B13: Star One: Keeping Mankind In or Something Else Out?

Speaker A: 00:00:17

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

Speaker B: 00:00:22

My name's Adam.

Speaker A: 00:00:22

And welcome to our final episode of series B. It is of course episode 13 and our review of Star One. Thank you so much for coming back and listening to another episode of Federation Strike.

We are at the end, so sadly at the end of series B and our review of the finale of what has felt like a really long episode on one hand, but on the other hand, sorry, a long series but on the other hand has felt really short now, now we're at the end. Feels like we've blasted through it really quickly, if that makes sense.

Speaker B: 00:01:06

No, it's weird. I was thinking exactly the same thing.

Feels like this series, maybe it's because we had a couple of weeks where we couldn't record in between and it sort of spread it out, I don't know.

But yeah, I was thinking it's a real mixed bag of emotions because it does feel like it's taken a while to get through series B, but also it feels like, oh my gosh, we've already got series A and B done already. We're kind of halfway through, you know, the four series already. So it's. Yeah. Strange feeling that.

Speaker A: 00:01:38

It's a bit strange, isn't it? Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:01:40

So you've now watched half of Blake's 7, mate. How does that feel?

Speaker A: 00:01:43

Who'd have thought it a watched? Yeah, I'm halfway through.

It feels, it feels great on one hand because I've got to experience such a great show and I've got to watch through and experience the, the character progression of all these characters and it's been fantastic. But it's also.

Yeah, now, now the next thing that we review, other than our wrap up episode next week when we dive into series C will be over the halfway point. And that's kind of sad because I don't want it to end. I don't want to get to the end of Blake's 7, which I know it is ultimately there at some point.

So again, a bit of a mixed bag for me. Emotionally wise. Emotionally wise. It's a. Yeah, I'm loving it. But at the same time I know it's. The end is nigh, if that makes sense.

I'm trying not to focus on that on that bit. But no, it's been, it's been fantastic so far.

Speaker B: 00:02:36

Yeah, I was going to say, obviously I know what's to come. So yeah, it's.

You'll probably be like me once you do get to the end of series four, you'll probably go back and start watching it all again like I do on repeat. So you will see. But yeah, we'll talk about it more.

I'm look really looking forward to our wrap up episode next week to get your overall thoughts on on stuff because a lot's happened during the course of these 13 episodes and I think there is a slightly different feel to series B than series A. So looking forward to chatting about that in our wrap up episode next week.

But before we do that, obviously we're at the final we've got one more episode to go and we finally get to go to Star One. So I'm very excited to hear your thoughts on this episode to see if it lived up to your expectations. Was it what you thought?

Because I think it's fair to say the Keeper was a curveball. That completely was. I don't think that was the episode any of us were expecting when we first saw that and we both enjoyed it.

I think it's one of those slightly underrated episodes. But yeah, let's see if Star1 lived up to your expectations. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Speaker A: 00:03:43

Indeed. Yeah, the Keeper that was, you know, that was a bit of a sleeper hit, wasn't it, for, for us in series two.

And yeah, there's been a couple of episodes like that I remember.

No, we'll save all this banter for the wrap up episode because otherwise if we start dive, we go down that rabbit hole talking about all the all the episodes that have come before this. We'll talk about it for ages. But we're at the finale.

But before we crack on with that, before dear Listener, you get to our thoughts on how serious, how we thought Series two has come to a close.

We would love it if you are following or subscribing to this very podcast in your preferred podcast app of choice so that you don't miss notifications for when new episodes drop. If you're a new listener to Federation Strike, then you've come in at the very last episode. But it's great to have you here nonetheless.

Those of you that have listened since the beginning, welcome back. It's great to have you all here checking out our thoughts.

And if you started your rewatch along the same time as us and you've gone through Series B or Series A, if you want to go back on the back catalog, then we would love to hear your thoughts on Series B and the finale episode as well. You can do that over on the Socials. We are on Bluesky and X. The there are links in the show notes to go over there or just do a search for us.

If you're already on there, just do a Search for Lake 7 podcast, you'll find us on there. And we'd love to chat to you about all things Blake7 and get your thoughts and feelings on character arcs.

The Liberator was all rack underused in series two. Series B. Sorry, what you thought the finale was like all that stuff.

We'd love to chat to you and thank you very much to those of you that do find us on there and chat to us about Blake's 7. It's like users like Tufti and all those guys, very, very cool.

And the other content creators as well, the other Blake's 7 podcasters and YouTubers and so on, always watching and listening to other content creators. So it's great to have that really cool Blake's 7 community over there on the old socials.

And also don't forget to check out my co host channel over on YouTube. It's called the Geek's Handbag.

Speaker B: 00:05:57

That's right, yeah. Loads of geeky stuff and videos on my channel on the Geeks Handbag. And there is.

And I recently went back and rewatched it actually just to see one of my earlier videos is at Blake's 7 Convention and it brought back a lot of memories. So there's a lot of Doctor who stuff on there, a couple of Blake sevens. But that's. Yeah, I'm very proud of that Blake's 7 convention video.

It's warms my heart when I rewatch that and makes me want to come back to UK mate and come to some conventions there. Because the Blake's 7 community, as you said, is a really cool one. Yeah, it's good to be a part of it.

Speaker A: 00:06:28

Absolutely. Yes. So again, there's a link in the show notes. Go off and give Adam stuff a watch and give him a subscribe over there.

Tons of geekery stuff to get stuck into. But back to Blake's 7 for the last time, the last time in series B. What's the review for this week, bud?

Speaker B: 00:06:47

Yeah. So here we are, episode 13. We finally made it to star one.

Speaker C: 00:06:52

The nearest large galaxy to our own is Andromeda.

Speaker B: 00:06:55

So?

Speaker C: 00:06:56

So this is the nearest point to Andromeda. If anyone could cross intergalactic space in less than a lifetime, we are now precisely upon the route that they would take.

Speaker A: 00:07:06

What are you trying to say?

Speaker C: 00:07:07

I directed the detectors toward the Andromeda galaxy. There are thousands of satellite generators out there beyond Star One. What? Even with the Federation's resources, it must have taken them years.

That must Be the biggest antimatter minefield ever put together. Minefield?

Speaker A: 00:07:29

What minefield?

Speaker C: 00:07:30

Perhaps the Intergalactic drive has been developed. Question is, by whom? A defense zone to keep mankind in or something else out?

Speaker A: 00:07:47

Star One is upon us, mate. We are finally here. I remember your words from. I think it was back in Pressure Points, I believe when.

I think it's the episode Pressure Point, episode five, where they first mentioned Star One. Was it that one or was that Control, just Control they mentioned?

Speaker B: 00:08:05

I think it was either that one or Countdown, because. No, that's right. Oh, no, I'm getting confused now. I think it might have been Countdown, because the guy says it at the end, doesn't he? Star One.

Speaker A: 00:08:14

Oh, that's of course, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's dying, yeah. Oh, that's right, yeah. And I remember. Oh, yes. I think back in Pressure Point, they were just talking about destroying something called Control.

Speaker B: 00:08:25

That's it.

Speaker A: 00:08:26

The main nerve center of the Federation. It wasn't mentioned as Star One, but actually, yeah, you're right.

So at the end of the countdown, you said to me at the time, mate, you'll need to keep that name in your head for a bit, because that's going to be quite prevalent as we go through. And you were absolutely bang on, mate. Now that we've. We've got to the end of it, it's all. It's all been about Star One, isn't it?

This whole sort of latter half of. Certainly since episode nine, this whole thing has now been about how do we get to the location of Star One, what's it all about, what's the sitch?

rd April: 1979

It was written by Chris Boucher, overseen by Chris Boucher as well as the editor, directed by David Maloney, although uncredited at the time, but it was directed by Dave Maloney. And the synopsis from the old VHS tape is it's very short and sweet.

So while Blake plots to annihilate the Federation once and for all, Travis is planning for greater destruction, that of the entire human race. So, Bud, over to you, as always, from a long timer who has seen this many times. What was your feeling going into this? Because I know when we've.

When I've asked you that question before, over when we normally do these, you say to me, I wonder what Garry thinks. What? When you were watching this, you obviously knew all the stuff that was going to go down. So did you think.

Actually, no, this was different on a Rewatch. And also did you think, crikey, what's, what's Garry going to make of this? As always?

Speaker B: 00:10:13

Yeah, I did think that about you because I was thinking while watching this, it's always an episode. So just straight off the bat, it's always an episode I thought was quite strong. I've always liked this one.

Surprisingly, in the back of my mind, I always thought it was written by Terry Nation.

I just got it in my head it was that I knew that Terry was supposed to write like a two part final and obviously didn't get to do that for whatever reason. So the Keeper was written by. Was Alan Pryor. But I, in my head I was thinking, yeah, but he came back for the last episode, which of course he didn't.

It was Chris Boucher. So he gets to wrap up.

You know, what has been, I think a really good build up in a way to this, to Star One and all the stuff that's happened with Travis over series two, becoming this sort of renegade on the run, sometimes working with server land, sometimes working without us. So there's been quite a nice, you know, build up to this episode, I think.

And I think Chris Boucher does a really good job pulling all those pieces together. You mentioned the first time. It's mentioned as well. And I love that because we see Blake, he's like a dog that's thrown a bone.

As soon as he finds out about this place he has got to. It's like his next mission after the, you know, after the.

His dissatisfaction with what happened with Control, you know, how let down he was by thinking he had finally done it. And you know the disappointment of that. This is now he's back on track and he's got a mission and, you know, I love all that.

You can really feel it in Blake's character that he's desperate to get this one right. So you kind of know that that probably isn't going to happen. There's going to be more to it than them just turn up and blow it up.

Although that's what they try to do. And what I like about this script, mate, is that throws in a lot of twists that I don't think you would see coming.

You know, you just assume that it's going to be like a big finale where they teleport down, shoot a few people, blow a few things up. Star One's destroyed, maybe they have a bit of a scuffle in between, but it's over. That's not how it goes. The plan very much doesn't go to plan.

And there's lots of other elements thrown in, like the creatures that are sort of shape shifters.

The fact that Star 1 is failing, I really like that part that some, you know, it's being sabotaged and there's all this sort of climate control stuff going on which nowadays viewers are probably. Oh, that's woke. But back in the 70s, you know, that was probably quite, quite a thing.

Quite new, I would say, you know, or certainly wouldn't have been, you know, thrown out there like, like a message in a program that we get nowadays, you know, it's kind of done quite nicely, I think. So, yeah. My thoughts on the episode, mate, it's. I think it's a good final. I think it has some really nice moments.

And just to go back to your question, whilst I was watching it, although I like this episode, part of me in the back of my mind all the way through this kept thinking, I wonder if this is the episode Garry wanted. And by that I mean I wonder if it will satisfy his. What's built up in his head about Star One and how the series is going to end.

And that's the bit I don't know. So I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one, mate.

I hope that it delivered for you, but there's a little bit in the back of my mind that may be thinking it was a little bit, I wouldn't say low key, but I don't know if it was going to be the big finale you were expecting. But over to you. What did you think of it?

Speaker A: 00:13:43

Yeah, this was an interesting one before I started watching it, because in my head I'd made up a scenario, you know, as you do sometimes when you go into films or TV shows. I had this scenario in my head and what was. When I finished watching this, I thought, okay, so they went in a very different direction.

So I had, you know, rightly or wrongly built up this picture in my head of somebody, somebody dying. Whether it was going to be Servalan. Or Travis or Blake or somebody was gonna die and not in the way that it ended up going down with.

As actually, I should probably mention, if you.

If you're listening to this and you've not seen this yet, listener, then we suggest you go and watch it because there is a couple of things that happen with characters that are a little bit spoilery from here on in. So fair warning, couple of spoilers, as always.

It's a very old show, of course, but I know that a lot of people have started listening to the Podcast via getting into it. And you might only be in series A at some point. Whatever. So anyway, that's your warning from here on in. Spoilers.

So I know that Travis does bite the dust in this. Yeah, of course. Which is. Which we'll get on to.

But in my head, I had this big showdown between just Blake and the crew and the Federation, like this almost final race, this last hurdle for both of them to discover the location of Star One, but both arrive at the same time, and all hell just breaks loose. There's like a space battle between the Liberator and Federation ships in orbit on the surface.

There's a battle between Blake and Travis, you know, Villa and someone, and Avon and Servland, whatever. And then ultimately it ended up with going one or two ways.

Either Blake fails and they get captured or killed, or Servalan fails and Blake ends up destroying Star One. But what ultimately happened, of course, is something very different. So it was really cool that the, The.

The showdown that I was expecting didn't quite happen in.

In that way, but it was kind of genius for Chris Boucher to throw in that curveball of the sabotage aspect and Travis essentially wanting to take out the entire human race with this alien fleet that he has, you know, sort of.

This has been in the works for a little while where he's engineered this sabotage@star1 to disable the mine field, literally, and allow the fleet to come through and invade the galaxy, essentially. So that was a massive Kerbal. And at the time when that first.

When that realization dropped that that was what was happening initially, I was like, oh, where are we going with this then? Because surely we can't wrap this all up in. In one episode. But then when I got to the end, I thought, do you know what?

That was actually a fantastic thing to do because the scenario that I had worked up in my head that I just went through, I think that was. You would probably think that was too, too predictable and expected if that had have gone down.

Yeah, you know, it would have been too easy for them to write the big showdown between Blake and Servalan or Blake and Travis. You know, Federation versus Liberator crew. I think that just would have been to paint by numbers, if that makes sense.

And so I love the fact that we've got this additional stuff going on that we didn't even consider. Like, there was no mention of this other alien race, the. These imposters, the doppelgangers on.

On Star One, just nothing all in any episode, throughout, anything. So when you arrive at this point, it's all just smacks you in the face. It's like, whoa.

Like there's a lot happening, a lot going down that we didn't consider. So, yeah, when I finished, mate, I thought, yeah, I, I, I, I was mostly satisfied.

I was going to say I was kinder, but, yeah, I was mostly satisfied with the finale. I think it was a really good build up.

I'm so like, you and I, when we've watched an episode and we're reviewing it and we're ready to jump into the next one pretty quick, we don't want to wait a week now more than ever, mate, I want to crack on and watch the next one. So I, it's left me feeling really like, what the bloody hell is going to happen?

Because, you know, Avon's put them in the firing line, quite literally in the cliffhanger and the Liberator has lost it. You know, far less odds than this.

Speaker B: 00:18:36

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:18:36

So I'm just so intrigued as to what, like, what the bloody hell's gonna happen now. Like, Blake's nearly down and out. Avon's lost his mind. Suppose, because we'll get onto the ending in a little bit.

But yeah, it feels like Avon's just bloody lost it in this episode. He's. Oh, mate. So, yes, long winded answer. I was satisfied with it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought this was a great little, a great little change of direction, a little bit in the narrative.

Speaker B: 00:19:07

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:19:08

But I think it was a good thing, otherwise it would have been too, yeah, too, too expected.

Speaker B: 00:19:15

I was gonna say. I think that's one of the things I respect about this script by Chris Boucher, is that it is unpredictable.

You know, I mean, I've got very, very hazy memories of when I first watched this, but that's one of the things I've always enjoyed about it when I rewatch it. Even last night, when I rewatched this, there were little things I'd forgotten about. Little. You know, there's a lot.

Like you said, there's a lot going on. It's quite a, it's more of a talky script than an action script. But that's not to say it's boring.

It, there is a lot going on and it, for me, it kind of builds up, up and up and up very nicely. Like you almost feel the pressure that Serverland is under, getting greater and greater as the episode builds.

And I think that helps to create a great tension for the episode because if she's that worried about what's happening, you know, it's serious and it kind of grounds the episode in a little bit reality in the sense that all of these factors that are being thrown in by Chris Boucher, the aliens, the Star One failing and, you know, and the spaceships that crash at the very start of the episode, all these things that are going wrong and spiraling out of control are all building up to something quite big. So, yeah, in that sense, there's a lot going on and it's quite sort of small scale. It's sort of confined to Star One.

But I feel like you just said that that works really well because by the time you get to the, the conclusion, or rather the cliffhanger of the episode, I think it really does leave you wanting more. I mean, I, I'm now absolutely biting at the tooth to go on to the next episode.

Not because I haven't seen it a million times, but I cannot wait for you to see how this carries on. And, and all I'll say is the next episode, the first episode of series three, really does continue this very nicely.

So I'm, you know, not to jump ahead, mate, but I think all of those things you're feeling about wanting to, to watch and see how this plays out. Yeah, I can't wait either for you to, for you to see, because it does pick up straight from where this episode, you know, leaves us.

So, yeah, so in that sense, it almost feels like part one of a two parter, doesn't it? And I don't know how much time there was actually between series B and C. Perhaps you've got it there in front of you, I don't know. But you.

Yeah, it does feel like a great continuation, you know, the next episode.

Speaker A: 00:21:47

So.

Speaker B: 00:21:48

So I'm jumping ahead to series three already. I'm just so excited for you to see stuff.

Speaker A: 00:21:53

But.

Speaker B: 00:21:53

Yeah, but yeah, going back to this man, I think there's some great moments and I feel like a lot of elements come together that we've had sort of plotted out throughout series B, like the loss of Gan, you know, Blake's disappointment of finding control or not finding it, you know, you know, Travis the renegade going on the run and finally deciding. I mean, he just is completely flipped at this point. Isn't he's going to destroy everything.

All of that stuff has just sort of come together in this episode and then you throw in the, the mutants and all that sort of thing. So, yeah, a lot going on this episode, mate, but for me, yeah, pretty much all of it works.

I think the only thing I felt at the end is perhaps because Star One has been built up to be such a big deal. It does. It is confined to sort of two sets pretty much, or three sets. And in that sense, maybe it feels a little bit.

I wouldn't even say disappointing. Just not as grand on scale as you'd expect for a final. But I guess that's a budget thing, mate.

And I'm kind of nitpicking a little bit when I say that, but that's the only thing I felt is, you know, when you.

When you're so looking forward to finally seeing what Star One is, unfortunately, perhaps because the budget is not quite as grand, perhaps as you'd want it to be on screen. But as I said, that's probably just nitpicking, really, because I still think it works incredibly well.

In fact, if anything, it's probably benefits from the claustrophobia of it because the scene where. What's the character called? Where she hides in the cupboards and all the bodies are hanging up with dead. You know, that's. Yeah.

Now, I do remember when I first saw that, being really creeped out by that, thinking, God, that really got me as a. A great creepy horror, if you want, moment. That's one of the things I do remember when I first saw this. Just like, oh, what's that about?

Because they've got these little white eyes, haven't they? It's very. Yeah, almost like. Almost gonna say zombies, but, you know. Yeah. So, yeah, a lot going on, mate.

For me, it does all come together and work very nicely.

Speaker A: 00:23:52

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. And it was a good. It was a good opening setup as well, you know, with the two ships that are on a collision course.

Speaker B: 00:24:00

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:24:02

The pilot's very weary because he's like, are you sure this is all good? Because they're not changing course and because obviously the other one is relying on Star1 for its navigational course and so on.

We know now that Star One was being sabotaged, so. And then that leads in nicely to a character called Durkim.

Speaker B: 00:24:25

Durkin.

Speaker A: 00:24:26

Yeah, yeah. Who is one of Serverland's assistants on the command station. And he's trying to explain to her, look, this is the accident that's happened.

Couple this with all the breakdown on the, you know, all the surface level environmental problems across Federation planets. It's clear that Star One is. Is cracking up and she's not having it. So she's like, no, what are you talking about?

So he then goes on to say, look, something is not right. I feel like Star One's being being sabotaged. And, you know, if that's true, then we really can't do anything because, you know, we're screwed.

And the reason for that is what's been building up over the last few episodes is that nobody knows the actual location still of Star One. So it's one thing being able to say, yep, something's not right, and this is. This is not good, and it's breaking down.

Then the other thing is, well, if that's the case, we can't do anything about it. We're screwed. We're all screwed. And. And then that. So that's it.

That was a nice setup from the Federation's point of view, or serverland's point of view, because up to this point, it's always been about Blake's point of view regarding Star One. For the most part, there has been this kind of sort of cat and mouse thing between.

Between him and Servalan Travis about who's going to get to Star One, you know, what's. What's the situation there. But it's mainly been about Blake's mission, hasn't it? Like his. His overall thing is to.

Is to wipe out the Federation, essentially, and taking out Star One, hence all the remote bombs and stuff in his mind, is the best way to do that. Because without Star 1, as is proven in the opening five minutes or so, without Star 1, the Federation can't function.

Speaker B: 00:26:23

Yeah, and I think that's such a cool.

Sorry, mate, I was gonna say, I think that's such a cool concept as well, to have, you know, if you imagine something, you know, on Earth that controlled everything from the weather to the planes flying in the sky and all that, and of course, they want to keep it so secret so that it never gets discovered. You know, they have these sort of people purposely put on there, you know, but then when they do, when something does go wrong, they.

They actually can't find it because it's so secret and no one knows where it is. I think that's such a cool and very simple idea. But it does create a panic, doesn't it?

If you imagine that scenario in real life of like, oh, yeah, you know, all we need to do is get to Star One and we can fix it. But problem is, no one knows where it is. I think that's brilliant.

Speaker A: 00:27:08

It is, yeah. And then as the viewer, you're. You're in a bit of a quandary.

I was, anyway, when I was watching this because I. I felt like, well, if Star One is failing due to the sabotage at the moment, and we're witnessing environmental problems that are happening and, you know, ships being, you know, not on the right course and all these disasters happening. As the viewer, you were like, well, you're rooting for Blake because that's what you've been.

That's what you've been fed narratively since the very beginning. Since episode one, series A, you know, the way back, we've been fed this, and rightly so, this narrative of Federation bad, Blake good.

And so it's like the goodies versus baddies. But at this point, Blake is not aware that the breakdown of Star One is causing all these planets to, to go. To go tits up.

And so if that's the case, if that happens, then all of the, all of the people living on these planets are going to die. So I believe that was the, that was the intent of that opening exposition anyway.

Speaker B: 00:28:19

Yeah. Oh, yeah, definitely, yes.

Speaker A: 00:28:21

So unbeknownst to Blake, if he completely destroys Star One, what he thinks he's doing the right thing by, by taking out the Federation sort of core central nervous system. What he's actually going to do is accelerate, you know, the downfall of, of, of all these, all these planets and the populations on these places.

So you kind of thinking as the viewer, like, Blake, you know what you're doing here, mate. I mean, I know you mean well, but you know what's going on.

And that's why, I mean, earlier about this really nice curveball that comes into play because by Blake actually reversing his decision and not taking out Star 1 because they need it to help with this protection of the galaxy from the. The invading alien army, he's actually, as a byproduct of that, saved all these planets as well.

Because I guess at some point Star One and all the equipment and all that stuff can be repaired and fixed if needed. Now that they know what the problem is and where Star One is, those things can be reversed and sorted out.

But if he'd have gone through with it and blown the thing up, it really would have been lights out for everybody. So it's a wonderful quandary as the viewer watching through that stuff, because for. Throughout the last four episodes, you're so.

You're so eager for Blake to find it and take it out and like, you know, stick it to the Federation and take that Server land, you know, going to take you out sort of thing. But then at this point you're like, oh, no. Like, he doesn't. He doesn't.

He's not got the information that Serverland has, so he's like, oh, well, I was like that anyway. I was like, God, this is not going to end well, mate, if you go through with this.

But it's just part of the wonderful script, though, that was what's great about it.

Speaker B: 00:30:05

And also the wonderful character of Blake, isn't it, is that he is flawed, bless him.

You know, he wants to do the right thing all the time, but he blunders in and Avon's always there behind him to remind him that he's blundered in and got it wrong. And so this would have been another example of that, you know, if Blake Elliot got through. But you could guarantee that had they survived.

But Avon would have been on the flight deck ready to remind him that he's done it again. So, you know, there is that.

And again, it warms me towards the character of Blake, you know, as well, the thing with Avon as well, I was going to say, there's a good.

We got a bit of friction between Blake and Avon, which I know we get a lot of that over the series, but I feel the last few episodes, you know, we got a lot of that in series A, didn't we? The sort of. The tension between the two.

I feel like it eased off a little bit during the series, but we definitely get a bit of that at the start of this episode because Avon is still content on trying to convince Blake to actually take over Star One. He's, like, trying to tell him, but we could rule, you know, and all this.

And then when that doesn't work, there's this wonderful scene where Avon's like, well, actually, Blake says to Avon, doesn't he? I didn't realize you hated me that much or something. And Avon says, I want to be free of him.

And so it's not that he hates Blake, he just wants an end to it. He's fed up of this. He just wants everything to end, get in the Liberator and fly off, you know, that's what Avon wants.

But the rest of the crew are just kind of miffed, aren't they? They're like, well, hang on, who says you can have the Liberator?

And I think that's, again, a great scene, great dynamic, showing that Avon is always thinking of himself, pretty much.

But there is a nice tenderness as well, I think, between him and Blake, which, if you watch it, the way it's played out, Avon tries to conceal any sort of affection he has for Blake. And I think he masks a lot of that with his intolerance and annoyance at the way Blake has Dragged him into all this, if you see what I mean.

But I think every now and again, Avon's guard is down, just not to jump to the end. But I think the bit at the end where he. Blake comes out bandaged up and Avon says, can you get back all right on your own?

And he kind of almost catches himself being nice to Blake and then sort of corrects himself. And I think that little moment sort of sums up that beautiful relationship between Blake and Avon that they, you know, they very often clash.

They have very different ideas about what they want to do, but it. But there is an underlying friendship there, you know, and maybe I'll mention it now, actually, while I think.

While I'm talking about that scene, I. I always get a little emotion when Blake says he's always trusted Avon. That line always hits home with me. And I think because Gareth Thomas delivers it with such sense sincerity that it always just gets me.

I think I like that. And Avon's reaction to it is he. I think he's really pleased to hear it, but he would never say it. He doesn't acknowledge it, really.

Just gives one of his sort of little Avon smiles, doesn't he? But, you know, the.

For Blake to say that to him, I think he's like, okay, it is a lovely moment and I don't know if it got you, but, I mean, I've seen this episode quite a few times. It didn't make me cry, but it hits an emotional beat within me. I'm like, I always wait for that line. You know what I mean?

I always love that line that Blake comes out with. It just, I don't know, just love it. It just cements that relationship together of these two people that fight like hammer and tong all the time.

But actually they do, you know, they do like each other, really under. But they just won't admit it, you know?

Speaker A: 00:33:56

Yeah, absolutely, mate. It's.

I think, because we've had such two in and throw in between the two of them right from, I would say, quite early on, right from the beginning in series A, we've had the. The. What's the best way to describe this?

We've had Blake, who is just headstrong and knows his mission and is his tenacity is, you know, no one's going to deter him from taking up the Federation. That's his thing. And even in the past, when he's got it wrong, like badly wrong, he still pushes forward and still wants to get stuff done.

And, you know, he's put people's lives at risk. He's had crew members killed, and he's even gone off and done stuff on his own without telling people.

All of these things combined because in his head he knows or he feels like he's doing the right thing. And then you've got the antithesis of that, which is Avon and his realism about what's going on. You know, he's a realist.

He can tell that Blake is always putting them in these unnecessary risks, these suicide missions. And he's frustrated. I think that's what comes out in this episode.

He's reached that point in the first half of the episode, at least he's reached that point where he's just done. You know, he's completely done with A, Blake and B, the rest of the crew always following Blake. He can't wrap his head around it. He's like, why?

You know, I don't. I'm not going to use any quotes here, but in general, Avon's always saying, why are you lot.

Why do you blindly follow someone who's putting you in harm's way all the time?

Like, it doesn't compute in his head, which is why we've had those little wobbles in the past where he's like, if Blake doesn't come back, the Liberator's mine, you know, and. Or even if he is planning on coming back, I could probably just go anyway. What are the odds of surviving? You know, I could just go, so.

And I think that really comes to a head in this episode where we have that.

It's like a really nice bookend of the episode and the series, because at the beginning, like you said earlier, we have that moment where Blake has just called him out on it. He's just said. He just asks him, look, you really hate me, don't you? And. And Avon doesn't say, does he? Doesn't say.

He doesn't agree and say, yeah, I do. He's just reached his limit where he just wants, whatever, Blake, whatever you're going to do, let's just get it done, because I'm out of here.

Like, I've just had enough. And then towards the end of the episode, we see Avon very quickly have a bit of a change of direction for his character.

So what you would expect Avon from the last episode and previously to do is when that alien fleet turned up, he's out of there. You know, he's like, xen, turn us around. You know, let's. Let's just get out of here.

When we're one ship against an entire fleet of Comma, how many ships Orac said there was in this? It's like 600 ships or a lot. Yeah, a thousand or something. I can't remember. So the old Avon, I think, would have done that.

Would have been a bit of a Han Solo and like, you know, the odds, you know, not in our favor on this one. But he doesn't. He just stands firm. You know, he understands that while he's not in complete alignment with Blake about his. His beef with.

With Servland and the Federation, he understands that there's a bigger picture at play here. There's a bigger thing going on.

Speaker B: 00:37:43

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:37:44

And so he. He opts to stand and fight. And then, like you said, that last scene where Blake's looking a bit worse for wear, he's been shot by Travis.

And, yeah, I did get. I like you. I didn't. I didn't cry or choke up or anything, but I did get a little hit in the feels, mate. I did get that little.

That little prang where.

Where Blake kind of, you know, says something to him that he's probably wanting to say to him for a while, but, you know, there's never been a time for that to be said because they've always been at loggerheads. But finally, you know, he's. He says what he feels in that moment. He's like, I've always trusted you. Right from the. Right from the beginning.

And then, yeah, even has that look on his face and he's, you know, he. He doesn't hate what Blake said, you know, because he knows deep down he's like, okay, yeah, if he.

If he didn't trust me, we probably wouldn't be in this position now. So he kind of takes that on board and he has that look and then walks away. It's a lovely moment.

It's a really lovely bookend to what happened at the beginning of the episode. They kind of, I don't know, not reconciled, not come360. But they've. It's almost like a little mutual understanding in that moment.

Speaker B: 00:38:55

That's a good way of putting it, mate. Is bookended because, yeah, he. Because Avon very clearly says, I want. As you say, I want to be free of him.

Speaker A: 00:39:04

Of him.

Speaker B: 00:39:04

Yeah, yeah. But clearly he doesn't, because, like you said, deep down, he doesn't. I mean, I think he thinks he does, but deep down he doesn't really.

But because you're right, you know, there's been plenty of times where Ava's like, right, it's all gone, you know, messy down there. I Was gonna, I was gonna swear, but it's all gone wrong down on the planet. Let's, let's go. Let's, you know, fire up the Liberator.

Let's get out of here. This time he does have the opportunity to do that. He's on the planet, is the only one that's got away. He does try and save them straight away.

I like that. He says, teleport them up now. And they can't. But at that point he could have teleported and said, right, they've been killed, let's go.

He could have been free. So he does make a conscious choice to, you know, help Blake and maybe try and get this finished and all that sort of thing.

And also I love the scene where Travis turns around and does sort of this big reveal in his cape and Avon's just like, I've got him now. It's a lovely moment of Avon sort of snaring Travis outside of Star One.

Just quickly want to remember, mate, did you think when Travis shot Blake at, let's face it, point blank range, I mean, he couldn't have been any closer. Did you think Blake was a goner at any point? Did you think, oh, Blake's gone?

Speaker A: 00:40:24

I did, to be honest with you, that first, that first bit there where, yeah, where Travis is really close, he can't miss, really. I thought, oh, man, Blake, what have you done? What have you done?

You let your guard down for a moment and that whole scene was really, I, I found that the timing of that scene to be, to be strange, but also brilliant at the same time.

Because you would have thought that a character like Travis, who's held quite a bit of weight throughout both seasons, both series so far, you'd have thought that they would have built him up and his demise a little bit more to maybe go out on a bit more of. A bit more of a bigger fight with him and, and Blake and Avon or whoever. Yeah, but it's almost like a. I don't know, it's almost like.

Because this happened to roughly halfway through the episode, I believe, when this happens, was it two thirds way through, something like that?

Speaker B: 00:41:23

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:41:24

Yeah. And so I thought Blake was done for.

I thought, oh, no, like, yeah, like you said, he's point blank and, you know, how's he gonna, how's he gonna get out of this? And then that immediately afterwards, you know, when Avon has his moment where he's like, I've had enough of this guy as well, like, he's gotta go.

So, yeah, I did think Blake was A was a goner. But I also didn't expect Travis to go at that point. I thought he was gonna go out on a much bigger blaze of glory.

Speaker B: 00:41:55

He kind of just gets flushed down the toilet, doesn't he? I always think that effect is funny.

But I must admit, mate, I. I do remember when I first watched this, I did think Blake was gone because he shot a point blank range and he kind of just slumps down and you see him on the floor and I thought, wow. Like I did. I thought Blake's. That's, you know, that's going to be like the big moment of the, you know, the final that Blake has died.

And then, you know, Avon comes in and shoots Travis and you think that's it, you know, that's sort of the big moment of this episode. But then I think it's really nice the way that Blake sort of comes up and he does look really pale and you know, the worst for wearing.

He's like, is he dead? And then everyone just swoops around and does that. He is now, you know, it's a great moment, but I know what you mean. It does feel.

I wouldn't say rushed, but it does feel like, yeah, we want to get, you know, Travis's time is up. That's him done Blake's shot, But he's gonna be okay. A little bit of a quick wrap up, I guess, but it's. It does work for me.

As I said, it hits the right. Beats that scene. I do like it, but I definitely thought Blake was a goner, mate. The first time I saw this, I thought, I thought that was it.

I thought, yeah, I thought we'd seen the last of him. I'm glad he wasn't there.

I think that would have been a. I think that would have been a bad way for him to go because although you want to see some, you know, maybe the whole thing about Travis wanting to be the one to kill Blake and maybe you think at the time that that's finally happened. I think, no, you don't really want. That's not what you want. You don't want Travis to actually kill him. So. Yeah, so I'm glad he survived.

Speaker A: 00:43:35

Yeah, same. Yeah.

And it was, it was an interesting way for Travis to go as well, because it was almost like the emperor going down the, down the garbage chute before, before that even happened. It was, you know, it was Blake's 7 did that first.

Speaker B: 00:43:51

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:43:52

And because that was a few years later, wasn't it? Return of the Jedi. When was this? 79. Yeah. So three. Three and a half ish years later, the emperor meets almost the same. The same fate.

So George Lucas obviously was watching Blake's 7 and decided to take the emperor out in that way. But I forgot to ask you earlier about. Because we normally say, which version did you watch him? Nine times out of ten, we watched the.

The purist version and then check out the. The newer effects and stuff after. It was really well done that. That Travis's death down the chute in the updated effects.

Speaker B: 00:44:31

Yeah, I was gonna. I was gonna say I did. I watched it purist first.

And actually this is an episode that, since I've really enjoyed a lot of the new effects of this series, this is one that I was really looking forward to seeing what they'd done with it because. Because I think it's a strong script. I do think there are bits, you know, the budget constraints of the time, I feel definitely show on screen.

I mean, just the opening shots.

I've always felt that, you know, the way that the two models sort of bash into each other and then there's an explosion, you know, it doesn't look great. So I was looking forward to seeing how they'd updated the effects on this one. And they have done such a good job.

They've kept almost the same spaceship. At the start, I was surprised. At first, I thought it was the same.

I thought that the new effects hadn't switched on because I was like, oh, I was expecting like a new spaceship or a CGI spaceship. They've kept the same design. They've just sort of filled the sky with stars. It just looks so much better.

And obviously the moment that they crash into each other, they've improved that. But also they've. They've added in some lovely little touches, mate, to really build up the scale of the episode.

So when you see Serverland, sort of donut spaceship, you know, the control center, whatever that thing is, you know, they've surrounded that with Federation ships, so it feels a lot bigger on screen. But also lovely little touches, like when.

What's the guy called who's talking to Servalan when they're talking Durkin, when they're talking about climate change and he's flicking through different sort of things on the screen. So we see like a drought and we see snow. They've actually obviously gone out and filmed new sections, new segments, sorry to insert on the screen.

So there's like a Federation trooper walking through a barren desert and there's like a snow ice cap with a Federation spaceship, you know, in the middle of it. And it just looks great. And it's just a lovely little touch to sort of make those scenes just work that little bit better.

And we'll probably talk more about this on the wrap up.

But that's one of the things that I've definitely felt with the new effects on this series is that they're not just there to be like, oh, the old effects are rubbish. These are the new ones. They've actually just altered little bits here and there to actually enhance the episodes more.

So, yeah, they've done a great job, I think. Was there something else they changed? Obviously the swirl effect when Travis forced down is better. Yeah, there's.

There's some really nice work gone into this with the new effect. So I watch both and it. I never thought I'd say this, mate, but I honestly think if I was to tell someone to watch this episode, I would.

I would say watch it with the new effects. And that's only because I'm such a purist and like, I always bang on about the old effects. Don't need updating.

But yeah, they did such a good job on this one, mate. I think if I was to say, someone watch it, I'd say, watch it with a new effect. Which even saying that aloud surprises me.

But they've done a great job.

Speaker A: 00:47:40

Yeah, yeah, you read my mind on that. I was thinking a similar thing. So, yeah, if somebody did say, when I get to series B, should I watch it?

All purists probably say, yeah, for the most part. But the finale, watch that with the. The new stuff because it does look so good. And we'll get on to that stuff in detail next week on the wrap up.

But there was one scene that was also really good at the opening shot with the two ships when they collide, really lovely big space explosion. And in the newer effects, it looks really cool. That. And I could be wrong, but this might be in a future episode. I'm not sure.

But I think because you said to me about this thing ages ago, you were like, mate, when you see this, you're going to crack up. So I think this was the Hairdryer ship.

Speaker B: 00:48:32

It was, but we didn't see it on screen. Yeah, but we didn't see it on screen very. For very long. So I'm wondering if it pops back up again because I'm thinking that is not the shot that.

The shot that I'm thinking of. Have we seen it before, by the way? So I've lost track.

Speaker A: 00:48:47

I don't think so. I don't.

Speaker B: 00:48:48

All right, so we Must see it again because there is a shot where you could see very clearly that it's two hair dryers stuck together and painted. It's always been one of my favorite spaceships because of that. But yeah, it flew across the screen and I was like, is that the hair dryer spaceship?

And so I'm hoping we do see it again because if not, my memory is definitely played tricks on me that we saw that a lot more. But that was it, mate. Well spotted.

Speaker A: 00:49:13

I think so, yeah. Two hairdryers link together and paint.

Speaker B: 00:49:17

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:49:17

So in the newer version, I think they kept the. The sort of overall hair dryer ish shape and just tweaked it a little bit. So it's not as obvious it's two hair dryers.

But the original model year was of course two hair dryers.

Speaker B: 00:49:31

But actually you saying about that as well, the spaceships at the end, the fleet that are coming through. So they again have kept the design with the new effects very sort of faithful to what we see on screen, but obviously enhanced it a lot.

And I must admit that is another spaceship that I've always felt on the original effects. I mean, it's not their fault. But the.

I always felt that sort of big, domey spaceship that's kind of central to it looked pretty bad even for the time. So they've kind of kept the main design, but obviously fleshed it out a lot more. It's got like a big casing around and it does look very good.

And I like the fact they've done that. They haven't just swapped it it for a totally different spaceship, you know, something, you know, much more grand in design.

They've sort of kept the original elements, but just sort of enhanced it. And that again, looks a lot better, in my. My opinion.

Speaker A: 00:50:24

Yeah, it does. And that ship you're talking about, the main sort of mothership, I guess you could call it, in the. At the front of the fleet.

That's not a visual effect. That's a. That's not a CG ship. That's a real model that they made.

And I know that because in the interview I did with Chris Thompson last month, which you guys will hear week after next, he showed me that in person.

Speaker B: 00:50:48

Cool.

Speaker A: 00:50:49

That model ship. And it looks beautiful in person. And obviously that was a spoiler for me because he didn't tell me which episode it was from.

And that's the sort of guy he is. He's so cool because he said to me, I understand you're the newbie and I don't Want to give you any spoilers.

So have you seen anything past what you're reviewing? I'm like, no, it's all going to be fresh. He said, okay, so this is a really cool ship that we've just. Sorry.

That we'd filmed for series B. I won't tell you what episode it's from or anything, but this is one of the, like, the new models that we put together, so. Yeah, it looks beautiful, mate. Yeah, very cool.

Speaker B: 00:51:26

It does. And I mean, I will talk about.

When we do the wrap up, I will talk about my feelings towards the new effects on this series because they're definitely different to my feelings for the effects on the first series. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to chatting that through once we get to the wrap up. But, yeah, fantastic on this episode. Really good.

Speaker A: 00:51:45

Yes. Yeah. We'll also talk about Travis a bit more. We'll talk about Brian Croucher, who we say goodbye to ultimately and in this one.

So we'll talk about him on the wrap up. But it was. Yeah, it was a reasonably quick exit for Travis. He's not in it very much in this episode, is it? He was. He's. He's in it when he.

When he walks in and finds out that Blake has tried to, you know, be his imposter.

Speaker B: 00:52:12

Oh, that's. Yeah, forgot about that scene. Because Blake says that when, when he's asked who Callie is, he says, this is my mum. My mother or my mum or something.

Which I thought was funny. Yeah, I forgot about that bit. Yeah. I was thinking as well, we know they take his word very quickly that he's Travis. They don't question it.

But I was thinking that does work within the story because they're assuming they can only be Travis because no one else would know where Star One is. So that does work. But I did question it first, as I wouldn't they want some identification or some proof, like he hasn't even got the eyepatch. But.

But yeah, it does work because they were just assuming that no one else would. Would be there, wouldn't they?

Speaker A: 00:52:53

Yes. And I, to be honest with you, I thought that we were about to discover something about Blake that we'd not seen before.

Speaker B: 00:52:59

Oh.

Speaker A: 00:52:59

Because unbeknownst to us, we don't know about Travis yet in this episode. So at this point, Blake has been captured, goes to see the. The top dog. What's his name? Is it Stot? Character called Stot or is it. Yeah, yep.

And played by David Webb. And he, like you said, he assumes it's Travis. Because who else could it be? No one else knows where Star One is. And he says, hold up.

He says something like, what about your artificial hand or something? And I thought. Then I was like, hold on a minute. Are we doing a Luke Skywalker thing here? Did.

Has Blake had a prosthetic hand this whole time and we've not known about it? Because he holds his hand up without, you know, no glove or anything. He's like, yeah, it looks better than what he saw thing.

And I thought, are we discovering, like, new stuff about Blake? Is this a bit of backstory? But then, alas, when he followed up with the next question about what happened to your eyepatch?

And then it cuts to the next scene, it's like, ah, you think he's Travis. Gotcha. I can see what's going on. But that was a great. A great sort of moment where Blake has the upper hand for a little while at least.

Him and Callie are sort of free to move about because they think he's Travis. But, yeah, doesn't last long.

Speaker B: 00:54:15

But I like the fact that Chris Boucher's cheeky with that edit. So when they ask about the eyepatch, he just cuts. We never find out what Blake says, because maybe Chris was like, well, how can I get around that?

Oh, I just got cut to next scene, which I like in a way, because then you have to. You have to fill in the blank yourself, which I think is quite fun.

Speaker A: 00:54:35

Yeah, that is true. You have to think, okay, what's going on? Yeah, I certainly did. I was like, what's going on here?

Speaker B: 00:54:44

Sorry, mate. I was gonna say, I also remember when I first saw this, thinking Travis. I expected Travis to turn up with Serverland again.

But coming back to that, you know, it being the big final, I thought, yeah, those two are gonna turn up together, and it's gonna be a big showdown, which, again, Chris Boucher goes completely sort of different direction. You know, it's very much faithful to the.

Travis has gone off and doing his own thing because, as we know from the Keeper, he did offer to share it with Serverland, and she threw it back in his face. So he's like, right, you know. But part of me did expect her to, at some point, arrive on Star One and try and take control, which doesn't happen.

And I think in a way, it's the better for that. I think it's much better to have just Blake. Sorry. Yeah, Blake and Travis.

But did you think she was going to, you know, pop down to Star One at some point? Did you think she'd turn up.

Speaker A: 00:55:36

I did, yes. We should talk about Jacqueline Pierce, actually, because she was really intense in this episode. You could.

Speaker B: 00:55:42

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:55:43

You could really tell that. That she had got the memo from. From Dave Maloney on. Because it's at this point where a lot is on. On the line, Not.

Not just for Blake, but at the other side with Serverland, because ultimately she has kind of declared herself the President of the Federation at this point. You know, she's declared martial law throughout the galaxy. And she's, you know, says to.

To Durkin a bit later on, she's like, look, this is all going down. And, you know, the current people who are running. What's going on with the.

In the presidency is, you know, nobody can be trusted and, you know, we don't know what's going on. So she declares us. She makes herself President, basically. And Durkin, you know, he's a little bit like, you know, my loyalty is to you sort of thing.

He doesn't want to. Doesn't want to annoy the new President.

Speaker B: 00:56:45

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:56:45

Within seconds of her, you know, sort of setting this all up. So.

But she's really, really intense because she knows that if this gets destroyed, if Blake finds it first, if Travis finds it first, whatever, it's game over for her and the Federation. So she has to. Which is why she's so intense and strong on Durkin, to figure out where it is. She's not accepting no for an answer.

And there's another little curveball that gets lobbed in as well, isn't there, with Jenna, who knows that without the Federation fleet, they will not be able to stop the invasion. So she contacts server land and she says to her, look, these are our coordinates. This is where we are.

If you want to save Star One and everything else that's going to go down, I suggest you, you know, muck in a little bit.

Speaker B: 00:57:39

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:57:40

And so she's like, I'm. I think she says something. I really hope Blake forgives me for betraying you, him.

Because she knows that when Blake finds out, if he hadn't been shot and he was out of it, of course he'd probably go nuts. But. So, yeah, there's another curveball there. And Jacqueline Pierce just plays all of that stuff so good.

But I was expecting her to arrive on Star One, but I think the fact that she hasn't, it kind of plays into her rulebook a little bit because she's putting herself at distance, not putting herself in harm's way. Nobody wants to walk into an epic, you know, battle do they?

Speaker B: 00:58:18

So, no, I think she's. She's great in it, mate. And you alluded to it earlier how she sort of brushes off the concerns at the start of the episode.

You know, I think her and Durkin, John Brown, John Bowne. I think his name is John Bowne. Yeah, Yeah, I think those. They work really well together in the scenes.

I think, as you said, she starts off dismissing him. The more he tries to persuade her and shows her what's going on and everything going wrong, she does start to spiral out of control. And it's.

It's interesting to see Servalan getting so concerned and worried because she doesn't normally. She's normally as cool as a cucumber. She's normally one step ahead of everyone. And I think she starts off like that.

I love the scene where she gets Lurena, you know, gets her picture up on screen. She does this side look. She's got a back to Durkin, but she does this side look because she's waiting for him to acknowledge that he knows her.

Doesn't. He's like, oh, I think, yeah, I think I know her. She's like, well, yeah, you used to. Used to go out to, you know, used to date.

So, you know, let's not pretend and all this.

So they say she is one step ahead as usual for a little while, but then it quickly escalates and I think, yeah, like you said, the, the tension and, and all that Jacqueline Pierce manages to ramp up through a performance is great. You know, she's always good. But yeah, she. She just does show a great range in this episode. Just quickly.

You're talking about that scene with Jenna when Jenna calls the Federation or sends out a message. I find that scene odd because Sally Nevette is clearly reading from an auto queue or something.

Do you think that was like a late addition and someone's. You know what I mean, she's staring straight ahead. And her delivery.

I'm sorry, sorry to say this because I really like Sally and Jenna, but her delivery is very. You can just tell she's reading it. And I don't know if it's because it's got coordinates that she has to says.

And she sort of wanted it in front of her so she didn't get it wrong. But you must have noticed that, mate. It's a very. She's staring straight ahead and she's like reading. So I must, you know, it's just a bit.

I don't know, it's a bit robotic, isn't it? Yes. Yeah. Which is unusual because just to say she is very good in the rest of the episode.

Even though once again, she's resigned to the Liberator flight deck, she's very much in control this episode and she feels like she's sort of taken control of the situation and looking after Liberator and everything that's going on. So she's great in the rest of the episode. But I just couldn't help but notice in that particular scene that she seems to be reading.

I just imagine there's someone behind the camera holding up the. The words on a, you know, piece of paper, which is odd, but did you notice it or am I reading too much into that?

Speaker A: 01:01:01

No, you are right. I can't be sure if she's reading something or whatever because there's weird pauses between some of her words that Sally Nevette rarely does.

She normally nails her lines without any fluffs or pauses or anything. And it does look like she's looking off at something as well. Maybe she's doing the old.

Because in Red Dwarf, David Llewellyn, who plays Crichton, he was famous for never being able to remember his lines when it contained, like, space techno talk.

Speaker B: 01:01:37

Techno gavel.

Speaker A: 01:01:38

Techno gavel, yeah. And so famously, there was people who used to hold A4 sheets of paper just off camera so that he could read.

So he could read those lines properly and not mess them up.

In fact, there's a famous blooper, they call them smeg ups, where there was actually a scene where he's talking to another character and the character's literally got an A4 piece of paper sellotape to his forehead and the camera sort of pans around a bit too quickly and you see the paper on it.

Speaker B: 01:02:11

Oh, really?

Speaker A: 01:02:12

On his forehead? Yeah, it's pretty funny. And. But yeah, yeah, it was.

So I get the feeling it was something like that because she's having to remember sort of precise coordinates and there's a bit of. So it's Robert Llewellyn, sorry, in red or not David Llewellyn, Sorry. Yeah. You know, she's having to read that. So potentially, mate.

Yeah, it did feel a little bit weird and just a little bit not like Sally Novette.

Speaker B: 01:02:36

Yeah. And as I say, it's not criticism, it's more of an observation than anything.

I just thought it's just strange the way she sort of staring straight ahead while saying her lines. It. And again, yeah, I mean, it's not new. I mean, you think of William Hartnell, he used to write things on the Tardis Console to remember, didn't he?

And stuff like that. So, yeah, as I say, more of an observation. But did you think it was a good one for her, even though she's on the Liberators? It's still a good.

She's still very much given some good material, I thought.

Speaker A: 01:03:03

Yeah, you're absolutely right, mate. Yeah. Not a criticism of Sally Navet in any way, just. Yeah, just the usual sort of nice delivery of lines, just not quite there.

And you mentioned Jenna being sidelined again a little bit in this episode, although she is good for the most part. We also need to talk about Villa who was also not really getting much to do. Bless him. Michael Keating, he's. He's funny as usual.

He's got those nervous little, you know, doesn't want to get involved in any. In any serious scraps or anything. He's happy to, to. To do the off ski as usual in this one.

But yeah, just a couple of little scenes where he's trying to figure out what's the, you know, why are they sticking around still? Why are they, you know, not getting out of here. But yeah, he's sidelined a little bit like Jenna.

Speaker B: 01:03:56

Yeah, I think Villa gets the worst deal. He does get some nice moments again like when Avon mentions a minefield and he pops up. Minefield, what minefield?

You know, does the nervous sort of wanting to get out there as quick as possible thing, which Michael Keaton does brilliantly. But he, yeah, he probably gets the least to do and probably the least lines. Whereas Jenna, she does get sidelined but I think she does get.

Still get some good stuff. I feel like she's in control, you know, of the flight deck and stuff. So I feel like she's still got some good stuff to do in the episode.

But yeah, whenever you get left on board the. The flight that, mate, you're going to be the sort of the lesser characters in the story, I guess.

It was nice to see Callie going down to the planet though. I like it when we get Callie, Avon and Blake. That's a good little team.

Speaker A: 01:04:41

That's cool down actually.

Speaker B: 01:04:42

Yeah, she gets some good stuff to do with the bombs and. Yeah, although you must have noticed that one where she cannot get it to stick to the wall. The bomb and she.

I can just tell she gets out of shot as quickly as she can before the thing falls off the walls. Hoping they've got it, you know, got the shot they need. But I bet they had fun with those bombs.

I bet you can just tell they won't stick like they Sort of hold it there and it slides down. Oh, come on.

Speaker A: 01:05:08

Yeah, there's no budget for proper magnets or industrial Velcro.

Speaker B: 01:05:13

Worse magnets.

Speaker A: 01:05:14

It's just a bit of Sellotape that's folded over to try and hold it on. You can tell. Yeah, it's. But it was good for. It was good for Cali to get a bit more. So Jan Chapel's normally on the Liberator with. With Jenna.

It's been that way for, I'd say half the series so far. It's been those two that have been sidelined a little bit. So it was nice for at least one of them to. To go down on location and do some.

Some other bits. And we had that really nice little. Little telepathic message to Avon as well.

We hadn't seen that in ages where she's use that power, you know, when her and Blake get captured. It's a trap. Avon, It's a trap. And he's. Avon's got some lovely, like, little swoops around in this, like he normally does.

Speaker B: 01:05:59

Oh, yeah. I also. I do like the bit where Callie kind of reigns Avon in as well, because he's being a bit harsh on Lurena, isn't he?

Sort of grabbing her and shouting at her and. And Callie sort of says it's not because she doesn't want to tell you she's been conditioned.

She sort of reminds him like, it's not her fault, you know, she wants to tell you, but she can't.

So again, it adds a nice little extra element to the story and it's a. Yeah, it's nice that Callie can sense that, you know, before Avon loses his mind completely.

Speaker A: 01:06:27

Yeah, no, that was cool, actually. And I think the. The characters on.

On Star One, so Stot, played by David Webb, you had the other guy who's, I think, comes across like his second in command, perhaps a character called Parton, played by Gareth Armstrong. He's the one that goes after Lurena at the beginning. She played by Jenny Twig. Those characters were kind of cool.

They were very much in tune to what the script was about. You know, they're sort of alien doppelgangers for the most part. And.

And, you know, you can tell that they were briefed properly because it's always the case with some supporting actors in the supporting cast.

Sometimes if they're, you know, not really got the full picture, they can't really act properly because they're just trying to do what the best they can. And, yeah, you can tell that these. These guys knew What. What the crack was. So, yeah, they were pretty good, those guys.

Speaker B: 01:07:22

Yeah. I mean, the overall direction's pretty good, isn't it, by David Maloney. I. I don't know why did. I don't.

Someone of our listener might be able to help us with this. I don't know.

Did he step in to direct it because somebody dropped out or was he always penciled into direct but couldn't take credit because of, you know, the unions and that? But there. I don't know, it seems odd like if he's gonna. If he knows he can't be credited to. To. To carry on and direct it. I don't know.

I just wonder if he took over because somebody dropped out. I don't know the reason for him directing it, but either way I think he does a very nice job. It is nicely directed.

Speaker A: 01:07:55

Yeah, it's a bit of a black hole for me in terms that one. So, yeah, listener, if you know the reason why, if you've got one of the old making of books or. Or you just know what that.

Because the only thing I could find out was. And it's very vague, it just says due to BBC rules around the time of filming, Dave Maloney couldn't be given a director credit at the time.

So on screen. There's no directorial on screen credit. So it's not until later on. Obviously then, you know, they can do that retrospectively. But.

Yeah, I'm not sure the exact reason. It's. You're probably right. It's some kind of union thing or something like that, I suppose, knowing the BBC back in the day. But.

Yeah, but it was a decently directed episode. There was enough. There was enough movement and stuff going on. It wasn't too static a lot of the time and. But it slowed down when it need to.

When there was a couple of conversations between key characters. It was. The pace was slow enough. You know, that's. You know, down to the editing as well and that stuff. But yeah, overall, yeah, not too bad.

Speaker B: 01:09:00

Did Dudley get the memo this week, do you think? Mate, it's. It's the final. Dudley. We need some, you know, some good, powerful music. Did you think?

Speaker A: 01:09:08

Yeah, for the most part. For the most part, yeah. I felt like there was. There was a couple of little bits where they had a little play on the main theme as well. There was a.

There was a scene where the liberators in orbit and. Or there were. It was either that or the Federation strip ships were flying through. Through space and so on. And you've got the. I'M sure it was that.

There was a scene, I'm sure it was the Liberator that was in orbit and it cut from a, from a scene and you've got the main theme of Blake's 7 playing and then as it cut back to another scene after that, the theme continued, but it was a few different notes and so on. So I thought it was cool in that respect where they used sort of the main thing and made it a bit more epic in that case.

But I don't know, I think it didn't blow me away. No, but for the most part, yeah, I think old Dudders did the job there.

Speaker B: 01:10:05

Yeah, I'd agree. I wouldn't say there's anything massively standout in this episode, considering it's a final.

But I mean, that's not to say the music in it isn't really good.

I think there is some nice moments from Dudley, like when, you know, some nice build up music when we're seeing, like you said, model shots which really need something to sort of help them be visualized on screen. You know, Dudley's music definitely helps in those shots. So, yeah, nothing amazingly standout, but. But nice, nice stuff from Dudley as usual.

Speaker A: 01:10:33

Yeah, yeah, as usual. Yeah. He's been great through, through series B for the most part. It's. Yeah, it's so weird.

I was, was watching some classic Doctor who the other day and I, I, because I've seen it a couple of times, I put the disc in, I couldn't even remember, you know, he was in it, let alone who directed it or did the score. But I went to put the kettle on, started the episode and as I was walking into the living room I heard music and I was like, Dudley Simpson?

Speaker B: 01:11:03

Yes.

Speaker A: 01:11:04

So his music is so identifiable, you know, immediately. And I thought actually, is it Dudley's had a look on the credits and yeah, it was Dudley, but that's the case with, with his Blake's 7 stuff.

It's just instantly because there was, I think there was at least one episode in series B where he was either on holiday or he couldn't do the music for whatever reason. And so they got someone else, I think the sound designer at the time to do some of the orchestration and so on.

And you could just tell immediately that it wasn't Dudley. That's how much of his fingerprints are all over the musical side of Blake's 7.

So, yeah, I think, yeah, done a great, great job as usual throughout this. But for the finale, I don't know, I don't know. Would you expect like a Lot more big epic stuff going on. Not really sure.

Speaker B: 01:11:53

Not too dumb. Maybe not.

Speaker A: 01:11:54

Yeah.

Speaker B: 01:11:54

Just before we wrap up, mate, I just wanted to quickly mention, obviously we, we know that Terry Nation was originally going to write the final was a two part finale and that didn't happen. So he doesn't get to write the finale for series B. But if he had, you know, he was supposed to, but he didn't.

If he had, he would have, he had some ideas. We talked about it a little bit last week. He once again was gonna kill off the characters of Villa and Jenna. So, you know, how would that have gone?

And also he wanted the Daleks to be in it. He thought that. He thought it was time that Blake's 7 had a Doctor who. Blake's 7 crossover.

And yeah, the Daleks were going to be sort of the main enemy, I guess, in this. And I'm not sure how that would have worked, mate. So two questions there.

How would you have felt if Jenna and Villa had been killed off and do you think this episode. Well, actually, I guess it would have been a very different episode if Terry had written it.

But would you have liked to have seen a finale with black, like seven and the Daleks?

Speaker A: 01:13:00

Sure. That's a, that's a very big question, isn't it? Yeah, I don't know. In some ways that would be really cool.

And I know that the actors, like the actors on the show, on both shows were really up for it.

Surprisingly, Tom Baker was up for it, which is unlike Tom Baker because he's so protective or was so protective of, of Doctor who and that character and everything around it. But apparently him and Baker, Gareth Thomas actually worked really up for that doing a crossover.

But it was Chris Boucher and Dave Maloney that were like, no, no, Terry, that's not, you know, we shouldn't do this. That's a no go sort of thing.

But I think it could have been very cool if it was done properly because the blueprint really is there because in a handful of Doctor who stories, this is pretty much what the Daleks do. You know, they plot behind the scenes for a while, plot this big invasion and then away they go.

So it would have, you know, it does fit the blueprint for a Dalek invasion. It would have been cool. But I'm thinking what would the ramifications of that been further down the line?

Because it's almost like one of those things where the floodgates would have been open. Right.

So if Doctor who's universe and Blake's 7 universe turned out to be the same and it was a shared universe, then it would have been a. I have no idea. It would have been like, when's. When's Blake gonna turn up to help out, you know, Peter Davison's Doctor against, you know, the.

Whatever, you know, it would have been a.

Speaker B: 01:14:40

Can you imagine Blake sat with K9?

Speaker A: 01:14:44

Actually, this is a really weird thing, actually, but.

Speaker B: 01:14:47

Or Avon and K9.

Speaker A: 01:14:49

Or Avon and K9. Yeah.

Or can you imagine, like, Blake turning up after being rescued by the Doctor and he's got Aurak and he plugs Orack into the Tardis and those two have a game of chess or whatever. But it was.

It was so weird, the timing of this, because I'm currently designing the website for our podcast network called Cosmic Echoes, and I'm using some characters in some bits as images on. In a couple of sections. And I actually did a.

Because I've got these cards in the design that, you know, can link into each individual podcast that's in the network. So I've. I grabbed a image of Tom Baker and I cut him out and I've used it in the card.

I did the same thing for Gareth Thomas, but just on a wit, just a bit of a whimsical thing. I placed them together because I cut them out, so.

And then I put them onto, like, a kind of spacey background and I've got Tom Baker and Gareth Thomas standing just behind Tom Baker's shoulder. And I looked at those two and I thought that would. That could be. That would have worked, I think. I think that would have worked.

Having some kind of Doctor who Blake's 7 crossover.

I could be mad, but I just thought it was a fantastic timing that having just done that in the last week or so and now looking at this bit of trivia about Tom Baker and Gareth Thomas actually being up for it. Yeah, Would have been.

Because the other question is, if the Daleks would have come into Blake's 7 as the enemy, would the Doctor have turned up to help against them? And then you would have had a proper, you know.

You know, Doctor character, because it would have been weird for the Daleks to turn up and the guys on the Liberators have to deal with all of that and the Doctor not knowing about it and staying out. It's a lot of questions there, mate. That was a massive question. We could talk a whole episode about that.

Speaker B: 01:16:37

But that is a good pub discussion, isn't it? I think.

Speaker A: 01:16:40

Yeah.

Speaker B: 01:16:40

Just to say, I think my mindset on that has changed over the years. I used to think it would be a terrible idea and I was glad that they didn't do it. I have come round to the thinking on this a little bit more.

The more I think about it, the more I think it might have been good, because I can imagine, you know, like, Blake and Avon and the Daleks shooting it out and having a battle. And I don't think I would have wanted the Doctor to appear, though. That's the weird thing.

I think I can imagine the Daleks going into Blake's 7, because Blake's 7 can be quite dark and I think the Daleks are quite, you know, quite frightening and quite a dark foe for them. So I can imagine that crossover, I think once you bring the Doctor into it, then, I don't know, I think it takes it to a different place.

So, yeah, I can imagine. I kind of wish we had. And I think it would have been good for the show. I think at the time, Doctor who's at its peak with Tom Baker.

Well, yeah, 79, this is, isn't it? So maybe not his peak, but Doctor who's still very strong. Blake's 7 is doing very well.

I think if you had combined the two, I think that could have really elevated perhaps both, you know, giving Doctor who a bit of a bump and definitely Blake's 7. So, yeah, over the years, mate, the more I thought about it more, I thought that might have been a good thing, but don't know.

Maybe they'll do it in the new reboot.

Speaker A: 01:18:01

Yeah, perhaps, yeah. I mean, I don't know.

I mean, back in the day as well, in 79, it would have been the first sort of big sort of franchise multiverse thing, wouldn't it? I guess, big crossover event. Because nowadays it's, It's. It's very common to have that stuff in these big sci fi franchises and stuff, so.

But I think it falls along the same lines as, you know, I think somebody got some traction online a few years ago saying something like, what would it be cool if. If there was a Doctor who, Star Trek crossover? And I know that they've done that in comics, I believe. Yeah. But on screen, I mean, that's a whole.

It's a similar situation to this with the Daleks coming to Blake's 7. You would have just blown open the floodgates and God knows where you would have gone with it after that. But interesting.

Speaker B: 01:18:53

Yeah, would have been interesting. And what about Villa and Jenna being killed off? I. I kind of know your answer, that that's a big no.

I don't know why Terry was so keen to do that, really, but, yeah,.

Speaker A: 01:19:04

Yeah, that's a big no. No. Dude, that's a. No. No reason to kill them off. Because after losing Gan early on in the season, it's.

I had a bloody season in the series that was a big enough sort of gut punch as it was, you know, to lose one of the crew and then to lose another two of them. I mean, that was. Yeah. Just don't know. Unless the stakes were.

Unless there was a good narrative reason for that, then if it was done correctly, then fine. But, you know, just to kill them off for the sake of killing off crew members, then. No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker B: 01:19:39

Yeah. Because it feels like if they were gonna do that, they're doing it to. They're probably gonna introduce.

They're gonna, like, replace them, so we'll kill them off. That. It's as if he thought they weren't working as characters. I mean, I'm just. I'm assuming here. I don't.

Don't know his reason for wanting to kill them off, but if he wants to get rid of those characters and bring in new ones, I don't see the point. Just, you've got two great characters here. Just give them more to do. You know, I think I would have been.

I would have been gutted if Jenner had been killed off, but I would have been heartbroken if Villa had been killed. I think that would have had me in bits. I would, you know, would have hated to have seen that. So.

Speaker A: 01:20:13

Yeah, but.

Speaker B: 01:20:14

Yeah, so I'm glad that. In that sense, I'm glad that he didn't write the final and then Chris Boucher did, and Chris Boucher can be probably one of the darker.

You know, some of the stuff he writes for the series is possibly the most adult. So, you know, I'm glad that he didn't sort of decide to take on Terry's notes and go down that route either.

Speaker A: 01:20:32

Yeah, agreed. Yeah, I agree on that, dude. Just. Last bit of trivia before we get to scores.

The famous bright silver parker coat that Avon wears on the landing journeys. The last appearance of that.

Speaker B: 01:20:48

Ah, it's a shame. That tin looks. Those made of tin foil. Yeah.

Speaker A: 01:20:51

Yeah. Alrighty. Scores. Unless you got anything else on your notes, dude.

Speaker B: 01:20:56

No. Let's do it.

Speaker A: 01:20:57

Alrighty. G to go first. What do you got?

Speaker B: 01:21:01

I'm gonna give this an 8. I'm gonna give this an 8 out of 10. I. I think it's a good episode, a good script and a good final, but it.

And like you said, it leaves you wanting more. I like you. I couldn't. I can't wait to now get on to series C. So, yeah, an eight out of ten for me, man. I think it's good. I don't think it's perfect.

I. I think there are things you could have done to make it feel a bit more like a final. But then can I just quickly say, having said that, I think that's because of the sort of modern age of a final, if you know what I mean.

We are very used to finals being big, explosive events now, aren't we? Like the DOT two final has to get bigger every year and you get to a point where you can't get any bigger.

So in a sense it's nice to go back to a time where we perhaps just had to have a good final with a good script and it didn't need to be all, you know, bangs and flashes and. And you know, all that sort of thing. So in that sense, I think it is a good final.

Speaker A: 01:22:01

Cool. Yeah, I agree with that. My score is also an 8. I think this is. Yeah, I think this is. It's one of my favorite episodes from series B.

Speaker B: 01:22:10

Really? That surprises me a little.

Speaker A: 01:22:12

Yeah, it's. It's up there. I think out of this. We'll have to dive into this next week on the wrap up, but I think out of the 13 EPs, I think.

I think four of them stand out as my faves. This being one of them, you know, because if it's good enough for Paul. Paul Darrow named this as one of his favorite episodes.

So it's good enough for Paul Darrow to be a fave. Good enough for me.

Speaker B: 01:22:36

But yeah, I mean, only surprises me not because I don't agree with you, just because I. Yeah, I didn't know if it would have everything you wanted in it, so. I'm very pleased to hear that, mate.

Speaker A: 01:22:46

Yeah, it was like you said. I agree with most of what you said. It wasn't. It's not perfect by any means. And it's. I don't think it's the best episode from series B. And I. Yeah.

In terms of how satisfied you'd be with this as a finale somewhat, you know, but I think the execution and some of the story and I think more the character performances in this one make it one of my favorites. I love Serverland in this. She's really good. I think Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow are great together in this.

I think, you know, Kelly gets a bit to do and so, yeah, it's one of my faves, but it's not my favorite. But it is one of my. One of my Faves from series B.

Speaker B: 01:23:29

That's great to hear. I'm just gonna tell you I've got five episodes written down as my favorites.

Speaker A: 01:23:35

Okay.

Speaker B: 01:23:35

And so I'm gonna be really four of them, I think are my absolute tops. And then there's one that I think, yeah, that's gotta be on the list as well.

So it'd be very interesting when we do the wrap up next week to see if our episodes, our faves, you know, align or whether we've got different choices. It's going to be interesting indeed.

Speaker A: 01:23:54

And I think on that note, we will happily end our review of the finale of series B.

Speaker B: 01:24:00

Bud indeedy.

Speaker A: 01:24:16

There you have it. That was all of Blake's 7, series B from episode one, Redemption, all the way through to the finale, Star One.

It's been just a fantastic journey as always to go through Blake's 7. And it was an 8. We finished up the thing on an 8. We'll give you our overall score next week, so tune in next week.

We've come to the end of our episodic reviews for this part of Blake's 7, but we've got a couple more episodes left of our season.

So next week Adam and I will just chat about our favorite moments from series B, favorite episodes, character moments, just our general thoughts on this as a series. And then the week after got some bonus ep, so tune in for those as well. So, yeah, a good score, A good score to finish on.

I think it would be terrible if we finished on a 4 or a 5.5 or something like that. So I'm glad we finished strong with that stuff. So, once again, dear listener, thank you so much for checking out our podcast about Blake's 7.

This is not the end. We've got a couple more in the season and then we'll be be back towards the end of the year once the series C Blu Rays drop.

And we'll go through that and we'll enjoy going through all those episodes like we have the first two. So we'd love it if you could subscribe or follow the podcast on your fave podcast app of choice.

That way you won't miss notifications when all the new episodes drop. Plus you can just go back and listen to all the, you know, the back catalog and series A and all that stuff.

And thank you much, so, so much to those of you that have left reviews and star ratings on Spotify and Apple podcasts and all that stuff. It's very much appreciated. Thank you very much. If you want to chat with us about Blake's 7, you can do that over on the socials.

We're on X and Blue Sky. Just do a search for @blake7 podcast or there are links in the show notes. Head over there and chat all things Blake's 7.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on series A, series B, the finale characters, ships, hair dryers, the A whole lot. Let us know what you think over there and it's been great to chat to.

As I said earlier, the Blake's 7 community of of fans and content creators and so on over there. Also, don't forget to check out my co host channel, Adam's YouTube channel. It's called the Geeks Handbag.

Speaker B: 01:26:36

Yeah, Geek Sandbag. Come find my YouTube channel also on all the socials under the same name.

Speaker A: 01:26:40

The Geek Sandbag indeedy. Grab a cuppa, check out all the geekery there. You'll not be disappointed with all of Adam's.

He's got some Blake's 7 stuff on there, loads of Doctor who, loads of reviews for films and all that stuff. So go and check it all out. So until next week, my name's Garry. My name's Adam and we'll see you next time on Federation a journey through Blake's 7.

Speaker C: 01:27:10

Sa.