02:36:03.180 --> 02:36:08.280
Sorry This was, for me, this is where I came into Blake 7.

2131
02:36:08.340 --> 02:36:19.860
So this feels like Blake 7 to me more than anything else, which is weird and absolutely and entirely wrong, but I cannot help but still love this.

2132
02:36:19.920 --> 02:36:28.319
I can remember as an 8 year old being terrified by animals and the bit where Serverland was torturing Dana in the chair.

2133
02:36:28.379 --> 02:36:35.459
I found that really scary and that was an image that stayed with me of all the things from Blake 7.

2134
02:36:35.520 --> 02:36:39.059
That was one of the things that Servoland was terrifying.

2135
02:36:39.120 --> 02:36:44.459
So, you know, there's part of me that cannot possibly be objective about any of this.

2136
02:36:44.520 --> 02:36:52.379
And I think if push came to shove, I would always say this is my favourite season and it's not because it's...

2137
02:36:53.639 --> 02:37:00.360
It's better than any of the others, and I can objectively see that B and C had so much in them that I love.

2138
02:37:00.420 --> 02:37:10.139
But this is, this feels like the Blake 7 that I loved as a child, and that's always going to be my, my into most things, really.

2139
02:37:10.200 --> 02:37:12.239
That's my my raise on dentro root.

2140
02:37:12.299 --> 02:37:26.459
So, you know, um, I, I think the, the run from headhunter to to the end is probably the most consistent run of Blake 7 there's ever been.

2141
02:37:26.520 --> 02:37:35.520
I mean, there are bits where it pitches a bit lower, but I think sort of the way it's made is consistently good from there on in.

2142
02:37:35.579 --> 02:37:39.360
And I think a lot of the scripts are incredibly good.

2143
02:37:39.420 --> 02:37:42.600
So, you know, I think there's loads to love.

2144
02:37:42.659 --> 02:37:54.180
We've spent 13 weeks before this, analysing this series in huge detail, and we all know what they got wrong, what they could have done better, but you know what?

2145
02:37:54.239 --> 02:38:04.200
Like Peter said, we got an extra year of this show that no one was expecting and they pull it together for that last, that last sort of production block.

2146
02:38:04.200 --> 02:38:07.319
And yeah, can't ask for more than that.

2147
02:38:07.799 --> 02:38:09.239
Great.

2148
02:38:09.299 --> 02:38:10.139
Brilliant.

2149
02:38:10.200 --> 02:38:10.440
Thank you.

2150
02:38:10.559 --> 02:38:11.760
Pete.

2151
02:38:12.299 --> 02:38:27.120
I think the fascinating thing about this series, particularly is, it's a, it's a thing created in the 70s, trying to reformat itself for the 80s, and a lot of the decisions that are taken around that come out of that.

2152
02:38:27.180 --> 02:38:29.760
And it's like we don't want to be, oh, we can't just be a 70s relic.

2153
02:38:29.819 --> 02:38:33.780
There was such a clean sweep vibe to things going into the 80s.

2154
02:38:33.840 --> 02:38:34.680
It's the 80s now.

2155
02:38:34.739 --> 02:38:35.280
Everything's different.

2156
02:38:35.340 --> 02:38:45.540
Um, and so I'm fascinated by another, what another year of doing that would have led to, um, how, how much more 80s ish, they, they would have wanted to make it.

2157
02:38:45.600 --> 02:38:47.940
And that's the sort of thing that tantalises me.

2158
02:38:48.000 --> 02:38:52.500
I don't think we would have got more of the same or gone back to 70s by 7.

2159
02:38:52.559 --> 02:38:56.520
And it is the leisure hive of Doctor Who doing the same thing.

2160
02:38:56.579 --> 02:39:03.000
Quite abruptly saying that we've got some of the same characters, but there's a different vibe to it now.

2161
02:39:03.059 --> 02:39:07.860
So I think another series would have been even would have been even more cynical and more camp at the same time.

2162
02:39:08.159 --> 02:39:10.920
And I would have been...

2163
02:39:11.579 --> 02:39:14.040
I definitely would have been there for that.

2164
02:39:16.920 --> 02:39:18.600
Brilliant.

2165
02:39:18.659 --> 02:39:18.959
Thank you.

2166
02:39:19.020 --> 02:39:20.040
And Simon.

2167
02:39:20.100 --> 02:39:27.479
Look, I watched Blake 7 in a sort of what it was essentially a random order and I watched it as an adult.

2168
02:39:27.540 --> 02:39:32.879
I was 18 when I saw my 1st episode in 1990, Harvest of Carus.

2169
02:39:32.940 --> 02:39:33.239
Thank you.

2170
02:39:33.299 --> 02:39:42.059
And um, look, so, so, it sort of, it's sort of one of those things when you, when you're looking at a series like this as something which has already happened and has already finished.

2171
02:39:42.120 --> 02:39:45.239
You do look at it through a slightly different lens, I think.

2172
02:39:45.299 --> 02:39:52.559
Regardless of whether series D was was sort of a bit of an accident or whether it was always intended, was going to happen.

2173
02:39:52.620 --> 02:39:57.899
I think by the time you get to a 4th season, you would have needed to have started to retool the show.

2174
02:39:57.959 --> 02:40:12.659
And I think having a fresh look with fresh sets and so on, and a bit of a cast shakeup is something that I think would have needed to have happened anyway, because I think if you'd have had a 4th series, especially with the 18 month hiatus.

2175
02:40:12.719 --> 02:40:18.540
With Liberator again, I think it would have actually kind of looked tired from the get go.

2176
02:40:18.600 --> 02:40:24.180
So either you kind of redesign, you just do one of those things where, oh, the interior, the liberator has decided to redesign itself.

2177
02:40:24.239 --> 02:40:30.780
I suppose you could have done that and had this sort of the roughly the same concept, but maybe a bit of a jazzed up style.

2178
02:40:30.840 --> 02:40:42.299
I think, though, that what I see in series D is, to sort of pick up what Cy was saying, definitely the back half of it's better than the front half of it as a rule as a whole.

2179
02:40:42.360 --> 02:40:49.139
Uh, and you can really see in the 2nd half how they're transitioning to what I think a series E would have been.

2180
02:40:49.200 --> 02:41:03.899
It would have very much, I think, looked like what the back end of series D is, you know, whether you still got the Zen on base or whether you've got, you know, them all based on the planet on Diva Local.

2181
02:41:03.959 --> 02:41:06.659
Where is the planet of Counter Prime?

2182
02:41:06.719 --> 02:41:07.319
Out of Prime?

2183
02:41:07.379 --> 02:41:09.000
Yeah.

2184
02:41:09.000 --> 02:41:11.639
I just know what to do.

2185
02:41:12.840 --> 02:41:17.760
You know, and have that kind of bass and then kind of move the series forward again.

2186
02:41:17.819 --> 02:41:24.600
But there is almost like a sense that they are trying to kind of evolve the series rather than just kind of keep doing the same thing.

2187
02:41:24.659 --> 02:41:32.760
And I think that's, that's what is really great to see about series D. Series C is my favourite season, maybe, because they're the 1st episodes I saw.

2188
02:41:32.819 --> 02:41:34.260
Probably that's the reason.

2189
02:41:34.319 --> 02:41:43.979
But I think series D is my 2nd favourite season and a lot of that's to do with the fact that I just love the cast in the 2nd half of the show much better than the cast in the 1st half of the show.

2190
02:41:44.040 --> 02:41:44.459
Yeah.

2191
02:41:44.459 --> 02:41:45.180
Yeah.

2192
02:41:45.180 --> 02:41:57.059
And you know, Simon, what I think series D-Lax might be series E. If they'd been a series E, which had sort of consolidated the changes to the format, it would feel like a less unbalanced series.

2193
02:41:57.120 --> 02:42:03.719
And it wouldn't feel like this kind of lonely as sort of add-on appendage. to the program.

2194
02:42:03.780 --> 02:42:04.260
Yes.

2195
02:42:05.700 --> 02:42:13.379
What I love about series D is I never feel there's a lack of confidence.

2196
02:42:13.440 --> 02:42:32.700
I sometimes feel there's a lack of execution, but I feel like everyone believes in what they're doing, and especially when you look at, say, Gisette, Simon and Glynis Barber, who are not being given material that's worthy of them, but they're still giving a 100%, I think, is super commendable.

2197
02:42:32.760 --> 02:42:36.059
The Lorimer has a pretty clear vision of what he wants.

2198
02:42:36.120 --> 02:42:41.459
And as you said, Nathan, maybe he doesn't quite clear it off, but they are, they are going for it.

2199
02:42:41.520 --> 02:42:44.639
And as you say, Peter, if they'd had another year.

2200
02:42:44.700 --> 02:42:57.420
Maybe they could have consolidated a bit in terms of what I might like to see for series E, I would like to see them on Gouda Prime, because, you know, having David Collings as a regular would be great.

2201
02:42:57.540 --> 02:43:01.139
Having Paul Darrow act opposite. his wife would be fantastic.

2202
02:43:03.540 --> 02:43:09.120
Can you just imagine the side eye when he's going a bit too a bit just a bit too much, Paul?

2203
02:43:09.180 --> 02:43:20.459
Um, the concept was to finish the series with them finally being victorious over the Federation, and I agree doing that in one episode is a bad idea.

2204
02:43:20.639 --> 02:43:24.180
Doing it over another season.

2205
02:43:24.239 --> 02:43:25.920
Could have worked.

2206
02:43:26.340 --> 02:43:28.260
It could have worked.

2207
02:43:28.319 --> 02:43:35.700
I think Chris Boucher handles it really well with going, this could be a definitive end or any of these people could have just been stunned.

2208
02:43:35.760 --> 02:43:38.940
I think that's actually a quite masterful writing stroke as well.

2209
02:43:39.059 --> 02:43:50.700
I think whatever happened with Siri Z. I think we can all agree that the official continuation of Blake 7 afterlife was not what was going to happen in any way whatsoever.

2210
02:43:50.760 --> 02:43:51.840
No, no.

2211
02:43:51.899 --> 02:43:55.500
Yes, they comment earlier about removing Chris Boucher from things.

2212
02:43:55.559 --> 02:43:56.639
That's probably what you get.

2213
02:43:57.180 --> 02:43:58.739
Yeah.

2214
02:44:03.120 --> 02:44:14.159
Right, well, we have done a bumper retrospective, thank all of you at home once again for sending us in your answers.

2215
02:44:14.219 --> 02:44:14.940
We have laughed.

2216
02:44:15.000 --> 02:44:16.739
We have cried, we have wondered.

2217
02:44:16.739 --> 02:44:18.840
What the hell you're on?

2218
02:44:18.899 --> 02:44:20.940
That was just watching Assassin.

2219
02:44:21.059 --> 02:44:21.659
Yeah.

2220
02:44:22.620 --> 02:44:29.879
But we do, we do deeply appreciate, um, those of you who listen, those of you who've replied to this.

2221
02:44:29.940 --> 02:44:36.659
We do have a few episodes left covering a few other things, but, you know, with only 52 episodes.

2222
02:44:36.719 --> 02:44:38.879
This was always going to be a finite show.

2223
02:44:38.940 --> 02:44:46.920
And so I don't think we could have done it as well without feedback from our wonderful listeners.

2224
02:44:46.979 --> 02:44:58.920
So thank you all for getting involved and giving us your thoughts and giving us new things to talk about about this 40 plus year old, wonderful, wonderful series.

2225
02:44:59.040 --> 02:45:02.340
I'd like to thank the members of the panel who are here.

2226
02:45:02.399 --> 02:45:39.059
Nathan, Peter, Pete, Simon, Cy, and also our 3 regulars who are not with us on this episode, Mark, Colin, and James, James, Scheduler, Extraordinaire, of course, and also a big thank you to everyone who's joined us, not only for this season, but also our special episodes between series C and D. Zoe Baker, Chris Chapman, Hannah Cooper, Mark Doddick, David Gillespie Pratt, Toby Haydoke, John Helm, Dan Hollingsworth, Ben Jolly, Una McCormack, Tom Newsom, Kate Orman, Adam Richard, Chris Thompson, and Conrad Westmass.

2227
02:45:39.120 --> 02:45:46.200
You can find us wherever you get your podcast by searching for maximum power podcasts and also by searching on various social medias.

2228
02:45:46.260 --> 02:45:52.319
We're terribly active on Blue Sky, Facebook and X. Until next time.

2229
02:45:52.379 --> 02:45:57.840
If you're asked by a distress friend holding a gun, have you betrayed us, have you betrayed me?

2230
02:45:57.899 --> 02:46:02.219
Maybe start by answering no before giving any other information.

2231
02:46:04.680 --> 02:46:07.079
Just to avoid confusion.

2232
02:46:07.440 --> 02:46:09.420
For fuck's sake.

2233
02:46:12.479 --> 02:46:15.000
Thank you all so much for listening.

2234
02:46:15.479 --> 02:46:16.979
Good night.

2235
02:46:17.040 --> 02:46:18.180
Good night.

2236
02:46:18.239 --> 02:46:19.200
Good night.

2237
02:46:19.260 --> 02:46:19.920
Bye.

2238
02:46:19.979 --> 02:46:20.760
Bill.

2239
02:46:20.940 --> 02:46:23.040
Let's go, power.

2240
02:46:23.100 --> 02:46:24.000
Go, go!

2241
02:46:24.059 --> 02:46:26.879
Notice, I can just thrust it, Maxi.

2242
02:46:27.719 --> 02:46:29.700
Switching command.

2243
02:46:29.819 --> 02:46:32.340
Maximum power on all drives.

2244
02:46:33.659 --> 02:46:35.940
Seven, pound.

2245
02:46:45.000 --> 02:46:52.079
Shrewdly approaching the middle of the list with a, uh, with, sorry, shrewdly approaching the middle of the...

2246
02:46:52.680 --> 02:47:01.319
Snog, marry, big hair don't care, Zoltan, Chulsa, who is Rick James, or Atlan.

2247
02:47:01.440 --> 02:47:03.420
Who is Sultan?

2248
02:47:03.479 --> 02:47:06.120
Gotta say, yes, Zultan.

2249
02:47:06.120 --> 02:47:08.760
Oh, do I mean Zookan?

2250
02:47:08.819 --> 02:47:09.600
I mean Zukan.

2251
02:47:09.659 --> 02:47:09.840
Okay.

2252
02:47:09.899 --> 02:47:11.700
Yeah, yeah, I think you do mean to.

2253
02:47:11.760 --> 02:47:12.420
I'll read that again.

2254
02:47:12.479 --> 02:47:13.979
I get that all the time.

2255
02:47:14.040 --> 02:47:15.959
I'm sure they Right.

2256
02:47:16.739 --> 02:47:24.600
I wanted to get Chazgo from Sam because he was actually one of my 1st crushes when he was in sitcoms on he was in no place light home.

2257
02:47:24.659 --> 02:47:43.020
It's so funny, that moment where the sand realises that, uh, Terrence says, uh, you know, if you kill me, uh, the, the, um, the sand will have no use for you and she says, oh, you know, I've got my pilot back on the, uh, back on the ship.

2258
02:47:43.079 --> 02:47:45.840
But the thing is, the sand already knows that he's gay.

2259
02:47:45.899 --> 02:47:47.219
So...

2260
02:47:48.479 --> 02:47:56.459
I do want to put, I do want to also point out something about Tarrant, but I'm going to save it for when we get to who would we write out?

2261
02:47:56.520 --> 02:48:00.120
Um...

2262
02:48:00.120 --> 02:48:01.139
Who's a curly haired idiot?

2263
02:48:01.799 --> 02:48:04.319
Someone does actually give that as the reason.

2264
02:48:05.639 --> 02:48:08.340
Up next with 12 votes.

2265
02:48:08.760 --> 02:48:12.299
Another newcomer to the series, Vivian Cousins.

2266
02:48:15.360 --> 02:48:15.959
That's what I thought.

2267
02:48:16.020 --> 02:48:16.319
Yeah.

2268
02:48:17.700 --> 02:48:19.860
So yeah, directly.

2269
02:48:21.420 --> 02:48:22.860
Right.

2270
02:48:22.920 --> 02:48:24.000
Would anyone like to add anything?

2271
02:48:27.059 --> 02:48:27.719
Cool.

2272
02:48:27.719 --> 02:48:28.440
Okay.

2273
02:48:28.440 --> 02:48:28.979
Wow.

2274
02:48:29.040 --> 02:48:29.940
Whose clock's that?

2275
02:48:30.000 --> 02:48:32.040
Who do you think?

2276
02:48:32.100 --> 02:48:34.260
Oh, you've got the cookie. can't remember.

2277
02:48:34.319 --> 02:48:34.680
That's right.

2278
02:48:34.739 --> 02:48:41.399
You've got like, yes, it's like the opening sequence of I broke one of them, but I broke the other one next.

2279
02:48:47.760 --> 02:48:49.979
All right, any thoughts on writing folks out?

2280
02:48:50.040 --> 02:48:50.819
We are in the home stretch.

2281
02:48:54.959 --> 02:48:56.819
Okay, cool.

2282
02:48:56.879 --> 02:48:58.139
We will move on.

2283
02:48:58.200 --> 02:48:59.040
What was it?

2284
02:48:59.040 --> 02:49:03.000
Oh, someone's...

2285
02:49:03.540 --> 02:49:06.959
I think someone's making a noise outside my house.

2286
02:49:07.020 --> 02:49:11.520
All right, because it's like, all we heard was no, about writing it.

2287
02:49:11.579 --> 02:49:12.479
I just heard it scraping.

2288
02:49:12.540 --> 02:49:13.319
Oh.

2289
02:49:13.920 --> 02:49:16.020
That could have happened earlier.

2290
02:49:16.079 --> 02:49:17.219
Tlerant.