Blake's Junction 7

One of the curious offshoots of our Blakewatch project last year (if you missed it search for Blakewatch) was the ferreting out of Blake’s 7 related stuff and this can lead down all sorts of alleyways. One such diversion is Blake’s Junction 7, a short film made in 2004 by writer Tim Plester (who also created the superb Way of the Morris) and director Ben Gregor, under the Film Club banner. The film is an affectionate contemporary nod to the series, the idea was to make it approachable by people who had vague memories of seeing the show hence it mixes up iconic elements. For example both Dayna and Jenna are present even though in the series they never met. Shot over one- very cold- evening at Newport Pagnell service station it tells the story of Avon, Vila and co stopping over at a motorway service station for petrol, some food and a go on the games machines. Just like any family would in fact except they are dressed in their sci-fi regalia. 

Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 52: Blake

Season Four Episode 13- Blake

(1981) Writer: Chris Boucher / Director: Mary Ridge 

Avon has finally tracked down Blake who is hiding out on the lawless planet of Gauda Prime. Forced to abandon the Scorpio after a crash landing, the crew struggle to survive as theirs and Blake’s paths lead to an inevitable and dramatic confrontation.
The very last episode of Blake`s 7 is shrouded in portent, whether it is the fact that we open with the Xenon base exploding or the subsequent crash landing of the Scorpio or the re-appearance of Blake himself.  The pine forests of Gauda Prime are an atmospheric place to finish in and there is a sense of imminent danger wherever we are. Long hailed as a classic in telefantasy history, `Blake` works even better if you’ve been following the series from the beginning.


"Look what two seasons of Blake's 7 did to me"

Blakewatch - 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 51: Warlord

Season Four Episode 12- Warlord

(1981) Writer: Simon Masters / Director: Viktors Ritelis  

Avon has negotiated a truce between the rulers of the unaligned worlds in order to fight the federation’s suppression drugs but will the fragile alliance hold when personal issues between Tarrant and the daughter of one of the rulers become involved?
Simon Masters writes `Warlord` like it’s a feature film full of bold speeches and big gestures and even if the budget appears wafer thin at times, this does give the episode something of an epic feel. Avon appears to have come up with a less reckless idea than usual (though you wonder why none of the others never think of anything) and the opening scenes of him addressing the assembled rulers are accompanied by a bizarre video. We see people in what looks like (and probably is) a 1970s shopping precinct with numbers on their foreheads wandering around in a daze. Every so often Federation guards shoot them. It is most odd.




There would be trouble ahead when their hair became tangled

Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 50: Orbit

Season Four Episode 11- Orbit

(1981) Writer: Robert Holmes / Director: Brian Lighthill  

The Scorpio crew respond to a message from renegade scientist Egrorian, who disappeared a decade earlier but can they trust him when he asks for Orac in exchange for the super powerful Tachyon Funnel?

Robert Holmes usually manages to fuse characters and situations more successfully than many tv sc-fi writers who often favour one above the other. `Orbit` is another delicious slice of his dialogue led drama that will not be to everyone’s taste in 2012 but which, if you look at it as you would a play, works very well. Admittedly, the plot is another variation on several others this season but that should not detract from the enjoyable delivery, a memorable guest performance from John Savident plus a final ten minutes that take the show around a surprisingly sharp corner.




Avon realises if he throws Vila into space he'll never unlock the drinks cabinet

Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 49: Gold

Season Four Episode 10- Gold

(1981) Writer: Colin Davis / Director: Brian Lighthill

Avon’s idea to steal millions worth of gold proves to be a cat and mouse game as his contact Keiller has plans of his own- and someone else is waiting in the wings. (Did you guess? Yes, it’s Servalan!)

You’d think by now the others would be wary of Avon when he suggests a sure thing. Once again though, they follow him into a situation which is full of potential pitfalls and then act surprised when things go wrong. This is the signature plot for season 4 but as it yields generally good results you can see why they run with it again and again. Here, the scenario is spiced up by the clever casting of Roy Kinnear as the slippery Keiller, Avon’s supposed old friend which enlivens what would otherwise be an over familiar sort of plot.



Roy was impressed when Paul produced a leather chair out of thin air



Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 48 - Sand

Season Four Episode 9- Sand

(1981) Writer: Tanith Lee / Director: Vivienne Cozens

When the Scorpio crew and the Federation converge on the planet Vern, Servalan and Tarrant find themselves trapped together. But what is the planet’s mysterious secret?
Tanith Lee’s previous B7 script `Sarcophagus`possessed a mystical angle that she utilises here and which subtle music and sound effects underscore. You sense the writer is striving for more than she ultimately delivers and the fact that we guess what is going on long before the characters robs the story of its more enigmatic side. Nonetheless it is a fulfilling episode that revels in more mature conversation and a dash of mystery.


"Give me your wig or else..."



Blakewatch: 52 weeks of Blake's 7. Week 47: Games

Season Four Episode 8- Games

(1981) Writer: Bill Lyons / Director: Vivienne Cozens

In pursuit of valuable energy generating Feldon crystals, the Scorpio crew have to deal with the wily head of the mining operation Berkov, whom nobody can trust.

 Bill Lyons seems to have a strong handle of what works and what doesn’t in this series. Keeping matters moving along, he frames the entire scenario as an elaborate game with trickery and deceit all over the place. We may smile now at the primitive – though still deadly- electronic games people have to play during the episode but remember this was made at the dawn of the computer age. Lyons does complicate things by having too many locales but this is a strident and enjoyable piece of 1980s TV.



Stratford Johns posters featured on many walls in the 70s



Blakewatch- 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 46: Assassin

Season Four Episode 7- Assassin

(1981) Writer: Rod Beacham / Director: David Sullivan Proudfoot

The Scorpio crew intercept a message from Servalan revealing she has hired a notorious assassin to despatch them. Seeing this as an opportunity Avon leads them on a dangerous mission that goes badly wrong.

`Assassin` continues the general upwards trajectory of the season with Rod Beacham’s script inspiring a story of deception and trust. It could be better; almost as soon as we meet Piri, the rather too traumatised girl supposedly prisoner of Cancer the unfortunately named assassin, seasoned TV watchers will know who she is. 



"Are you William Hartnell?" "No I am not. Chesterton, mmm."

Blakewatch - 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 45: Headhunter

Season Four Episode 6- Headhunter

(1981) Writer: Roger Parkes / Director: Mary Ridge

A rendezvous with eminent scientist Muller goes awry leading to a situation that could threaten the existence of humanity.

There’s nothing like exploring the big questions and `Headhunter` does not shirk from suggesting the demise of humanity and our replacement by machines. How such a well worn but always interesting theme plays out on the show’s relatively tiny budget we’re initially unsure of. It looks as if it will be a silly looking caper yet as developments pile up it proves to be this season’s most balanced and exciting episode to date.



"I'd like to buy that head there, mate"



Blakewatch: 52 weeks of Blake's 7. Week 44: Animals

Season Four Episode 5- Animals

(1981) Writer: Alan Prior / Director: Mary Ridge

Trapped while visiting a former teacher Dayna discovers the true nature of his genetics work and is unsure whether or not to help him.

Dayna has always seemed one of the more credible regular characters with the writers generally serving her well but it is Josette Simon that has really brought her to life. With most of the key scenes in her hands this week, she manages to make what would otherwise be a middling episode into something much more interesting. Its 18 minutes before we even see any of the others apart from Tarrant and it makes you wonder whether Dayna might have been a better choice as series lead. Enjoyable though Paul Darrow is, he does not seem very human much of the time whereas it is the element of vulnerability that Josette Simon gives Dayna that makes her a more three dimensional character.



"`Blake's 7` is on BBC1"  "Oh no, I hate that show."



Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 43- Stardrive

Season Four Episode 4- Stardrive

(1981) Writer: James Follett / Director: David Sullivan Proudfoot

The search for a better way of powering the Scorpio brings the crew to where renowned scientist Dr Plxton the inventor of the powerful stardrive is based only to find she is working for the notorious Space Rats.

You’ve got to hand it to Paul Darrow. Whatever nonsense is going on, however absurd the scenery, he just carries on yelling at people, shooting people and generally acting as if he is having the time of his life. Nothing can detract him from taking this all very earnestly. Not even face painted, hedgehog haired bikers it seems. Retrospectively it is claimed his tongue was firmly in his cheek throughout but I don’t believe a word of it. It is perhaps only his commitment to an episode that is either being dreary or ramshackle that sells it to the uninvolved viewer.



???!!!

Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 42: Traitor

Season Four Episode 3- Traitor

(1981) Writer: Robert Holmes / Director: David Sullivan Proudfoot

Trying to discover why so many colonies are suddenly falling under Federation control, the Scorpio crew investigate Helotrix where they find a new mind altering drug is causing mass compliance and they also encounter an old enemy.

The old enemy is Servalan by the way but that probably wasn’t a surprise even in 1981 and she turns up sporting a disco outfit which threatens to engulf her. This may be because with Servalan presumed dead she is masquerading as Commander Sleer though you’d have thought that with the high recognition factor and outrageous dress sense she would be instantly recognisable to everyone. As it is she has to kill anyone who does spot her true identity and disguise her voice so it sounds like Servalan with a sore throat. We learn she has despatched 26 people who have so far recognised her; the mystery is why it is not more. You can imagine the chaos if she were to enter Waitrose!

The General was unimpressed by the latest iPhone

Blakewatch: 52 Weeks of Blake's 7. Week 41 - Power

Season Four Episode 2- Power

(1981) Writer: Ben Steed / Director: Mary Ridge

Trapped in Dorian’s base unable to reach the Scorpio, Avon and co become involved in the conflict between the planet’s two races, the male Hommiks and the female Seskas..

 Never the series’ deepest writer Ben Steed appears to be attempting to chronicle the battle of the sexes with `Power`. However his somewhat bland conclusion that men are strong and women weak offers nothing to add to the debate and stereotypes that even in 1981 would seem out of date. The men are all long haired, big bearded warriors, the women are servants with telekenisis and perfect hair. You wonder how it happened and what Steed is trying to say, if anything. The women are clearly really quite powerful yet they have been captured by means of sacks and metal clamps. Perhaps this is how Ben Steed views marriage!



"Guys, shall we not bother with one and try the pub?"



Blakewatch - 52 weeks of Blake's 7 - 40: Rescue

Season Four Episode 1- Rescue

(1981) Writer: Chris Boucher / Director: Mary Ridge

Avon, Vila, Dayna and Tarrant are able to escape from Terminal courtesy of a supposed scrap merchant Dorian and his stolen ship the Scorpio. However Dorian turns out to be much more than he claims.

This is a hit and miss episode with honours even by the end. On the plus side, Chris Boucher works in a story that riffs on A Picture of Dorian Gray replacing that tale’s painting with a monster that lurks deep below the surface feeding on unsuspecting victims brought to the planet and somehow keeping Dorian the same age. Yes, it sounds good in writing but you suspect Boucher would be slightly disappointed by the realisation. For the monster is no less than a Sea Devil from Doctor Who (nine years later) and is reached by the same BBC spiral staircase that the latter and several other programmes of the day used. As for Dorian’s behaviour when the rejuvenation is occurring; this consists of the actor writhing around in dry ice. Turn the sound down (and please do) and it could be Top of the Pops!



During the early 1980s, budgets were cut at the BBC and actors forced to eat lunch outside

Blakewatch: Week 39 Terminal

Season Three Episode 13- Terminal

(1980) Writer: Terry Nation / Director: Mary Ridge

Avon takes the Liberator on a private mission refusing to tell the others either its purpose or destination. Their journey causes a potentially catastrophic effect on the Liberator and brings them to the supposedly long destroyed man made planet Terminal.

Originally supposed to be the last ever episode `Terminal` is packed with incident (perhaps a little too much) and reaches a suitable ending that could easily have left viewers speculating indefinitely. As it happened there was another season after all but it still works as a `how will they get out of that one` cliffhanger. Terry Nation’s ideasometer is working overtime to introduce us to a strange space phenomena, a man made planet and, almost casually, the future of man’s evolution.



On Terminal the only programme they could watch was `Friends`

Blakewatch - Week 38 Death Watch

Season Three Episode 12- Death-Watch

(1980) Writer: Chris Boucher / Director: Gerald Blake

Seeking the “ultimate entertainment” advertised, the Liberator crew find themselves embroiled in the machinations of a war between two races that is decided by single champions, one of whom is Tarrant’s brother.

 Chris Boucher always seems to get the best out of the series and `Death-Watch` is another example of his skill in doing so. It does hinge on one unlikely contrivance though which turns out to be less necessary than you’d think. Donning a wig, Steven Pacey plays Tarrant’s older and more suave brother Deeta who for reasons unexplained is the champion of one of two races, Teal and Vandor, who decide their wars via a televised combat for two; “war without destruction” as someone puts it. It’s like The Hunger Games with adults, in fact it seems that book mined the same inspiration as Boucher as this is something of an established sci-fi cliché. For the most part Boucher handles it well, choosing to focus as much on the procedure and build up as he does the actual conflict.



Nobody would suspect him disguised as Engelbert Humperdinck

Blakewatch - Week 37 Moloch

Season Three Episode 11- Moloch

(1980) Writer: Ben Steed / Director: Vere Lorrimer

The Liberator follows Servalan beyond the edge of Federation space where they discover a planet with a secret.

Of course it’s not as exciting as it sounds. The secret at first appears to be that they’ve invented a cabinet but it turns out the planet, Sardos, is run by a super computer that can copy anything including living matter. A rogue bunch of Federation troops have commandeered the whole place and subdued its inhabitants. It’s difficult to know where to start with an episode which is by turns dull or embarrassing and lacks even the unintentional amusement that `Ultraworld` and its giant loaf provided. This is played strictly seriously and that makes it worse.



Uncle Jasper looked worse for wear after an hour trapped in the microwave

Blakewatch - Week 36 Ultraworld

Season Three Episode 10- Ultraworld

(1980) Writer: Trevor Hoyle / Director: Vere Lorrimer

The Liberator crew are forced to investigate a metal planet made by aliens after Cally disappears.

 

If you were to watch one segment of this episode with the sound turned down you might think it was some bizarre version of The Great British Bake Off. An army of lookalike chefs are loading people onto a conveyer belt that runs into a large oven to help create a giant crusty loaf.  Perhaps this image burned itself into the minds of dance group The Orb who in 1989 released an ambient track called ` A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld `.  It certainly made the episode more renowned than many. So is `Ultraworld` actually any good if you try to take it seriously?



"Do you think we've put too much yeast in that loaf, Cyril?"

Blakewatch - Week 35 Sarcophagus

Season Three Episode 9- Sarcophagus

(1980) Writer: Tanith Lee / Director: Fiona Cumming

The Liberator encounters an unusual craft apparently drifting in space but it seems to have made some telepathic connection to Cally. When she, Avon and Vila bring an object back with them from what seems to be a tomb, they find the Liberator’s power being drained and their lives under threat from an unknown force.


If the plot sounds familiar that’s because it is a fairly standard TV sci-fi one, but it is in the delivery that `Sarcophagus` stands out from the crowd. The mood is set by a wordless six minute opening sequence in which we seem to be seeing some sort of quasi religious ceremony. Figures masked in coloured material appear and disappear, each seemingly representing an aspect of life whether a musician, a warrior, a leader and so on. Most unusual music further heightens the woozy atmosphere though some viewers in 1980 probably wondered what was in their coffee. This atypical beginning is shot on film and director Fiona Cumming uses inventive angles to complete the sense of other worldliness.



"That's the biggest jelly bean I've ever seen"

Blakewatch - Week 34: Rumours of Death

Season Three Episode 8- Rumours of Death 
(1980) Writer: Chris Boucher / Director: Fiona Cumming

Determined to punish those responsible for the apparent death of his lover Anna Grant two years earlier, Avon leads a dangerous mission to the heart of Servalan’s new regime but a separate rebel plot causes complications.

While this episode has a straightforward plot, the way it is written and presented adds a sophistication that you might not expect from this series. Viewers in 1980 were probably surprised by how much is packed in while from this vantage point we can see a series reaching a pinnacle after an already strong third season (give or take the odd misstep). `Rumours of Death` mixes the political and the personal with engrossing results and were it not for one significant production decision could be the best episode the series ever made.


"I can understand why the last President resigned"