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| Dark times ahead for our Liberator heroes in Season Two of BLAKE'S 7. Images: BBC. |
"Where are all the good guys?" - Vila
"You could be looking at them" - Blake (to his team)
"What a depressing thought..." - AvonThe ideal that one man can make a difference is more than proved by the intergalactic freedom fighter Roj Blake as he and his trusty vagabond team of varied ex-prisoners continue to wage their bold war against the evil and corrupt tyranny of the galaxy-spanning Terran Federation from within the futuristic environs of their advanced alien fighting ship, the
Liberator, in the popular sci-fi series of the late seventies: BLAKE'S 7, created with enthusiasm and adventure packed incident by Terry Nation. Their galaxy spanning exploits now becoming a building rallying call to other resistors to join their cause, of which an irritant and once all-powerful Federation wants our heroes swiftly destroyed and the
Liberator a new addition to their technological and weaponry means...
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| Continuing the crusade: Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas). |
The series format of BLAKE'S 7 remains as strong as ever in its second year, with delivered promises of more bold storytelling and action to come. But first for our heroes, there's a little matter of last seasons frightening cliff-hanger prediction of the future, as told by their newly acquired super intelligent plastoid computer Orac (voiced by Peter Tuddenham, who also provides the regular tones of that other super-computer, Zen) - showing the
Liberator and her crew blown to smithereens!- that must be resolved at all costs...
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| Paul Darrow as the coldly logical Avon. |
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| Sally Knyvette as space pilot Jenna. |
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| Michael Keating as lovable thief Vila, with the computer Orac (voiced by Peter Tuddenham) |
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| Jan Chappell returns as telepathic alien Cally. |
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| Blake with the doomed Gan (David Jackson). |
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| The impressive Liberator spacecraft, out on the edge of the universe. |
And Nation rises to the challenge, returning to solve that mystery with his Season Two premiere opener
Redemption, which also sees one of the shows other early mysteries finally solved: who or what built the
Liberator? Sadly not available to write a full season's compliment of adventures, as he had done with the premiere year (with a lot of key input from series script editor Chris Boucher), and his plans to introduce his DOCTOR WHO creations, the Daleks, into the series now scrapped, an over committed and previously exhausted Nation would instead provide two further original stories for the eagerly anticipated new run,
Pressure Point and
Countdown, both of which would prove excellent and show one of TV's top adventure writers in his creative stride, initiating a new mini-story arc with Boucher that would make its presence felt in the the shows last quarter. Boucher, too, would finally be able to write four original scripts for the new season; a talent who ultimately knew the characters and actors probably better than their creator, and more than able to write to the series strengths and what its dedicated behind the scenes crew could do with their limited programme making budgets. With the shows creator no longer such a dominating force with the scripting, the vacuum of his absence would be further filled in with several new writing contributors: Allan Prior and Roger Parkes, who provide varying quality escapades and scenarios. But the standout of the new batch is easily Robert Holmes, former DR WHO script editor of the Tom Baker era and the man who gave Boucher his first major television writing break on that series in 1977. Holmes provides two quirky and clever tales that also have a lot of humour (most notably building on the pairing of sardonic and blaster packing Kerr Avon (Paul Darrow) with clever intellectual thief Vila Restel (Michael Keating). On the directing front, producer David Maloney would ultimately handle the reins of the eventual action packed series finale, with enthusiastic veteran Vere Lorrimer also returning for four adventures. DR WHO directors adding a further touch of class to the second season wold include George Spenton-Foster and Derek Martinus, alongside another fine new visualist, Jonathan Wright Miller.
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| The Federation's presence in the series remains as deadly as ever... |
As the ambitious new seasons kicks in for its January 1979 debut, all of our main cast of heroes return. Gareth Thomas as Blake becomes an even more serious and determined leader/fighter against the Federation this year, harder edged and wanting to carve out new alliances to launch an attack on the Earth and its main computer complex controlling the Federation. But its with this daring ambition and gambit that his ego and stubbornness escalate to the point where terrible mistakes of judgement are made, of which he is also gently manoeuvred by his enemies at Federation Space Command, resulting in the death of one of the
Liberator family: the gentle giant Gan, who ultimately sacrifices himself to save Blake in the excellent episode
Pressure Point. The decision to kill off one of the seven being made by the production team because they thought things were getting a bit too cosy for our heroes, winning their many battles too easily-a wise and ultimately shocking decision that certainly got the audience and critics attention in 1979. Originally, the likable characters of telepath Cally (Jan Chappell) and Vila were also on the prime candidates list of extermination, but, in the end, accomplished stage and screen veteran David Jackson, who had become slightly frustrated with the lack of development for Gan, got the chop.
Acting as Blake's twisted adviser, mostly to say snarlingly
I told you so, and continue to act as a heated antagonist, Paul Darrow remains compulsively enjoyable as the often ruthless and edgy individualist Kerr Avon, who, at one point, almost abandons his colleagues to die at the edge of the universe in one episode (
Horizon) but is stopped from doing so by fate: in the form of three advancing Federation pursuit ships! Michael Keating's aforementioned Vila also gains some new facets and comedy, both on his own and with the main cast, as the writers especially enjoying playing with his character relationship with Avon. Disappointingly, however, it's the lovely and resourceful female heroes that get a bit of a raw deal this season-the telepathic Cally (Jan Chappell) starts off well with a strong amount to do early on inside the creepy nightmare world she's trapped within during the shows second episode
Shadow, but Sally Knyvette's ace pilot Jenna Stannis isn't quite so lucky in the season's final half, literally acting as a diversionary figure, using her feminine wiles or annoyingly staying on the
Liberator flight deck or in it's teleport chamber wishing her friends "good luck" as they go off into danger!
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| Red for danger! Jacqueline Pearce has fun as super-bitch Servalan. |
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| Brian Croucher as the re-cast baddie, Space Commander Travis. |
Fortunately, the girl power side of the shows villainy department fares a lot better, as the evil temptress and power mad queen of Federation Space Command, eventually Madame President, the feminine spider in her web, Servalan, as wickedly portrayed by the lovely Jacqueline Pearce, goes from strength to strength as the writers, particularly Chris Boucher, latch on to what an interesting and ahead of her time character role she truly was. Not available to play the sadistic, Blake hunting supporting role to her of Travis, due to his role in another TV movie project, Stephen Greif would need be recast by the producers, who ultimately decided to keep the Travis character because Terry Nation liked him and he was popular with audiences. Deliberately wanting to show a more over the edge and dangerous Travis than before, whose hunt for the rebel resistance fighters has become ever more bloodthirsty, up and coming young actor Brian Croucher, getting a name for himself as a raw talent in popular gritty TV film dramas of the time, would soon don the new leather costume, wear the intimidating black eye patch and wield the arm weapon that would makes the role so memorable. Croucher, though not the greatest of actors by any means, handles himself reasonably well in his debut in the series and is perfectly watchable when he has a good script in hand to work with, in doing so proving a very real and dangerous threat to Blake and co. But in some of the middle and more humourous, format challenging episodes towards the end of the season he looks a little lost and uncomfortable. Fortunately, with the character now seemingly as fully explored as he could be by the writers, Travis's final appearance is well handled, almost slaying his mortal target before getting a great death scene himself from the hands of Avon.
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| Michael Keating, Paul Darrow and Gareth Thomas enjoy a break on the Liberator set, with Zen (voiced by Peter Tuddenham) in the background. |
Roger Murray-Leach's ground breaking sets for the
Liberator interior come out of storage for year two and receive some mild improvements and polishing (though bits and pieces of props can still be heard falling to the flight deck floor from time to time!), whilst the series overall budget, though still BBC standard small, was given a
slight increase and visually looks much better than its premiere year. As ever, when episode scenes are made on film or on location, the show has a much better looking quality about it. The overall much criticised (before and since) special effects and model work are also of a good to very good standard in numerous episodes this year, from the likes of talents such as Matt Irvine. Aussie composer Dudley Simpson brings his musical skills to bear once more on the series, whilst June Hudson, a well-respected talent within the corporation, replaces some of the threadbare looking cast outfits of year one and exterminates the different coloured, deliberately
Robin Hood inspired crew exploration costumes designed by Barbara Lane, so as to add some glamour of fabric and leather to the shows attractive heroes and villains for the first half of year two, replaced by Barbara Kidd, who quickly builds on her fine work.
Season Two trailer:
Blakes 7 series 2 trailer - YouTube |
| Blake's in trouble in Redemption. |
As the season finale nears and the galaxy changing events out on the far away planetoid
Star One begin, the series ratings remained very strong, despite a mild dip against the rival CORONATION STREET soap opera on the opposite ITV channel. Plans were soon in the preparation stages for BLAKE's third year, of which producer Maloney and Boucher would be returning to creative guide the ship's helm. Sadly, with the end of her contract, Sally Knyvette would decide not to come back as Jenna, instead deciding to investigate her academic career and put acting on hold for a period. Sad to see her go, the series team would be hurt further with the news that lead star-and the heart of the show- Gareth Thomas had also decided to quit whilst he was ahead, so as to avoid typecasting and continue his successful career in the theatre-most notably with the approaching and tremendous lure of
The Royal Shakespeare Company beckoning him. (Towards the middle to near end of the second season transmission run, Thomas, with Pearce, would make an appearance on the popular children's television show MULTI-COLOURED SWAP SHOP, informing viewers of the shows upcoming third season, which would start production that summer, though his non participation in it would be carefully avoided.)
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| Tense times ahead for Avon and Blake. |
Despite what would be the tremendous loss of Blake and Thomas, Maloney and Boucher, with series creator Nation, quickly realised that recasting the series original was not an option they wanted to pursue, and that, instead, an intriguing new dimension of storytelling and drama could be brought to the revised show with a new lead star, one who was already actually present in the series and had been rapidly gaining a major following with the regular audiences, especially female fans who admired his characters intelligence and steel eyed grasp of dangerous situations: Paul Darrow's Avon...
A new dawn was imminent for BLAKE'S 7...
Here's a look back at KOOL TV's favourite episodes from Season Two...
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| The Ultra take possession of their original ship, the Liberator, in Redemption. |
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| Leggy alien lovelies of the Ultra, as played by Harriet Philpin and Sheila Ruskin, in this rehearsal image. |
REDEMPTION. Whilst trying to work out the puzzle of newcomer Orac's prediction for the Liberator's destruction, and undergoing vital maintenance work, Blake and his crew are attacked by the ship's internal defence systems-themselves under reprogramming and influence from its original alien owners-the cyborg humanoid Ultra (personified by the leggy Lycra clad forms of Harriet Philpin and Sheila Ruskin)- who reclaim the ship and plan to interrogate and execute its inherited crew...
A solid opener to the new series, that crams in a quite a lot in fifty minutes: good ideas, action, overall location filming (inside a nuclear reactor plant- a choice of filming venue which caused some worries with the cast members at the time, with Jan Chappell later allegedly having it written into her contract that she would no longer partake in such potentially heath and safety risky places) and sterling model work. But it all would have worked a whole lot better as a two-parter, giving Nation, and watching viewers a more satisfying chance to further develop the story and the alien Ultra, plus the still not quite resolved mystery of what exactly happened to the Liberator's original crew (potential for an upcoming BIG FINISH book perhaps?).
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| Bek (Karl Howman) tries to save Hanna (Vivienne Burgess) from the drug controlling lure of the Terra Nostra in Shadow. |
SHADOW. The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Realising he needs allies to continue his fight against the Federation, Blake initiates a first meeting with the intergalactic drug dealing mafia known as the Terra Nostra. He fails to win any kind of support-indeed, the crime cartel realise what a huge bounty the Federation will pay if the Liberator crew are captured- but soon discovers the truth-the real power- behind the organisation and their cultivation of the rare narcotic Shadow, which has enslaved so many innocent lives to its deadly grip. At the same time, a possessed by an alien force Orac takes control of Cally, and, seeing her as a potential threat to its invasion plans, sends her into a dark oblivion of the mind...
A terrific script from Chris Boucher mixing sci-fi concepts and action, full of strong performances (with guest artists including Karl Howman and Vivienne Burgess), and confident direction from Jonathan Wright Miller.
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| Carnell (Scott Fredericks) and Servalan make for an intriguing pair in Weapon. |
WEAPON. One of the Federation's greatest and most personality imbalanced scientists, Coser (John Bennett), has escaped with a top secret weapon called IMIPAK, and the race is on for Blake and Servalan to find him first and acquire the technology. But Servalan, accompanied by a blood-thirsty Travis, seemingly has all the aces up her sleeve: most notably a clone of Blake, delivered to her from the mysterious and neutral Clone Masters, and a psycho-strategist, Carnell (Scott Fredericks), able to predict to the last decimal how people will react in certain situations. But other factors soon come into play that neither party factor anticipate...
Another terrific script and high concept sci-fi idea from Boucher, which gives Jacqueline Pearce some fine, almost THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR inspiring sexy interplay between her and Scott Fredericks as the charming and dangerous Carnell.
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| Blake confers with alien leader Ro (Darien Angadi) and his partner Selma (Souad Faress) in Horizon. |
HORIZON. Travelling to a world on the edge of the charted exploration path, codenamed by the Federation as Horizon, our heroes encounter a civilisation in the grip of its colonialism and are soon captured. It seems that Avon is now finally, truly, on his own and ready to run with the Liberator: the prize he's always desired....
Its not regarded as one of the series best episodes but I think Horizon is pretty enjoyable and well made, with strong performance from CALLAN's William Squire as a nasty Federation academic heavy and Darien Angadi as Ro, the manipulated alien leader who has seemingly abandoned his peoples ancestry and been manipulated and abused by his overseers. It's Paul Darrow, though, who especially shines brightly as Avon in this episode as his anti-hero almost with a heart...
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| Big game huntress Servalan and her Mutoids in Pressure Point. |
PRESSURE POINT. Making good on his promise to return to the Federation seat of power on Earth, Blake vows to destroy its mythical computer complex, hidden at a top secret and apparently unbreachable location, once and for all. Going over the heads of his at-risk crew mates-almost forcing them into it through charisma and confidence, watched by a bristling with anger Avon, who at first thinks it could all be a foolhardy and life-threatening exercise, Blake has pre-arranged the assignment with another Earth resistance force led by the venerable Kasabi (Jane Sherwin), though he is unaware until too late that they are all walking into a carefully prepared trap by Servalan and Travis, as the full truth about central control is shockingly revealed...
One of the genuine highlights of Season Two, George Spenton-Foster piles on the style and all the tense thrills he can get from Nation's great script (despite a couple of noticeable budget deficiencies in re-used set designs), with the no-punches pulled death of Gan at story's end both gloomily triumphant and excellent drama. Special mention once again to Jacqueline Pearce as Servalan who excels in her scenes with Travis and the captured Kasabi, her former mentor, who previously recognised her ambitious and sadistic streak at an early age...
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| Travis faces a death sentence in Trial. |
TRIAL. Now an embarrassment to Servalan after the disastrous situation with Blake and Central Control on Earth, she arranges a show-trial that sees Travis under court martial for genocide crimes committed several years earlier in the Federation's name. Meanwhile, a guilt stricken Blake, wary of his next steps with the death of Gan, leaves the Liberator to seek solace and thinking time on an alien world, which soon comes under danger from another biological organism.
Two very distinct plots revolving around the element of individual survival come together for a fine action finale which sees Travis now a fugitive from the Federation but secretly working for Servalan when necessary. A brooding Croucher has some good material to play with as Travis, alongside some fine character acting support from the likes of Peter Miles, John Savident and THE BILL's late Kevin Lloyd.
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| Vila and Avon corner the duplicitous Tynus (Ronald Lacey) in Traitor. |
KILLER. Vila discovers that Avon really does have a friend out there in the cosmos, in the form of the duplicitous Tynus (Ronld Lacey), as the pair travel to the communications complex on Fosferon in order to steal a new Federation code machine. Meanwhile, the Liberator discovers a previously missing believed lost Earth space ship from its distant past, containing a deadly discovery that could render humanity extinct if it isn't stopped...
A witty and enjoyable script from Robert Holmes with a couple of genuinely scary moments. Keating and Darrow share some good scenes with guest Lacey, whilst Gareth Thomas gets his investigative acting chomps into the B story with other guest star Paul Daneman as a research scientist. It's all a little bit more low budget looking than previously, though, and watch out for all the plastic used in this episode. Plus, there's an infamous appearance from the world-famous Michelin Men!
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| Endangered species! Blake tries to help the people of Albion in Countdown. |
COUNTDOWN. The search for the location of the Federation computer control complex, now known as Star One, continues, propelling Blake into searching for a senior military officer, Commander Provine (Paul Shelley), on the conquered colony world of Albion, whose people have now launched a revolutionary battle, with the aid of hired mercenaries, in a risky life or death gamble to re-take their society. Its a gambit that is only partially successful, however, as Provine activates a doomsday weapon in retaliation, of which only Avon and the mercenary Del Grant (Tom Chadbon) can de-activate it. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Grant blames Avon for the previous death of his beloved sister, Anna, and has vowed to kill him!
Another Nation corker full of worn but always enjoyable tried and tested plot elements that, like a beloved pack of cards, he loves to shuffle and re-shuffle. The finished production gives things a further fresh new spin, helped along with enthusiastic direction from Vere Lorrimer and some good stunt work shot on film at Ealing Studios. Paul Shelly is a fine guest baddie, with an equally strong performance from Tom Chadborn as Grant, who works well with Paul Darrow. It's a shame his character never returned to the series as a semi-regular...
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| Danger for Vila and Avon in Freedom City in Gambit. |
GAMBIT. It may seem a little off kilter in the overall BLAKE'S 7 universe, what with its quirky and wordy mixing of comedy and drama, alongside what could be considered some very camp and perhaps too extravagant set and costume designs (making the most of the BBC's enormous stock warehouse of items), but Robert Holmes script is clever and lively, as our heroes travel to the neutral space city of sin, Freedom City, to find the a fugitive cyber-surgeon named Docholli (Denis Carey) who, currently being protected by Travis, may have the key to the location of Star One. But Servalan, more flamboyant and crafty than ever, is also there, using the city's lecherous ruler, Krantor (Aubrey Woods), to aide her search. On the comedy front, Avon and Vila conjure up a bonkers but fun B plot where the pair, using a miniaturised Orac, swindle the house casino. But a drugged Villa unwittingly gets caught up in a deadly speed-chess game with a master player called the Klute. And if you lose, you die...
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| Cally and Blake enter a hidden complex in Star One. |
STAR ONE. The seasons finale is a gripping and exciting affair from Chris Boucher. The elusive location of the Star One planetoid has been found and Blake makes explosive plans to destroy it utterly, no matter what the consequences for the peoples and planets that rely on its huge computer support to survive. Once down on the surface, however, the Liberator crew haven't reckoned on the fact that an alien infiltration of the planet by a mysterious race of shape adapting creatures called the Andromedans is already underway, at work on sabotaging the Federation's key defences- the first beachhead to a massive sneak attack, lead by an all-betraying Travis. Soon Blake and Jenna realise that Star One and the Federation must be saved if the human race is to have a fair chance against such an overwhelming attack, and an alert call is sent via Orac. With the Federation's huge minefield defence shield now partially down, and Blake critically wounded from a soon dispatched Travis, it's up to Avon, making a promise to Blake, to lead their ship and its crew in a time buying battle with the Andromedans, whilst en masse Federation forces, led by Servalan (determined not to let her new empire fall), race to their location. The battle is soon begun as the brave Liberator, staring death in the face, opens fire on the approaching aliens...
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| The Liberator takes on an approaching alien armada in the closing scenes of Season Two. |
Forget the unable to do it justice model work of the Andromedan alien fleet and enjoy the gruesome practical effects, gooey monsters and quite bloody violence on display in this episode, which also successfully shakes up the series format big time for season three. Plus, a final, genuinely moving scene between Blake and Avon that's beautifully written and played.
And then there's that all-time classic final moment of "Fire!"This confident, overall well made and memorable Series Two of BLAKE'S 7 ends on a gripping, w
e can wait to see what happens next cliffhanger, where the fate of our heroes and humanity hangs in the balance...
Seasons One to Four of BLAKE'S 7 are available on DVD.
Check out the news of the new series of BLAKE'S 7 novel adventures from BIG FINISH productions, and their audio dramas, which bring back many of the original series cast: Book News: New BLAKE'S 7 Novel Announced - Sci-Fi Movie Reviews, Movie News, Comics, Books and Gaming
Fans of the Season Two cliffhanger episode Star One and Season Three's continuance Aftermath, will be pleased to hear that an original audio drama intriguingly charting the unseen battle between the Liberator crew and the Andromedans- Warship- will be released in 2013 (above sleeve pic): 7. Warship - CD and Download - Blake's 7 - Big Finish
