I find it fascinating when programmes reflect contemporary events or appear prescient of future ones, either by intent or sheer coincidence, but I haven’t had that with Blake’s 7 – at least I haven’t noticed it. One attractive element of the series is that its setting makes it somewhat timeless. 40 years on, film-making techniques …
I first watched The Goodies without realising. In my early forays to YouTube, I was searching for Doctor Who content when I came across something featuring Patrick Troughton up against three other blokes. Split into two videos, there were no titles and when it finished I still I had no idea what it was but …
After being disappointed by Harvest of Kairos, I was just hoping to find City at the Edge of the World less dull. The title got me thinking about the other cities we have encountered with Blake’s 7 – Space City and Freedom City, but this one turned out quite different. I deployed some expletives exceptionally …
The Harvest of Kairos has ideas with good potential, but it doesn’t work well for me overall. Despite some high stakes, I found the episode dull in parts. Intersecting the space pursuit with the introduction to Jarvik slowed the pace and it did seem to go on for a long time, but without the usual …
It’s so fantastic to watch Blake’s 7 with no preconceptions about fan consensus on episodes. Dawn of the Gods seems like a potentially divisive one because it is vastly different from the usual action adventures. While there is plenty early on, it’s much slower and stranger once they enter the other universe. In some ways, …
The Trial of a Time Lord podcast puts Doctor Who on trial, with a different story and a different guest every episode. I had been a fan of this smut-filled den of iniquity for a while so was delighted to be able to join the show and take part in a trial. I had chosen …
We return to a regular type of Blake’s 7 adventure with a planet of the week that even Cally gets to visit now. The opening act of Volcano had me solely by the intrigue of having no idea what was going on plot-wise, which I thought was better than the crew finding a planet and …
For those viewers new to Blake’s 7, Series C continues as a lovely introduction. There are similarities to the first series as we essentially spend two episodes getting the crew together, ready to head off for adventures. Though I missed seeing Vila and Cally in Aftermath, introducing everyone across two episodes enables those two to …
Star One is still vying in my affections for Best Episode So Far and I am fairly sure Aftermath didn’t answer a single question I had at the end of it. Once again though, I didn’t care because Aftermath has instead given us an interesting setup for a series that looks vastly different from the …
“You can lead the rabble to victory… whatever that might mean.” I’ve been sceptical about Blake’s 7 having a series-long arc because I have grown impatient with it at times. Towards the end of the series, there have been misfires with Voice From the Past and The Keeper, so I was trying not to raise …
“A fool knows everything and nothing.” I was not keen on The Keeper, though it starts well with setting up the story and some initial action. I am glad that the purpose of Control/Star One is reiterated in the opening scenes as it’s been a while and I feel it’s important that the stakes are emphasised again. …
“I can provide some very original forms of diversion.” By a significant stretch, Gambit is the craziest episode of Blake’s 7 I’ve watched so far. Even once I thought I had a handle on it, it just kept giving and it has been my favourite episode of Series B so far. Robert Holmes had impressed …
“So much for Blake’s new epoch of peace.” Voice from the Past was an interesting episode as I was intrigued by the plot immediately. The idea of Blake reverting to his pre-The Way Back brainwashed state was fear-inducing as the consequences I imagined were disastrous. I saw him covertly redirecting the Liberator and turning the …
“You wouldn’t understand.” I spent the first scenes of Countdown wondering if any of these masked fighters were our heroes – we’ve had this sort of opening before. There was one fellow with a similar build to Gareth Thomas that had me almost convinced. Federation guards dress more or less the same all over the …
“There’s no need for violence, is there?” Hostage’s title had me imagining one of the Liberator crew kidnapped, or even the ship itself, so the actual victim didn’t interest me very much. Yet Hostage is one of my favourite episodes so far this series as it took me through a variety of emotions and my mind …
“That is self-interest – we need that crystal. Blake takes risks to help other people – sometimes people he doesn’t even know.” After the events of Pressure Point and Trial especially I was excited to continue Series B, although Killer ended up a more isolated episode compared to the last few. Knowing Robert Holmes as …
“You’re not going to use me anymore.” Trial was an odd experience in that I had never felt so indifferent about what the Liberator crew were up to. You could have chopped the regulars out, stuck all the Space Command scenes together, and I would probably have been happy with a half-hour episode that didn’t …
“It is a challenge!” After a few episodes from other writers, I felt bad that the appearance of Terry Nation’s name in Pressure Point’s titles sent a pang of disappointment through me. I had been enjoying different types of episodes and didn’t want that unknown variety to end. Weapon and Horizon had both impressed me, …
First broadcast 11th October 1962 Plot On holiday in Rome, Simon is witness to the kidnap of a US diplomat’s daughter. A mafia man, Tony Unciello, is responsible. His brother is about the be executed in the US and Governor Inverest has the power to stop it. Guest stars Alexander Knox plays the governor and …
The prospect of watching all of The Saint is daunting – there are 118 episodes. In recent years I have discovered more ITC shows, but I have always had a fondness for The Saint and am looking forward to spending more time with him again. Simon Templar travels the world, either being called upon or simply stumbling into trouble as …
“I am not expendable, I am not stupid and I’m not going.” Horizon had piqued my interest the moment I saw it on the DVD title menu as I knew it was the name of the Blake’s 7 fan club. Following the episode, I thought that was a neat idea. The episode’s titles themselves also …
“You can be like God!” I’d had small reservations about Chris Boucher after Shadow but Weapon has alleviated those. His stories have a different style to Terry Nation’s and I’m reluctant to try to define that yet, but I’m finding it interesting. Bonus points for starting an episode by blowing something up. I was thrilled …
“To have total control you must control totally.” While I’ve enjoyed Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7 scripts, I had been intrigued to see what someone else would do with the programme. I wasn’t sure how long I might have to wait so it was nice to get one so soon with Shadow. I’ve been seeing Chris Boucher’s …
“I think we just lost our ship.” Having resisted the temptation to simply plough on with more Blake’s 7, I took a short break to let everything from series 1 sink in. What fun it had been! As I sat down with Redemption, it felt as though I was about to be reunited with old …
Only a machine “I have waited. Far too long.” I was excited for Orac. I’d had a minor spoiler in that I had seen the episode title before I rewatched Deliverance, but it had little bearing, except I knew Orac was going to be significant in the final episode. A week had passed so there …
Power “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” “Probably.” Several months ago, Deliverance became the first Blake’s 7 episode I ever watched as part of Transdiffusion’s Back in Time For TV, in which I spend a week with the television schedule of each year. I scored well with 1978. I remember enjoying Deliverance’s story and every single …
Not a chocolate bar in sight “At the expense of your friends?” I had a reticent feeling about Bounty, though I’m not sure why. I have been concerned that the quality of Blake’s 7‘s episodes may drop towards the end of the season, though still hope it will end on a relative high. There are …
The edge of destruction “I’ve just had a comforting thought. We may all be dead before we find out why this is a danger zone.” On the surface, Blake’s 7’s Breakdown may appear to be about Gan. The episode’s plot is built around his urgent need for brain surgery, but as he is unconscious or …
Rebels and rescues “Another idealist. Poor but honest.” Until I encountered this Blake’s 7 episode, Avalon was simply the name of a Roxy Music song and album. Here she is an anti-Federation enthusiast that Travis uses to try to lure Team Blake into a trap – this is becoming a running theme. While Blake has …
A psychopath and bloody Blake the Hero. “I shall enjoy taking your life, Blake.” TRAVIS IS BACK. I had loved the introduction of the sadistic Travis in Seek-Locate-Destroy so was delighted to see him return so quickly. His confrontation with Blake enables us to glimpse further into both Travis and Blake’s characters. Elsewhere, I pondered …
