Judith Proctor's Journal

 A couple of random memories of a man who was probably the reason why my wardrobe was full of black clothes for about a decade...

He could be very diplomatic.

Back in the days before I gave up aviation, I went to a Blake's 7 convention in the US where Paul Darrow was a guest.

At the end of the con, a number of fans (mostly female) were travelling in the minibus back to the airport.  As Paul approached the bus, every woman who had been sitting next to a friend, magically teleported so that Paul had a whole minibus full of seats next to single women!

He looked at the set up, smiled and said politely to everyone: "I'll sit next to my countrywoman"

So, I got to sit next to Paul Darrow for the trip to the airport :)

When we got to the airport, he offered to buy me a drink.  Knowing how he felt about slash fiction (he really didn't like it at all), I felt I had to confession to being a slash reader/writer before taking advantage of his good nature, but he still bought me the drink, and we sat and chatted with a group of fans before our flight to London was called.

He was a good man - his wife who pre-deceased him was also a lovely person. 

I don't think he ever understood Avon, but that's just a demonstration of how good a script editor Chris Boucher was - Chris was responsible for the complexities of the character.

Gareth Thomas has died. He was a lovely man and a good friend.

and a bloody good actor.

 Several of you let me know when Hermit (my Blake's 7 site) was down.

We had some DNS problems, but now they've been fixed and the site is back again.  

Please pass the word on as I know quite a few people were missing it.

"Flag and Flame" is the second drama on the Cally prequel CD. The first drama is 5/5 on my rating, but the second one only gets 3/5.

Skate and Merrin Cally are closer than most clones having been reared as a twin pair. They can share thoughts, even the taste of a hot chocolate, they're that close. Twins are particularly useful to Auron for long-distance reconnaissance, as they can maintain telepathic contact over a much greater distance, thus enabling radio silence to be maintained.

Skate is sent on a mission which it becomes clear is more dangerous than she was originally told.  When things go wrong, the difficult question then becomes that of whether a rescue mission should be sent.  (In this aspect, the two dramas on the CD share a thematic link)  The dilemma is clear - is it more important to attempt to rescue a pilot at all costs, or to accept that a rescue mission would almost certainly result in the loss of more lives now that the enemy has been alerted?  (I felt the writer's treatment of this issue came across rather one-sided - it was clear where the listener's sympathies were intended to be.)

However, the issue is more complex than just the risk to other pilots - was there a reason why Skate was selected for this mission?

This is one point where the story felt weak.  Skate and Merrin live almost continually in each others minds, yet Skate has a secret that Merrin doesn't know.  It seems implausible.

I would also have liked to know more about how long it takes to raise a clone to maturity.  Skate and Merrin mention their time at school, so this suggests a normal rate of growth.  However, Skate claims that twins are a disposable commodity - lose a pair, crack open the vats and have a new pair.  This is a valid suspicion if clones can be grown rapidly, but not if it takes a couple of decades.

In conclusion, I'd say that the Cally prequel CD is worth buying for the first story alone. Regard the second story as a bonus - It's worth listening to even if it isn't as good as the first  (and I suspect from the way the story develops that Merrin Cally might be the one to eventually join Liberator, even though I'd personally prefer Ariane Cally).

'The Vor Game' by Lois McMaster Bujold is enjoyable, though nowhere as good as the brilliant 'Warrior's Apprentice'.  The first part of the story, where Miles is sent to a remote northern outpost of the Barrayar military, feels very detached from the rest of the book - almost a separate story.

The level of coincidence also runs just a little too high overall.

However, if you're a fan of Blake's 7, there's a big bonus in the arrival of Servalan (under a different name, obviously, but you'll recognise her personality very quickly) and she gives Miles a run for his money.  Also, for the really keen, there's a point where I was briefly channelling Miles as Jarriere.  (Miles is 4ft 9in, so it's easy to do this).

'Eye of the Machine' is one of two DVD's sold as a set, the other being 'Point of No Return'.  They are both prequels to the new Blake's 7 audio dramas.

'Eye of the Machine' is by Ben Aaronovitch and it's a well-written drama.  Colin Salmon plays Kerr Avon, Keeley Hawes is Anna Grant, and I greatly enjoyed Geoffrey Palmer as Professor Ensor.

I liked it a lot better on the second pass than on the first, and I suspect that may be the case for many fans of the original series.  When a series is rewritten, a lot of the back story inevitably changes with it.  The same characters walk the stage, and their key relationships remain, but all the details do not.  After all, if they remained identical, there would be no possibility of surprise or any real sense of dramatic tension.  The real questions then are whether the new series captures the spirit of the old and whether the stories work as dramas in their own right.

On my second listening, I was no longer thrown off balance by discovering that Avon, a relatively naive student from a provincial planet who has come to Oxford to study artificial intelligence under Professor Ensor.  Ensor, the leader in his field, is very dismissive of those below his own social level, but with the help of his new girlfriend, Anna Grant, Avon is able to get Ensor to listen to his ideas.

Anna is a political activist for the Freedom Party and Avon falls in love with her during an entertaining argument on how the heath service could reasonably reduce its budget (this is the future, so Avon's suggestion is one that seems counter-intuitive to our ears until he explains it).  Avon, a non-political animal, is persuaded by Anna to help out.  In some ways, he's more cynical about the government than she is, but far less interested in getting involved.  Anna starts to change that and infect him with her beliefs.

How does it all turn out?

Well, we know our Avon (in both series).  He's totally cynical and thinks getting involved is a bad idea - this is one version of what gave him those beliefs.

Oh yes, what is Anna studying?   Funny you should mention it.  She's a post-graduate in psycho-dynamics...


I'll be reviewing the second CD shortly, but I'd say the pair are good value for money.  The Vila/Gan back story, while reasonably well written, wasn't as good as this pair.

This is good, in fact, it's very good!

When I originally made the decision to stock the Blake's 7 audios, it was on the strength of the podcasts on the sci-fi channel website.  They were okay, but I found listening to them in five-minute chunks irritating.  I only listened to the first three and hoped that the rest would be okay.

In fact, having listened to the first CD, it's a lot better than okay.  I've listened to it twice already and I certainly intend to listen to it again.

The script is written by Ben Aaronovitch and his familiarity with the original series shines through.  Many elements of the plot are different, but the key dilemmas remain the same.  Blake no longer has to face a situation in which prisoners on board the London are threatened with death by sub-commander Raiker, but he still has to make a decision whether to choose freedom when it will mean the death of a hostage.

Another noticeable homage to the original series is in the sound effects.  If you are keen-eared, and familiar with the original series, see how many sound effects you can recognize.  Alistair Lock did a good job -- and I also got a real buzz when I heard the Liberator theme tune at appropriate points in the plot.

Many of my favourite lines of the original dialogue occur in the present series - Villa still objects to personal violence, especially when he's the person... But this is not a slavish copy of the original.  There are many changes, and some are for the better.  Jenna comes over as a much stronger character and has some good dialogue of her own -- " There are two rules to remember when landing a shuttle on a strange planet.  One -- do not leave your shuttle unguarded.  Two -- do NOT leave your shuttle unguarded."

Yes, that's right, Liberator has a shuttle rather than a teleport.  This makes excellent sense.  TV SF shows went though a period of having transporters or teleports for budget reasons.Building the set for a shuttle acquired extra money.  Also, showing the crew entering and leaving the shuttle took more time than simply showing them arriving via a teleport.  As everyone knows, the visual effects are better (and cheaper) in audio.

The teleport was a handicap in many ways in the original series.  It was very difficult to pin the characters down in a dangerous situation without having to devise a way for the teleport bracelet to become lost or broken.  Using a shuttle should make it much easier to set up dramatic situations.

The cast are well chosen.  Daniella Nardini reminds me of Jacqueline Pearce in her performance of Servalan, Carrie Dobro gives Jenna confidence and grit (I wasn't sure about her American accent at first, but in fact it helps to have different accents in audio), Derek Riddell's Blake is buoyant and confident (and appears to have Avon's measure).  Colin Salmon as Avon is self-centred and sarcasic and has no difficulty insulting Blake's decisions.

It looks as though the characters may get more developed backgrounds.  We already have hints that Vila and Gan have worked together in the past, and Travis has a fiancee!  (I wonder if she's going to get killed...)

Servalan appears aware of the internal corruption that is damaging the Federation and is concerned about it, but not so concerned that she didn't use her family influence to get where she is now.

My favourite character of all is probably one who will never appear again (though I can hope).  Frances Barber as the judge at Blake's trial gave a brilliant performance and left me wanting to know more about this determined, elderly woman.

It's clear that the Auronar are going to be more developed than they were in the original series.  Hints are being dropped about them - and this is before Cally has appeared on the scene.  They're a force that worries Servalan and we wonder whether their society is potentially even more repressive than the Federation - or is that just political spin?

Last, but not least, because I'm picky about scientific details, the series won my heart about the time the Commander of the London ordered a thrust of several million Newtons.  Yeah!  I love SI units and I hate technobabble.  I'm hearing plausible sounding stuff about ship courses and accelerations and they appear to have determined the basic rules of the way space flight operates in this universe.  And Blake is an engineer who actually gets to use his engineering skills!

It's fun.  Go and buy a copy!

Blakes 7 fans should visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml and listen to Lights, Camera, Landscape - a short programme all about Betchworth Quarry. An enjoyable reminder of many alien worlds.