The question is, what do we call the series
now? It’s like 1,000,000B.C. or The Tribe of Gum: just factually
inaccurate. I mean, Blake never had ‘7’ in the first place: Messianic as he
might have been, the poor man never actually talked about himself in the third
person, and one of his ‘7’ was his spaceship. And if you count him, you have to
count Orac, which makes 8. Till the death of Gan…
No, to avoid all confusion, I think they –
or rather, I – will have to change the name by which we refer to this weird and
wonderful sci-fi soap. Surely a prime contender would be ‘Space Babes’: Avon
being Space Babe #1, of course. (And I’d also argue for his name being in the
title, just to ensure he never leaves.)
But this story seemed overrun with space
babes, and they all want a piece of Space Babe #1 (who can blame them?). First
Avon is awoken in a cave with a kiss from new Liberator recruit Dayna. Then he
gets a crème de menthe fuelled snog from deposed president Servalan. Perhaps we
know that Dayna’s sister Lauren isn’t going to stick around because she doesn’t
swoon at the sight of Paul Darrow; whereas Space Babe #5, Steven Pacey, is
definitely interested.
I’d also like to put in a special mention
for
Doctor Who Guest Star
and UNIT babe Richard Franklin, playing the
great-great-great-great grandson of Captain Mike Yates. I was tremendously
disappointed that Yates Jr. was exploded by Vikings within five minutes of the
opening titles. It’s a terrible waste, as Invasion
of the Dinosaurs proved he’s an excellent baddie.
I do hope we get a Nick Courtney cameo in
an upcoming adventure. Can’t you just see Courtney squaring up to Darrow?
Courtney’s got form as a villain too, as any fule kno. I’d cast him as Travis’s
older, deadlier brother. I’d call the episode AVENGER. I think I’d probably film
it in North Wales…
Anyway, before I drift off into one of my
‘if I made Blakes 7’ reveries, can I take a moment to ponder the disappearance
of every single crewmember bar Space Babe #1 and Orac. Is this really it? Vila
and Cally dispatched? Blake and Jenna zooming away on missions of destiny of
their own?
If so, it’s an act of terrific chutzpah. It
wasn’t long ago we had a spaceship heaving with have-a-go heroes in sci-fi
tabards, being chased by not one but two supervillains. Now it’s Dayna and this
mysterious, somewhat effeminate space pirate – in a universe where the
Federation’s disintegrated and green blobby aliens are trying to invade – and
Terry Nation is poised to endlessly recast the storylines of two of last year’s
best adventures (‘Killer’ and ‘Countdown’) with Servalan as the unpredictable
figure from Avon’s past.
And I’d definitely watch that. It’s
tempting to say that in focusing on Avon in this adventure, he’s finally
realised who’s the star of this show – but that would be untrue, because of
course it’s Servalan, Servalan, Servalan, and Nation gives her some fantastic
material here. It’s so bold and unexpected to have her suddenly cast
defenceless into an alien environment: to see her manipulate, persuade,
threaten and kill in cold blood.
If she isn’t over-used in Season 3, there’s
no telling how amazing this character – and Jacqueline Pearce’s totally sublime
performance – can go.
As for the rest of them, I really don’t
know what to think yet. I’m sad to see Jenna leave (and offscreen, too), but I
don’t blame Sally Knyvette for going: the most she got to do in that last run
of stories was flirt with a man in a purple leather miniskirt, and nobody needs
work that badly. As for Cally and Villa, I fully expect them to bounce back
next episode, but doing only goodness knows what. This episode demonstrates how
exciting characters can be when they’re not jostling for attention in a rugby
scrum of space colleagues, when they don’t have a massive alien spaceship for
protection and no comedy pratfalls to lighten the tone.
I like my Blakes 7 like I like my drinks:
bright green, made of goodness knows what and liable to induce extremely arch
dialogue.
