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Audio Dramas Blake's 7

The Mark Of Kane

Blake's 7: The Mark Of KaneBusted out of the ranks of the Federation Space Command after his trial, Travis is on the run and out for revenge – on all of humanity, if necessary. He makes contact with an alien force from beyond Earth’s galaxy and offers to join them in an attempt to enter and conquer Federation space. To make that possible, however, Travis must track down a neurosurgeon named Docholli, the only man who is said to know where the Federation’s top secret central control is. During his attempts to track down Docholli, Travis runs afoul of a pair of bounty hunters out to collect the Federation’s price on his head. Only one of them, Kane, survives the ensuing firefight, and he promises to get his revenge on Travis, no matter how long it takes. Some years later, Kane joins another bounty hunter, who he doesn’t realize is former freedom fighter Roj Blake, on the lawless planet of Gauda Prime. Blake is looking for Lafayette, a pirate whose attack on an arms shipment resulted in the death of former Liberator crew member Jenna Stannis. Kane, however, is still hoping to catch up with Travis. And when he learns who Blake is, and that Blake got to Travis before he did, Kane will leave an indelible mark of his own.

written by Alan Stevens & David Tulley
directed by Alistair Lock
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Brian Croucher (Travis), Tracy Russell (Valisha / Blossom), Terry Molloy (Kane), Christina Balit (Mutoid Pilot), Bruce McGilligan (Alien), Steven Allen (Stenner), Alistair Lock (Customer), Pete Wallbank (Royce), Alan Stevens (Morik), Peter Halliday (Barkeeper), Daniel Bowers (Tando), Peter Miles (Lafayette)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7

The Logic Of Empire

Blake's 7: The Logic Of EmpireSeven years after the massacre of his crewmates and the death of Blake on Gauda Prime, Kerr Avon comes out of seclusion to hear a proposition from an anti-Federation rebel named Lydon on a distant, unnamed world. Lydon has contacted Elise, Avon’s sometime-lover, to try to get Avon involved in an attempt to raid a shipment of Federation gold. Avon is skeptical of how Lydon hopes to help the resistance movement with what is essentially an interplanetary train robbery, and upon hearing Lydon’s plan he’s even more incredulous. But Avon still has an ace up his sleeve – he consults Orac to help him devise a more cohesive plan of action. Before any of those plans can be put into practice, Federation troops converge on Avon, Elise and the others, mounting a strike so precise that they must be getting information from Elise, her strong-arm cohort Kelso, or Lydon. Again, Avon comes to believe that the person he wanted to trust most has betrayed him, and he kills Elise. But this time, his actions and even his contingency plans have been anticipated by Federation psychostrategists, and Avon is captured and brought to Servalan, who has reclaimed her seat of power. But as part of her strategy to remain in power, Servalan has decided she needs enemies to keep the Federation distracted, and she intends for Avon to keep the resistance movement alive…even if it means that the man Avon is now will cease to exist.

written by Alan Stevens & David Tulley
directed by Alistair Lock
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Gareth Thomas (Blake), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Tracy Russell (Elise), Ian Reddington (Lydon), Trevor Cooper (Kelso), Peter Tuddenham (Orac / Slave / Zen), Alistair Lock (Major Brecht), David Tulley (Section Leader), Alan Stevens (Squad Leader #1), Bruce McGilligan (Squad Leader #2), Pete Wallbank (Trooper), Sharon Eckman (P.A. System), Patricia Merrick (Kerrine), Jim Smith (Ric)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 New Series - Main

Rebel

Blake's 7: RebelIn the distant future, the tyrannical Federation decides to do away with its most persistent opponent: freedom fighter Roj Blake. Blake is sentenced to exile on the prison colony planet Cygnus Alpha after a conveniently quick trial convicts him on false charges that he molested several children. Aboard the prison ship London en route to Cygnus Alpha, Blake meets fellow prisoners Jenna Stannis, a hard-bitten smuggler, and cynical computer expert Kerr Avon. When they’re enlisted as skilled cannon fodder for a mission to salvage an enormous alien spacecraft, the three prisoners take the opportunity to make an escape attempt. The Federation officer overseeing the prisoners, Mezen, is trapped aboard the alien ship with them. Blake decides to recruit more crew memebrs from the remaining prisoners ferried to Cygnus Alpha by the London, but he finds them under a different iron fist there, as prisoners already living there have set up their own strict society, ruling by the fear of God. Only two of the prisoners, master thief Vila Restal and convicted killer Oleg Gan, opt to join Blake’s crew. Across the galaxy, in the seat of power on Earth, Space Commander Travis – who hunted Blake before his capture by the Federation – warns the newly-promoted Supreme Commander Servalan that Blake is more of a threat than the Federation’s strategists think he is.

Order this story on CDwritten by Ben Aaronovitch
directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Derek Riddell (Roj Blake), Colin Salmon (Kerr Avon), Carrie Dobro (Jenna Stannis), Dean Harris (Vila Restal), Owen Aaronovitch (Oleg Gan), India Fisher (Lora Mezin), Daniela Nardini (Servalan), Craig Kelly (Travis), Michael Praed (Soris), Tim Plester (Clinician Havant), Sarah Matravers (Revella), Jonathan Rhodes (Prosecutor), Dominic Cotter (Reporter), Robert Lock (Captain of the London), Daniel J. Geduld (Trooper Tanzig), Barbara Joslyn (Sheeva / Computer voices), Frances Barber (Judge Helga Ramotswe), James Gaddas (Sub-Commander Raiker), Nick Brimble (Borchu)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 New Series - Main

Traitor

Blake's 7: TraitorNow with Vila and Gan aboard the ship, Blake turns his attention once more to gaining control of his new transport – which means he has to trust Avon, who may or may not be trying to gain control of the alien ship for himself. As Gan and Vila explore the depths of the ship, no doubt seeking treasures worthy of plundering, they stumble upon one of the control core areas for the ship’s computer, and Gan is ensnared in the ship’s organic machinery. The ship, which is seeking candidates for a replacement crew, scans Gan’s mind to learn the identities of Blake, Jenna and the others, but still finds only sketchy information and sets itself on a course to collide with a star. Avon tries to reason with the computer, while Mezin takes advantage of the chaos to try to signal a Federation ship for help, an act of desperation which instantly loses her crewmates’ trust. The alien ship blows the Federation scout away – but not before forcibly extracting information on Blake and the others from the scout ship’s database. Even as the ship’s sentient computer repeatedly demands that Blake and his fellow fugitives must submit themselves to an initiation procedure, Avon warns that they may be dealing with an unstable mind at the heart of the ship. Jenna suggests an old smuggling haven of hers for a temporary hideout, but when they arrive, they discover that the Federation has razed the planet’s entire civlization to the ground. Blake decides to drop Mezin off there, but when she sees what has been done by the government to whom she has pledged her loyalty, the Federation officer starts to come around. Christened the Liberator, Blake’s alien ship decides that it needs to refuel – and the supply depot at a heavily populated Federation colony becomes its first target, despite the crew’s wishes. The resulting “attack” now puts the ship and its crew somewhat higher on the priority list for Supreme Commander Servalan and Travis.

Order this story on CDwritten by Marc Platt
directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Derek Riddell (Roj Blake), Colin Salmon (Kerr Avon), Carrie Dobro (Jenna Stannis), Dean Harris (Vila Restal), Owen Aaronovitch (Oleg Gan), India Fisher (Lora Mezin), Daniela Nardini (Servalan), Craig Kelly (Travis), Rula Lenska (Dr. Ruth Ashaya), Jake Maskall (Lt. Jorge Garcia), Alistair Lock (Derelict Ship voices), Jonathan Redwin (Cassim Rafat), Kevin Jon Davies (Councillor Adrius Singh), William Johnston (Police Scout), Barbara Joslyn (Control), Jonathan Rhodes (Prosecutor), Andy Thomas (Refinery)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 New Series - Main

Liberator

Blake's 7: LiberatorIn the wake of the Liberator’s attack on a Federation fuel refinery, and with no idea who is aboard other than Mezin, Travis is given more authority by Servalan to find the ship and protect Federation interests. But Travis’ idea of containing the threat is very different from that of his superior: Servalan wants the Liberator captured so she can use it as her personal flagship, ruling the Federation with an iron first. Travis simply wants the ship and its crew destroyed – a more effective way of dealing with the threat, and one that won’t involve the loss of men and equipment that a boarding party and a running firefight with an unknown crew armed with unknown weaponry would entail. But in Travis’ next attack on the alien ship, Liberator’s true commander is revealed – and by default, his mission can be nothing less than toppling the Federation. Aboard the Liberator, Blake has problems of his own as Avon and Vila put a plan in motion to mutiny against him, angry that they’ve effectively been branded for life as members of Blake’s revolt. Jenna quashes the mutiny just in time, and Avon and Vila are given the opportunity to leave Liberator with no questions asked…though now that their names are linked with Blake and his ship, they know there’s nowhere to run. Travis mounts a surprise attack with devastating results, but both he and Blake are surprised when new ships join the battle – alien ships, just like the Liberator. And they’ve come to recover their lost property.

Order this story on CDwritten by James Swallow
directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Derek Riddell (Roj Blake), Colin Salmon (Kerr Avon), Carrie Dobro (Jenna Stannis), Dean Harris (Vila Restal), Owen Aaronovitch (Oleg Gan), India Fisher (Lora Mezin), Daniela Nardini (Servalan), Craig Kelly (Travis), Doug Bradley (Nico Ballantine), Jake Maskall (Lt. Jorge Garcia), Alistair Lock (Zen), Daniel J. Geduld (Councillor Adrius Singh), Evangelo Kioussis (Lt. Rix), Barbara Joslyn (Security Monitor voice), Robert Maloney (Operator)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 New Series - Early Years

When Vila Met Gan

Blake's 7: When Vila Met GanYears before the joined the Liberator, Vila and Gan weren’t even friends – though they did become uneasy allies when Gan, a hired hand for the wealthy owner of a secretive business venture, recognized that Vila’s lockpicking skills could help him (albeit indirectly) win the affections of the girl of Gan’s dreams. Gan and Vila set out to pull off a daring heist that could make them both rich – but it involves stealing from Gan’s own employer. Two things happen that Vila and Gan weren’t counting on: Gan’s employer turns out to have top-secret Federation military ties, and a taste for lethal automatic defense systems to match. The other wild card is the rioting that begins when the results of the vote for the President of the Federation are overturned to keep a man called Roj Blake from winning the popular vote. With chaos looming in the background, Vila and Gan have found either the best possible cover to pull off their caper, or the increased police presence will make it much easier for them to be caught and shot on sight…

Order this story on CDwritten by Ben Aaronovitch
directed by Andrew Mark Sewell
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Michael Keating (Vila Restal), Owen Aaronovitch (Oleg Gan), Alistair Lock (Zen)

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 Liberator Chronicles

The Turing Test

Blake's 7The Liberator follows the tenuous trail of a group of brilliant scientists shipped off to a rogue planet by the Federation. Avon, suspecting that the “exiled” geniuses are top cyberneticists, concocts a plan to infiltrate their ranks. Vila poses as a rogue digital memory expert, while the ever-impassive Avon finds it easier to pass as Vila’s creation: a sentient android. The double-act ingratiates them with the isolated scientists enough for Vila and Avon to meet their creation: a real android simply named 14. Poised on the edge of attaining sentience herself, 14 represents a technology that the Liberator crew can’t allow to be put into use by the Federation. When the distant science outpost is attacked by pirates, however, Avon realizes why 14 is named 14: her predecessors, all marvels of technology, have become cannon fodder to protect their creators. At that moment, Avon succumbs to an unusual, Blake-like urge to set the android free.

written by Simon Guerrier
directed by Lisa Bowerman
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila)

Notes: This is one of the three stories comprising the first Liberator Chronicles box set produced by Big Finish Productions, marking the first new classic series audio stories since the two BBC-produced radio plays in 1999. In much the same format as Big Finish’s Doctor Who Companion Chronicles, only two cast members are featured, with Darrow recounting the story from Avon’s perspective and occasionally performing dialogue scenes between Avon and Vila with Keating. All three stories take place between the first season episodes Project Avalon and Breakdown.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 Liberator Chronicles

Solitary

Blake's 7Vila awakens, locked in a cabin on the Liberator and struggling to remember how he came to be there. He is eventually contacted telepathically by a man named Nyrron – a man who Vila and Cally teleported into the middle of a Federation weapons factory to find. Nyrron, an Auron, tries to talk Vila through his recent memories of that mission, including finding Nyrron to be the only living person in a sea of burned corpses after an accident at the factory. Though Cally feels Nyrron is a promising candidate to join the cause of freedom, Avon and Jenna are less sure; Blake gives Nyrron a chance to prove his loyalty to the rebellion. Nyrron and Vila are sent to another Federation facility to find the communications component that had already been destroyed on the factory planet, but this world has another problem: a non-corporeal life form has taken hold here, capable of inhabiting any mind and copying its memories, essentially assuming its identity. The reason Vila has been locked up after this mission is simple: he isn’t really Vila. But is Nyrron, free to mingle with the Liberator crew, really Nyrron?

written by Nigel Fairs
directed by Lisa Bowerman
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Michael Keating (Vila), Anthony Howell (Nyrron)

Notes: This is the second of the three stories comprising the first Liberator Chronicles box set produced by Big Finish Productions. All three stories take place between the first season episodes Project Avalon and Breakdown. Nyrron returns in Wolf, a story in the second Liberator Chronicles box set.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Blake's 7 Liberator Chronicles

Counterfeit

Blake's 7Using the communications decryption equipment stolen from the Federation base on Centero, Avon learns of a top-secret mining facility where the Federation is putting some of its smartest prisoners to work on a project to mine an ore that can transform into any other element. Keen to keep this from being used as a weapon, Blake decides he must investigate and interfere if possible. Under the assumed name of Galloway, Blake teleports down to the mining colony and passes himself off as one of the laboring prisoners. But things don’t add up: two years were spent mining a seam of the ore that proved to be useless, a failure on a scale that usually convinces the Federation to stop sending more resources and start sending firing squads. And yet the mine still operates, and Blake has to operate undercover without being able to contact the Liberator. Blake’s cover is quickly blown and his identity becomes known to the senior Federation officer, and worse yet, Blake is told that Space Commander Travis has arrived to personally take charge of the situation. The resistance leader steels himself for a reunion with the one man in the Federation most eager to see him dead, only to discover that it’s not that simple.

written by Peter Anghelides
directed by Lisa Bowerman
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon)

Notes: This is the third of the three stories comprising the first Liberator Chronicles box set produced by Big Finish Productions. All three stories take place between the first season episodes Project Avalon and Breakdown.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Warship

Blake's 7At Star One, the Liberator alone stands guard at the recently-breached energy barrier protecting the Milky Way galaxy from an onslaught of aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy. With only one gap in the barrier, the Liberator is able to hold most of the invasion fleet at bay, long enough for a fleet of armed civilian ships from the outlying Federation colonies closest to Star One to arrive and take up the fight. The fight hasn’t been without cost, however; the Liberator urgently needs to withdraw to allow Zen’s auto-repair systems to bring the ship back up to strength. Blake finds it difficult to stay in the Liberator’s medical unit, but Cally has other concerns – namely, whether Blake would have risked widespread civilian casualties just to destroy Star One and bring down the Federation. But before she can spend more time trying to find the limits of Blake’s conscience, Cally is needed on the flight deck; Avon is leading the charge against the invasion, and needs all available hands at their stations.

As the Liberator moves to the rear of the action, away from Star One, a large object unexpectedly passes through space nearby. Orac and Zen identify it as a planet in an irregular orbit around Star One’s sun – a planet with a much older Federation installation than Star One itself. Curious about the planet, but unwilling to spare anyone from the Flight Deck, Avon convinces Blake to teleport down and investigate. Concerned for Blake’s safety, and still troubled by his recent behavior, Cally goes with Blake. The planet turns out to be dangerously cold and icy, with an underground facility whose personnel are kept in a state of deep sleep, awaiting reactivation if necessary. They discover that if the planet’s orbit intersects with Star One’s, and the installation’s sensors detect that the barrier is down, a massive plasma bomb will detonate, destroying a huge area of space and everything in it, including any invading force…and any other ship around. Blake tries to summon help from the Federation, but only gets a response from Servalan, who is rapidly approaching the front (not to lead her troops, but to put in a photo op as the new, self-appointed President of the Federation, following her deposing the existing President on Earth). Servalan refuses to do anything to defuse the bomb, but just plans to claim credit for whatever damage it inflicts on the growing alien fleet.

As Blake and Cally explore the surface, Avon and the others on the Liberator deal with alien mines that attach themselves to the Liberator’s hull and begin causing extensive damage to the ship’s systems. Once Blake and Cally are back aboard, it becomes apparent that the planet’s orbit will bring it close to Star One shortly, setting off the Federation’s nearly-forgotten doomsday weapon. Servalan thinks she can outrun it – but it turns out that even the Liberator can’t do that.

Order this CDwritten by Peter Anghelides
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac)

Notes: This audio story, the first full-cast Blake’s 7 audio drama produced by Big Finish, fills the gap between Star One (1979) and Aftermath (1980).

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Fractures

Blake's 7Following a close call from Travis’ battalion of pursuit ships, the Liberator is forced to take shelter in an area called the Derelict Zone while auto-repair systems patch up the engines. The Derelict Zone is aptly named, densely packed with the hulks of dead ships. But even after the engines are repaired, the Liberator remains unable to move, and Blake and his crew disperse to different parts of the ship to track down the cause. But in the course of communicating with one another in different parts of the ship, each learns that one of their shipmates can’t be trusted – one of them has seized control of Zen and the Liberator and is trying to kill everyone else.

The problem is that each one of them thinks a different person is the traitor. The result is the entire crew, standing on the flight deck, training their weapons on one another. Who is really sabotaging the Liberator?

Order this CDwritten by Justin Richards
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Brian Croucher (Travis), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Bethan Walker (Mutoid)

Notes: Fractures and the stories that follow it take place shortly after the TV episode A Voice From The Past and prior to Gambit; Blake and his crew know of the existence of Star One, but not its location, and the incident with “Shiban”‘s mind control is mentioned as being not only recent, but still a source of concern.

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Battleground

Blake's 7Having become aware of a Federation equivalent to Orac – which may even be able to detect where the Liberator is by detecting Orac – the crew is racing to find the mind behind its development, a Federation officer named Mikhailov. Orac has narrowed down a list of possible leads, all of whom have proven not to be the person Blake and his crew are seeking. Only one possibility remains, on the planet Straxis, a world known informally to the Federation as Battleground 9. The planet is heavily defended, and when Blake and Avon teleport down, they find a war in progress between the Federation and forces led by a deposed Federation governor. He was removed from office and sent to Battleground 9 to serve as cannon fodder for training exercises, but he has instead organized a functional resistance movement that has become a thorn in the Federation’s side. Blake and Avon meet up with this rebel group, but are separated in the fierce shelling; Avon is captured by the Federation and interrogated by the officer grading the current training exercise – none other than Mikhailov herself, who finds herself answering as many questions as she is asking.

Order this CDwritten by Andrew Smith
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Timothy Bentinck (Abel Garmon), Abigail Hollick (Alexa Mikhailov), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Dan Starkey (Voss Ferrell)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Drones

Blake's 7Crippled above the planet Straxis, the Liberator all but shuts down to effect automatic repairs. When Federation pursuit ships appear to finish the job, Orac links up to Zen and assumes control of the Liberator, directing the ship to dive into the atmosphere of Straxis and crash into the ocean, opening select external doors and flooding parts of the ship to submerge it in the sea, out of sight. Blake, Vila and Cally teleport to land, where they find another resistance cell suffering heavy losses as a result of Blake and Avon’s interference in the insurrection on the other side of the planet. This cell’s leader is more fanatical than methodical, but he has good reason to be paranoid: robotic Federation drones, small as insects, infect their targets with a neurotoxin that, in nearly every case, causes a very unpleasant death – and Vila is the latest to be stung. Underwater, Avon and Jenna have to deal with more Federation drones, crab-like salvage robots scouting out the Liberator. Worse yet, Orac has yet to surrender its control over Zen and the Liberator…and is working to its own agenda, which it won’t divulge even to Avon.

Order this CDwritten by Marc Platt
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Sara Powell (Dr. Cara Petrus), Tim Treloar (Bru Renderson)

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Mirror

Blake's 7There is dissent aboard the Liberator about the crew’s next course of action. Jenna wants to hunt down Space Major Kade and take revenge, but Blake sends Cally to trail Kade instead, over Jenna’s protest. Cally finds that Travis has beaten her to it: he’s using Kade as bait to draw Jenna and the rest of the Liberator crew into a trap. Blake, Avon and Vila teleport to a cargo ship that may contain a clue to the whereabouts of Fedorac, the Federation’s analogue of Orac, only to discover that the ship seems to contain Fedorac itself – and other dangers. Acting on her own desire for revenge, Jenna leaves Blake and the others stranded and takes the Liberator back to the planet to find Kade, but Orac, preoccupied with discovering more about Fedorac, then leaves Jenna and Cally stranded on a primitive planet with Travis and a hostile local population. Is anyone, or anything, among the Liberator crew acting out of anything except self-interest?

Order this CDwritten by Peter Anghelides
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Brian Croucher (Travis), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Bethan Walker (Locklan), Hugh Fraser (President)

Notes: The planet Vere is a nod to classic Blake’s 7 TV director (and, in series four, producer) Vere Lorrimer (1920-1998).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Audio Dramas Big Finish Blake's 7

Cold Fury

Blake's 7Accidentally left behind by the Liberator crew after narrowly escaping the trap laid for them using Fedorac as a lure, Vila is now Travis’ prisoner. Though he proves surprisingly resilient to Travis’ methods of persuading him to talk, and despite one escape attempt during which he’s able to send a distress signal, even Vila has limits to his endurance.

Zen detects Vila’s distress signal and traces its point of origin to an underground Federation facilitiy on an inhospitable ice planet, but en route, it is also discovered that the President of the Federation may be there as well, making an unannounced visit to that same top-secret facility. Blake becomes obsessed with what he perceives as an opportunity to behead the Federation’s power structure, and to the alarm of Jenna and the rest of his crew, seems to regard rescuing Vila as a minor mission objective.

Which is exactly what the President and Travis are counting on.

Order this CDwritten by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright
directed by Ken Bentley
music by Alistair Lock

Cast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Brian Croucher (Travis), Hugh Fraser (President), Anthony Howell (Gustav Nyrron), Caroline Langrishe (Dr. Tirus), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac)

Notes: Travis reminds Vila of the events on the planet Exbar, from the television episode Hostage, a surprising callback since Hostage is, perhaps, not the best-regarded episode of the TV series. The President says that the Federation’s (frequently unsuccessful) cloning experiments are taking place without the knowledge or help of the Clone Masters (seen only once in Weapon). Gustav Nyrron was introduced in the Liberator Chronicles audiobook Wolf, while the scientist overseeing the cloning experiments is from Auron (Children Of Auron), where such technology is in frequent use, though one gets the impression she has knowledge of only part of that process.

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green