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 …
Spybrary‘s focus has always first and foremost been spy books, but the podcast has also explored the exploits of real-life spies, as well as espionage in film and television. Having collaborated on undercover operations with Shane Whaley in the spy hot-spots of London and Berlin, I knew he could be trusted and I had no …
“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 …
