No, ‘Headhunter’ is where the improvement commences. The major thumbs down is for ‘Animals’.

You’ll see changes in every episode of “Whodunnit” S1 as they work to bed down the format. The biggest change is the change of chairman in S2, which makes the show infinitely more enjoyable. I think S3 however is the best of all the series. Everything really clicks and there are a couple of regular panellists who are good at playing the game. The show doesn’t work when none of the panellists has a clue as they usually descend into comedy questioning and things go nowhere. The terrific two in S3 (and spot appearances later) really drive the show along and help the home viewer to move forward in solving things too. There was more tinkering with the show in S4 and S5, though not necessarily to the benefit of the programme.

“The Indoor League” is so fascinating I couldn’t take my eyes off it when I first got the DVDs. The darts didn’t interest me, but the arm wrestling, bar billiards, pool and table skittles sucked me right in, and no sport did it more so than shove ha’penny. I’ll sithee!

I hope you’re not dissing Headhunter here! It’s a comfy favourite of mine.

(You are doing really well on that front, H.E. It’s entirely your call of course, but my recommendation is still to keep away from the B7 Monthlys and anything else until you’ve seen all the episodes. Contemporaneous reading of the Monthly doesn’t really add anything to the viewing.)

The cigars over dinner and talk of the Fletch Expedition of ’29 make parts of it all seem a bit colonial.

There are still one or two turkeys coming up – very soon – but there’s always something redeeming in every episode. As others have said, although it takes the writers a way to figure out how to handle this new series, it really hits the straps and starts clicking in the second half.

Series C was my least fav in the series.

Blake’s 7 has never been a very narratively driven show. With the exception of the Star One arc, episodes rarely impact one another. In the early days, it was clearly influenced mostly by Robin Hood. Blake/Robin would bother Servalan and Travis/the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisborne by doing something that supposedly diminishes the power of the Federation/the nobles. It’s not meant to add up to anything, but merely show on a thematic level that the villains have no power over the hero. That by being an example of goodness, he’s making the universe a better place to live in.

Occasionally there would be a change in status quo such as the acquisition of Orac or the death of Gan, but for the most part, they’re very self-contained stories. But what makes them tick, at least for me, is the sense of initiative. In most episodes, Blake would start out on a mission. “We have to destroy the communications centre!” “We must convince President Sarkoff to return!” “We must make contact with Avalon!”

They’re very clear, coherent objectives that obviously have a negative impact on the enemy. We never see that impact save for the occasional mention of Blake becoming a legend, but we can imagine it’s there and that what our characters do matters. The changes in status quo mark the passage of time since the quest began. Basically, the show fools you into feeling that there is a progression by having our heroes know what they want and do what they want, or at least try.

And then there is Series C or as I like to call it, “the anthology season”. It opens promisingly enough. Blake and the Federation are both gone, the galaxy is in shambles, nothing is as we knew it. It’s exciting and original. Anything could happen! Over the course of two episodes, Avon fights tooth and claw to regain command of the Liberator and then… nothing.

The galaxy remains pretty much as it was during the Blake years, except there’s a lot less of the Federation, which means it’s not worth fighting and even if it was, Blake isn’t around to fight it. The crew still have the Liberator, which is full of jewels and mostly impregnable, therefore they need nothing. The sense of progression grinds to a standstill. Let’s look at what inspires our crew in these episodes:

*In Volcano, The Harvest Of Kairos, Children Of Auron and Terminal they do nothing until Servalan pokes at them in another attempt to get the Liberator.

*In Dawn Of The Gods, Sarcophagus and Ultraworld, they do nothing until running into something alien in space. I’d lump Moloch in here as well, because they just stalk Servalan without much explained provocation until finding the hidden planet.

*In Death-Watch, they literally take a vacation(from what???).

That leaves two episodes with some sense of initiative – City At The Edge Of The World and Rumours Of Death. One of which is nothing more than Tarrant’s trade deal gone wrong and the other a personal revenge hunt for Avon.

I’m not saying they’re bad episodes – in fact, a lot of them are series highlights – but it gives me the impression that unless outside forces impact them in some way, the Liberator crew would literally just sit around and play board games all the time. So why should we care? If it wasn’t for the good scripts, the show would be running on the fumes of the previous two seasons. As if the show ended and we’re just left watching a few characters hang around after the fact in the longest epilogue ever.

It’s doubly disappointing if you consider the build-up to Avon’s command. He spent two whole seasons pining for it under Blake, constantly promising to put the ship to better use(mentioning the acquisition of riches on more than one occasion). Yet when he finally proclaims “it’s my ship!” in Powerplay, nothing really comes of it. He’s apparently content to sit around and do nothing with his newfound freedom.

Now, on one hand, this does make sense if you consider how much he loathed Blake’s style of leadership, like the way Blake would put people at risk and not consider their own opinions in regards to his great cause. It’s sensible to suggest that as commander, Avon would be more considerate and not rush off to potential danger all the time.

Still, I think there’s a difference between being cautious and doing nothing at all. Avon may not be the hound that Blake was, but given his focused personality and established desire for wealth in spite of the Liberator’s riches(think back to Gambit for example), it’s more than likely that he would at least proposition the crew with ideas of what to do next.
“Why don’t we go to X planet to rob Y bank? Here’s a plan I worked out with Orac that is likely to get us in under minimal threat.”
“I think we should teleport onto that ship carrying Federation treasures and then beam out again. Vila, you can open the safe.”
“I read about this interesting planet, let us see what it’s all about to expand our knowledge.”

You know, something. Anything!

I think they tried to use the CSO to give Scorpio a different effect from the Liberator, and to do something similar to Remembrance Of The Daleks where they levitate the coffin, but it just doesn’t work.

What I did really enjoy about episode 3 was Vila, specifically his ranting against Tarrant. It was so catharctic after all the BS Tarrant put him through in Series C(namely in City At The Edge Of The World!). Avon’s teasing description of Tarrant cracked me up too. Avon is *amazing* this season. He’s out of fucks to give.