Review Blake's 7 (1978)

ant-mac

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
chainsaw_metal1 said:
Dammit! You're right. Either way, it was a show I had no intention of watching.
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I did watch the early episodes of EASTENDERS when it aired here in Australia on the ABC.

At that point in time, the area I lived in - and currently do again - was only serviced by two TV channels. The ABC and a local joke.

Besides, Kiston from RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS played Dirty Den in it. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it...
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
I remember that there was a fan theory at one time that the actual leader of the group was VIla.

He was the only character that was in every episode and he often quietly saved the day...

Saving Orac in Terminal...

Passing the gun down to Avon in Rescue...

"We can use the teleport!" in Blake

Coming up with the solution to Avon's stupid "Hitch a ride on an asteroid!" plan in Stardrive....

and so on....

This suggests that he was the only one out of Avon Blake and himself that had common sense and could make the right decisions under pressure!


Should Vila have been officially in charge all along and should Blake and Avon have stopped posturing, shut up and listened to Captain Restal? :emoji_astonished:


 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
With VIla in charge though, they would never have attacked Control..

They would never have gone to Terminal.....

They would never have gone to Gauda Prime.


Blake and Avon were just reckless and, ultimately, self destructive idiots in comparison.


Admittedly, four seasons of Vila running away and not bothering the Federation at all might not have garnered the same cult following, but think how many lives could have been saved. :emoji_alien:
 
ant-mac

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
Doctor Omega said:
With VIla in charge though, they would never have attacked Control..

They would never have gone to Terminal.....

They would never have gone to Gauda Prime.

Blake and Avon were just reckless and, ultimately, self destructive idiots in comparison.

Admittedly, four seasons of Vila running away and not bothering the Federation at all might not have garnered the same cult following, but think how many lives could have been saved. :emoji_alien:
Click to expand...
Whilst you make some interesting points, I still feel compelled to ask...

Do you want the short answer or the long one?
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
A Paul Darrow interview that was only available on the UK VHS tapes of Children of Auron/Rumours of Death - and that was only on the copies of that tape sold by Woolworths store.................





 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Mission of Mercy

From Blake's 7 Magazine, issue 1: October 1981.


Never republished comic strip set during season 4.





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Mission of Mercy
Issue 1

Opening words:
‘Returning to the planet Xenon, the freighter, Scorpio, developed a serious engine malfunction. While sheltering from Federation scanners in the middle of an asteroid belt, Tarrant and Dayna effect emergency repairs.’

Story:
Scorpio is hiding in an asteroid belt when three Federation ships spot it. A quick firefight later, and Scorpio defeats two of the ships; the commander of the other retreats. Back at the Security Force’s Headquarters, Servalan punishes the commander for letting the Scorpio escape. Spotting Professor Ensor’s name on a cargo transfer sheet, she hatches a plan to trap Avon and the crew. Later, the Scorpio responds to a distress call, and is forced to bring a small ship on board to stop it being dragged down to a fatal crash with a planet. Once the ship is onboard, its occupant emerges: a killer robotoid invented by Professor Ensor and programmed by Servalan to kill our heroes …

Incoming Data:

  • The first thing to note is that it’s Season D.
  • Avon gets to shout ‘Battle Stations!’ again, like he likes to.
  • This first issue opens exactly the same way the first episode of Firefly does, with a Federation ship spotting the lead ship and assuming it is smuggling contraband. Proof that Joss Whedon owns a full run of this comic, and reads them regularly.
  • The artwork by the mysterious ‘Kennedy’ (it’s Ian, not Cam) is fine, with a nice painted feel to it. Likenesses are mostly excellent, but there’s clearly some issues with trying to fit all of the Scorpio crew into the same frame…
  • The Scorpio flight deck looks barely like the one we’re familiar with. It has a big main screen at the front.
  • There are several odd moments where dialogue is spoken by the wrong characters. Servalan and a Mutoid get their dialogue swapped on page 3; on page 5 one of Orac’s lines of dialogue is coming from Tarrant and one of Tarrant comes from Dayna; further down this page a voice from Scorpio appears to come from the wrong spaceship; and again with Orac’s dialogue on page 9! The letterer should be shot. Hard.
  • Servalan’s Mutoids have bobbed hair.
  • The Scorpio shots look beautiful. We’d go so far as to say the space scenes are better here than in the actual television series.
  • Servalan is referred to only as ‘Commissioner’ by her staff, though Orac refers to her by name later.
  • This is the only story where we see Scorpio’s cargo bay doors open, as it snatches a ship from space (we think the writer had the opening Star Destroyer / Blockade Runner sequence of Star Wars in mind, rather than that bit in Time Squad).
  • Characterisation is generally quite good – Slave is humble, Avon’s all cynical, Vila’s a coward. But there are a few dodgy moments – see Notable Lines below.
  • Dayna and Soolin are fairly nondescript, however.
  • Interestingly, Slave is uniquely played as if he comprises the whole Scorpio ship – when another ship bumps him as it enters the cargo bay, Slave feels pain.
  • The robotoid was an earlier invention of Professor Ensor, Orac’s creator.
Notable Lines:

Avon: ‘By the stars that robotoid’s a fearsome creature! Can nothing stop it?’

Closing words:

Slave: ‘Er, it would please me, Master to do your bidding… but after that horrible machine rampaging through me, Time Distort Three is all I can muster. I am sorry… Don’t punish me!’

Avon: ‘You’ll have to do better, Slave, or you will get a kick from me! Servalan knows where we are so we’re sitting targets in this sector! Move… or else!’

Aftermath:

A good start to the run! If nothing else, despite rampaging robots, terms like ‘the star fleet’ and big space battles, this feels like Blakes 7. The story itself does seem a little rushed though, a series of set pieces rather than a plot. Several lettering mistakes with dialogue being spoken by the wrong characters don’t help. The whole thing could have done with the extra polish a few days’ more work would have given it.
 
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Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Autona: Planet of Lies

From issue 2 (Nov 1981)



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Autona… Planet of Lies!
Issue 2

Opening words:
‘Damaged in an enounter with Federation ships, the Scorpio is established in a holding orbit round ‘Autona’, a remote perimeter planet…’

Story:
A damaged Scorpio lands on the planet Autona, where he crw are taken to a lush underground complex inhabited by Wogan, Master of Autona and his two female assistants. Vila wants only to enjoy the company, but Avon is more suspicious. As the crew leave following a much-needed rest, Avon asks why Vila doesn’t want a drink to celebrate and him in the face. Vila has been replaced by an android by Wogan, Master of Autona, who seeks to escape the planet and sell his android creations to the Federation in exchange for a free pardon…

Incoming Data:

  • The master of Autona is called Wogan. Really. Wogan. Presumably Terry.
  • Wogan, Master of Autona appears to be modelled on Vincent Price.
  • More nice Scorpio shots here. The mysterious ‘Kennedy’ is clearly enjoying himself.
  • Avon realises that Vila is an android and shoots him in the head, purely because Vila doesn’t want a drink. At least Avon has faith in Vila’s alcoholicism.
  • The Vila android does give himself away a little, as he’s the one handing out the drinks. Why not just, y’know, not?
  • The plot involves Avon going to rescue Vila, which the creators obviously realise he probably wouldn’t, so a hasty bit of Avon dialogue is added: ‘For two pins I’d leave Vila where he is… but his skills might come in handy one day! Besides… I don’t like being used by anyone!’ Whatever.
  • The sight of the Vila android without a face is actually quite shocking.
  • Dayna and Soolin get nothing to do. At all.
  • The androids Wogan, Master of Autona keeps on his planet are all pretty girls. This is definitely in keeping with ethos of the series. Avon won’t leave Vila alone with them.
  • In a brilliant ending, Wogan, Master of Autona pours out his backstory, saying he was dumped on Autona by Federation guards, and only wanted to escape his endless misery alone on the planet. Avon responds by shoving him out of the Scorpio and flying off.
  • Not related to the comic, but in this issue of the B7 magazine, Paul Darrow lists his favourite dramatic actor as Marlon Brando, his favourite comedy actor as Donald Duck, and his favourite television programme as The Magic Roundabout. We think these three facts explain his performance.
Notable Lines:

Tarrant: ‘G… Good grief! Wires and things! Th… that’s not Vila.’

Vila: ‘Flippin’ androids!’

Closing words:

‘I’ll never drink with you again Vila! Just keep away from me! You’re double trouble!’

Aftermath:

A standard run-of-the-mill Blakes 7 story. Again, very much in the style of the series, just in the style of those ropey episodes you always skip over when you watch your DVD boxsets. We’ve skipped over some of them many times over. The best thing is the ending, with Wogan, Master of Autona being honest and serious and Avon basically telling him to piss off.
 
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