But OK, I'd still like to share gifs of 2 of my favorite moments from Bounty, one of them with the shoe:
http://static.diary.ru/userdir/5/5/1/9/551988/85573387.gif
https://i.imgur.com/CBC4SVz.gif

I agree, Mrs Underhill – breaking the record was much more shocking. I think it seemed so unnecessary and deliberately hurtful, even though a more generous part of me says Blake was probably conscious that they were pressed for time.
Sarkoff gets some nice lines. I loved that when Tarvin told him, "You talk too much," he replied, "Yes, it's an occupational hazard."

I loved Avon's hidden tool in his heel! I was going to mention it, but really have little to say other than it reminded me of James Bond in Goldfinger, where he has a homing device hidden in his heel.

Rest assured that I remain spoiler free. I've had a quick look at the sites' structures but am not foolhardy enough to step into forums properly. It's so rare for much of the archive TV stuff I watch to have so much online to explore, but it will be worth the wait.

Eve T – I think you make a good point about the time. I'd be curious what the BBC's published guidelines were as for ITV the ITA/IBA yearbooks can be pretty vague. I've not explored the 1970s ones much but have quickly consulted 1978's and found its phrasing interesting:

"no programmes shown in the evening from the start of children's programme time until 9 p.m. should be unsuitable for an audience in which children are present […] the policy does not mean that all programmes shown before nine o'clock must be designed especially for children (or families), but that nothing specifically *unsuitable* should be shown."
I seem to recall one earlier yearbook specifying some unsuitable examples, like children being threatened with violence. The yearbooks only ever make reference to sex and swearing with no specifics, perhaps knowing that the yearbooks were likely to be read by said children!

Blake's 7 has always come across to me as a more adult programme and I do think 7.15 seems fairly early – I've seen plenty of adult dramas starting at 8pm, but 7.15 is still only just after teatime. The lines seem much more blurred at this time though. The Sweeney and The Professionals are certainly not children's programmes, yet the merchandise makes is clear that they were aware children were watching and wanted to capitalise on that. A few cuts and they're perfectly suitable for daytime on ITV4. With children's programming now banished to separate channels, I don't think we can ever really have that halfway point in the present day.

Doing my Back in Time For TV articles has made me aware just how absent sex was on TV. You do end up having to pay more attention to characters. Even after 9pm in the mid-1970s, everything seems to just be implied.

It is also amusing to note that it is documented that they had far more reticence about showing sex than violence. That is why, I think, that relationships between characters are more often implied rather than explicit. I find that this adds to the complexity of the show, it is always more interesting when it is not overt. Part of me wishes that the series had been shown after the watershed, especially given the high quality of many of the actors. Not because I would want it to be more explicit, but it could have been even grittier and darker if it had been written as a fully adult programme.

Your tutorial on vinyls made me nostalgic – I had all kinds of those records in my childhood. Some of them came inserted into magazines – they were soft blue ones, like cut out of vinul binder.

And Sarkoff I remember as droning on and one and as I'm not a native speaker it went mostly over my head.

But on rewatch I enjoyed it a lot! And I came to love Sarkoff. He was actually saying interesting things, it was worth paying attention. I loved his musical theme: his fascination with the past was a way to hide from the present. He considered himself a dusty museum piece, too old and irrelevant. Blake broke him out but Sarkoff retained his snark till the end – "I'm not sure what to thank you for, Blake. But as I'm still a politician – ok, I'll say it: thank you."

But the best moments for me were also the moments with Vila and Avon! Pure gold, and I made gifs too, pity can't post them here. Avon seemed to acquire lock-picking 101 from Vila, and he even got a hidden tool in his shoe – I'm sure it's Vila's trick.
Avon-Vila double act – when I rewatched the series I was surprised at how it early it started. In Time Squad Vila calls Avon "fingers" and Avon gets back to him on "live forever, or die trying" – lots of great banter!

You picked on Avon being hurt by Jenna's betrayal – yes, it's a slip from him that he does think of them as friends. In Breakdown he needed a guarantee that his leaving won't harm his mates, and when guarantee was broken he went back to help them. He didn't expect betrayal from Jenna.

About Feds in masks – the 1st time a Fed took his mask off was in SLD, I remember cheering when it happened. I wanted Feds to be shown as people and there was this middle-aged bloke, totally normal and he couldn't even beat Cally. If Feds remained faceless like Star Wars Imperial Troopers I would've dropped the show, seriously.

Agree wholeheartedly about Zen – he hasn't earned a status of 7th member of the team in any way, he's not much help and here he just gives them up to Feds. And to Tarvin.

Also read you comment on Breakdown about seeing the sites people were coming from to read the blog – gosh, I hope there were no spoilers there! Tumblr "blake's 7" tag is extremely spoilery, just saying. 🙂

You know, I remember in 1978 that I was also *just* starting to get worried that the stories were fizzling out around this point as we moved towards the end of the run. And – yes – there is a pacing problem with the script isn't there? You're picking up on some of the problems which were emerging by now… and those are problems which you can unpack later on when you've done. Suffice to say, nobody sets out to televise coverage of people listening to Kathleen Ferrier through choice…

It's always good when the writers remember that Cally is *actually* a telepath and that her skills can save people a lot of bother. This was something I remember delighted me too.

Love your perspective on looking back via sound recordings. And nice to see people valuing TP McKenna as well. A while back, my wife and I were listening to a radio play in the car and she went "Gosh! Graham Crowden!" And I think: "Gosh! Aren't I lucky to be married to a lady who can spot Graham Crowden and know how amazing he is."

Again, I remember being aware by now that Avon and Vila were becoming stand-outs… but Gan wasn't doing well in the character states. Plus the weird structuring of the episode's climax where all the regulars are sidelined and we get the face-off between the guest actors.

It's so much fun seeing you enjoying the adventures of these characters! Many thanks!

All the best

Andrew