Comments on: Blake’s 7 – Sand

By: James Paul

James Paul — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 11:59:47 +0000

I think the arch-enemy Servalan in this epsiode is really awesome having Servalan trapped on the planet with tarrant instead of Avon is different

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 11:54:01 +0000

Of all the crew, Dayna is obviously the most affected by what transpired between Servalan and Tarrant.

I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think of the next episode. And the one after that. And…

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 11:46:24 +0000

I think the key thing to remember about the Tarrant-Servalan liaison is that the sand made them do it. It’s not just a preservative but an aphrodisiac. It wants the captive humans to produce an ongoing food supply, and that won’t happen unless it has a way of making them amorous. Otherwise, it could sit there waiting for ever, like the Ultra on Ultraworld waiting for Tarrant and Dayna to show them the bonding ceremony.

Once free from the influence of the sand, they were probably both left bewildered by what happened. Avon had obviously worked it out though, as he’s the one that gives it away: “And she got it, too, didn’t she? Your sympathy, I mean.” He’d already worked out what the sand was doing and how it was trying to remove the weaker men in favour of a dominant male… with all that implies in terms of breeding and stud farming.

The fun exchange about moving next door actually came from real life. Steven Pacey and Jacqueline Pearce discovered that they were both living on houseboats, and that their houseboats were practically side by side. Jackie P told Steven Pacey that made her the girl next door, and Pacey quipped back, “If you were the girl next door, I’d move.” Jackie P told Tanith Lee, who loved the story and incorporated it in the script – except in keeping with the amorous spell being worked by the sand, she added the line that changed it from being about running away to running to.

By: AndrewP

AndrewP — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 22:24:16 +0000

Really glad that you’re finding real value as you move through Series D. I’ve always loved “Sand” – lots of good stuff on offer here and it’s such a delight to read you relishing it so much.

All the best

Andrew