Blake's 7 - Breakdown

Breakdown

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 attempting to murder the rest of the crew for the majority of the episode, there is little character development. Instead, seeing them all trapped together, I was interested in everyone else. Confining an entire episode to The Liberator could have been a disaster but I thought it was a stroke of genius at this point in the series. After several episodes of being split up, I loved watching the crew all bicker, panic, resign themselves to death, then finally start to band together, before we witnessed Julian Glover commence 20-minute brain surgery, followed by a big explosion. Some additional worldbuilding also means the Blake’s 7 universe is beginning to feel like it has considerable depth.

We open with Gan alone on the flight deck and after being racked with pain in his head, Jenna comes in and he attacks her. Eventually, the combined strength of the rest of the crew overcomes him and after administering some tranquilizers in small patches, they take him for a brain scan.

Guerrillas on film
The medical room features prominently in the episode and stands out a tad more because it appears to have been shot on film, while the rest of Breakdown is on videotape. I've been noticing this change in picture when cutting between scenes for a while. There were many dramas being made on videotape at this time. Film would usually be used for location shooting, which was limited because it was expensive, so programmes would be given a set amount they could have. Why is Blake's 7 shooting random studio scenes on film across the series then? My conclusion is that the production team took a 'use it or lose it' policy. Although some shows were allotted a total amount of location filming per series, it could be that Blake's 7 was given it per episode.

Film

Videotape

This would make sense when thinking back to other episodes, especially Duel, where I noted it took a long time before the actual duel began in the forest. Duel spends a long time on The Liberator, then in the women's basic polystyrene clearing - all studio-based. Even once in the forest, the episode cuts back to the crew left on The Liberator, cleverly serving the dual purpose of limiting location shooting slightly further as well as giving more screentime to the other crew.

Brain salad surgery
Avon examines Gan's limiter on a screen. We previously learned that this is supposed to prevent him from killing anyone. Avon can see it is damaged and says it could be "feeding scrambled impulses into his brain." A tiny point, but I like the way Paul Darrow says the word "scrambled". It's a nice word to hear and similarly, in Project Avalon, he suggested of the robot that he could "scramble its brain."

Gan needs surgery and fast. Chatting with Avon, Blake briefly considers attempting the brain surgery themselves before Avon points out what a stupid idea this is: “There are quicker ways of killing him but none as guaranteed.” Even in this future, major brain surgery is not something that can be done “by numbers”. While he can often be intelligent, Blake has also shown that he can be impulsive. This is such an absurd idea that he clearly hasn’t thought it through before voicing it. He sounds desperate and worried as he admits he doesn't know what to do. I think relying on Zen would be a mistake. As this episode will further demonstrate, it can’t always be guaranteed to help them.

Wanted and trapped
The crew use Zen to help them find somewhere they can go for Gan's surgery. Their status as major wanted criminals has been built up in the recent Travis episodes and therefore it is unsurprising that they cannot just rock up to the nearest planet. Avon declares, “There’s a price on our heads. We are all under sentence of death.” I found this comment significant because although I had presumed it was a distinct possibility, I don’t think anyone has actually specified that the Federation wanted them dead before. It is a reminder that Avon, Jenna and Vila (the three convicted thieves) could have been mere inconveniences for the Federation before but now cannot leave Blake.

Only a few episodes earlier, in Duel, Blake had said, "My crew are with me by choice." Avon was sceptical enough then. In Breakdown he questions Vila:

Avon “Why do you stay with Blake?”
Vila "I like him."
Avon “That isn’t a good enough reason."
Vila "It is for me. That and the fact I’ve got nowhere else to go."

Avon gives us a nice smile because he does now have a realistic exit plan. I would say Vila's second reason is a more pressing one. However, neither are great reasons for staying with Blake and it is presumably the same for the others too. I think Vila would be too scared to leave as he would struggle to lead himself alone. Unlike Avon, he is not a master planner and does not seem to have experience of big decisions.

The options for surgery are further narrowed because not everywhere nearby can perform such advanced surgery. Again – what was Blake thinking when he suggested the crew attempt it themselves?!

Weighing up the nearest places, Jenna is sceptical about one because “they don’t like humanoids in general and in particular homo sapiens.” Avon’s contempt for his own race is amusing as he asserts, “That puts their intelligence beyond doubt.” Am I being presumptive to consider the crew (barring Cally) human? Even though we saw them travel from Earth, I cannot recall if it has been confirmed. After watching Project Avalon I commented that I did not believe The Liberator was alien because it was designed for humanoids. It turns out that in the Blake's 7 universe they can be both.

Just a machine
The phrase that consistently jumps to mind for Zen is 'shady as fuck'. Avon begins to get annoyed with Zen as he knows of a nearby research facility with suitable medical expertise. But Zen refuses to take a straight route, claiming there is some sort of danger but then is unable to specify further. Zen seems to have a mountain of fail-safes and the habit of half-explaining everything makes it difficult to prevent Zen from ignoring even direct orders. I think Avon is frustrated by a machine that often appears to have independent thought, yet you can’t see where this is coming from. A Harry Potter quote springs to mind: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain." The crew don’t know who or what programmed Zen, something that has been ruminated on before. In Breakdown Avon states of Zen's programmer: “One of these days I intend to find out who that is.” Vila replies, “If you live that long,” showing a touch of his own depressing cynicism that seems to be increasing!

With Gan critical, Team Blake decide to sod Zen and take the ship on manually. Shortly afterwards, Avon suddenly realises that with Zen shut down, they have no basic safety measures. He is poor at controlling his panic, grabbing Jenna and shaking her. Although Avon is normally fairly calm in high-pressured situations, the sudden major risk to their lives appears to overwhelm him. He demands they go back and is not pleased at having to carry on, with Blake asking him to try to override systems to give them control.

Avon heads off with a bag of tools to begin prodding around in a computer room. This isn't the first time we've seen him poking around a ship's particulars. I must be used to it from other programmes because it’s taken me a while to realise that a lot of Avon’s technological adjustments are physical, manual ones, as opposed to computer coding. It's odd to see this contrasted with the small circuitboard for Gan's limiter. I was also impressed with Cally's wireless headphones that enable her to hear the others from the flight deck. Blake's 7 has a strange crosssection of technology from a time when microprocessing was just beginning to come into more people's daily lives but analogue technology was also still very prominent.

Always look on the bright side of life
There is a lot of blunt negativity throughout Breakdown and it has become apparent that Avon isn't the only cynic on The Liberator - he's just the only one who acts on it. Vila is more of a worrier and as they head deeper into the area Zen refused to take them, he shares: “I’ve just had a comforting thought. We may all be dead before we find out why this is a danger zone.”

Having neared too close to a swirling vortex of some sort, Jenna lets Vila know, "We're dead. It'll tear us to pieces." I did love how he simply closed his eyes with the hint of a sigh.

Avon later agrees that "the forces inside that will not merely destroy us; they will annihilate us.” Thanks for that comforting thought, Avon. Everyone definitely needed that extra detail, you cheery sod.

The situation really emphasises the risky nature of space travel. To quote Douglas Adams: "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is." The Liberator has entered unchartered areas before and we continue to see the crew facing a variety of complete unknowns. I find Vila's attitude in particular interesting as he has grasped how fraught with danger their daily travel is.

Vila the Brave
I was delighted with Vila's part in Breakdown because while he is a worrier and is brazen in his cowardice, I'm beginning to see this as a similar sort of self-preservation to Avon's. Importantly, Vila has also now shown on several occasions that he can be brave. In Seek-Locate-Destroy he walked straight up to Federation guards, caught them by surprise and took them out with Blake. In Duel, he was rather fierce as Blake attempted to force a guard to move, jamming a gun into the guard's ribs and snarling, "He said now!" These were both situations where you could argue Vila had to act bravely as in both episodes Team Blake needed his thief's lock-picking skills, so he was called down to a planet from The Liberator.

But in Breakdown, when Vila has realised that Kayn is stalling for time, he turns up on his own in the medical bay with a gun, demanding Kayn get on with the operation.

Kayn "Why didn’t Blake come himself?"
Vila "Blake doesn’t know about this. I thought it was better that way. He has a conscience. He might not be prepared to kill you."
Kayn "And you are."
Vila "Yes."
Avon "And if he isn’t, I am."

As Avon suddenly appears at the door, Vila does not seem to have planned him to be there so we can assume that he had decided to take Kayn on alone.

I found this incredibly brave from Vila, especially because he has chosen to go behind Blake's back. Other than Avon, I don't think we have seen any of the other crew do this before. Perhaps even if Vila says he likes Blake, he too can see the man's faults.

Vila and Avon's comments here were extremely exciting for me. Although we have seen the Liberator crew all helping to shoot down and blow up faceless guards of the heartless Federation, this is different. Are Vila and Avon truly both prepared to shoot a man in cold blood? They’re a pair of convicted thieves, not violent criminals. I may have been less surprised to hear this from only Avon. Killing Kayn would get them nowhere but would at least be good revenge for Kayn having called in the Federation ships. Part of me thinks Avon would do it for this reason. There is a hint of nerves in Vila's voice but with nothing to lose and some confidence gained from waving a weapon around on Team Blake's recent exploits, when I was watching in that moment I believed he might do it.

Bloody Blake
Vila saying Blake wouldn't kill someone in those circumstances was thought-provoking. I will now continue to wonder what Vila might be prepared to do in the future if he thinks Blake wouldn't. Separately, I am unsure if I agree with Vila. I think Blake has shown he is prepared to go far to achieve his aims. He could have killed Travis in Duel. One reason he didn't was that he thought, "I would have enjoyed killing him." I don't trust Blake. He gives an impression of being all moral and noble but I am going to be trying to watch him more closely because I find him so contradictory.

Blake has to be made aware when Gan's operation is about to begin because the ship cannot be moved. He comes to the medical bay and throws in his own threat to Kayn. Knowing how to ensure it has maximum effect, he tells the highly-skilled neurosurgeon, “I shall destroy your hands.” Kayn's face drops. I will give it Blake that he knows how to push buttons well and he gets shit done.

This is evident by the number of examples when Blake has assumed authority. First and foremost, he became the crew's unelected leader. In Mission to Destiny, I was surprised when the Destinians took his word for who Team Blake was - they could easily have accused them of being the mysterious killer. I mentioned his amusing challenge of a guard in Project Avalon. It's similar here when Blake initially brings Kayn over to The Liberator. He teleports over to the facility, asks for Kayn, briefly explains that they have a sick crew member and Kayn joins him, all within a minute.

There are times when Blake does show himself as a good strategist. After leaving Kayn with Gan, he has the foresight to head to the flight deck where he consults Zen and requests a list of the Federation's nearest bases and flight times. While this mindset may give him credentials for being a decent leader, it still annoys me that he has always assumed the role.

The many faces of the Federation
Kayn is played by Julian Glover, giving Blake's 7 the most awesome guest star since Cygnus Alpha's Brian Blessed. It's a shame we don't see more of him as he doesn't come in until the second half of the episode. He's on top form as the cold Kayn. In contrast, Kayn's assistant is irritating, perving on Jenna. I don't think the young man is a great actor and next to the superb Glover any slight looks even worse.

The research facility is at first described as neutral, being neither for or against the Federation. But they tread carefully nonetheless, pretending to be a Federation ship. As Kayn walks off with Blake, praising the Federation and its technology, Avon describes him as, “One of the many faces of neutrality.”

It therefore isn't a great shock that when Kayn realises who Blake and the others are, he gets a message to the Federation - probably through the Blackberry we see him playing on. After his swift reaction to step aboard, we find ourselves faced with a doctor disregarding human life to help the Federation. I'm not sure if he's trying to ingratiate himself with the Federation or just properly admires it, but he is a terrible doctor and person. Gan is on the edge of death and Kayn does not care at all. It's another notch in the growing evidence of Federation cruelty.

Team Avon
Discovering that Avon has researched a “bolthole” is wonderful. When he first mentions the research station, he simply says that he "looked it up in the databanks" as "it was information that I thought might prove useful to me." It's Vila who smirks as he adds, "Somewhere to run to if things get too hot here?" But Avon doesn't care to deny it, answering: "The thought had crossed my mind." We have known for a while that The Liberator has detailed databanks and it is unsurprising that Avon has been reading and researching. I imagine his technological mind would have wanted to find out more about the ship, it’s technology, and Zen early on. He likes problem solving so the research base would be a suitable place for him to safely live out his days. Avon has made several vague threats to leave or to try to take over from Blake, but this is proper confirmation that he is serious.

Clearly feeling they have nothing to lose, Blake eventually decides to go straight for the centre of the mysterious, probably deadly vortex. A small part of me is on Blake's side in this moment. If they don't they are dead anyway. Yet while they did all initially agree to ignore Zen and go into the potential danger zone, Avon’s early protests to come out when they realised their safety control was gone were ignored. It is Blake’s fault they didn’t turn around. Cally hasn't enough lines this week to contribute. Jenna went along with him because she always does, then immediately acted on his command to head for the vortex, announcing it to the others as she did so. Vila just seems to be constantly worried so is happy to absolve himself of any contribution to decisions. Additionally, Blake's reasoning for this decision is that, if they do die, it will be quicker this way. Well, mate, if we are all going to die together in a space vortex, and have an option about how it will happen, I would like a vote on it. Perfectly reasonably, perfectly naturally, most people would do anything they could just to live another minute.

Following this decision from their not-so-revered leader, Avon says:

“Blake. In the unlikely event that we survive this...”
Blake "Yes?"
Avon “I’m finished. Staying with you requires a degree of stupidity of which I no longer feel capable.”
Blake "Now you’re just being modest."

It's a marvellous little face-off and Blake the bloody hero enjoys his own witty response, but I am firmly Team Avon. From early on, I've been slagging off Blake's selfishness, bloodymindedness and impulsiveness and I am thrilled that Avon has finally told him to get stuffed. For some time now, there has been an increasing sense that he has had enough.

Later, Cally believes Blake is angry with Avon because he has said he wants to leave. Blake tells her he will do nothing to try to convince Avon to stay. I think this is quite a big mistake. In fact, it is potentially catastrophic. I would argue that Avon's technological expertise makes him the most valuable member of the crew. Several of Team Blake may know how to fly The Liberator and some rather well, but if anything goes wrong, they are utterly screwed without Avon. His logical, stubborn nature is also one of the main reasons Blake has not succeeded in killing them all yet. Like it or not, they need Avon far more than he needs them.

Team Blake
Most of the crew are starting to seem more whole. Blake and Avon continue to feel like the show’s main protagonists, but Vila and Jenna are also featuring slightly more now. After being consigned to The Liberator’s flight deck for the first few episodes, Jenna has started to get a decent amount of screentime. However, I find it hard to assign any particular characteristics to her. She often simply goes along with Blake. After Avon, she seems like she could be the most strong-willed. I would like to see her argue a differing opinion and stand up to Blake over something, anything. She changed her outfit midway through this episode - not for the first time - which should surely have been the last thing on her mind when she's supposed to be piloting the ship. It seems to serve solely to allow her to draw the attention of Kayn's lusty assistant and I feel the production team are not doing justice to her potential.

Likewise, Cally’s development has also been a bit of a letdown. Aside from a few references to “my people”, the show has almost forgotten that Cally is an alien and it’s a shame little use has been made of her telepathic abilities. She spends a chunk of Breakdown tending to Gan and sometimes I feel that she and Jenna are there to ask questions or otherwise enable dialogue from Blake. Maybe my attention is drawn to these instances more because I don't think there is much else there with them. It’s undeniable that the time the show was made, and the fact it has been written by a man, could be having an impact on its female characters.

Yet in fairness, Gan has had little to do either. He’s the brawn of Team Blake, but they haven't used this much, preferring to favour stealth and technology where possible. Gan has the potential to be an interesting character and I remain curious about his backstory, but nothing has been done with him. In Breakdown, he becomes animalistic and while obviously not at all himself, it is hard to say much about what sort of person Gan is exactly. He's very much been brushed aside. It certainly looks like Terry Nation is struggling to try to write for so many regular characters. The need to combine this with providing substantial enough parts for the guest cast makes it even harder.

One additional point to mention after this episode is that the series continues to push the limits of its special effects capabilities. This week the vortex is represented only on a screen, with red moving swirls reminiscent of Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who titles. They employ camera effects to stretch and alter the onscreen images, as well as relying on good old shaky camera acting.

I immensely enjoyed Breakdown, as I hope is evident above.  There are triumphs of dialogue - TRIUMPHS - and I liked the ticking clock element to the plot that was then ramped up once we knew Federation ships were approaching. This drip-drip-drip approach to constructing the Federation as an evil empire is excellent. I've had fun exploring Blake and Avon all series, but I was truly impressed with Vila this week and his confrontation with Kayn was one of my favourite moments. I felt so proud of him! His attitude has also, I think, given us a potential recruit for a proper Team Avon.

Blake's 7 - Project Avalon

Project Avalon

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 beaten Travis before, this one felt the most satisfying.

There has been a change of tack by the Federation. Previously, they were hunting down Blake but in Project Avalon we learn they now want The Liberator as well, with Travis specifying that it should be "undamaged". The Federation have probably cottoned on to the ship's power as it has managed to outrun their pursuit ships, but from early on it has been clear that The Liberator was something special. When Avon, Jenna and Blake first look around it, their reactions demonstrate that it has capabilities far beyond what they are familiar with. They must work out how to operate the teleporter, which is technology they believed was only experimental. I'm inclined to believe The Liberator has come from their future somehow. I don't believe it is alien because its design in items like the chairs, beds and teleport bracelets is humanoid-orientated. It leaves an air of mystery to the vessel and this fits in well; like most the other members of Blake's 7, we know little about its history.

Travis, Servalan and the Federation
We continue to see more of the Federation's brutality, which starts early with a massacre of rebels. This shooting is carried out by mutoids, whose blank faces speak for the heart of the Federation. It also probably prevents actual humans from getting massacre fatigue as it seems to be a favourite tactic.

Later, Travis is joined by Servalan to watch a prisoner being experimented on. Servalan looks awesome as she sweeps through in her white furs. I was happy to see Servalan again. She delivers lines so coolly that I find it difficult to judge her emotions. I get the feeling she is simmering away sometimes.

She presents Travis with a small, round container that contains a virus. The virus looks purple and sparkles using a special effect. I’m really impressed that the effect works fairly well because it has to move around in shot. It seems a brave thing to attempt and a curious one to choose to spend their money on. I like it though as it makes this tiny object more intriguing. When let off in a sealed room, it seems to age or alter the random male prisoner to a skeleton. He doesn't look in pain and has no lines, but his face is miserable.

Perhaps he was expecting something like this because Avalon was. Travis picks up Avalon and we see her placed under a scanning machine. She's naked apart from two silver strips and it's a bit odd as the reason for this is never explained! I had to simply presume that it was an additional humiliation for prisoners. The machine pulsates red over her head and I realised I had seen this before - in Blake's flashbacks to his own interrogation by the Federation. Travis gloats that Avalon will tell him everything and, oddly for a fictional prisoner, she doesn't object. She's supposed to scream, "I'll never talk! I will tell you nothing!" Instead, she admits that she knows enough about the Federation's methods to realise that she will eventually give them what they want.

I'm curious how she knows about their interrogation techniques because the Federation doesn't seem to release their prisoners. They are killed, have memories wiped or disappear to penal colonies. I don't think there has been talk of any actual prisons but perhaps there are and some people do return to tell others about their experiences.

It's implied that Travis isn't just going to be allowed to carry on hunting Blake without getting anywhere because people are watching him. Servalan tells him, “There has been considerable criticism of your handling of the Blake case.” Travis's simple reply of, “What?” is laced with fury. How dare anyone! As with the guard we saw in Seek-Locate-Destroy, Servalan employs her delicate feminine touch, stroking Travis's chest while they talk. It was at this point that I noticed for the first time that Travis's uniform has the Federation logo on the chest.

I find this logo aesthetically pleasing and enjoy seeing it subtly appear in various places. However, the one place we've see it several times now is the Federation guards' uniforms, where it looks poor - it could be sellotaped on. We've been seeing these guards from fairly early on - Time Squad is the first place I recall seeing them in these uniforms, which I do like. In contrast to the inhumanly-regarded mutoids, the faces of the actually human Federation guards are completely covered by masks. It makes them faceless representatives of the Federation, which is the perfect metaphor for a government that chooses to treat its citizens with no decent humanity, ignoring their freedoms and individuality.

Team Blake
Team Blake is going to pick Avalon up as she is an old contact of Jenna's, who gets out of The Liberator for the second episode in a row. Once she and Blake find the massacred rebels, they head off with the sole survivor, Chevna, to rescue Avalon. They call Vila down too and after what felt like forever, Team Blake reach the Federation base.

Vila departs The Liberator with his cool box full of tools again and is less than happy about it, moaning, “I don’t know why it always has to be me. I’m tired of being indispensable.” Following a couple of episodes of everything being very serious, I was pleased to see more of one of my favourite cowards again. He takes his time as he dons an outfit for the freezing climate and we discover that the Liberator raincoats can incorporate a suit with a thermostat, which I thought was a neat idea. Vila turns his up painfully high as Avon and Cally watch him slowly get everything together in the teleport room. Paul Darrow provides some wonderful expressions. As soon as Vila has stepped into the booth though, Avon begins moving switches and he and Cally exchange great smiles once Vila has disappeared. It’s a lovely moment as so much is done with just their silent reactions.

Breaking into the Federation base eventually provides some proper excitement. There is a fantastic assumption of authority by Blake who challenges a guard, calling out, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” They force their way in by threatening the guard and even Vila finds some guts as he jams a gun into the man. There is nothing like loud alarms sounding to hurry us along with a bit of tension and soon Team Blake are having to blast their way out. I enjoyed all the shooting. However, virtually every combatant is a crap soldier, leaving themselves way too exposed during the battle. Chevna is the only one occasionally leaning around walls to use them for cover.

Blake shows how far he is willing to go during Project Avalon and my mind continues to whir as I try to work him out. When breaking into the base, he breaks a guard’s neck. I’ve always known he has little regard for the Federation’s guards, but this seemed brutal and unnecessary.

To free the real Avalon, Blake decides to use the glittery virus against the Federation. He teleports down to the base and demands a meeting with Travis. Servalan joins him for a cracking scene. With the robot Avalon reprogrammed to obey some simple commands, it holds the virus and will drop it if any (unspecified) actions are taken. Blake makes it plain that he is willing to kill them all, himself included, to risk getting what he wants. He’s incredibly cool and calm, savouring the moment of having the Federation by the balls.

Servalan must be a well-known public figure in the Blake’s 7 universe because this is the first time she and Blake have met yet he recognises her immediately. I adore the way Gareth Thomas emphasises Blake saying, “…and the Supreme Commander!” His tone has a sort of mock-honour, but Blake must really be delighted by the presence of Servalan as it enables her to witness his humiliation of Travis.

It is apparent that Travis thinks Blake is bluffing. Perhaps Blake hasn't always been prepared to be so ruthless or take such risks. Travis initially tries to step forward and a hand from Servalan stops him. I'm not sure if it was intentional from Stephen Grief, but when a livid Travis is watching Blake position the virus between the robot's thumb and forefinger, Travis's cheek twitches. It's a small, subtle thing but I thought it was good. Once Blake and the real Avalon have teleported to The Liberator, Travis slowly approaches the robot and as he inches closer the virus drops. He catches it, before saying to himself, “If it takes all my life, I will destroy you, Blake.” I'm enjoying the layers of their rivalry being built up.

Team Avon
Early on in the episode, before they have even met, Avon dismisses Avalon as, "Another idealist. Poor but honest." Then, positively dripping with sarcasm, “I shall look forward to our meeting with eager anticipation.” I do wonder what keeps Avon going. He has no hope that the Federation will ever be overthrown but seems quite content with this idea. He presumably has his own plans for the rest of his life.

Avon has no enthusiasm to head down to this week's planet. At one point he's sat down on a sofa, looking comfortable and tapping away on a small handheld device. It appears to be the interactive notebook Blake used to draw on Zen's screen in Duel and from the present day it almost resembles a smartphone.

An exchange between Blake and Avon reveals that the former has not been playing Candy Crush though. Avon says the teleport coordinates have all been "computed". If it wasn't for the use of this word I may have assumed he was using a calculator but this implies that the device is actually connected to the ship - The Liberator has wifi!

Avon remains on The Liberator with Gan and Cally throughout the episode. While waiting for the return of the others, the ship is detected by interceptors and Avon suddenly seems flustered. They can't stay where they are. But I like how he soon naturally takes control. He knows there’s nothing else they can do but leave so insists, deciding they can move and come back later to be in the range of the teleporters.

This additional plot point is needed because all Team Blake are doing for much of Project Avalon is creeping around caves and corridors for ages. I got a little bored of the characters roaming around for so long. It feels like parts of the episode have been stretched out. Even though there is only so much tension that can be wrought from it, Team Avon's subplot seems another way of ensuring those left on The Liberator get enough screen time because they aren't involved in the main action.

When Team Avon do come back into orbit, Team Blake is desperately calling to be teleported back up as they have been pursued from the base. Avon has to sprint across the ship to the teleport room. Once they have been returned safely, Avon asks, “What went wrong?” and a furious Blake retorts, “I was about to ask you!” Blake seems even angrier than usual, which may be because he knew how terrible it would be for them all to have been trapped so close to the Federation. Only managing to get teleported off at the last moment is becoming a running Blake's 7 trope by now. We’ve had this from Space Fall onwards and Blake's very first trip! A variation on “That was a bit close” could probably be written into every episode. It would be useful to have some controls for the teleport on the bridge.

Team Blake has brought back a Federation gun from one of the guards they were fighting and Avon's extensive technological expertise is demonstrated further when he examines it. He determines that it is “not standard issue” This got me wondering: what sort of previous close experience did Avon have of Federation guards and their guns before he joined before The Liberator? Or what sort of research has he done? Surely the Federation wouldn’t have allowed that sort of knowledge to be public and easily accessible. How often has he got hold of one of their guns then? I can only conclude that this information must have been stored within a computer system that Avon hacked into. Maybe he wanted to research Federation weaponry in case he got caught in the middle of a crime.


Project Avalon may be the first episode I wasn't overly impressed by. With Travis featuring in three out of the last four episodes, there has been a certain amount of repetition. We are now nine episodes into a 13-episode series so I think it would be good if Travis disappeared until the finale.

I didn't see the robot Avalon reveal coming at all and thought it was clever. The robots we have seen have been guard robots - there was one in Seek-Locate-Destroy and one in Project Avalon. Even ignoring their boxy of-their-time design, they are demonstrated as poor as Team Blake is able to get around them fairly easily by keeping out of the robot's vision, which is sometimes as simple as lying on the ground until its patrol moves off. To then get a full humanoid robot is quite a step up. It isn't usual for the Blake's 7 universe either with an impressed Avon describing it as "the best robotic engineering I've seen" when he opens the head up. The implications from it are also significant. Although it's made clear that someone who knows a person well wouldn't be tricked, it could be used to create copies of people and the Federation could perfect the technology further in the future.

However, this ending and reveal felt a tad rushed for me and I think I would have liked it expanded. As mentioned above, I was also bored by the endless bloody caves and corridors that partly felt like padding. Avalon herself is not an especially interesting character and the performance is not engaging. There was nothing particularly bad about Project Avalon though and there were several small elements I loved, like Vila faffing in the teleport room. Blake's confrontation with Travis and Servalan was also absolutely marvellous and I am finding him an increasingly interesting character, even if my early personal frustrations with him still linger.

Blake's 7 - Duel

Duel

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 how The Liberator is powered and found myself defending Avon's supposed lack of emotion.

The Liberator has been getting chased by Federation pursuit ships and is low on power, so Team Blake is on the lookout for somewhere safe to wait while the power recharges. Spotting a likely planet, a handful of the crew teleport down for a look round. Soon they must return, after spotting three Federation ships closing in on The Liberator and a battle kicks off.

Power
It hasn't been entirely clear how The Liberator gains its power or what form it is in, but it doesn't seem to be conventional fuel. The series has mentioned 'power cells' and 'power banks’. These can run out and need time to recharge. Low power affects The Liberator's ability to travel at speed, which means they can't outrun these Federation ships. It also means they can't fire weapons, I think. I have pondered whether they are solar-powered as this seems the most realistic option, I say about a science-fiction series set several hundred years in the future with a teleport system. If not, the power units could recharge themselves - comparably, I'm imaging video games where a character's health replenishes other time. The fact it isn't entirely explained doesn't matter as it simply serves as an easily repeatable plot device. The Liberator crew will have to stop off on planets from time to time and the presence of any Federation ships will therefore pose an even greater looming threat.

Battle
As The Liberator is fired on, the tension suddenly ramps up. Blake consults Zen who says their only viable option is surrender. Avon, who never misses an opportunity for the dramatic, screams, "Logic says we’re dead!" There is lots of top wobbly acting as The Liberator gets repeatedly hit by weapons from the ships. The Liberator has some sort of shield, but it won't last forever with their low power. I loved all this - we've always jumped straight into the action in Blake's 7 but I don't think we've ever had this much excitement so early on before. How are they going to get out of this? They're doomed!

Blake beckons Avon and Cally over to explain his plan. I don't know why he doesn't involve everyone in this, although with Blake and Avon having emerged as the most prominent members of the crew, they are effectively the senior leadership of Team Blake. With Jenna being the pilot, you would have thought she should have been involved in this chat instead of Cally.

Blake takes out a small notebook and begins drawing marks to represent all the ships. I'm very impressed that this appears on Zen's display screen as he draws it. While mirroring devices on large screens has become easy enough in recent years, this is a long way off for 1978 and I'm delighted the show has managed such an accurate prediction of the future.

With one ship having done most of the firing, Blake predicts it will be low on power, with the other not far behind it. One of the three ships hasn't fired at all yet so Blake reckons it is the ship Travis is on. Blake's plan is to ram it, leaving only one functioning Federation ship. This is a terrible plan. For a start, we can see that The Liberator has long thin pointy bits on the outside that will immediately snap off. However, they all acknowledge that as no one else has any better ideas this will have to do.

As the ships are about the make contact, everything slows down until it eventually freezes. The colours onscreen are inverted and there are various other effects. Travis’s ship appears to have red emergency lighting, while The Liberator’s is both red and green. I thought the effects of all this were rather good. I was puzzled, trying to figure out what was happening. Everyone looked in great pain, then Travis and Blake were transported to the planet below.

Women
At the start of the episode we saw a couple of women - one old, one young. The latter is wearing a very figure-hugging outfit, which I must admit I found a little distracting because you could see everything, and the blue-tinted lighting seemed to emphasise it.

If I have any criticisms of Duel, it’s that there was too much talking with these women. I was initially intrigued in them at the start and their mysterious chat, but it went on a bit once they had brought Travis and Blake down. Cutting between the women explaining the planet’s history and the Liberator crew watching, I lost interest in their backstory yarn. For fairly obscure reasons that seemed to relate to power and balance, they have decided that Travis and Blake should fight it out on the planet. This will supposedly limit the deaths of others – presumably the crew of all the ships up above.

I did like that this is set up so that they must touch their opponent. Spaceships and guns have made their killing very remote. One of the women explains: “Here you must take a life. There will be no machines to make the act unreal. You must touch the life you take.” I think their idea is that they will watch to see if the men truly hate each other as much as they think, or perhaps discover whether they are really violent, capable of holding death in their hands.

Travis
Travis was set up well during Seek-Locate-Destroy. We were told and then shown how vile he can be, but Duel is the chance to see more of his sadistic and callous nature in actual ‘action’. He’s confident before they have begun, describing the idea as “pathetic”. He goes on: “I don’t give a damn about their lessons. I shall enjoy taking your life, Blake.” Based on his last appearance, I’m convinced this is true.

The duellers are transported to a forest, having only been given a large knife/cleaver/sword weapon. The forest makes a nice change after a couple of episodes of concrete and metal. Blake seems to have lost his weapon very quickly because he's barely got over the transportation when Travis has come for him, saying, "Come on, Blake. You don't want to die on your back." But Blake appears to have been put off and Travis uses his upper hand to grab Blake by the neck and prepare to slit his throat. It's only the intervention of the women that stop it - everything freezes again. The old woman seems to have been gleefully enjoying the spectacle. She says Travis is like her own people, whom I gathered had been wiped out, maybe - I'm afraid this was during the talking bit where I struggled to stay interested. She's clearly like them too. She insists to the younger woman that she "only wanted to see how vicious he really was."

I found this a startling moment, especially as it happens so quickly. Blake is the hero - of course we think he's going to win. To have the tables immediately turned is a surprise. I continue to be amazed by the show's subject matter for an early evening programme that would have had plenty of children watching. This was going out at the same time as Coronation Street. It seems astounding not just that the BBC was able to show such violent viciousness at this time, but that they decided it would be a good idea to attempt it in the first place. I believe it was probably justified by the fantasy setting of the series.

If we ever doubted what a brutal killer Travis was, this feels like the moment that shows him fully. “You talk a good fight” Blake had told him earlier, but it's evident that despite a life fighting with guns and spaceships, Travis no qualms about killing anyone - and certainly not Blake. I have the feeling he would do it for any cause he could find.

Within his earlier speech, we get a reminder of his loyalty to the Federation as he insists, “Nothing concerns me but my duty.” I found myself thinking back to the end of Seek-Locate-Destroy when he’s shouting at the guards to shoot at Blake, saying, "It doesn't matter about me!” It’s interesting that Travis seems willing to sacrifice himself for his ultimate cause of maintaining the superiority of the Federation, when similarly, Blake is willing to risk his life for his cause. His composure is marvellously cool in Duel as he states of the Federation, “I will destroy it.”

Both also have varying degrees of disregard for their companions. Travis’s is blatant. We’re introduced to mutoids in this episode, which seem to be some sort of adapted humans. They have no memories of their earlier lives and need ‘blood serum’ to survive. This comes in a green vial that they insert into their chests. Not everyone likes the idea of mutoids and Travis has complete disdain for them. He certainly doesn’t consider them proper living beings – more like robots. The old women bring in a 'friend' for each dueller, and in Travis's case they clearly had few options and a female mutoid is brought down (actually the only ones we see are female, so they may all be). Despite her insistence that her functioning will be impaired without blood serum, Travis ignores her and then blames her when things go wrong later.

Blake
Blake stands in front of the two women very calmly, slightly amused that Travis is unable to harm him after they have initially been transported down. He tries to take the moral high ground as the women explain what will happen, telling them, “I’m don’t think I want to kill for your entertainment.”

Blake ultimately beats Travis but doesn't kill him. He finds himself transported back to a clearing with the two women who want to know why. “I know who is chasing me and I know I can beat him” is the answer. The first part was essentially Blake's reason for not killing Travis in Seek-Locate-Destroy and I was frustrated with this as I found it a poor argument. The "I know I can beat him" addition is a good justifier. Blake is demonstrating that he has learned from Travis's techniques, commenting in Duel that he knows Travis will try to lure him into a trap. Yet with Jenna (his friend brought in) captured, he actually ends up doing this anyway.

The other reason for not killing Travis is much more interesting: “I would have enjoyed killing him.” It did elicit an 'Ooh!' from me. It was a nice chink in the armour of this moral man, who I'm beginning to have doubts over. Would Blake ever kill Travis? Even if not, would there be a situation where Blake would let him die? What if it advanced his campaign against the Federation significantly enough?

Apart from odd references, we know little about Blake's prior life - before his mind was altered by the Federation and he spent a while as a "reformed character". We only know what he's told us about what he got up to during his first time as an underground Federation rebel. Just because he was anti-Federation does not mean he was a good guy. Considering he’s very much Mr Moral now, I suspect he may have been the same in his younger days. Yet I think Blake picks and chooses when to apply these morals.

The rest of the Liberator crew can see and hear what is happening on Zen's screen. The younger woman tells Blake and Travis, "15 people could die because of your beliefs." When Blake replies, “My crew are with me by choice”, we cut to Avon's stony face and he merely says, “Really?”

I wonder if Blake genuinely believes that? I think he possibly does. I think that is maybe why he goes about things with such conviction - because he truly thinks his crew have chosen to join his crusade. In reality, despite their varying levels of loyalty to Blake, all the crew are stuck with him through a lack of any other viable options. In fact, Blake’s crusade has made it increasingly difficult for them to leave. While originally they were all known and wanted for the crimes that got them sent to Cygnus Alpha (aside from Cally), Blake has ensured they are now caught up in what seems to be becoming a significant rebellion against the Federation. It will be much more difficult for any of them to slip under the radar now. Maybe Blake is aware of this.

The last couple of episodes have made me ponder that if the titles appeared suddenly calling it Avon’s 6, I’d probably cheer while they stuffed Blake into an airlock. It isn’t that I dislike Blake. Rather, I find him quite an irritating hero to be leading us. The Federation is evil (and I do love the utter horridness of it) so I want to see Blake lose his temper and do something vengeful and nasty. He’s selfish, too bloody moral and he isn't even consistent.

Instead, I find myself supporting Team Avon. Despite the fact he's shown himself to be a bit of a bastard, I love him for it, probably partly because I've been on his side of reason and logic from the start, and partly due to my frustration with Blake. It would come as no surprise if Avon found a way to leave The Liberator with a number of valuable items, abandoning the rest of the crew to their fate of spending the rest of their days as the conscripted recruits of Blake’s Cause.

Avon
It's a good touch that in an episode where mutoids are introduced, there are comments questioning Avon's emotional capacity. I know I've just described him as a bit of a bastard, but I think it's important to remind ourselves that he isn't the inhuman psychopath that Travis is.

A reply from Zen makes Blake light-heartedly wonder if he "offended Zen's professional pride" to which Avon answers, "It's just a machine, Blake." Vila then comments to Gan, "He should know." Gan is a bit thick and doesn't get this at first. Avon walks over and clears it up for him: "He was calling me a machine. But since he undoubtedly defines himself as a human being, I will choose to accept that as more of a compliment than anything else." Even if Vila has touched something, it's a nice comeback from Avon and gets no further reply from Vila, who busies himself looking down at some interesting controls. There’s a great moment afterwards where Vila gets up and Avon doesn’t move, forcing him to brush past his chest. Avon stands there smiling, knowing he's made his position clear. I don’t see them getting in a barroom punch-up but still wouldn’t fancy Vila’s chances and he's certainly never going to win in a battle of wits with Avon.

As darkness sets in, the crew back on The Liberator are still watching the screens showing the planet below. Avon is prepared to give in for the night. Gan challenges, “You’re never involved, are you, Avon? Have you ever cared for anyone?” Vila adds, “Except yourself?” Avon replies, “I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care. Or indeed why it should be necessary to prove it at all.” I have previously described Avon as selfish, in a logical way - his most pressing concern does tend to be, and usually has to be, preventing Blake from killing them all. So initially it would seem that Gan and Vila's comments are fair.

But I found Avon's answer masterful as his entire outlook is based on acting rationally for survival. His rather removed personality is a demonstration of the other half of his statement and I do find it really intriguing that he doesn't understand why you might need to demonstrate that you care about other people. He is not concerned that showing such compassion might help build relationships and make others more inclined to care about him. I have previously referenced Avon's very first scene from Space Fall in which he reveals that he got caught by the Federation while trying to rob a bank because he "relied on other people" and so his comments in Duel make perfect sense. I don't think Avon is bothered whether or not other people know he cares about them because even if he does, he probably doesn't expect them to care about him.

While it is true that Avon is fairly reserved when it comes to expressing emotions outside of anger and cynicism, he is capable of doing so. The moment that has stayed with me is the end of Seek-Locate-Destroy when Blake and Cally return to The Liberator. Standing with Avon, Vila says to them, "We're glad you're safe, aren't we? Aren't we?" Avon is still starring over towards Blake and Cally, and softly says, "Yes, I'm glad you're alright." He says it like he means it and my interpretation was that even if Avon dislikes Blake, he does share concern for the other crew and is relieved Cally returned from Travis safely. I think Avon could be afraid of showing much emotion, fearing that it would make him vulnerable. Yet even if the others do see him as somewhat robotic, it is evidenced that he simply chooses when and if to show he cares.

Cally
Cally was introduced with telepathy skills but we haven't really seen any of this since. There were a few lines in Mission to Destiny that I noticed she gave without moving her lips. In Duel we get a small hint of it when, as the crew watch on The Liberator, Avon wonders aloud, "How are we seeing this?" It is of course the camera's viewpoint, but we are told it is through the old lady. Cally assures the others that what they’re seeing is the truth and just seems to know somehow.

Jenna
One important event of this episode was Jenna leaving the ship to visit a planet, something that I previously noted hasn't happened since The Way Back. She gets herself captured by Travis's mutoid friend, and the sight of her tied up and gagged on the forest floor was the final nail in the coffin of my hope she would be this awesome kick-ass ex-smuggler, who had had to look after herself and could comfortably take on anyone.

An explanation for Jenna rarely venturing from the ship was provided when I considered a comment from Vila, who has the reasonable worry that they’re all screwed if Blake and Jenna don’t make it back. He informs us that they are the only people who know how to operate the ship. This is bad, gives a tad more tension to proceedings and could be why Jenna hasn't gone off before now - if Blake is off the ship, they need someone else on board to operate it. I'm concerned. With such a small crew, it would make more sense for everyone to be able to do everything. But they do seem to have fallen into roles with Vila being the main person to operate the teleporter (though others do too), Cally assists Jenna sometimes, and presumably Avon is the only person who could do anything technical. I'm not sure what, if anything, Gan does.


I've mixed feelings about Duel. There are moments of fantastic excitement that I loved, like the whole space battle and when Travis almost kills Blake – just for a moment I was thinking, “What if he does it?”. However, I couldn’t summon much interest in the planet’s backstory and the duel in the forest feels lacking. By the time we’ve had the introductory scenes, the space battle and Blake and Travis have been briefed by the two women, a good chunk of the episode is gone. While it always seems like Blake’s 7 immediately gets on with a story, I’ve realised that we spend 10-20 minutes on The Liberator. If this continues, it may impact the ability to build up plots. In Duel, I felt that had the actual duel occupied more of the episode, there could have been more time to create tension in the forest and, following his near-death, possibly been able to dwell on Blake’s vulnerability there.

On the other hand, I've enjoyed having some of Travis's development compounded and the opportunity to compare him and Blake side by side. I'm still unsure about Blake and Duel has given me even more to think about. Yet he remains predictable to those who know him. As he stood holding his weapon over Travis, we cut to Avon who slowly shook his head, knowing Blake wouldn't kill him. I'm curious if Avon will try to use this predictability against Blake.

Avon continues to fascinate me as so many of his lines seem to come back to his innate cynicism. Back with Space Fall I first began to consider what sort of world could have bred his attitude. Since then, Blake's 7 has been gradually revealing parts of this world to us and it's become clear to me that Avon's outlook is quite justified.