Blake's 7 - Series 2.

[Hawkman]

1. Redemption

Blake becomes obsessed with Orac's prediction of the destruction of the Liberator. However, there are more pressing matters when the ship comes under attack by its alien creators, "The System", who want their property back. After fleeing, Liberator's control systems shut down; Blake heads to engineering to fix the problem but is attacked by a "living" wire cable with a mind of its own. Meanwhile, Liberator is remote-piloted to The System's space station and the crew are taken prisoner. With Orac's help, the crew escapes The System who send out another attack ship which looks exactly like the Liberator; Blake now wonders which Liberator Orac had predicted seeing destroyed.

 

[Hawkman]

2. Shadow

The crew arrives at Space City where Blake seeks contact with the criminal organisation Terra Nostra as possible resistance allies, but their leader Largo may have loyalty to the enemy. Meanwhile, an alien entity takes possession of Orac through his dimensional logic circuits and disrupts Cally's empathic powers, driving her to madness. Blake and his crew then rush to the desert planet Zondar to seek the heavily guarded source of the drug known as "Shadow", which is the basis of Terra Nostra's power and the only help for Cally.

 

[Hawkman]

3. Weapon

The Federation is in pursuit of a powerful weapon called the IMIPAK, (Induced Molecular Instability Projector and Key), a beam rifle that marks a living target with a point of unstable matter that the firer can use to kill the target later as they choose with a special hand-held remote. Its designer, a paranoid defector named Coser, is on the run; Servalan hires a "psycho-strategist" named Carnell to profile Coser and determine where he is hiding. Servalan also has beings called the Clone Masters create a living copy of Blake, with whom Coser is expected to meet in order to steal the weapon for her. Once in possession of it, she marks Blake, Avon, and Gan so that their only hope for survival is to outrun the IMIPAK's million-mile triggering signal.
First appearance for the " recast" Travis.

 

[Hawkman]

4. Horizon

At the edge of the galaxy, Liberator nearly collides with a Federation freighter. Blake is curious to know why the ship is so far from home and decides to follow it to a mysterious planet called Horizon. Teleporting down, Blake and Jenna discover a secret mining operation and are captured for interrogation. Gan and Vila go down to find them but are captured as well. All are forced to work in a dangerous mine while Blake tries to urge Ro, the planet's leader, that the Federation is manipulating him and enslaving his people. Meanwhile, Avon considers taking the Liberator and leaving them all behind, but Cally won't hear of it and goes down to find the others. Avon asks Orac what his chances are of surviving against the Federation alone.

 

[Hawkman]

5. Pressure Point

Blake decides to strike a major blow to the Federation by going to Earth and destroying "Control", the main computer nerve centre for the entire government. Blake hopes the act will allow the resistance groups led by a former Federation officer, Kasabi, to launch an all-out attack against the Federation command. Blake's plan gets under way, but the Federation has discovered the plan and captures Kasabi, forcing her daughter Veron to liaise with Blake, but trapping him with most of his crew. They eventually escape and manage to break into Control, only to discover that the building is empty and the computers housed there were removed 30 years previously.

Spoiler

Gan

is killed during their escape.

Spoiler

 

[Hawkman]

6. Trial

Servalan must answer to the mishandling of the Blake affair, and she tries to have Travis eliminated by setting him up on charges of mass murder before he can testify against her. Elsewhere, distraught over losing a crew member, Blake goes to an uninhabited planet to "think". Believing Blake has run out on them, Avon tries to persuade the others to abandon him once and for all. Down on the planet, Blake encounters a creature called Zil who warns that he will be "absorbed" by "the Host". In space, Zen detects unusual tectonic movement on the planet; Orac determines the entire planet is a living entity, which feeds on its surface lifeforms. After being rescued, Blake decides to send a clear message to the Federation that he has not given up, by launching a bold assault against Servalan's headquarters. The attack ironically allows Travis—who has been found guilty of the charges and sentenced to death—a means of escape, and he forces Servalan to help him get away.

 

[Hawkman]

7. Killer

On the planet Fosforon, Avon and Vila sneak into Q-Base, a Federation com-station, looking for a crystal needed to decrypt new Federation pulse-codes. In space, Zen detects a 700-year-old Earth vessel on approach to the station, and Cally senses something "malignant" aboard. Blake anonymously warns the station of the ship despite objections from Jenna that he is helping the enemy. On the planet, Avon blackmails Tynus, a former associate, to help Avon steal the crystal. Tynus arranges for a diversion that will allow Avon to slip past security, but it may be a ruse. Meanwhile, the base tows the derelict back to the planet whereupon Blake teleports down to warn them in person, but he is too late as the base unwittingly releases a swift-killing alien virus.

 

[Hawkman]

8. Hostage

The Federation sends out twenty pursuit ships to hunt Blake down and destroy him, but the Liberator withstands the assault and manages to get away. Blake then receives a message from his nemesis Travis, who has escaped the Federation and taken Blake's cousin Inga hostage on the planet Exbar. Travis makes the peculiar request to join up with Blake's crew since Servalan has made him a wanted criminal, but Blake believes it to be a ruse. He teleports down to the planet to rescue Inga, and meanwhile, unknown to Blake, Avon sends a message to Servalan with Travis' location. Concerned about Blake, Avon also teleports to the planet and later Vila joins him. The three are eventually rounded up by Travis, and his gang of "crimos" (criminal psychopaths), and Travis reveals his intention to take the Liberator after he kills them. Inga and her father Ushton manage to trick Travis and release Blake and his team, who eventually leave Travis to be found by Servalan. When Servalan arrives, she agrees to spare Travis' life, and officially list him as dead, as long as he continues to hunt Blake for her.

 

[Hawkman]

9. Countdown

Blake arrives at the planet Albion to capture Space Major Provine who is supposed to know the secret location of the moved Federation Control. Provine, however, has triggered an inescapable radiation bomb in response to a planetary revolt against Federation rule. Avon, with the help of a mercenary acquaintance of his, Del Grant, rush to disable the bomb, which is hidden in a bunker somewhere at one of the frigid poles. Grant, however, still holds a grudge against Avon for the death of his sister Anna; they must put the issue aside if they are to stop the bomb in time. Meanwhile, Blake learns Provine is still alive, but does not realise he is disguised as a resistance soldier and trying to make his way to an escape ship.

 

[Hawkman]

10. Voice From The Past

Blake suffers nightmares of the memory conditioning the Federation performed on him five years before. On course to the resort world Del-10, Blake makes a sudden unexplained course change to PK-118, a mining asteroid. Avon and the rest of the crew restrain Blake, believing that someone is trying to manipulate his mind. Blake, however, tricks Vila into believing that the others are plotting against him. Once free, Blake teleports to PK-118 where he meets a resistance group led by former Arbiter General Ven Glynd – a man who originally convicted Blake at his trial, but claims he has defected. Glynd, along with two other revolutionaries, the frail Shivan (whose face is masked with bandages), and LeGrand (a governor whose ship they later rendezvous with), claim they have enough legal evidence to non-violently overthrow the Federation. They request transport to a political meeting on planet Atlay. Avon and the others, however, smell a trap when they realize a device Shivan carries may be controlling Blake's mind.

 

[Hawkman]

11. Gambit
Blake's team arrives at Freedom City, one of the last places not under Federation control, to find a cyber-surgeon named Docholli, who, rumour has it, is one of the few people who may know the secret location of Star One – the real control centre of the Federation. As Blake, Jenna, and Cally look for the surgeon, who is hiding under the false name Kline, they discover that he is guarded by Travis, who has sought the doctor for maintenance on his cybernetic arm. Through the assistance of a devious casino owner named Krantor, Servalan lurks behind the scenes plotting to eliminate Docholli. She lays a trap for him by capturing Travis and secretly placing a bomb in his cyber arm. Meanwhile, Avon and Vila sneak a miniaturised Orac, (reduced to ⅛th size by demonstrating controlled molecular implosion), to cheat in Krantor's Big Wheel casino and win large amounts of money. Vila is later tricked by Krantor to play "to the death" in a game of speed chess against an undefeated player known as The Klute.

 

[Hawkman]

12. The Keeper

With clues left by Docholli, Blake heads to the planet Goth to find a "brain-print" of a man named Lurgen who knew the secret location of Star One and stored it inside an amulet worn by a royal leader called "The Keeper". While in transit, Avon suggests taking over Star One rather than destroying it in order to gain control over the Federation, but Blake refuses ever to wield such power. After Blake, Jenna, and Vila teleport down to Goth, Zen detects a ship in orbit that Avon is certain belongs to Travis and destroys it. Travis, however, is already on the planet with Servalan to intercept the brain-print before Blake does. Travis offers to share control of the Federation with Servalan, but finds the brain-print himself and departs in Servalan's ship. Jenna and Vila attempt to amuse the king of the Goths while they try to identify the keeper. Eventually the location is found and the crew set course for Star One.

 

[Hawkman]

13. Star One

With the location of Star One finally revealed, Blake is determined to finish his mission and destroy the control facility that keeps the Federation functioning. Again, Avon urges him to reconsider destroying it but Blake refuses. Meanwhile, Servalan deals with a series of catastrophes throughout several Federation worlds – the only theory is that someone is tampering with Star One. Upon arriving at Star One, Blake discovers that it has been taken over by Andromedan aliens in human guise who are posing as technicians and disrupting the systems. The aliens mistake Blake for Travis, and await his deactivation of Star One's defences; this will allow their 600-ship invasion force to move in and attack the Federation. When Travis arrives, he wounds Blake and deactivates the defences, Travis is unhinged and wants to help the Andromedans carry out the " final act" , to destroy mankind. Jenna then alerts the Federation of the invasion force, and after a shoot out Blake realises Star One cannot be destroyed as humanity will need all the resources it can get. All return to Liberator where Avon takes charge as Blake is injured and is ready to defend Federation territory from the invaders until the Federation forces can arrive.


On to series 3

Blake's 7 - Series 3

1. Aftermath Star One has been destroyed, the Federation is in shambles, and the Liberator is severely damaged. The crew abandon ship using the Liberator's lifeboats as Zen has cut life-support and initiated self-repairs. an unconscious Avon is put in a lifeboat with Orac by Villa and Cally...

www.tellytalk.net

 

[lbf522]

I loved Blake 7. It was a fun show to watch. The ending was a shock for me. I had never seen an entire cast being killed off before.

 

[Hawkman]

Series 2 Quotes

SHADOW

Blake: We chose the wrong approach, that's all.
Gan: Is that all? I thought maybe we'd chosen the wrong people to get involved with.
Avon: "We chose the wrong approach"?
Blake: I chose the wrong approach. Does it matter?
Avon: Yes, it does.
Blake: All right, Avon. You were right and I was wrong. You said persuasion wouldn't work and it didn't. So now we use force.
Avon: Force? Yes, of course. Law makers, law breakers, let us fight them all. Why not?

---

Jenna: It's enough to fry your eyeballs.
Avon: …daintily put.
Jenna: Must be the company I keep.

---

Avon: It could have been frying eyeballs you heard.
Jenna: …daintily put.

WEAPON

Avon: Auron may be different, Cally, but on Earth it is considered ill-mannered to kill your friends while committing suicide.

Cally: Sooner or later, Blake is going to attack Federation Central Control on Earth itself.
Vila: Later. Much later.
Avon: And alone, probably.
Jenna: I doubt that.
Gan: He wouldn't be alone if you just left him, Avon.
Avon: You would stay with him?
Gan: Yes.
Avon (smirks): Virtually alone, then.

HORIZON

Vila: Why don't you go?
Avon: You are expendable
.Vila: And you're not?
Avon: No, I am not. I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going.

Avon: If I go alone, can I pilot the Liberator independently?
Orac: With the help of the automatics, of course you can.
Avon: I know that.
Orac: Then why did you ask the question?
Avon: I didn't. How long can I maintain myself?
Orac: Is that a question?
Avon: Yes
.Orac: We have concentrated food for one person for a thousand years.
Avon: And our power is self-regenerating.
Orac: Affirmative.
Avon: Can you plot courses to keep out of the range of any known spaceship manned by the Federation?
Orac: The battle and navigation computers can handle that perfectly adequately.
Avon: I asked if you could.
Orac: Of course, should it be necessary.
Avon: Failing that, we are powerful enough to resist all but an attack by three Federation pursuit ships at once.
Orac: Is that a question?
Avon: No. If we go now, we can sail the universe for as long as we like in reasonable safety, provided we keep out of everybody's way and we do not do anything rash.
Orac: No data available to answer the question, If it was a question.
Avon: I put it to you as a possibility. I request the odds.
Orac: The odds would be three point five to one on survival.
Avon: Therefore I do not need Blake, I do not need any of the others...
Orac: Is that a question?
Avon: I do not need anybody at all.
Orac: Is that a question? I - I - I must ask you to be more specific!
Avon: [snaps out of his thoughts] Shut up, Orac.

 

[Hawkman]

PRESSURE POINT
(Avon has just agreed to join Blake on his suicidal mission)
Blake: Do you want to tell me why?
Avon: I like the challenge.
Blake: You don't want to tell me why.
Avon: If we succeed, if we destroy control, the Federation will be at its weakest. It will be more vulnerable than it has been for centuries. The revolt in the outer worlds will grow. Resistance movements on Earth will launch an all-out attack to destroy The Federation, they will need unifying; they will need a leader. You will be the natural choice.
Blake: Possibly.
Avon: Don't be modest, Blake, you are the only one that they would all follow. You would have no choice; you would have to stay on Earth and organise the revolt.
Blake: If there's no other way.
Avon: There wouldn't be.
Blake: That still doesn't explain why you're backing me.
Avon: With you running the campaign on Earth, somebody has to take charge of all this.
Blake: [Laughing] You want The Liberator?
Avon: Exactly. If we succeed, the destruction of control gives us both what we want.
Blake: Could be you're planning just a little far ahead.
Avon: Perhaps.

TRIAL

Avon: Which only leaves one question to be answered. Is it that Blake has a genius for leadership, or merely that you have a genius for being led?

Vila: I see. So you've decided to be led like the rest of us?
Avon: I shall continue to follow. It's not quite the same thing.
Vila: I don't see the difference.
Avon: Well, I didn't really think that you would.

Travis: I will make the opening declaration.
Thania: Look, don't be a fool. You really think you're going to impress them sympathetically?
Travis: I think the Supreme Commander wants me to go to my death quietly. This is as close to quietly as I am going to get.
Thania: Look, I'm trying to save your life, Travis--
Travis: You'd be better occupied trying to save your own, Thania. Majors can die quite anonymously. And your involvement in this fiasco makes your life expectancy only slightly longer than my own.

---

Travis: A field officer, like myself, is frequently required to make fast, unconsidered decisions. You were all field officers, you know that's true. Time to think is a luxury battle seldom affords you. You react instinctively. Your actions, your decisions, all instinct, nothing more. But, an officer's instincts are the product of his training. The more thorough the training, the more predictable the instinct, the better the officer. And I am a good officer. I have been in the service all my adult life. I'm totally dedicated to my duty and highly trained in how to perform it. On Serkasta I, I reacted as I was trained to react. I was an instrument of the service. So if I'm guilty of murder, of mass murder, then so are all of you!

---

Servalan: It really is a pity he's got to die. He's so much better than anything I've got left.

---

Fleet Warden General Samor: Space Commander, we have considered your sentence at some length. Your contention that what happened on Serkasta was a direct result of your training concerned us greatly. We accept that you are trained to kill. As are we all. What we cannot accept is that this training leads inevitably to the murder of innocents. Your behavior was not that of a Federation officer, but rather that of a savage, unthinking, animal.

Vila: They missed us! Avon's gadget works!
Blake: I never doubted it for a moment. (Avon frowns.) Is something wrong?
Avon: It just occurred to me that, as the description of a highly sophisticated technological achievement, "Avon's gadget works" seems to lack a certain style.

---

Avon (To Blake): I would quite like to have met this Zil of yours. It's not often that one comes across a philosophical flea.
Vila: That's the stuff that legends are made of!
Avon: …then again, perhaps they are not so uncommon.

 

[Hawkman]

KILLER
Vila: I hope you can trust him.
Avon: I told you, he's a friend of mine.
Vila: Yes, I always knew you had a friend. I used to say to people, "I bet Avon's got a friend...somewhere in the galaxy."
Avon: And you were right. That must be a novel experience for you.

---

Vila: When Avon holds out the hand of friendship, watch his other hand. That's the one with the hammer.

---

Avon: Vila?
Vila: What?
Avon: You're a fool.
Vila: Nerves getting to you?
Avon: There are a quarter of a million volts running through that converter. I make one false move, I'll be so crisped up what's left of me won't fit into a sandwich.
Vila: I'm a vegetarian. Thanks for the offer, though.

---

Vila: You don't have a lot of time for Blake, do you?
Avon: I could never stand heroes.
Vila: A quarter of a million volts and you're putting your hand in?
Avon: Ah, but that is self-interest. We need that crystal. Blake takes risks to help other people. Sometimes people he doesn't even know. One day that great big bleeding heart of his will get us all killed.
Vila: Unless somebody ditches him first.

GAMBIT

Servalan: (about Krantor) He is a despicable animal. When the Federation finally cleans out this cesspit, I shall have that vulpine degenerate eviscerated with a small and very blunt knife.

Krantor: One of these days, Toise, I am going to have Supreme Commander high-and-mighty Servalan raged until she does not know what month she's in! I'll have her screaming for death!

STAR ONE

Vila: Then they are expecting an invasion? A hoard of hairy aliens!
Orac: There is no logical reason why aliens should be hairy.
Vila: There's no logical reason why people should be hairy!

Avon:As far as I'm concerned you can destroy whatever you like. You can stir up a thousand revolutions. You can wade in blood up to your armpits. Oh, and you can lead the rabble to victory -- whatever that may mean. Just so long as there's an end to it. When Star One is gone, it is finished, Blake. And I want it finished! I want it over and done with, I want to be free!
Cally: But you are free now, Avon.
Avon: [Bitterly, while glaring at Blake] I want to be free of him!

Durkim: Servalan, by design or accident Star One is failing.
Servalan: There has to be another explanation.
Durkim: There isn't.
Servalan: And if you want to keep your job you'll find it.
Durkim: Why won't you face the facts?
Servalan: Because I'm not convinced. And even if I were, there would be nothing I could do about it.
Durkim: Well, surely under the circumstances you could get clearance to put a team in.
Servalan: Star One is the most secure installation in the Federation.
Durkim: I know that.
Servalan: Do you know why it's so thoroughly secure?
Durkim: Well, presumably because knowledge of its location is severely restricted
Servalan: No! Knowledge of its location is non-existent! Durkim, no-one knows where Star One is!
No one at all!

Travis: Put the gun down, Avon, it's too late to stop it now.
Avon: Convince me.
Travis: Be polite and I may let you live.
Avon: Be informative and I may let you die. You'll want that after I've shot off an arm and a leg or two.
Travis: I thought you were supposed to be the one with brains.
Avon: Brains but no heart. Now talk or scream, Travis, the choice is yours.

Blake: [To Avon] For what it is worth, I have always trusted you. Right from the very beginning.

---

Vila: Avon, this is stupid!
Avon: When did that ever stop us?

 

[Hawkman]

Series 2 Liberator Team.

And introducing Orac.