Spaceworld. That is all.
Sun 13 Apr: 15. Shadow
Space City.
First episode not written by Terry Nation. Amazing plot weaving the ‘Terra Nostra’ crime syndicate’s links with the Federation and an attempted takeover of Orac by a force from another dimension - amazing it all fits within 50 minutes - most current Dr Who episodes seem to struggle with one plot in much the same time, let alone weaving two together this well. I had forgotten how good this episode was.
Sun 20 Apr: 16. Weapon
First episode with new Travis in it, and he’s simply not as good as the first Travis. Not that he’s bad at all, it’s just that Croucher isn’t as good as Stephen Grief was.
The episode is interesting as the main characters are hardly in it, instead it concentrates on Servalan, Travis and the guest cast.
It’s notable that the clone of Blake survives.
Sun 27 Apr: 17. Horizon
I remember this episode as being pretty boring from last time I watched it, but this time thought it was pretty good. Everyone apart from Avon gets captured and he has the dilemma of taking the Liberator himself or trying to rescue them.
Sun 4 May: 18. Pressure Point
A key episode in the series, in which Blake makes mistakes and Gan dies. Travis is ruthless in this one, tricking a woman into betraying Blake, then not keeping his promise, then chopping her unconscious. I have to admit he’s got style in this episode.
The scenes at the end, with Control being an empty room, are brilliant. The good guys don’t win.
Sun 11 May: 19. Trial
One of my favourite episodes, this shows Travis at his best, and the main plot of the episode is all about him. The minor characters for his trial are all well done and pretty believable. The plot with Blake & co is less well done, at least until it interacts with the trial and it means they’re responsible for Travis getting away. Clever.
Sun 18 May: 20. Killer
Not very memorable episode, except for the silly costumes worn by Avon and Vila.
Sun 25 May: 21. Hostage
Brian Croucher’s Travis 2 is still growing on me - if he had been an original villain, he could have been great - but he lives in the shadow of the first Travis and this holds him back.
Sun 1 Jun: 22. Countdown
“Space hours.” Yes, it’s an episode by Terry Nation. I love this episode, it is tense and it focuses on Avon’s backstory.
Sun 8 Jun: 23. Voice From The Past
Good points and bad points to this one:
Good point: the set-up - a marvellous trap set up by Servalan from the beginning, the scene with her in extreme close-up on a massive cinema screen is brilliant as she explains how she’s played them all along.
Bad point: Travis. A terrible episode for him, he’s incompetent and that’s the only reason Blake & co get away from the trap, and his disguise is terrible - the accent atrocious.
Sun 15 Jun: 24. Gambit
I really like this episode, with its mix of three mini-plots instead of one main plot, and the minor characters are all very well done. It stands out, especially Avon, Vila and Orac’s bits.
Sun 22 Jun: 25. The Keeper
As we approach the magnificent end of season 2 this episode does very little except build up towards that end - by itself it is a poor, wafer-thin story and none of the regular characters are well served by it.
Sun 29 Jun: 26. Star One
End of season 2, my favourite episode of Blakes 7 sees the ascension of Avon to Magnificent Bastard(TM), as he kills Travis, takes over the Liberator, and gets a perfect, dramatic last line of the story: “Fire!”
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