I've never seen Blake's 7 at the time of writing this intro (Jan 2019). I've heard that it was an influence on my beloved Farscape, which I'm going to assume means it's about a crew of escaped prisoners being hunted by a hell-bent military commander rather than helium-farting Muppets and stuff.
Other things I know are that there's someone called Blake, someone called Avon and some kind of legendarily downbeat ending, which I'm going to imagine means everyone dies so I can feel elated if the robot dog ends up making it out alive.
Writer key:
Terry Nation (19 episodes)
Chris Boucher (9 episodes)
Allan Prior (5 episodes)
Robert Holmes (4 episodes)
Other (15 episodes)
Convenient amnesia brings us efficiently up to speed with our rebel hero. It's as if Farscape had cut out all the crap and started at 'Nerve.' If this is starting as it means to go on, I'm looking forward to the bleakest TV drama this side of Threads. Hopefully we'll leave behind the clinically overlit aesthetic that's slightly at odds with the tone.
Space Fall (1x02) *****
This is really good. Blake's gang of seven or so liberate their prison ship... then get picked off one by one as it turns out they weren't the seven and that isn't the ship. It's okay, they find another one by the end. Things are starting to look up in the formerly hopeless dystopia, and there's even a tiny island of humour in the ever-deepening bloodbath.
Cygnus Alpha (1x03) ***
Part three's always a bit of a dud, isn't it? The scenario's still unfolding nicely as we scratch the surface of the curiously advanced ship and recruit the couple of blatant keepers from last episode's otherwise generic horde, but this is mainly an episodic detour as we deal with Brian Blessed's bloodthirsty cult. They never get a break. Maybe this is where Farscape got that from too.
Time Squad (1x04) **
We pick up the final(?) crew member, so this wasn't a complete waste of time, even if both of its parallel plots on the ship and downstairs felt that way. I gave the "Federation" and Starfleet delta a pass, but this is just Star Trek now. They're all getting along and not even backstabbing any more, what happened?
The Web (1x05) *
I enjoyed Blake's 7 while it lasted, but evidently Terry's run out of ideas for his concept and the serious Farscape forebear has gone all Lexx. This doesn't feel like it's set in the same dimension as the first few, but I guess I'll have to get used to it. It has the makings of a so-bad-it's-funny hatewatch classic, but I was too disappointed to laugh.
Seek-Locate-Destroy (1x06) ***
Back on track with the next chapter of the saga, Blake's 7 are causing trouble for the man, or rather the woman, and we're introduced to more charismatic baddies than the ubiquitous, useless horde. Sadly, Space Commander Travis doesn't end up being very intimidating, being easily outsmarted in his first outing and throwing a hissy fit like Doctor Robotnik.
Mission to Destiny (1x07) **
That might have been interesting if it was the first whodunnit that happened to take place on a spaceship I'd ever seen. It isn't. These are long episodes and some make use of that time less interestingly than others. The piano soundtrack was annoying too, stick to the charmingly dated synths.
Duel (1x08) ***
Terry Nation rips off Star Trek's 'Arena' with more visible breasts and psychedelic visuals. With Blake clashing with Travis & the Mutoids before escaping his clutches every week, it feels like the series has decided what it wants to be now. Basically a cartoon.
Project Avalon (1x09) ****
We're shamelessly ripping off Star Wars this week, with a snowy planet and metal bikini predicting the rest of the trilogy and a twist ending that Farscape nicked in turn, which is impressively and uncharacteristically competent for these goons. They're consistently shameless when it comes to pre-watershed titillation too, but that doesn't need to be corrected any time soon.
Breakdown (1x10) **
The series was building momentum, so best nip that in the bud with a couple of hours of worthless filler before we get back to the main story. In this bottle episode, Gan's gan crackers and is trying to kill everyone and they have to fly through a dangerous anomaly in a race against time to find a doctor to save him. Odd that it's all so tedious then, but it picks up a bit when Julian Glover shows up.
Bounty (1x11) *
Another nadir for the show so soon, this lacks the memorable insanity of 'The Web' so somehow ends up even worse. The English countryside makes for a less convincing 'alien' world than any polystyrene soundstage, and by the time various costumed mercenaries showed up I'd stopped paying attention. I hope they realise Avon's the breakout character at some point and give him more to do.
Deliverance (1x12) ***
Back to the story, so everything feels more worthwhile, even if it's mainly finale set-up with distractions. Avon gets a bit more to do.
Orac (1x13) ****
The season finale was the most satisfying episode since the first couple, even if I feel less glowing about the series since I've already seen the potential squandered on repetitive and pointless filler. Here's hoping that Terry paid attention to what worked and what didn't and that fresh blood will make next year more interesting.
Redemption (2x01) ***
A cynic might say this whole plot was just a convoluted way to resolve the dramatic cliffhanger and carry on, but I'm glad Terry finally explained where Liberator came from, I didn't expect he'd ever bother. More satisfying is the rivalry between Blake and Avon simmering up again, hopefully the other writers get that memo.
Shadow (2x02) ***
Space World, Space City – they're getting really elaborate with the names this year. Chris Boucher's debut script is fortunately more inventive, even if it's to the extent that you won't know what the hell's going on until it's explained and possibly after. This family's getting more dysfunctional every week, I like that at least.
Weapon (2x03) **
I didn't realise I actually liked Travis until they recast him with a much less charismatic performer. He was always incompetent, but now he's just rubbish. Resentment among the 7, 8 or however you want to count it moves up to a rolling boil, this had better be building to something.
Horizon (2x04) *
When things seemed to be moving forwards, I wasn't in the mood for another random planet detour and interchangeable adversaries. With torture and slave labour it's even more depressing than usual. Then they bring some costumes out... I wasn't really paying attention by then.
Pressure Point (2x05) ****
Does a Terry byline signify the 'mytharc' from now on? These episodes are what it's all about, maybe they should have commissioned fewer per year if he didn't have enough stories. It's partly the same old formula, but they set foot back on Earth, indistinguishable from everywhere else as it may be, and one of them only bloody goes and DIES.
Trial (2x06) ***
I'm glad they took the time to wallow in guilt and grief, and we get a weird living planet story thrown in for good measure. The Travis side is less compelling, only there to establish his new rogue status, and I was bit disappointed that they blew the assault on the Death Star with a quick swipe at the end, rather than setting up an epic two-parter like Farscape's 'Into the Lion's Den,' but still a worthwhile outing.
Killer (2x07) ***
Reliable Robert Holmes teleports over to write what's basically a slightly more grisly Doctor Who story of ghost ships and space zombies. Cally's Deanna Troi now, it's nice that they found something useful for her to do besides sharing button-pressing duties with Jenna.
Hostage (2x08) ***
Harking back to the grim and gritty opening of the series, that tone doesn't hold up all the way thanks to the presence of Travis and some spectacularly goofy action sequences, capped off with some mild incest for good measure. The Avon & Vila double act is my favourite thing about the series now.
Countdown (2x09) **
No kidding. I don't know if this is a pioneering example of the real-time thriller, but a ticking clock loses some of its tension when you set it so bloody high. A baddie we'll never see again makes trouble on a planet we'll never see again and we learn something about Avon's past that's not especially interesting at the end of the day.
Voice from the Past (2x10) **
Blake goes crazy-ape bonkers and abandons the band once again in a plot that threatens to be satisfying full-circle closure to episode one, fortunately stifled by more recasting and a ridiculous disguise that makes the Master look subtle. Let's get to Star One already.
Gambit (2x11) **
I'm all for a change of pace, but nah. Robert Holmes writes the characters well, and I like that he likes Avon & Vila, but there's a bit too much of everyone who isn't the characters. This is already that slightly shameful programme I only watch when the wife's out, and ones like this don't help that reputation.
The Keeper (2x12) *
Another pointless prelude faffing around with Space Barbarians just so we can get the coordinates we need for for the finale that could have come from anywhere. Waste of time, and even the minor saving grace where Avon gets proactive to prove he's the more competent leader doesn't end up amounting to anything.
Star One (2x13) *****
Everything comes to a head and then some in this fantastic finale that you can directly trace to Star Trek's 'The Best of Both Worlds' eleven years later, even if those ships would admittedly look a little less like toys. If they wrap up this complex intergalactic crisis all too conveniently in the next one, and let the critical character conflict deflate, I might really stop watching.
Aftermath (3x01) *****
Impressively, the aftermath is even better than the build-up and this cliffhanger ending was even more exciting than the last one. The gratuitous and illogical reuse of battle shots suggests that cutting down on the regular cast might have been a budget issue, but these are the constraints that force creativity. Also nice to see that the human race hasn't been entirely ethnic cleansed in the future after all, it only took two years.
Powerplay (3x02) ****
Ending a couple of minutes earlier on another nail-biting cliffhanger would have been more compelling than establishing the new status quo, but things were bound to get episodic again before too long, and Terry's away. This trilogy was the worthy follow-up to those earliest episodes I'd been waiting for all along. I'm not optimistic enough to expect that to continue.
Volcano (3x03) **
Now that Blake's no longer around to put them in peril every week, the masochists are putting themselves in peril searching for him. If Gareth Thomas was likely to return any time soon, they wouldn't have introduced his cosplay replacement. At least they didn't recast again. Seems we're back to bad episodes being the norm, cosmic.
Dawn of the Gods (3x04) ***
What begins as an eerie space mystery descends into another of those totally bonkers episodes they do about once a year by the second half. Maybe I was just in the mood this time, but I thought it was all jolly fun, as well as the best outing so far for the criminally underused Orac.
The Harvest of Kairos (3x05) *
This is series one all over again. Shame. The script treats Tarrant as if he's just Blake now and doesn't care what you think about that. Servalan's ruined beyond salvaging and the fight choreography's appalling even by this series' standards. If I wasn't over half way through and didn't want to waste that effort more than I have already, I'd consider chucking this all in.
City at the Edge of the World (3x06) ***
Vila gets a chance to be the hero, which puts the comic relief character out of his depth but is at least some nice variety. While that means Avon doesn't get much to do this week, at least there's less focus on that impostor Tarrant. More worryingly, Chris Boucher's our head writer now, but there's no sense of a big picture any more. What are they even doing and why should I care?
Children of Auron (3x07) ***
Blake's 7 by numbers. The grimness is on tone and they blow some things up, but it's just the same old shit capped off by a bizarre Star Trek jovial ending. Servalan doesn't need to be in it every week, save her up.
Rumours of Death (3x08) ****
It still feels like we're wallowing in the aftermath of a series that climaxed last year, but there's at least some sense of progress in this one before everything snaps back to normal punctually by the end. Now Avon's done his arc, how are they going to justify him hanging around for another year and a half?
Sarcophagus (3x09) *
Padded possession-themed bottle episode with costumes from the big dress-up box. Avon and Tarrant finally letting it all out is its only saving grace. Alas, nothing more comes of that and he isn't thrown off the ship.
Ultraworld (3x10) ***
As their random Star Trek episodes go, this is pretty good. A living cyborg planet with an insatiable appetite for human minds to feed its growing brain is suitably nightmarish, tempered by Vila teaching Orac jokes. Servalan's taken the week off, but they still have to fill their rubbish fight scene quotient.
Moloch (3x11) **
There's a pretty good story here, shame about all the sexism, the shitty puppet and the worse fight scenes that should be taken as read by now, but still manage to impress in their inadequacy. Alien had already well established that less is more, so I'm not sure why they linger on the puppet and the drawing of the planet for so long.
Death-Watch (3x12) ****
It's the fact that they're capable of interesting and mature episodes like this that makes all the rubbish all the worse. It's finally a good episode for Tarrant, although mostly through a proxy, with tense direction and – biggest surprise in the series so far – good fight scenes!
Terminal (3x13) *****
Terry returns for one final outing and it's a good 'un, with characterisation as strong as it's ever been and more of the no-win scenarios this series does well. The final statement in the perpetually looping riff of Servalan trying to get her hands on the Liberator, we're once again left not knowing what the hell's going to happen next.
Rescue (4x01) ***
There are enough surprises to make this an enjoyable episode, but it's a shaky start to the final run. The first half has to solve the problem of the cliffhanger, harshly writing out another character along the way and introducing a new ship that manages to be disappointingly familiar and a massive downgrade at the same time. Then we can get on with the less important matter of doing Dorian Gray in space.
Power (4x02) *
If they're going to repeat themselves, it's a shame they're looking to the worst episodes for ideas. It might be a subversive takedown of misogyny in a series that's had its problems there, I'm not sure as I was so bored by the crap fights and intermindable technobabble ending. Even their new character couldn't be arsed and sat it out.
Traitor (4x03) ***
Robert Holmes hasn't been as impressive as hoped on this series. This is a functional story that clarifies the current status of the Federation and moves things forward, but it's mainly noteworthy for its nice foggy location shoot. I never thought a fight scene would be the highlight of an episode.
Stardrive (4x04) ***
The force is strong in this one. The many shot-for-shot remounts of Star Wars are laughable in their cheekiness, but not as much as the glam biker punks from space. This silliness elevates what would otherwise be a humdrum episode into a memorable one, and the psychopathic ending is just bizarre.
Animals (4x05) *
I'd glimpsed that this was bottom of the pile on IMDb ratings, so was looking forward to seeing something above and beyond even Blake's 7's standards of badness, but didn't find it superlatively abominable. It does manage to completely ruin Dayna's character in one fell swoop, but hopefully the series will forget about that a little faster than I can.
Headhunter (4x06) **
The barmy twist at the centre of this is delightful, but the episode around it's pretty dull, even with another rare character piece for Orac. I've warmed to this new version of the series, especially now that they have a base, but the foreboding lack of Chris Boucher stories until the finale isn't filling me with confidence.
Assassin (4x07) **
Another wodunnit with limited options that narrow to one by the half-way point, the Star Wars wipes are back, but this is mainly a really low-budget Alien. A not particularly welcome return of the Arabian Nights costumes too.
Games (4x08) ****
Metaphorical and literal games are afoot in this tense and action-oriented episode, the start of a welcome turnaround in quality that will see us more or less through to the end of the series. Every character gets something to sink their teeth into, which is a rare occurrence.
Sand (4x09) ****
Sinister space horror as Servalan and Scorpio independently seek the secret of a desert planet. Said planet could have been better realised with one of their location shoots, but the little diorama they've built is nice. More notably than all that, Tanith Lee's story explores Servalan's psyche and makes her temporarily sympathetic, until you remember all the stuff.
Gold (4x10) *****
This morally dubious heist romp is exactly what I expected and hoped for from Blake's 7 all along. Ever since Blake left and the series' title became irrelevant, their continuing mission hasn't felt very credible. Jumping at the chance to get stinking rich makes much more sense, and the ending is a real blow. Avon is losing his goddamned mind.
Orbit (4x11) ****
Robert Holmes doesn't have a strong track record on this show, but his last contribution makes up for that. I don't think any other episode's been so mixed in tone, going from the borderline sitcom of Avon's latest dodgy acquaintance early on to the chilling next step in Avon's evolution. It's probably for the best that this is ending soon.
Warlord (4x12) **
A shame to spoil the strongest run in the series, but might as well have a stupid, rubbish one for old times' sake. I've been waiting all series for Charles "Queeg" Augins to make his guest appearance and he only got about two lines, none of them containing the word "sucker," so that bummed me out even more.
Blake (4x13) *****
HOLY FUCK.
I have to lie down for a few days.
This is really good. Blake's gang of seven or so liberate their prison ship... then get picked off one by one as it turns out they weren't the seven and that isn't the ship. It's okay, they find another one by the end. Things are starting to look up in the formerly hopeless dystopia, and there's even a tiny island of humour in the ever-deepening bloodbath.
Part three's always a bit of a dud, isn't it? The scenario's still unfolding nicely as we scratch the surface of the curiously advanced ship and recruit the couple of blatant keepers from last episode's otherwise generic horde, but this is mainly an episodic detour as we deal with Brian Blessed's bloodthirsty cult. They never get a break. Maybe this is where Farscape got that from too.
We pick up the final(?) crew member, so this wasn't a complete waste of time, even if both of its parallel plots on the ship and downstairs felt that way. I gave the "Federation" and Starfleet delta a pass, but this is just Star Trek now. They're all getting along and not even backstabbing any more, what happened?
I enjoyed Blake's 7 while it lasted, but evidently Terry's run out of ideas for his concept and the serious Farscape forebear has gone all Lexx. This doesn't feel like it's set in the same dimension as the first few, but I guess I'll have to get used to it. It has the makings of a so-bad-it's-funny hatewatch classic, but I was too disappointed to laugh.
Back on track with the next chapter of the saga, Blake's 7 are causing trouble for the man, or rather the woman, and we're introduced to more charismatic baddies than the ubiquitous, useless horde. Sadly, Space Commander Travis doesn't end up being very intimidating, being easily outsmarted in his first outing and throwing a hissy fit like Doctor Robotnik.
That might have been interesting if it was the first whodunnit that happened to take place on a spaceship I'd ever seen. It isn't. These are long episodes and some make use of that time less interestingly than others. The piano soundtrack was annoying too, stick to the charmingly dated synths.
Terry Nation rips off Star Trek's 'Arena' with more visible breasts and psychedelic visuals. With Blake clashing with Travis & the Mutoids before escaping his clutches every week, it feels like the series has decided what it wants to be now. Basically a cartoon.
We're shamelessly ripping off Star Wars this week, with a snowy planet and metal bikini predicting the rest of the trilogy and a twist ending that Farscape nicked in turn, which is impressively and uncharacteristically competent for these goons. They're consistently shameless when it comes to pre-watershed titillation too, but that doesn't need to be corrected any time soon.
The series was building momentum, so best nip that in the bud with a couple of hours of worthless filler before we get back to the main story. In this bottle episode, Gan's gan crackers and is trying to kill everyone and they have to fly through a dangerous anomaly in a race against time to find a doctor to save him. Odd that it's all so tedious then, but it picks up a bit when Julian Glover shows up.
Another nadir for the show so soon, this lacks the memorable insanity of 'The Web' so somehow ends up even worse. The English countryside makes for a less convincing 'alien' world than any polystyrene soundstage, and by the time various costumed mercenaries showed up I'd stopped paying attention. I hope they realise Avon's the breakout character at some point and give him more to do.
Back to the story, so everything feels more worthwhile, even if it's mainly finale set-up with distractions. Avon gets a bit more to do.
The season finale was the most satisfying episode since the first couple, even if I feel less glowing about the series since I've already seen the potential squandered on repetitive and pointless filler. Here's hoping that Terry paid attention to what worked and what didn't and that fresh blood will make next year more interesting.
A cynic might say this whole plot was just a convoluted way to resolve the dramatic cliffhanger and carry on, but I'm glad Terry finally explained where Liberator came from, I didn't expect he'd ever bother. More satisfying is the rivalry between Blake and Avon simmering up again, hopefully the other writers get that memo.
Space World, Space City – they're getting really elaborate with the names this year. Chris Boucher's debut script is fortunately more inventive, even if it's to the extent that you won't know what the hell's going on until it's explained and possibly after. This family's getting more dysfunctional every week, I like that at least.
I didn't realise I actually liked Travis until they recast him with a much less charismatic performer. He was always incompetent, but now he's just rubbish. Resentment among the 7, 8 or however you want to count it moves up to a rolling boil, this had better be building to something.
When things seemed to be moving forwards, I wasn't in the mood for another random planet detour and interchangeable adversaries. With torture and slave labour it's even more depressing than usual. Then they bring some costumes out... I wasn't really paying attention by then.
Does a Terry byline signify the 'mytharc' from now on? These episodes are what it's all about, maybe they should have commissioned fewer per year if he didn't have enough stories. It's partly the same old formula, but they set foot back on Earth, indistinguishable from everywhere else as it may be, and one of them only bloody goes and DIES.
I'm glad they took the time to wallow in guilt and grief, and we get a weird living planet story thrown in for good measure. The Travis side is less compelling, only there to establish his new rogue status, and I was bit disappointed that they blew the assault on the Death Star with a quick swipe at the end, rather than setting up an epic two-parter like Farscape's 'Into the Lion's Den,' but still a worthwhile outing.
Reliable Robert Holmes teleports over to write what's basically a slightly more grisly Doctor Who story of ghost ships and space zombies. Cally's Deanna Troi now, it's nice that they found something useful for her to do besides sharing button-pressing duties with Jenna.
Harking back to the grim and gritty opening of the series, that tone doesn't hold up all the way thanks to the presence of Travis and some spectacularly goofy action sequences, capped off with some mild incest for good measure. The Avon & Vila double act is my favourite thing about the series now.
No kidding. I don't know if this is a pioneering example of the real-time thriller, but a ticking clock loses some of its tension when you set it so bloody high. A baddie we'll never see again makes trouble on a planet we'll never see again and we learn something about Avon's past that's not especially interesting at the end of the day.
Blake goes crazy-ape bonkers and abandons the band once again in a plot that threatens to be satisfying full-circle closure to episode one, fortunately stifled by more recasting and a ridiculous disguise that makes the Master look subtle. Let's get to Star One already.
I'm all for a change of pace, but nah. Robert Holmes writes the characters well, and I like that he likes Avon & Vila, but there's a bit too much of everyone who isn't the characters. This is already that slightly shameful programme I only watch when the wife's out, and ones like this don't help that reputation.
Another pointless prelude faffing around with Space Barbarians just so we can get the coordinates we need for for the finale that could have come from anywhere. Waste of time, and even the minor saving grace where Avon gets proactive to prove he's the more competent leader doesn't end up amounting to anything.
Everything comes to a head and then some in this fantastic finale that you can directly trace to Star Trek's 'The Best of Both Worlds' eleven years later, even if those ships would admittedly look a little less like toys. If they wrap up this complex intergalactic crisis all too conveniently in the next one, and let the critical character conflict deflate, I might really stop watching.
Impressively, the aftermath is even better than the build-up and this cliffhanger ending was even more exciting than the last one. The gratuitous and illogical reuse of battle shots suggests that cutting down on the regular cast might have been a budget issue, but these are the constraints that force creativity. Also nice to see that the human race hasn't been entirely ethnic cleansed in the future after all, it only took two years.
Ending a couple of minutes earlier on another nail-biting cliffhanger would have been more compelling than establishing the new status quo, but things were bound to get episodic again before too long, and Terry's away. This trilogy was the worthy follow-up to those earliest episodes I'd been waiting for all along. I'm not optimistic enough to expect that to continue.
Now that Blake's no longer around to put them in peril every week, the masochists are putting themselves in peril searching for him. If Gareth Thomas was likely to return any time soon, they wouldn't have introduced his cosplay replacement. At least they didn't recast again. Seems we're back to bad episodes being the norm, cosmic.
What begins as an eerie space mystery descends into another of those totally bonkers episodes they do about once a year by the second half. Maybe I was just in the mood this time, but I thought it was all jolly fun, as well as the best outing so far for the criminally underused Orac.
This is series one all over again. Shame. The script treats Tarrant as if he's just Blake now and doesn't care what you think about that. Servalan's ruined beyond salvaging and the fight choreography's appalling even by this series' standards. If I wasn't over half way through and didn't want to waste that effort more than I have already, I'd consider chucking this all in.
Vila gets a chance to be the hero, which puts the comic relief character out of his depth but is at least some nice variety. While that means Avon doesn't get much to do this week, at least there's less focus on that impostor Tarrant. More worryingly, Chris Boucher's our head writer now, but there's no sense of a big picture any more. What are they even doing and why should I care?
Blake's 7 by numbers. The grimness is on tone and they blow some things up, but it's just the same old shit capped off by a bizarre Star Trek jovial ending. Servalan doesn't need to be in it every week, save her up.
It still feels like we're wallowing in the aftermath of a series that climaxed last year, but there's at least some sense of progress in this one before everything snaps back to normal punctually by the end. Now Avon's done his arc, how are they going to justify him hanging around for another year and a half?
Padded possession-themed bottle episode with costumes from the big dress-up box. Avon and Tarrant finally letting it all out is its only saving grace. Alas, nothing more comes of that and he isn't thrown off the ship.
As their random Star Trek episodes go, this is pretty good. A living cyborg planet with an insatiable appetite for human minds to feed its growing brain is suitably nightmarish, tempered by Vila teaching Orac jokes. Servalan's taken the week off, but they still have to fill their rubbish fight scene quotient.
There's a pretty good story here, shame about all the sexism, the shitty puppet and the worse fight scenes that should be taken as read by now, but still manage to impress in their inadequacy. Alien had already well established that less is more, so I'm not sure why they linger on the puppet and the drawing of the planet for so long.
It's the fact that they're capable of interesting and mature episodes like this that makes all the rubbish all the worse. It's finally a good episode for Tarrant, although mostly through a proxy, with tense direction and – biggest surprise in the series so far – good fight scenes!
Terry returns for one final outing and it's a good 'un, with characterisation as strong as it's ever been and more of the no-win scenarios this series does well. The final statement in the perpetually looping riff of Servalan trying to get her hands on the Liberator, we're once again left not knowing what the hell's going to happen next.
There are enough surprises to make this an enjoyable episode, but it's a shaky start to the final run. The first half has to solve the problem of the cliffhanger, harshly writing out another character along the way and introducing a new ship that manages to be disappointingly familiar and a massive downgrade at the same time. Then we can get on with the less important matter of doing Dorian Gray in space.
If they're going to repeat themselves, it's a shame they're looking to the worst episodes for ideas. It might be a subversive takedown of misogyny in a series that's had its problems there, I'm not sure as I was so bored by the crap fights and intermindable technobabble ending. Even their new character couldn't be arsed and sat it out.
Robert Holmes hasn't been as impressive as hoped on this series. This is a functional story that clarifies the current status of the Federation and moves things forward, but it's mainly noteworthy for its nice foggy location shoot. I never thought a fight scene would be the highlight of an episode.
The force is strong in this one. The many shot-for-shot remounts of Star Wars are laughable in their cheekiness, but not as much as the glam biker punks from space. This silliness elevates what would otherwise be a humdrum episode into a memorable one, and the psychopathic ending is just bizarre.
I'd glimpsed that this was bottom of the pile on IMDb ratings, so was looking forward to seeing something above and beyond even Blake's 7's standards of badness, but didn't find it superlatively abominable. It does manage to completely ruin Dayna's character in one fell swoop, but hopefully the series will forget about that a little faster than I can.
The barmy twist at the centre of this is delightful, but the episode around it's pretty dull, even with another rare character piece for Orac. I've warmed to this new version of the series, especially now that they have a base, but the foreboding lack of Chris Boucher stories until the finale isn't filling me with confidence.
Another wodunnit with limited options that narrow to one by the half-way point, the Star Wars wipes are back, but this is mainly a really low-budget Alien. A not particularly welcome return of the Arabian Nights costumes too.
Metaphorical and literal games are afoot in this tense and action-oriented episode, the start of a welcome turnaround in quality that will see us more or less through to the end of the series. Every character gets something to sink their teeth into, which is a rare occurrence.
Sinister space horror as Servalan and Scorpio independently seek the secret of a desert planet. Said planet could have been better realised with one of their location shoots, but the little diorama they've built is nice. More notably than all that, Tanith Lee's story explores Servalan's psyche and makes her temporarily sympathetic, until you remember all the stuff.
This morally dubious heist romp is exactly what I expected and hoped for from Blake's 7 all along. Ever since Blake left and the series' title became irrelevant, their continuing mission hasn't felt very credible. Jumping at the chance to get stinking rich makes much more sense, and the ending is a real blow. Avon is losing his goddamned mind.
Robert Holmes doesn't have a strong track record on this show, but his last contribution makes up for that. I don't think any other episode's been so mixed in tone, going from the borderline sitcom of Avon's latest dodgy acquaintance early on to the chilling next step in Avon's evolution. It's probably for the best that this is ending soon.
A shame to spoil the strongest run in the series, but might as well have a stupid, rubbish one for old times' sake. I've been waiting all series for Charles "Queeg" Augins to make his guest appearance and he only got about two lines, none of them containing the word "sucker," so that bummed me out even more.
HOLY FUCK.
I have to lie down for a few days.
Pointless stats!
#1. Season three: 3.08 stars average
#2. Season four: 3.00 stars
#3. Season one: 2.85 stars
#4. Season two: 2.62 stars
