B09: Countdown: The Bomb Was Never the Problem

Garry: 00:00:17

Hello there and welcome to Federation Strike A Journey through Blake's 7. My name's Garry.

Adam: 00:00:22

My name's Adam.

Garry: 00:00:23

And welcome to episode nine of series B. We're at series nine, mate. We just said that before recorded. That's mad.

Adam: 00:00:45

Series nine.

Garry: 00:00:46

Sorry, Episode nine.

Adam: 00:00:47

Sorry, I was gonna say. What, have they released some more that I didn't know about? Yeah, wouldn't surprise me.

Garry: 00:00:53

Yeah. Episode nine, mate.

Adam: 00:00:56

Four to go. Can you believe it? Mate? Four to go. And then series two, series B go. We're getting it all wrong. Let's start again. Series B will be wrapped up. Wow.

Garry: 00:01:08

Yeah, long forgotten.

Adam: 00:01:10

Well, hopefully not.

Garry: 00:01:14

Yeah. What was that thing you record? You. You reviewed? What was it? Begins with a b. Was it Bob 6?

Adam: 00:01:21

Bob.

Garry: 00:01:21

Brian's 5? No, Babylon 5. I will continue to rewatch Blake's 7 forever, I think, mate, after this.

Adam: 00:01:32

Oh, you will. You'll be like me. You'll have it on a permanent.

You'll get to the end of a series and you'll start going back and watching all again, which is what I do. The thing is, you end up watching it. Once you've watched it a few times, you will end up watching like specific episodes.

You'll think, oh, I'm really in the mood for. And you'll be reaching for certain episodes, I think.

And I've said to you before, I think some of the episodes that you've thought were good, but not as good as others. I think some of them might grow on you. I always keep thinking back to Shadow.

You enjoyed Shadow, but I feel like the next time you watch it, be like, you know, I really like that episode. It's going to grow on you, I feel. But who knows?

Garry: 00:02:11

Who knows? Yeah. So far we should have done this sort of part way or halfway through series B a couple of episodes ago, but the. At the approximate halfway point.

But I'm, I'm really liking series B more than series A at this point.

Adam: 00:02:30

Yeah. Which is good because you like series a lot. So the fact you're enjoying series B slightly more is good.

And I keep thinking forward, I was saying to you earlier, I was listening to a podcast yesterday and they're on series C and they were, you know, they were talking about some of the episodes and I was thinking, oh, we've got some great stuff to come in series B. But of course, you know, I mustn't jump ahead, but I think you're going to enjoy series three, possibly even more. Dare I say it? Dare I say it?

Garry: 00:03:02

Steady on.

Adam: 00:03:03

Now, the, the, the, the one that's going to Be really interesting is series D, mate. That's the one that people divides opinion series D. So that's going to be very interesting, I think, when we finally get to that.

But anyway, let's, let's, let's put the brakes on and let's see what you thought of Countdown. Yeah, let's get that done first.

Garry: 00:03:28

Yeah, Countdown. So, before we crack on with our review, just want to say a big thank you to those of you that have listened along so far to our Little Blake's 7 show.

It's great to have you along on the journey we've had.

I think we had this a couple of times when we went through the first series, but we've definitely had it more so on this one, especially since we started. So we're recording this. We're near the end of series B now. Um, but we.

We've recorded loads of them sort of in advance, so you're listening to them sort of further along than when we didn't record this. The, like this morning as you're listening to it, recorded this probably weeks and weeks ago.

And one of the things that we've had quite often in this series in particular is people saying, ah, at last you guys are doing your. Your podcast again. Now I can un. Unwrap the Blu Ray, stick the Blu Ray in and start washing it along with you.

And that's such a lovely thing, isn't it? It's because, you know, this tiny little Blake's 7 podcast is not going to, you know, pay the bills or it's. It's not going to do anything crazy.

Not that we're expecting it to, of course, but it's just very, very cool when you have people say that. We've waited for your podcast before we started watching it so we can follow and watch along with you.

So I want to say huge thank you to those of you that have got in contact to say that you did that at the start when we kicked off the series back with Redemption.

Adam: 00:05:03

Yes. It seems like so long ago now, actually, doesn't it?

Garry: 00:05:06

It does. And thank you to those of you that continue to message to say, because we got some.

We've got a regular community of people that we chat to already over on Blue sky and X. And so that's really cool.

So those of you that get in contact after every episode and, and say hi and all that stuff, it's very, very much appreciated. Thank you so much for doing that.

And if this is your first time listening to our podcast, and welcome aboard the Liberator, as it were, and the the best way to keep up to date with future episodes and everything is to make sure that you are following or subscribing to the podcast in your preferred podcast app of choice. You can find links in the show notes or on the social stuff over to things like Apple Podcast, Spotify, all that stuff.

There's a link over there, we'd love to have you following along. And obviously once we're done with season B, that's not the end, there's more Blake's 7 to do.

So we'll be back later in the year to kick off series C when that drops. So thank you very much. And I mentioned the socials. Yeah, Come and get involved, chat with us over there.

Just do a Search for Blake's 7 podcast, or as I said, there's links in the show notes. Come and come and chat all things Blake7. So for this week, bud, kick us off. What's the review for this one?

Adam: 00:06:31

Yeah, so this one is Countdown.

Episode Trailer: 00:06:34

Oh, what's his name?

Episode Trailer: 00:06:36

Grant. Del Grant.

Episode Trailer: 00:06:40

What's the matter?

Episode Trailer: 00:06:42

Nothing. It's not important. I was a little surprised, that's all.

Episode Trailer: 00:06:45

Why?

Episode Trailer: 00:06:45

Do you know, I once knew somebody called Del grand, but it was a long time ago. I doubt that this is the same man. You don't seem very eager to find out. Why? There are matters that remain to be settled between us. Like what?

I told you, it's not important. If it is not important, then why did his name have such a strong effect upon you?

Because the Del Grant that I knew said that if we ever met again, he would kill me. I've done it. I think I've done it. I've isolated the identification sensors. It's straight combination. Now watch this. It should open like a dream.

Episode Trailer: 00:07:27

More like a nightmare.

Garry: 00:07:31

Episode nine, Countdown is upon us. Of course. And this one was written by Terry Nation. Terry Nation is back. Terry's back behind the pen, so to speak.

March: 1979

And the old synopsis, back from the VHS days is Federation Officer Provine knows the whereabouts of Central Control and Provine's on Albion. It's simple enough to go down. Then Avon runs into an old enemy and a deadly Federation time bomb pretty well captured the essence of the story.

Oh, mate. Right, last week. So the last couple of episodes, we reviewed them reasonably high. Yes, I think last week for hostage, I think I gave that a nine.

Or was that killer one of the two?

Adam: 00:08:36

Hostage, the word that you Liked that one.

Garry: 00:08:41

The word.

Adam: 00:08:42

Come on, Villa. Yeah, I think you gave it a nine.

Garry: 00:08:46

Yeah. And then a week before that, I think it was an 8 or, you know, 7.5 or something. Does Countdown follow suit?

Is the train gonna carry on going with a decent score? What were your thoughts on this one as a rewatch, bud?

Adam: 00:09:00

Well, I'm hoping from your side it does continue with a decent score. Because this is the episode, mate, where I said, lock yourself away in a room and enjoy every moment.

Because this is one of my favorite episodes of Series B. I absolutely love this one. I've watched it a lot, many, many times. It's a Reach Reach 4 episode. It's a go to episode. I just think it's.

It's great to have Terry back in the chair. You can tell it's a Terry Nation script, but I mean that with love in a good way. It feels like a very snug Terry Nation script.

Great, sparkling dialogue. I know he may have had some help with the script and all that, but. Yeah, great, sparkling dialogue. A really simple but interesting concept and setup.

You've got all the stuff with Avon and Del, which I remember the first time watching this, just loved all of that tension between the two of them and a little bit of backstory, you know, about Avon and having a love interest. And for me, mate, this just. Has it always got action. I mean, it starts with a fantastic battle between the Albions and the Federation.

That in itself is just a great way to kick off the episode. And for me, the pacing is brilliant.

It doesn't let up all the way to the end and you get a bit of tension and with them, you know, diffusing the bomb. And of course, it goes down to one second. Of course it does. But, mate, I think this is a brilliant episode.

It's one that I've been looking forward to you watching. So I'm hoping, even if you're perhaps not as in love with it as me, I'm hoping you enjoyed it a lot. But let's see, what did you think of Countdown?

Garry: 00:10:42

The best episode of the best episode of Series B thus far.

Adam: 00:10:48

Yes. Yes.

Garry: 00:10:50

This one was an absolute belter. It is 9.5, mate.

Adam: 00:10:58

Whoa, whoa. Easy, tiger. He's come coming in with a score straight away. Wow. That's never happened before. I've never known you do that before.

Garry: 00:11:07

No, just. It's just such an easy score for me. It's just so easy because it was one of those moments where time just stopped still in the world.

You know, sometimes when you watch A. A film out of nowhere, that it's just an absolute, just classic, just brilliant, or a TV episode. And you're just in this kind of abyss.

You're in a black hole where the rest of the world is just paused and you're just taking every single scene in and every performance and it's. It was absolutely brilliant, this one, mate.

Adam: 00:11:48

I'm so glad because that's why I said to you, I really. This is the one episode I didn't want you to have any interruptions or be disturbed or, you know, anything like that because I thought you get.

If you listen to dialogue and you get into it, you're gonna love this one.

Garry: 00:12:00

And that's. That was the case. Yeah, I. I either watch these during my. During my lunch break on work or over dinner.

So last night, over dinner, I watched this and my wife is away at the moment and so it was just me. The. My son, you know, my sons were. Had already sorted their dinner out and they were doing their thing and because they're grown up now.

So I got my dinner on the sofa. Blake seven on press play. And that was. That was me just enthralled. Just thoroughly enjoyed it, mate. From, from.

From literally the very, very beginning. It's got one of those.

It's got one of those cool like Star wars and you hope vibes about it because, you know, back in the day when George Lucas decided to bring out a film that was already partway through the story, you just didn't know the beginning yet. So you kick off the story with Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers invading the Tantal Four.

And it's just a shootout, you know, it's just action from the get go and things are going off. It's basically that. So you've got the.

You've got the Albions who have sort of staged this coup, this, you know, takeover, hostile takeover, because they're fed up with the Federation's oppression on the planet. And that's how it starts. You got this, what feels like half an hour's worth of sort of shootouts in corridors and.

And everything going on, and it just sets the stage perfectly. Because when you find out later on in the dialogue between Blake and. Is it not Vetna, not veterinary. It's.

Adam: 00:13:44

Oh, I know you mean. Yeah, the. The main sort of guy of the resistance. Yeah, I can't remember.

Garry: 00:13:49

We'll find his new listener. If you're new to.

To our podcast, you'll know that Adam and I are absolutely terrible with names, but yeah, so that guy and he basically gives you a bit of exposition, but he does it in such a heartfelt way that all of that violence at the beginning is completely justified. And you understand why that was all kicking off and. Oh, dude. So, yeah, right from the go, it's. It's just a classic bit of brilliant action sci fi.

Just so good.

Adam: 00:14:19

That's why I've been buzzing to get to this one. But I've been trying, probably not very successfully, not to give the game away.

And, you know, I wanted this one to sort of spring up on you in a sense that you were like, wow, this is a great episode. But I was also so excited for you to see this. I kept saying, there's one episode that you really must be.

You really must be in your own little man cave and just enjoy it. And of course, this is the one. I mean, it's not to say there isn't other great episodes.

We got another couple of great ones coming and perhaps one not so good one before we finish this series. But here's the other thing. I think there are episodes in series three that are actually maybe even better than this. So what does that tell you?

But anyway, let's. Let's. Cause I know, but let's concentrate with Countdown, because it is a good one.

And I obviously have vague memories of when I very first watched this. It has always remained a favorite episode of mine, this one.

But I am still a little jealous of you being watching it for the first time now, because I was just thinking the whole time I was watching it, I wonder if you can tell where this is going. Like, you probably think the bomb's gonna get defused. But no, when that guy comes up with the bomb blood on his fingers and he.

I mean, the face on him as well, he's kind of really creepy, isn't it? And he manages to push the button and it's, you know, activated. I bet you were like, what? Whoa. And then you find out that they can't just disarm it.

It's in the middle of an ice cap. I mean, again, hats off to Terry Nation and possibly Chris Boucher as well, if he helped out.

They really throw in some great little twists and turns in this story. You know, as I said, the heart of it's a simple concept, you know, about defusing a bomb. You know, that's it.

But there are so many great twists and turns and Provine trying to escape and then managing to disguise himself, and Blake leading him to the capsule and, you know, I mean, it's just so many Great bits in it.

And that's before you even get to the whole Avon and Del confrontation, because I'd sort of forgotten, in a sense, that that comes sort of almost in the middle of the episode. I'm sort. I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for that moment because that's the bit I knew that you'd be like. O.

When he actually reveals that is the Del Grant that he said would kill him if he ever saw him again. I was just thinking, I'd love to be sat watching this moment with you right now because what was your reaction? Were you like, oh, my. What?

Garry: 00:16:42

Yes, exactly. That. That's what. That's what I would have said out loud if you were there. I'd have been like, oh, my God. Wowzers.

Adam: 00:16:52

Yeah, it's the face, isn't it? It's very understated. They just look at each other like it's you.

Garry: 00:16:57

Yeah, yeah. It's because it's kind of the way that the. The Blake and the rest of the crew have been portrayed in. In especially throughout series B.

But, like, the latter half of series A is they've been very siloed. Like, they've. They've had interactions with the odd character here and there, of course, but you've never once gone back in time. And other than the.

The episode where Blake was, you know, when they go back to the episode hostage, you know, he sees his old uncle and.

Adam: 00:17:37

Oh, yes, yeah.

Garry: 00:17:38

You know, and his cousin Inga, who he has a little smoochy smooch with. Apart from that, really, you don't really go back. Certainly not for Avon or Jenna or anyone like that.

So it was really cool to see because I kind of knew that this was going to happen because Avon tries to, like, play it down a little bit where he's saying, oh, it might be another guy with the same name. It might be. Yeah, just someone else. But yeah, when they come into the room together and they both pause and you. You get that moment. Just.

It's like you can hear a pin drop. So my neck. My reaction was, oh, my God. Like, are they just gonna go at it here?

Is he gonna just like jump on Avon and start beating the crap out of him more? But no, it's all very civil. It's all quite professional, as it were. Yeah. Between them. But, mate. Yeah, it was a such a great moment.

It's one of many great moments.

Adam: 00:18:39

Underlying tension.

Garry: 00:18:41

Yes, yes.

Adam: 00:18:43

You know, the bit I've always loved as well, mate. Just a little moment I always look for when I Watch this episode. I like the bit where Blake stands up for Avon.

He pulls Dell to one side and says something like, you know, nothing better happen to him or I'll come looking for you. I just. I don't know why. I just love that because it does show.

There is a lot of progression, you know, when you think back to series one and even the first half of series B. Sorry, you know, that we've always said, you know, the characters are consistent in the way they act and.

But there is a lovely progression from, you know, the first series to this one. And the way the characters have, I would say, respect rather than affection for each other.

There is a respect between, you know, the characters, even if they don't get on.

Like, you know, Avon respects Villa to a certain extent, although he'd never tell him, but he doesn't particularly like anybody, you know, I mean, it's so. It's just nice to see that Blake is sort of looking out for Avon. And also, I was thinking, why would Avon help?

Because up till now, Avon's not the kind of guy to really worry about, you know, just say, well, it's your fault. The bomb's gonna go off. You know. But I was thinking, he's kind of got something to prove, hasn't he, with the fact that Del's there.

You know, he's got to be the hero in front of Del. He can't just go off and, oh, it'd be like, oh, that's it. Yeah, you run off again, just like you did, you know, with Anna, you know, that's you.

So he's got something to prove, isn't he?

Which is why I think he's sort of so keen to help, if you know what I mean, rather than just say, well, there's nothing we can do, we go leave into it Blake sort of thing.

Garry: 00:20:14

Yes. Yeah. It was a really tense last 10, 15 minutes to the episode, wasn't it?

Where the cool thing is about the episode as a whole is this very slow ramp up where in the back of your mind where you've got scenes going on between, say, Blake going off to try and find Provine, or Avon trying to inspect what's going on before they go over to the. The ice cap and so on. In the back of your mind, you've got this count, you know, which is the very, you know, nature of the title of the episode.

But you've got this looming thing in the background, haven't you, where when that guy first sets the, you know, sets the bomb in motion just before he dies. And just so the, the leader of the resistance is a guy called Calder. So Calder comes in with, I think it's a guy called Grant and Raleigh.

So the three of them are saying like, oh no, like I didn't think they would actually go through with arming the bomb because it's such a devastating planet killing thing. He thought that they were just bluffing to keep everybody in line.

And so when he does set the bomb off, there's quite, there's about an hour ish of time to get this sorted out. And then you think, okay, you know, that's not too bad. They'll probably have it done, you know, in half the time, knowing Avon.

So when you fast forward to that scene when him.

And when they're in the ice cap at the end, they, they, they have this moment where, you know, you mentioned earlier that there's loads of twists and turns in this.

You kind of, you kind of think, right, okay, is, is Avon and Grant going to sort their differences out and they're going to tag team and they're going to do the, they're going to disarm this thing together. But no, they just keep going.

And there's a really interesting, interestingly directed scene where Avon is reaching down to try and unscrew something or whatever, but he needs Grant to hold something in place. So they're really close together. So you have like things like this.

And then as you mentioned earlier as well, the old classic, the timer on the bomb comes down to 1, 1, 1 second and, but they managed to save the day. But so yeah, the, the, the tension between. Because normally that stuff is reserved for Blake and Avon.

You know, that sort of two in and throwing and bickering and underhandedness and a little bit of distrust there that's normally reserved for those guys in between scenes and on the Liberator and stuff.

So to have Avon experience that with another person as well, somebody from his past who I wouldn't say he's fearful of because he's not really scared, is he? He's more sort of apprehensive about what's going on. He's not scared, I don't think.

Because when they go up to get their thermal suits on the Liberator and before they teleport back down.

Adam: 00:23:30

Oh, the gun.

Garry: 00:23:31

Yeah, he hands him the gun and there's a little look, isn't there? And they exchange of, of looks and so on. So yeah.

And like you mentioned, another thing you mentioned as well is the backstory for Avon, as I was Saying earlier that we. We've never revisited other characters associated with the crew very much at all, if. If ever, other than Blake.

So that was really cool to see a more human side to Avon, because up to now, he's been quite robotic, hasn't he? He's been very. He's almost been like a Spock character from Star Trek. You know, he's always been very logical, very rational. So when Blake is like.

Blake is like the antithesis of that. Blake is very, yep, I'll go on the suicide mission. Like, yep, we'll risk it all to go and do that or, you know, whatever.

Whereas Avon's always been, no, the logical thing to do would be to stay here and not commit suicide. And very rational.

So to see him have a more humanized side to him with this backstory and as you said, the love interest and all that stuff, it's fantastic to see. Really, really cool.

Adam: 00:24:42

Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, it's so nice to get a little bit more. I don't even know if you'd call it character development, but a little bit more. Yeah. Like you said, backstory to Avon's life.

And perhaps it explains a little bit, you know, why he's like. He is. Because at some point, he must have been in love with this character, Ana Grant.

And maybe he was sort of a softest character who's, you know, probably always had this hard edge, I guess. Always been a bit of a. I wouldn't say villain, but, you know, I mean, always a bit of a tough one. And. But it's nice to know. I think we've.

We've all known that underneath that hard exterior, there is possibly a softer side to wave on. So it's kind of nice to have that confirmed. And I don't know if we're going to see. To see that very often, but. But, yeah, it's just. It's.

It just adds another layer to what is already a brilliant character without sort of taking anything away from that character. You know, I do love the bit at the end when he's with Blake as well, and Blake says, do you want to tell me about it? And he's like, what does he say?

You wouldn't understand.

Garry: 00:25:44

I understand. Yeah.

Adam: 00:25:45

But he knows that Blake Wood. He just doesn't want to talk about it, doesn't he?

So, again, it's lovely little moments, isn't it, between characters, which is what I've always said about Black 7 is why I love it, you know, just such great characters.

Garry: 00:26:00

Yes. Yeah. And going back to the the stuff that you normally get between Blake and Avon, it's almost like they never left.

You know that final scene we just mentioned where he says, you wouldn't understand and walks off, and then Blake just turns and has a little. Little chuckle and a grin to himself. As in, like. It's almost like you expect him to roll his eyes. And if.

If he was saying out loud what he was thinking, he'd probably be like, classic Avon.

Adam: 00:26:28

Yeah, classic Avon.

Garry: 00:26:30

Yeah. So as he walked off.

So as soon as they get back on the Liberator and every, you know, they've saved the day and everyone's, you know, going back to their business, it's almost like those two just slot back into that sort of no love lost there and. And that weirdness between them. So. But it was cool. I want to pick up on something related to that you mentioned earlier, which is when Blake says to.

To Grant, you know, if. If anything happens to Avon, I'll be coming looking for you.

That also showed more, you know, another little revealed a little bit more to Blake's side as well, because you would never have imagined him saying that to anyone before this episode. You know, he's. I think they've always gone down, especially those two.

I'm not talking about Villa and, you know, Jenna and Cali and previously Gan and so on, but especially Blake and Avon.

They've always had this kind of mutual respect, but both of them knowing that they're on borrowed time with each other, I think is the best way to explain it, where Blake knows in the back of his mind that if the opportunity is there, Avon will take it and he'll go. He'll. He'll do the off. You know, we've seen that. He's come very, very close to that, hasn't he? Remember the amazing scene with Paul Darrow back in.

What was it? Trial? No, what was the.

Adam: 00:28:11

I think it was trial, wasn't it? Yeah, because he's. Blake's on the planet with Zill and Avon's sort of thinking, shall I. Was it that one?

Garry: 00:28:17

Yes, that's it.

Adam: 00:28:18

Yeah.

Garry: 00:28:18

And he's.

He's just leaning on top of Orak and he's staring off and Aurak's given him all the probability numbers and he's like, you know, how long could I last? You know, and all that stuff. So he's come very.

Adam: 00:28:30

Actually, it might be Horizon, mate. Because I'm just thinking that's the one where they all beam down and Avon's.

Garry: 00:28:35

That is Horizon.

Adam: 00:28:35

It's Horizon, isn't It.

Garry: 00:28:36

Yep, that's it. But Cali's like, you know, this is ridiculous, you can't go sort of thing. And. But he starts weighing up the options and the numbers and stuff.

So Blake knows this, he 100% knows this. And it's.

The reverse is true for, for Blake from, from Avon's point of view where he knows that Blake will always, will always put his, his own need to take down the Federation above the crew at times. Because. Because we had that, didn't we, with. With the episode where he goes into the control and it's empty, the rooms is empty.

Adam: 00:29:18

Yeah.

Garry: 00:29:18

And he bursts in, he's like, I've.

Adam: 00:29:20

Done it, we've done it.

Garry: 00:29:22

Yeah, yeah, I've done it. And then can Gan sadly gets taken out. So, yeah.

So the thing between those two is, and it's one of the things that I've enjoyed the most, I think, especially through series B, is the relationship and the progression between those two. But it was a really cool, really cool little moment that Blake sort of steps up and has his back on this one.

Adam: 00:29:49

I love his reaction to the two of them as well, actually. It's sort of. Again, it's really understated, it's almost comedic. He sort of stands back and is just watching them like, what's going on here?

Like, what's this all about? You know, I just, just love Blake's reaction to it all. And yeah, it's nice.

It's nice to see him just take Del to one side and say, you know, nothing better happen or else. The only thing I've never been quite so keen on is Del's reaction because he just sort of walks off smirking, is it?

Which sort of to me makes it just so he just sort of brushes that threat off.

But maybe that's more, you know, maybe that's more Del being naive of what Blake would actually do if anything did happen to Avon, you know, but I feel like he should have been a little bit more like, oh, okay. I guess that's not the character though, is it? Because Del Grant, he does seem the character is quite cocky, isn't he? He's quite sure of himself.

So maybe that fits, you know, his reaction fits more in with the character though, because he is a bit of a. He's a bit of a show off, isn't he? He thinks he's running the whole show.

Garry: 00:30:56

He's a little bit. Well, he's a mercenary, isn't he? They've paid him privately to. To orchestrate this whole thing. And so, yeah, he is a bit of a show off.

A great performance, though, from Tom Chadbon, who played Grant. Very, very cool.

Adam: 00:31:14

Did you think to yourself as soon as you saw him, oh, it's from City of Death.

Garry: 00:31:18

What's he.

Adam: 00:31:19

Duggan. Duggan, yes.

Garry: 00:31:22

Bit of a nice crossover. This happens a lot, doesn't it, with these two shows?

Adam: 00:31:26

Oh, yeah.

Garry: 00:31:27

A lot of supporting actors have been on both. I mean, I guess if you're. If you're in a show that's being written by the same people and. Or, you know, the music's been done by the same person.

And I'd imagine that a lot of the crew is similar as well between Doctor who and Blake's 7 back in the day. I mean, like, you know, set builders or electricians and. And all of those sorts of people. Just general crew.

I imagine there's a lot of crossover there as well.

Adam: 00:31:59

Yeah, definitely, mate.

Actually, you're talking about sets and stuff and one thing that's always struck me about this episode is how good, like how much they've used the resources, very limited resources and budget to make an episode look as good as this does for the time. And, you know, we all know that famously in Blake's 7 didn't have a very big budget at all. A very small budget, in fact.

But like you said, mate, right from the off, we've got people flying through the air, we've got explosions, you know, the sets, although they may be very small work, really well, even the caves, everything looks really good. You know, the stuff in the. Where the bomb is in the Arctic with all the water, looks like it was probably filmed at Ealing or somewhere like that.

You know, the production values for a small budget sci fi show. That was kind of like a lot of things at the BBC back in this day, you know, kind of just seen as a bit of fun. Not really taking that seriously.

It just looks great, you know, that's one of the things I respect about the people that made the show, mate.

They never let the fact that the BBC and the hierarchy, I wouldn't say looked down on Blake's 7, but they didn't respect it either, you know, very much. A Doctor who situation back in the day, it was just a bit of fluff, a bit of entertainment to go out, you know, 50 minutes in the week.

You know, the higher up people didn't really take notice of it. I think that's one of the things that Chris Boucher said in interviews that, you know, he really wanted to prove that, you know, this was a.

This could be taken seriously and that it was A. It could be gritty and it had stuff to say and, you know. You know.

So I think it's a credit to the people involved in this that the writing is up to standard. They could have easily just thrown out a script with little care. Actually, I think that's what I'm trying to get to mate you with Blake's 7.

You more often than not feel there's care and, you know, there's love gone into it, from the scripts to the sets to the performances. I think that's why it's as good as it is, because the people involved in the cast and crew obviously cared about what they were making.

Garry: 00:34:06

Yeah, yeah, 100%. You have to give them big respect for that because it takes. It takes a lot of creativity to make something out of. Not very much.

Adam: 00:34:18

Yes, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. They take very little and make a lot out of it. I think this episode is a really good example of that.

I'd love to sin like your face within Even the first 30 seconds of this when. When that Federation guard goes flying across the set and the exploded. But you're like, whoa, hang on, we're straight into it here.

Like, no messing around, then.

Garry: 00:34:40

Yeah, I just about to say that, mate. Yeah. When you said about people flying through the air and stuff, there's that. They launched that guy.

Adam: 00:34:48

Yeah.

Garry: 00:34:48

I don't know. I'm hoping.

Adam: 00:34:50

I don't know.

Garry: 00:34:51

I don't know. But I'm hoping he didn't clear the mats on the other side of the thing because he. He went flying.

Adam: 00:35:01

I bet they had fun that day. A bit like, right, come on, let's go for it. You know, actually, while I remember as well, this is.

As I said, this is an episode I've watched a lot, so I felt I was justified in this one, in breaking a bit of my own rule and just going straight in and watching it with the new effects because.

Garry: 00:35:18

Oh, here we go. Well, I gave me stick for this.

Adam: 00:35:22

I know, but I honestly, I've seen this episode a lot. I know it off by heart. So I thought, I will watch it with new effects straight away because I'll be able to spot them.

You know, I'll be able to see what they've done. Mate, they're great. They really. I mean, they make in. You know, I'm not the biggest fan of New effects listeners. You know, I've said this before.

I don't really see anything wrong with the old effects. But I got to tell you, a bit like one of the other episodes that we talked about, which I forget Now, I really enjoyed what they've done with this.

Again, they've just added in a few nice little shots. And the very first shot in this, I think, is a no effect. It's like a little tunnel and you can see some Federation guards having a fight.

It's about a second or two long. You know, it's really short blinking, you miss it. But it's a lovely way to sort of add a bit of world building to the. To the fight scene.

And yeah, the new effects are great.

And I just want to say to anyone thinking I might be saying this just because Garry has interviewed Chris Thompson who did the no effects, I promise you, we have always said we're honest on this podcast and I know that Chris would appreciate critique.

So if I'm not saying this for any other reason than I actually mean it, I. I'm a surprise that anyone that I like new effects, but just because I don't generally like new effects on stuff, I don't particularly like it when they do it with Doctor who, but hats off it, it really is great. It in this episode, the little bits that they've added in looks superb.

It makes it even better, especially for someone like me that's watched it a million times before. It just was really nice to see a slightly enhanced version, if you like.

Garry: 00:36:59

Yes, I watched it in purist mode,.

Adam: 00:37:02

Which I'm glad because I would want you to see this as it was.

Garry: 00:37:05

But yeah, yeah, I did that in purist mode and then I went back and watched the effects. And just two things for me on that.

The first one was, I agree with you, that first scene, and it's only about three or four seconds, like the opening establishing shot. It's like an external shot of the compound, isn't it? And, yeah, and you see the guards in the corridor and stuff that set the tone really nicely.

And we get the usual stuff where they've done some fantastic kind of outer space, low orbit stuff where the Liberator's just cruising in orbit, waiting for to teleport and that stuff, but not only did so Chris Thompson and the other guys there, Mike Tucker and you know, all those guys, they're really top of the game for model work and shooting models and that stuff, but they also.

They could have done this with CG and done a visual effect, but the scene towards the end, when they find out that the bomb is actually 4,000 miles away at the ice cap, when it cuts to the scene, the original effect is probably something like a David Attenborough documentary. It's Just a very old stock footage of just the camera panning on, like, the ice. The ice caps and all that stuff.

In the new one, they've done a proper physical model set. Did you notice that?

Adam: 00:38:30

Yes. Yeah. And it looks great. It does. It really looks good.

Garry: 00:38:33

Yeah. And they've got the new. They've got the little base in the snow, which you didn't see before, this little pyramid sort of structure in the.

In the snow, but it's just a real slow pan and it's got, you know, the nice water and the. And they've lit. It's just lit so well. It's got like the little lake there and the water sort of reflect.

The sun is reflecting off the water and it's slowed down just very slightly. Chef's Kiss. It just looks just brilliant and slots beautifully into the look and feel of the episode.

Adam: 00:39:05

Yeah, I think that's the thing then. The new effects are not jarring at all. That's why I'm appreciating them perhaps, you know, more than series one.

And I think they had, you know, we have to listen to your interview, but I believe they had more time and money for series B for the new effects.

And to me it certainly shows because, as I said, I'll always be honest, I think some of the shots in the new model shots in the first Blu Ray set were a little jarring. They didn't quite flow as nicely. Everything I've seen on this second set has surprised me and it fits in very nicely with the actual episodes.

It doesn't stand out. You don't think, oh, that looks terrible, CGI or anything like that?

Because like I said, with the Doctor who ones, I felt like sometimes they actually looked worse than the original. Nah, it just doesn't flow.

You know, I think perhaps Logopolis was one of the few Doctor who ones where I thought, yeah, that now those effects fitted in well. But, yeah, so far on Serious B, mate, new effects have surprised me that I like them because I'm not a fan and I think they really are working well.

Garry: 00:40:07

Yes, agreed. And just to give a little spoiler to our listener, there is another interview with Chris Thompson.

Adam: 00:40:18

Yes, I'm looking forward to listening to that.

Garry: 00:40:20

Yes, I actually recorded that with him this week. So that is done. And in the can. So that will be a bonus episode that will drop at the end of our series B episode. So, yeah, there'll be some.

Some interesting chat and insight into these shots and what Chris was thinking and. And all that stuff. I'm not going to give Anything away. But yeah, that's, that's a really cool interview, that one. Yes. And just to give you a.

An insight as well into how jealous you'll be, listener, I got another tour of Chris's office and all of the original Blake's 7 ship models and all of that good stuff. So anyway, that will be coming at the end of the end of the series. But so yeah, the visual effects, not many in this one.

Same as the last few episodes. They haven't really had to go too crazy. You had the usual kind of teleport stuff and some nice Liberator shots.

But what they have done though, as you said, has been superb.

Adam: 00:41:19

Yeah.

Garry: 00:41:19

So far.

Adam: 00:41:21

Before we move on from the character of Dale Grant, mate, while I remember I wanted to ask you, did you think he might join the Liberator team at any point? Because we still haven't replaced Gan. We're still. We really should be calling this Blake 6.

So did you think at any point he might become the seventh member of the Liberator team?

Garry: 00:41:41

No, no, no. I just. I just had the feeling that he wasn't a good fit. Not fit as. Not as in he's a bad guy or anything, but just. Yeah, there just wasn't.

I just couldn't picture him being a regular in the crew.

Adam: 00:42:03

I, I think he works best as a one off character. I mean, he's really good in this episode.

You know, I love the tension, but I think if he'd have joined the Liberator career, I think he would have become irritating. I feel like they would have played off the Avon Dell thing constantly.

They'd have tried to create a bit of tension, which we've already kind of got that with Blake. So. Yeah, as much as I loved the character and the performance, when they do ask him if he wants to go with him and he declines at the end.

For me, that's perfect, I think. Yeah, no, it's good. He's, you know, he's great in this episode, but he's kind of done.

Unless, you know, unless he pops back up, I'm not going to say anything but yeah, I think it's, it's nice that he says no at the end and the kind of him and Avon have sort of reconciled, would you say they kind of shake hands, don't they?

Garry: 00:42:54

So, yeah, I was gonna say I considered them two to be okay with each other now. Yeah, that's what, that's what I took from that they had not.

They're never going to be best buds, but the shake of the hands is A, you know, an obvious internationally known sign of. Of respect and I guess and no longer enemies, but who knows? I don't know.

Adam: 00:43:17

I seem to remember a nice little piece of music from Dudley. When they shake hands, it's like, oh, I can't even explain it, but it sort of goes through you sing all. It's like a sad but happy.

He's got the memo, isn't he? Like they're shaking hands but there's still something there.

Garry: 00:43:35

Yeah, there were two bits of music, mate, that I had a little chuckle in this one. That was one of them. The second one, the first one, mate, I must admit, I did have a good little laugh.

Laugh at was when they teleport down Blake, Avon and Villa for the first time and you've got Villa having a good old moan about having to go. And when Jenna flips the little lever to.

To kick start the teleporter, there's like a little sort of American Sunday afternoon sitcom, little jingle almost. Yeah, it's like a bit of. And then they're back downs. They're down on. On Albion.

But yeah, it was just that little moment and I thought, oh, that was just like you just said. They've obviously said to Dudley, look, we need a little. We need a little pick me up of music here because Avon's being such a down in the dumps.

We need a little. Because you can see Jenna got a big smile on her face as if to say, he's a one, isn't he?

That, yeah, that Villa, you know, bless him, he's always having a good old moan, but just want to pick up it just quickly before we get back on that stuff. One of my only criticisms of the episode was the lack of Jenna and Cali, by the way.

Adam: 00:45:02

Once again. Yeah, I know it has to be said, and I was thinking it the whole way through, I was thinking, this is such a good episode.

But I know that we're both going to say and think the same thing once again. Poor old Jenna and Kelly, nothing to do other than sit on the Liberator.

They must have been when they got the script, mate, they must have been like, oh, this is so good. But we're doing nothing in this story. I think, you know, gosh, like, if you, if it was just this story, you could forgive it.

But the fact that this is probably the third or fourth story on the trot where they really haven't been given anything to do it is very noticeable, isn't it?

Garry: 00:45:39

Yeah, I think that's this. This sort of thing is the basis, I guess, for, I think, over the last year, I guess, that you and I have been talking about Blake's 7.

Across that time, I've dived. I've gone down the YouTube rabbit hole and watched a bunch of interviews with Gareth Thomas and. And Paul Darren or the. All the others.

And there has been a couple of times where Sally Novette has said that she was disappointed from time to time with the. The lack of what her character, you know, gets up to and the lack of progression at times and so on.

And this episode is a perfect example of probably why she feels that way, because she's, you know, Terry Nation and Chris Boucher and arguably Sally's own input have created a really cool character. Her best perform. One of her best performances for me, for her character, actually, mate, you know, what is actually the way back.

Adam: 00:46:43

All that way back.

Garry: 00:46:44

Yeah, the way back and space for those two episodes. She had such an attitude about her.

You know, she had this fire and she had this real kind of sassiness to her and take no BS from anybody and really strong female character. And then fast forward to now and, you know, she's getting the ump with Blake because he's kissing another woman. You know, she's got.

It's almost like it's. It's like her indoors, you know, it's like, who should we take down to the Planet?

Well, Jenna obviously can't go because she needs to sort of stick around here, run a vacuum round and, you know, make sure the kettle's on for when we teleport back up. It almost feels like we've got to that point where. And for Callie as well, bless her, you know, it's those two character.

Adam: 00:47:33

Yeah.

Garry: 00:47:34

Another really good character.

So I'm hoping, And you'll obviously know the answer, but I'm hoping as a newbie that that gets rectified at some point and they start to get their hands involved a bit more in. In what's going on. But I would say that was one of my only criticisms, I think, was those two were sidelined again.

Adam: 00:47:54

Yeah, I mean, absolutely, man. I won't say anything about where we go from here, but, yeah, it's.

It is noticeable and, you know, have to knock off at least half a point because of it. I think this. This story, you could sort of forgive it a little bit.

I'm trying to think, like, what I would have done with the characters in terms of involving them in the story. Whereas, was it last week?

I said, yeah, yeah, with last week's episodes, you know, I could see Lots of bits where they could have utilize those characters more. I said to you, didn't I?

Jenna could have been the one that went down to guard Blake's uncle rather than Villa, you know, would have made much more sense because she.

She's a stronger character and she wouldn't have fallen asleep, you know, so there are times where I feel like they could have been utilized as characters a lot better. This episode, I will let it off, you know, because of the strength of the episode, but it is very frustrating, mate.

And because we've talked about it and we're watching these in sequence, it stood out even more if, you know, I mean, like, when I've just watched this regularly because it's an episode I enjoy, I don't sit there and really think about it. But watching it again, I was like, oh, gosh, they are just literally sat at the Liberator desk again. It's.

Yeah, it's a shame because they're two really. They. They've got a lot of the two really interesting characters, you know, that you could do stuff with. But yeah, we'll see.

I'm thinking in my head, like, what's to come? And we'll see where it goes because we know that. We know that Sally Novette was advised her opinions and said she was unhappy.

I'm not so, so sure about Jan Chapel. I haven't really heard her express as much disappointment, maybe a little bit. But yeah, we'll see what happens with those two anyway.

Garry: 00:49:39

Yes. Yeah. Cool. And the other thing that I found that was both interesting and also quite funny at the same time is that the.

The production designers absolutely love an acrylic box.

Adam: 00:49:59

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Garry: 00:50:01

They absolutely just live for it.

Adam: 00:50:03

The future is acrylic.

Garry: 00:50:06

Yes. So every. Every explosive device, every bomb, every, you know, supercomputer is basically a bunch of old motherboards and cables and Eddie little.

Little led. Little sort of Christmas tree light.

Adam: 00:50:28

And.

Garry: 00:50:29

All that stuff just smashed into a. Into a. Into a see through acrylic box. So we had that in the station when they're setting off the bomb, we obviously, that's Orac.

And then there was something else as well. And then there was the. The actual explosive device over in the ice cap.

And when they took that out, that was a big acrylic box and of course, all that stuff. So I found. I found that quite amusing that. Because at the moment we'd only seen Orac really like that.

And then you cross forward to this episode, it's like, okay, everything's a. Everything's in A plastic box. Cool.

Adam: 00:51:05

Talking of acrylic boxes and Orac, we don't see him in this episode. We hear it, we know he's mentioned. No, we don't even hear him do. He's mentioned, but we don't see Orak or Zen.

In fact, I know I mentioned this briefly on another episode, but I really hadn't noticed before how little we've seen Orach in series two. He becomes a much. Not really a spoiler, but he becomes much more bigger character, I think, later in the series.

I mean, just really surprised because I love all rack and I remember as a kid, sort of, you know, how much I just loved him when he's on the screen and I'm thinking, gosh, he's hardly been in series B really.

You know, gets like the odd good scene, but they've not really used him very much considering he's this amazing computer that can pretty much solve everything. But he's a bit like Villa though, isn't he? He may not get many lines, but when he does, they're always good. A really cutting great line.

So they always make the most of him in that sense, I guess.

Garry: 00:52:06

Yeah, I guess so. Yeah.

Adam: 00:52:08

And Villa was great in this as well, mate. He gets some cracking lines. You know the bit where he says it should open like a dream? Of course, as soon as he says that, you know, it's gonna.

The doors are gonna blow off and Blake's like. More like a nightmare.

Garry: 00:52:21

Like a nightmare. Blake's such a. Such a beep to Villa in this one.

You know when they're exploring the base, trying to find out what's going on, and they come across this sort of hangar that's got this escape rocket ship in it. And. And by the way, that ship was the. It was the rocket from another episode.

Adam: 00:52:51

Yeah, I think we saw it in series one, didn't we?

Garry: 00:52:53

Yeah, it was. Where was it?

Adam: 00:52:56

It's seem to remember it didn't have some sort of Frankenstein like dead bodies on it or something. You remember that episode where they're creeping around and they're sort of dead corpses in it?

Garry: 00:53:06

The web. Sorry, Time Squad, the episode. Time Squad, Yeah. So that ship is the. It's like a reuse of that. But anyway, when they go into that hangar, they.

Yeah, sorry, is the. The spacecraft. It's called the Guardian. It's from Time Squad. But when they go in there, Villa's is super excited. He's found the control panel.

He knows exactly what it is. He's like, look, it opens up the, you know, the hangar doors and all that, that was also another nice little visual effect.

So in the original mode, that's just space.

Adam: 00:53:42

Oh, yeah, the hangar door. Yeah, yeah.

Garry: 00:53:44

You know, the ceiling, you know, the two panels that come apart.

Adam: 00:53:47

Yeah.

Garry: 00:53:47

In. In the original one, it's just complete, just pitch black with just a few stars dotted around.

In the new one, they've got, you know, the moon up there and all the clouds. Beautiful. Yeah.

And, yeah, when he closes it, Blake's like, well, great, you know, why don't you make a bit more noise or something, let them know we're here. And. Yeah, and then that scene you just mentioned, when he opens the thing, he's like. More like a nightmare. So Blake's a little bit.

A little bit harsh on him.

Adam: 00:54:18

Well, also, there's another scene I'm sure you were laughing at, where Villa goes to warn Blake that he's actually gone off with Provine in disguise, which. And the girl's like, yeah, second left and then on the right or something. And immediately as he leaves the room, he gets it wrong.

And of course, he turns up after all the action has happened, and he's there, like, two seconds too late. But again, just wonderful, isn't it? Typical Villa, of course, he. He's late, you know, and isn't that a great bit of direction or writing that?

You hear the gunshots, Villa gets the door, and you think, oh. And you're not sure if it's Blake who's been shot or Provine, and Provine backs out. So you think, oh. Oh, nearly swore.

You think, oh, Blake's been shot. But then Provine turn around and it's him. Isn't that a lovely bit of direction that? Just to give you that.

You probably know it's not Blake, but just for a second, you might question, is it Blake that's been shot? Oh, no, it's Provine. And Villa's face is like, oh, thank goodness.

Garry: 00:55:17

Yeah, that was a great. Another one of those tiny little. Little twisty bits that you mentioned as you go through this episode. There's quite a few of them.

Little, little twists. And when you.

Adam: 00:55:28

When Blake tapped that shoulder, that soldier on the shoulder, it's a bit of a tongue twister. Did you. Did you think, oh, I bet that's Provon? Because I did not think I did. No. When I first watched, I don't remember thinking, oh, that'll be.

So again, a lovely little bit of writing. Lovely little twist.

Garry: 00:55:45

Yeah. Clever. But, yeah, and that was Provost, played by Paul Shelley, and he was pretty good.

There was A great scene at the beginning where he takes absolutely no, no BS from, from any of the other guys.

So he's basically, they're under attack and they're sort of assessing how far the, the, the, the resistance fighters have come through, through the base to decide whether they need to evacuate or not. And he's getting updates from Sergeant Selson and he's like, don't worry, sir, you know, I'm sure we can hold him.

And he's like, yeah, I don't have time for this. He's basically doesn't have time for your sort of starry eyed idealism about the Federation. Just go and do the thing I've asked you to do.

So yeah, that whole scene is pretty good.

And he's like, look, four minutes, four minutes and then you're out the door with us and we're out of here and, and all that and there's no messing around.

And then another good scene later on where there's a rebel called Arion and he sabotaged the, the, the, the loading the docking bay door so the rocket can't take off.

Adam: 00:57:05

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Garry: 00:57:06

And so basically he just, you know, very cheekily and very, you know, you know, he's not going to follow up on it on, on anything. Provine says, look, let's work together. We, we fix this. Because let me just be honest with you, this planet's dead.

In the next however many minutes, these guys are not going to be able to stop this. You will die 100%. So instead of us all dying here unnecessarily, why don't you and I team up, we'll fix this and then we're out of here.

And then luckily this guy's like, you're full of crap, mate. You know, I'd rather stay here.

And I think he's saying like, I'd rather stay here and have a more dignified, noble death by my family or something, doesn't he? Yeah, yeah, he's like, yeah, abandoned my family, who I'm fighting to, you know, to free and to, and to save.

So yeah, it was a great little scene and he's trying to, he puts a smile on his face, Provine. And he tries to, to barter with this guy and he has none of it.

And then he survives and then he's back later on with Blake and they have a little showdown and stuff. So yeah, it's a good, good character that one.

Adam: 00:58:18

You know, I'm glad you've mentioned that scene actually, because I was meant to say that that is a It's a scene that. I wouldn't say I've overlooked it before, but it's one that stood out to me more on this rewatch.

I just thought, what a great scene because it is that sort of conflict of this nasty character, Provine, who, by the way, yeah, brilliantly played by Paul Shelley. I saw. I thought he was great. Trying to convince this guy, you know, come with me, delight.

This, this place is doomed, you know, and it's that thing of, would you be selfish or would you think, no, you know, my family are here. If they're going to die, I'm not going to be a part of that, you know. So I thought in terms of being moral, morals, you know, your own morals.

I thought it made for quite a powerful scene that perhaps I'd sort of forgotten about or overlooked. So, yeah, great scene that. I'm glad you mentioned it.

Garry: 00:59:07

Yeah, it was a good, good character that. By Paul Shelley. And Paul Shelley, a few years later, went on to be in Four to Doomsday,.

Adam: 00:59:16

Or seen him before. I don't know who the other guy was with him in that scene. The guy that he's trying to convince him to go up in the rocket.

But the other reason I thought it was good is because he. That's his only real big scene, that guy, that character, and he plays it so well.

I was thinking, you know, just for an extra, that's got this little bit part and about five lines. Lovely performance. I don't know, I can't. Sorry, listeners, bad with names.

Can't remember the character or the actor, but the guy that's playing opposite Provine, Paul Shelley. Just a lovely little performance considering what little he's got, you know, really, really good.

Garry: 00:59:51

Well, that was the. The character was Aryan.

Adam: 00:59:54

Aryan, right, yeah.

Garry: 00:59:55

Played by Nigel Gregory. Yeah, yeah, it was a good, A good little scene, that. So, yeah. Provine plays obviously a pivotal role throughout the episode, isn't he?

He's the one that kick starts the supposed evacuation, gets the bomb all fired up and ready to go and. And then causes trouble for them.

Adam: 01:00:15

Paul Shelley seems really into it, mate.

I don't know about you, I just thought he seems really into the script and the character, like he's got a wonderful sort of mean, this with love villainous face. He looks kind of evil, doesn't he? But I just thought his performance was great. He absolutely gets the part and, and he's quite believable.

I mean, he's just nasty, isn't he? Like when he. When he comes out of hiding and hits that Poor woman, you know, it's quite nasty. So I think he played the part ever so well.

Yeah, really good.

Garry: 01:00:47

Yeah, it gives her a backhander and she's down.

Adam: 01:00:51

Yeah, she's very good as well. What's her name? Is it Canada.

Garry: 01:00:57

Rally played by Lindy Alexander.

Adam: 01:01:00

Yeah. Again, a really nice performance from her.

Garry: 01:01:04

Paul Shelley's still with us, by the way. He's. He's 83 now. 83, Still going. Yeah.

Adam: 01:01:10

Good.

Garry: 01:01:11

He trained at RADA, so he probably knew, like, Paul Darrow and all those guys from back in the day and maybe. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, yeah, he was a cool character and. And I forgot anything else in my notes. Don't want to go through.

Have you got anything on your end that just.

Adam: 01:01:29

I've just got two words written down, which is. Actually comes out the mouth of Provine, mate, which is Star One.

Garry: 01:01:36

Star One.

Adam: 01:01:37

Star One. He says. Now what do you think that is? What do you think that means?

Garry: 01:01:41

Yeah, so that. So that's. That was like another disappointment for Blake, wasn't it? Because in the. In the previous ep, where he had gone into the room and it was.

And it was all. It was all gone. No, hold on. That wasn't last episode, was it?

Adam: 01:02:01

That was hostage pressure point.

Garry: 01:02:03

I think you mean pressure point. So. Yeah, so that was one of Blake's biggest failings, wasn't it?

Adam: 01:02:10

Yes.

Garry: 01:02:11

Where he had gone on his gut, so desperate to do that, and ends up getting Gan killed and then, you know, ends up to be an empty room. So it's all for nothing anyway. So this is one of those times where he wants to question Provine to find out where Control actually is.

He wants to know the location of it, and so his plan is to, you know, either rough him up or question him somehow or get info, and he does it too late. So he's been shot and he's, you know, he's about to pass away, and he doesn't give anything away other than what I think is a location of sorts.

So Star One, to me sounds like either a big space station somewhere or it sounds like a planet. I don't know.

Adam: 01:03:07

He also mentions a name, Dockerly.

Garry: 01:03:10

Dockerly.

Adam: 01:03:11

Those are two. Two things to. To think on is all I'm gonna say.

Garry: 01:03:16

Right, yeah, I've got those written. So. Okay, so they need to be in the back of my mind. Do they? As we continue?

Adam: 01:03:23

Quite possibly. Yeah. I mean, I will say. I don't.

I don't think knowing the character of Provine from this episode, I don't know that Blake would have got much out of him. So I'm kind of surprised when Profine gives up that information quite freely at the end.

But, you know, you got to move the story on and throw out a few nuggets, so I'm gonna totally, like, overlook that. But I was thinking, yeah, he does give up that information quite easily at the end, but I guess he was dying, so.

Garry: 01:03:48

He was dying. Yeah.

Adam: 01:03:50

But, yeah, Star one and Dockerly, mate two, possibly important things.

Garry: 01:03:55

Gotcha. Right. Okay. I don't think I've got anything else on my notes.

Adam: 01:04:01

No, don't think I have.

Garry: 01:04:03

No. We're all good. Alrighty, scores. You already know mine. This is an easy one. This was an absolutely amazing episode. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I'll probably watch this one another 50 times over the next few years and. And stuff. So. Yeah, so 9.5 for me. What about you?

Adam: 01:04:21

Yeah, it is, mate. It is an episode that you will watch over again. I never get bored of watching this. I enjoyed it just as much as I always have watching it again.

The other night, I was a little bit me that was worried because I'd. I'd said to you this episode was coming up that you, you know, is a belter. I thought, oh, I hope it is as good as I remember.

I mean, I started to doubt myself thinking, oh, hope I haven't over sort of shot on this one. I hope it is good. And I absolutely loved it, mate. I'm gonna give it a 9 out of 10 and I'll tell you why I think it's.

I think it is deserving of a 9.5. I'm giving it a 9 because I think there's even better.

And I'm thinking if I give this a 9.5 and there's an episode that I think is even better than this. I don't know. Like, we can't go up to 11. We're not spinal Tap. So I've got to. I've got to put a bit in reserve.

So it's a very, very strong nine, and in my heart, I want to give it a 9.5. I'm just gonna hold off because I think there's even better to come. So I'm going to give it a nine out of ten.

Garry: 01:05:28

Oh, he's being conservative.

Adam: 01:05:30

I want to give it that point.

Garry: 01:05:32

Right.

Adam: 01:05:32

I want to, but I've got to, like, I've got to save it. I know there's a. I know there's a 9.5 and a 10, so I'm going to save it. But it is brilliant. I love this episode.

Garry: 01:05:41

It is brilliant. And yeah, for me, on the rating stuff, I think I'm just settled into that.

You know, if I love it and enjoy it, then I'll score it as based on my enjoyment factor of the episode. I'm trying not to. To compare it to episodes, you know, been and gone, or ones that are potentially going to be great down the road.

Because, you know, if I enjoy an episode in series C, I'll give it a 9.5 as well. Is that going to be on par with this one? Is it going to be a better episode or not so good? I don't know. It's. For me, it's my enjoyment factor.

Adam: 01:06:17

Let's put it this way, mate. I think it is well deserving of a 9.5. Do you know, you can.

I think you can blame that podcast I said I was listening to because they reminded me there's an episode which sort of ties into this one. That's all I'm going to say. And I remember listening to that yesterday thinking, that is a. That is a 10. That is a 10.

So I was thinking, so if I give this 9.5, you know what I mean? The inner turmoil in me of scoring these episodes. But it is a worthy 9.5, mate. It's a great episode, this one.

Garry: 01:06:47

Sure. Cool. Alrighty on those scores then. I think this is the highest episode so far. Ever.

Adam: 01:06:53

Thus far. Yeah.

Garry: 01:06:55

For our podcast. Yeah. So, yeah. What's next week, dude?

Adam: 01:06:59

Next week is. I think it's Voices from the Past. Am I right in saying that?

Garry: 01:07:04

Just Voice from the past, yeah.

Adam: 01:07:05

Oh, voice. Yeah, no voices. Voice from the Past.

Garry: 01:07:11

I don't know anything about that. Obviously, I've not. I've not researched future EPs or. Or anything like that. Spoiler free for me.

Adam: 01:07:19

My lips are sealed on that.

Garry: 01:07:20

Okay. And on that. And on that note, let's stick a pin in it and end that episode of Federation Strike. Dude.

Adam: 01:07:27

Alrighty.

Garry: 01:07:43

Thank you very much, dear listener, for tuning in to another episode of Federation Strike. That was our review of the episode countdown and that was a 9 from Adam and a 9.5 from me.

The best episode that we've seen in our journey so far, which is really cool. As Adam said, we'll be back next week to carry on through series B and it will be episode 10, Voice from the Past.

So tune in next time to listen to that. You can get notifications for new episodes by making sure you are following or subscribing to the podcast in your favorite podcast app. Of choice.

There are links in the show notes or if you're listening to this and you've just come across Federation Strike from just a search or something, then we'd love to have you follow along for the remainder of series B and then all the the other episodes and series that we'll do later down the line. If you've enjoyed Federation Strike and this episode and you want to leave us a little review, that would be awesome.

You can do that on something like Apple podcasts or a rating on Spotify or something like podchaser.com any of that stuff really helps the podcast. It sort of bumps us up a little bit. So when people search for Blake's 7, they'll come across our podcast. So if you're enjoying it, that'd be very cool.

And thank you to those of you that have left reviews and lovely words. So thank you very much for that. You can also find us on the socials. Just do a Search for Lake 7 podcast or again, there are links in the show notes.

We're on X and Blue Sky. Come and chat all things Blake7 and we've got a lovely community over there and Talk to other Blake's 7 fans and other Blake's 7 creators. It's very cool.

So come and get involved over there. Also, don't forget to check out my co host channel on YouTube. It is of course the Amazing Geeks Handbag.

Adam: 01:09:26

Yes, check out my YouTube channel, the Geek Sandbag. Loads of geeky stuff on there. Also on all the socials under the same name, the Geek Sandbag.

Garry: 01:09:34

Okay, until next time for Federation Strike, my name's Garry.

Adam: 01:09:39

My name's Adam.

Garry: 01:09:41

And we will see you next time for Federation Strike, a journey through Blake's 7.

Episode Trailer: 01:09:55

Sam.