I has a puppy

I has a pet puppy. His name is Puppy. He is a sock puppy, but not made from a pair of long socks like me, he was made from socks that were tiny and cute. So he is a tiny and cute puppy. Here is a picture of me and Puppy.

I love my puppy.

I also has a nemesis. He is a monster called Longstealer. He is stripey like me but he is not long. He wants to steal my long, but he can't because I am too clever. And long.

This is what Longstealer looks like.

LOUD MAN IS LOUD

I have been watching John Silver's Return to Treasure Island. It is a TV programme that has BRIAN BLESSED in it.

BRIAN BLESSED was in Blakes 7 where he blew up in space. He was a very shouty manny in that. He was also in I Claudius where he acted properly and he died at the end of his bit.

In this he is Long John Silver - not a long cat but a long manny. I didn't know you got long mannys until I saw this. He only has one leg. He is very clever and sneaky and does not die at the end. He is also very shouty, but BRIAN BLESSED still acts properly in it even though it was made after Flash Gordon, when he started just being loud and shouting "GORDON'S ALIVE!" a lot.

I think BRIAN BLESSED is now one of my heroes, though I don't like him in the way I like Paul Darrow.

Gamma Longcat doesn't like him because BRIAN BLESSED is so loud he wakes Gamma Longcat up when he is trying to have sleeps. BRIAN BLESSED is VERY LOUD.

I LOVE the INTERNETS!

Enlightenment wasn't the diamond...

I have seen a lot of Doctor Who recently.

First I saw The Invasion, which is a long story. I approve of long stories because I am long. I saw it over three days. It was good and had Jamie in it. Kevin Stoney was the baddie. He is a good baddie. He was in Blakes 7 and I also saw him in Measure for Measure. I think he is very good. He had a henchman called Packer. He was silly and kept getting thing wrong and making his boss angry. It was funny. The Cybermen were in that story too, but they only appeared half way through and were not in it that much.

On Saturday Duncan had a 'Doctor Who Night.' He had one last year - here are some pictures of me being curious about things that I didn't know about a year ago: Chocolate Daleks!

This year I saw three stories in a row: first the Mind Robber, another story from the black-and-white '60s era. I had heard of it before from the Anorak Zone, where it is renowned for this image:

I like Jamie though.

Second was Ghost Light, which was a very confusing story. I am only a cat, and did not understand all the silly things that were happening. The mannys that were watching with me liked it being weird and Victorian but I was left being a confused cat, like when Duncan watches documentaries about manny things that I don't understand.

Last was Enlightenment, which I liked very much. It was a Special Edition version of the story, but I have not seen the original so didn't know the difference, except I could tell some of the special effects were not '80s effects so they must be new. Some silly mannys don't like old effects, but I do not mind them - I like Blakes 7 after all!

I liked the silly Guardians with the birds on their heads, they were funny. One of them was a baddy and the other was a goody, and the Doctor - who was a proper goody in those days - helped the good Guardian to beat the baddy. He was helped by Turlough, the oldest schoolboy ever.

Here is me dressed up as the Long Guardian:

Here is me and Gamma Longcat doing an ultimate showdown dressed as Guardians:

Gamma Longcat has Cthulhu on his head, so he must be the baddy!

Don't worry, we are best friends really.

A Mars A Day

There was a Doctor Who story on TV yesterday, called Waters of Mars.

I don't like Doctor Who very much. I mean, I like some of it, but not all of it. I'd rather watch Star Trek or Blakes 7. I liked Doctor Who when Paul Darrow was in it. And I like some of the old stories in black and white and written by Terry Nation. I quite like Daleks. I like Steven Taylor, he's nice. And I like Jamie, he's nice too.

I don't like David Tennant playing the Doctor. He's too silly and shouty. I prefer Jon Pertwee. At least when he is silly and shouty you know he is serious as well. I like Captain Jack, but I don't like Torchwood at all. I don't know why they made Captain Jack into Captain Scarlet, but then I'm only a cat so maybe I just don't understand these things.

I wasn't really watching the story yesterday, I was busy having sleeps. It was supposed to be very scary though, like the scary face at the end of Star Trek. I didn't think the water monsters were very scary, but the Doctor turning into a baddy was scary, because he is meant to be a goody. That was very dramatic but I am confused because if the Doctor is a baddy now then who is the goody? Maybe that is why it is called Doctor Who.

Christmas seems a long way away...

The I Claudius Challenge: 12 episodes in 12 weeks - Part One

Sun 4 Oct: 1. A Touch of Murder

A double-length episode that seems to have been two episodes edited together, as evidenced by the two halves having separate plots* - the first half is the power struggle between Marcus Agrippa and Marcellus for who should be Augustus’s successor. Although Marcellus dies first, neither of them wins because Livia poisons them both. The second half is about Claudius’s father Drusus and his relationship with his brother Tiberius, so we understand that when Drusus dies there is nothing keeping Tiberius ‘good’ any more.

The episode is utterly dominated (in both plot and acting stakes) by Livia and her subtle manipulation of everyone to maneuver Tiberius, her son, into position as Augustus’s heir. It’s not long into the series before she poisons Marcellus and claims her first victim, with the audience her only co-conspirator. It’s wonderful to watch, and I especially love the sly asides that only the audience can appreciate the meaning of.

The other great performance in this episode is BRIAN BLESSED as Augustus Caesar, for one scene in particular, where he subtly hints to Drusus that he would make a very dangerous enemy, while otherwise acting like an affable father-figure to him.

*Wikipedia tells me that it was made as 2 episodes and then edited together for the original BBC broadcast.

Guest-star of the week: Ian Ogilvy (Drusus), who went on to play Simon Templar in Return of the Saint.

If we were counting the first half of the episode separately, then I guess either of the actors who played Marcellus and Marcus Agrippa could count. But as I have also recently been watching John Silver's Return to Treasure Island, I'll nominate Christopher Guard (Marcellus), who went on to play Jim Hawkins.

Sun 11 Oct: 2. Waiting in the Wings

Probably the most memorable of the BRIAN BLESSED episodes, for the scene where, having just discovered his daughter is the town bicycle, Augustus goes down the long line of Romans daring any of them to deny it, and then he yells at the top of his lungs-

“IS THERE ANYONE IN ROME WHO HAS NOT SLEPT WITH MY DAUGHTER?!!”

Livia is once again behind all the intrigues, and I noticed this episode how a couple of her key moves are illustrated for the audience by nice directorial flourishes - the first is when the camera zooms in on Lucius as he falls into her trap. The other is when she makes a rare miscalculation, and the camera pans steadily - without cutting - from her face to Augustus, his face showing he is not going along with her before he speaks to confirm it. Still, one more murder and she gets her way in the end.

Guest-star of the week: Nobody very well known, but I certainly recognised Darien Angadi (Plautius) from Blakes 7, where he was Ro in season two’s Horizon.

Sun 18 Oct: 3. What shall we do about Claudius?

This is the first episode with an adult Claudius taking part in the plot, and it's only in his second scene being played by Derek Jacobi that he first receives the advice that will keep him alive - play up his disabilities so he is not perceived as a threat. This time it is given to him by Pollio, a leading historian/scholar of the day, and it is paralleled by a later scene where Posthumous Agrippa - whose downfall forms the main plot of the episode - gives him the same advice.

The other plot for this episode concerns the historical event where three entire Roman Legions were wiped out in an ambush by German barbarians. We don't see any of that, of course, just the report of the events from a messenger and, crucially, the reactions of the main characters to it - they just can't believe such a disaster was possible. I think the episode implies that Augustus, already old and going senile, is just about finished off by this event.

“QUINTILLIUS VARUS, WHERE ARE MY EAGLES?!!”

Livia still has all her wits about her, and it shows in every scene she’s in, with the possible exception of the scene where she and Augustus argue like any old married couple, not the Emperor and Empress of Rome, about their family affairs. It’s a very funny scene because of that contrast.

The scene where Livilla (for those keeping track: Claudius’s sister, married to Castor, who is Tiberius’s son) lures Posthumous to destruction - by accusing him of attempting to rape her - is very, very nasty. Livia puts Livilla up to it because removing Posthumous will put Tiberius (and thus Castor) as Augustus’s only heir. But unlike Livia’s previous schemes, which she carried out in a cool, calculating way with all the considerable charisma Sian Phillips could put into it, Livilla is a shrieking harpy so the scene is brutal.

The episode ends with everyone laughing at Claudius at his wedding, because his bride is revealed to be about a foot (or more, perhaps) taller than him. This shows nobody takes him seriously, so nobody perceives him as a threat - not even Livia, who seems to enjoy laughing at him the most. He’s safe. We know this because the final shot goes back to him as an old man, and it shows this is how he survived to become the old man.

Guest-star of the week: John Castle (Posthumous).

Sun 25 Oct: 4. Poison is Queen

An early scene confirms a thread begun in the last episode, that Livia, who seems to know everything that goes on in Rome, is incapable of suspecting someone she considers to be a fool. Livia doesn’t suspect Claudius of having the wit to guess her schemes when even Livilla suspects him of causing the truth behind the rape accusation to reach Augustus.

It is established that Livia has been driven to poison her husband before he can undo her work of the last episode by pardoning Posthumous and reinstating him as heir. Livia is seen drunk in a couple of scenes, indicating the inner turmoil she feels about her actions, even though in her speech to Tiberius she remains resolute.

The stand-out moment in this episode is Augustus’s death scene: Livia talks (about herself and Tiberius, and how her actions have been for the greater good of Rome) and BRIAN BLESSED says nothing, but acts like the death like nothing else I’ve ever seen him do - you can see him die as the camera stays on his face, in extreme close-up, until Livia comes over and her hand closes his eyes. Then we see Tiberius come into the room, and there are tears in Livia’s eyes.

“By the way… don’t touch the figs.”

So we have reached the end of the section with BRIAN BLESSED in it. The very next scene Sejanus (Patrick Stewart) arrives, and is sent by Livia to execute Posthumous and remove the last couple of people who might stand in the way of Tiberius becoming Emperor.

Guest-star of the week: Virtually all the significant characters of this episode appear in other episodes. I guess I’ll nominate Jonathan Burn as Fabius, who knew Augustus’s true Will and so died for it.

Sun 1 Nov: 5. Some Justice

Tiberius is now Emperor and immediately things go wrong for him, because Germanicus (Claudius’s brother) is more popular than he is. But even when Germanicus dies it is not entirely good news for him, because there is a republican faction, headed by Aggripina (Germanicus’s wife) and Castor (Tiberius’s own son), that seeks to put governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso and his wife on trial for the murder of Germanicus and treason against Rome - they have evidence Piso arranged for Germanicus to be poisoned, including the alleged poisoner as a star witness. What makes this bad for Tiberius is that Piso was his agent and has letters to prove it.

Most of the episode is about the trial - in the senate - of Piso and the manipulation of it by the interested parties. The republican faction, of which Claudius is a member and actively involved, want justice. Piso, naturally enough, wants to get off. It gets complicated when Tiberius and Livia get involved. Piso was acting under orders from Tiberius, so thinks the Emperor will side with him, but an acquittal would be incredibly unpopular in Rome so Tiberius withdraws his support. Livia, not trusting her son to handle the affair himself, steps in to ensure that Piso doesn’t damage Tiberius by revealing any embarrassing letters as he goes down.

Once again it is Livia who comes out on top in the end. She also gets the best scene in the episode, having a gossip with Martina - the poisoner, whom Livia had arranged to have disappeared - about poisoning methods. Over the course of the conversation Martina realises that Livia’s knowledge is not just academic…

This episode also sees the first appearance of Caligula (not yet being played by John Hurt). Here he is a creepy child, already showing signs of the monster he will become.

Guest-star of the week: Stratford Johns (Piso).

Sun 8 Nov: 6. Queen of Heaven

“You must have a very long reach.”

“The empire is very large - I need one.”

-- Claudius and Livia

This gets going immediately, skipping the usual lead-in with elderly Claudius, with a very dark tale about Tiberius, told by the woman Lollia who then kills herself because of what she has experienced at the hands of the Emperor. This is shortly followed by the first appearance of John Hurt as the adult Caligula, giving a gift of p*rn to Tiberius. The scene establishes their relationship perfectly.

The key scene of the episode is where Livia reveals all to Claudius - her ultimate ambition to be made a goddess after her death (wonderful roman logic behind this - she’ll go to hell for all the bad things she has done, unless she becomes a god and therefore immune to any punishments), and in exchange for Claudius’s promise to fulfil this for her when he becomes Emperor (which has by now been foretold more than once) she shares with him all her plots - previously only shared with the audience.

This builds up to Livia’s death scene at the end of the episode - Caligula reaches new heights (depths?) of monstrousness, explaining gleefully to the dying Livia how he will not make her a goddess because it has been foretold that he will be the greatest god of all (though, cleverly, the audience can recognise the prophecy as referring to Jesus, not Caligula).

Claudius arrives and restates his own promise to her, then Livia finally dies. Only at the end, when she needs Claudius, does Livia recognise he’s not such a fool.

So farewell to Sian Phillips's fantastic performance as Livia, which has utterly dominated the series up to now. But this episode sees her passing the baton on to John Hurt, whom I know will give a very different, but at least as show-stealing, performance in the episodes still to come.

Meanwhile the other plot of the episode is Sejanus’s rise to power. He uses Claudius to get one step closer to his goal by arranging Claudius to divorce his first wife and re-marry Sejanus’s sister - so Sejanus’s family is now connected to the Imperial family. This shocks Claudius’s mother and sister, but his friend Herod recognises Claudius has made the smart move - not antagonising Sejanus by a refusal.

Guest-star of the week: Kevin McNally (Castor). Although Castor had appeared in previous episodes, he was only in a few scenes. This, his most significant appearance, is the run up to his death at the hands of his wife and her lover, another stepping-stone in Sejanus’s rise to power.

Little Boots, Long Cat

Hey guys, Big Gay Longcat here again!

So that was last year's project. It took Duncan the whole year to get through all four seasons of Blakes 7. I'm glad he did it because if he hadn't I might not have found out about Avon and Tarrant or seen all the good stories by Terry Nation and other people.

This year Duncan has gone for another Challenge, which at the moment he is half way through. He is watching the 12-part series I Claudius, again one episode a week up until the end of the year. It has Derek Jacobi in it, who I have seen playing Hamlet and Richard the Second in Shakespeare plays and I think he is very nice. It also has BRIAN BLESSED in it - he was in Blakes 7, but only once because he blew up in space. He is the loudest manny in the world!

So it's over to Duncan again to blog about his I Claudius Challenge so far. It will have lots of spoilers for the story, so be warned if you have not seen it.

The Blakes 7 Challenge: 52 episodes in 52 weeks - Season Four

Sun 5 Oct 2008: 40. Rescue

Season 4 has such a different feel to what has gone before. They have lost regular characters before (and gained new ones, of course) but the loss of the Liberator (and Zen) is bigger than any of them. Compare this to the loss of Cally (off-screen) - no contest.

Dorian takes ages to die - but it is done quite well.

Mon 13 Oct: 41. Power

Crap. Battle of the sexes is cheap sci-fi rubbish, executed badly and unconvincingly, with poor dialogue. Just a terrible episode.

Mon 20 Oct: 42. Traitor

I guess the return of Servalan was meant to be a surprise, but they could have left it more than three episodes.
Some of the minor characters are good in this.

Sun 26 Oct: 43. Stardrive

I quite like this episode. It’s a bit slow, evidenced by various shots of the characters running around outside, but it allows for a simple story to be done well. It’s also quite dark, like a lot of this season, which is why the contrasting end-music jars a lot.

Sun 2 Nov: 44. Animals

Below-average, slightly dull episode focussing on Dayna. Most noticeable bit is Avon slipping on the floor in a scene near the end. As pointed out on the Anorak’s Blakes 7 site. Once you have noticed this bit, you can’t un-see it.

Tue 11 Nov: 45. Headhunter

I like this episode, it’s very atmospheric and has a chilling villain that the heroes really need to work to defeat. It fits the 45 minutes well, too.

Mon 17 Nov: 46. Assassin

It’s a pretty good idea - trapped on a ship with a killer, and the execution is OK, but this episode is seriously let down by the actress playing Cancer - she’s really bad.

Mon 24 Nov: 47. Games

I quite like this episode, though it’s not outstanding. The main reason it’s good is Vila, who is shown to act with intelligence - rather than be the idiot/comic relief - which he rarely does. It’s often hinted at but very seldom shown.

Sun 30 Nov: 48. Sand

I really like Sand. It seems as if the entire episode is there to set up the scenes of the Tarrant/Servalan ‘romance’ but it works so well that it gets away with it.

Mon 8 Dec: 49. Gold

OK ‘heist’ episode, most notable for Roy Kinnear as the guest star who gets killed at the end. Avon goes a bit mad in this one, especially once he realises the outcome.

Tue 9 Dec: 50. Orbit

The entire episode builds up to one scene, where Avon hunts and tries to kill Vila. Unbelievable, even in a series like Blakes 7 where the ‘heroes’ are portrayed as much less than perfect (with Avon the worst of them since the start), that one of the good guys would seriously try to kill another. This episode pulls it off convincingly and is brilliant because of it.

Sun 21 Dec: 51. Warlord

There are a couple of great scenes here, such as the destruction of Xenon base and the trap sprung on Avon and Soolin, though the Federation guards suffer the law of inverse ninjas here more than ever before.

The thing that brings this episode down is the incredible ‘80s hair. That might seem like a very minor quibble, but it has to be seen to be believed - Zeona looks like she is wearing a wig on top of another wig!

Servalan’s last episode - good riddance. She was a great character, but really overstayed her welcome.

Sat 27 Dec: 52. Blake

Masterpiece. As an end-of-season cliffhanger episode it would merely be genius, but as the end of series cliffhanger episode it is perfect.

Though Blake appeared in the last episode of season 3, it was only for one scene which later turned out to be a simulation anyway, so it feels as if he hasn’t been in it for two whole seasons (half the total series length), thus his return is suitably epic for a grand finale.

Avon is once again at the heart of the episode, of course. Insight into his character: he’s not completely psychopathic - he clearly pauses before leaving Tarrant on the crashing Scorpio. But he does shoot Blake. Three times. Blake brings it on himself, in a way, with his mind games and his not answering a straight question even when Avon is pointing a gun at him. But Avon pulls the trigger. And after that it all goes horribly, horribly wrong for the characters. Just last episode the Federation guards were at their least effective, now they wipe out the heroes and surround Avon ready for the ultimate ending.

One last moment worth mentioning: it’s Vila that punches out the Federation Officer.

The Blakes 7 Challenge: 52 episodes in 52 weeks - Season Three

Sat 5 Jul 08: 27. Aftermath

Season 3: let the campness commence!

Avon stars and Dayna is introduced, and there’s a ‘have your cake and eat it’ moment when Avon acknowledges the unlikeliness of Servalan turning up. The cliffhanger with Tarrant is pretty good too.

Sun 13 Jul: 28. Powerplay

Is Tarrant ever as good as this again? The plot introducing him is great, with bad guy played by Michael Sheard.

The other plot with Vila, Cally and Servalan is a waste of time though, sadly.

This is Big Gay Longcat’s favourite episode.

Sun 20 Jul: 29. Volcano

Not a very good episode - though the scene where Avon slips instructions to Zen into his speech to the bad guy is pretty well done, even if it’s followed by a pretty poor fight sequence in which Avon should probably have been killed - not good choreography/direction, IMO.

Sun 27 Jul: 30. Dawn of the Gods

The first 25 minutes are great, with the mystery of the Black Hole. But once the guy with the Top Hat appears, it gets silly and much less good. It also seems to me that this was written for Blake, and Tarrant has simply been copy-pasted over Blake to replace him, as the character is far more like Blake than Tarrant.

An uneven episode rather than a truly bad one.

Sun 3 Aug: 31. Harvest of Kairos

Probably the worst episode of B7, it has few redeeming features - some quite nice lines, but those aren’t enough to save it from being awful. It’s the only episode with effects so bad they break my suspension of disbelief - the giant ant-creature.

Sun 10 Aug: 32. City at the Edge of the World

What a great episode. This is really enjoyable, with Vila stealing the show.

Fri 15 Aug: 33. Children of Auron

I’m not fond of this one. The plot’s a bit too stupid and the characters act too stupidly.

Sun 24 Aug: 34. Rumours of Death

A great episode that fits the story well into its run-time.

A key episode in the character development of Avon, he is basically destroyed by the events and I suppose begins the descent that leads inevitably towards the end of the series. It doesn’t stop him being a magnificent bastard along the way.

Tarrant’s also pretty good in this one. He doesn’t do much, but the scene where he impersonates a Federation officer is effective, as is his loyalty to Avon.

Sun 31 Aug: 35. Sarcophagus

Another brilliant episode, one of my favourites. I think this one would stand well as a sci-fi story on its own, but is really helped by the characters we know from the series. Tarrant, Avon and Cally are all really good here. Avon’s line: “Then make me die; it’s the only thing you can make me do,” is a fantastic line of defiance, up there with The Prisoner’s “I’ll kill you!” “I’ll die.”

I love this episode.

Sun 7 Sep: 36. Ultraworld

“Has the bonding ceremony begun?”

In a word: shit. A waste of time with Tarrant and Dayna forced to ‘bond’ (i.e. kiss) and Vila saves the day with crappy riddles.

Admittedly the riddle scenes are quite amusing - but due to the way Vila and Orac play them, not at all due to the riddles themselves. That’s deliberate, I’m sure, but it can’t save this episode from being one of the poorest of season 3.

Sun 14 Sep: 37. Moloch

A big improvement on Ultraworld, but still only an averagely-good episode. Best bit is easily Avon’s ultra-cool line: “Yes, that is how I reasoned you would look.”

Sat 20 Sep: 38. Death Watch

One of my favourite episodes, I think - a cleverly constructed plot, and an effective realisation. The duels are done well, and all the actors are pretty good, especially Vinni, even with few lines.

Sun 28 Sep: 39. Terminal

One of the darkest episodes of Blakes 7, lightened only by Avon’s ironic (?) smile at the end - Blake is dead (supposedly), the Liberator is destroyed (and it’s Avon’s fault), they’re trapped on a planet, and man’s future is a savage ape. This last is pure Terry Nation, and is a stupid, stupid part of an otherwise utterly superb episode.
It makes sense if you think it was originally meant to be the last ever B7 episode (though even then Servalan doesn’t die on-screen, so she could come back). I almost wish it had been.

The Blakes 7 Challenge: 52 episodes in 52 weeks - Season Two

Sun 6 Apr 08: 14. Redemption

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!”