Tag: BBC1

Dayna and Tarrant’s first assignment as Liberator crew members is to visit the planet Obsidian and investigate two things: rumors that Blake had fled to that planet after evacuating the Liberator, and the possibility of using Obsidian as a base from which to fight the Federation. But Servalan and her troops arrive to take over the world, and the people of Obsidian reveal the weapon which has kept them safe from the Federation all this time.

written by Allan Prior
directed by Desmond McCarthy
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Michael Gough (Hower), Malcolm Bullivant (Bershar), Ben Howard (Mori), Alan Bowerman (Battle Fleet Commander), Russell Denton (Milus), Judy Matheson (Mutoid)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Orac, curious about an unusual black hole, takes control of the Liberator and swings her too close. The ship is swallowed up by the black hole, and it is discovered that this particular black hole is indeed unusual because it is artificial constructed by an outcast “god” from Cally’s home planet of Auron who seeks a powerful ship, brilliant slaves – and Cally.

written by James Follett
directed by Desmond McCarthy
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Sam Dastor (The Caliph), Terry Scully (Groff), Marcus Powell (The Thaarn)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Servalan’s new right-hand man and tactical advisor takes Tarrant on in a battle of strategy in space and on foot on the deadly planet of Kairos, but Avon’s obsessive search for an elusive new weapon hinders the Liberator crew’s efficiency – but saves them in the end.

written by Ben Steed
directed by Gerald Blake
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Andrew Burt (Jarvik), Frank Gatliff (Dastor), Anthony Gardner (Shad), Charles Jamieson (Guard), Sam Davies (Carlon), Christopher Douglas (First Leader, Third Leader), Hywel David (Interceptor Captain, Second Leader)

Notes: In a 1986 interview with Time Screen magazine, Paul Darrow said that this episode was “the one that made Jan Chappell decide to leave.”

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Cally’s twin sister, Zelda, sends out a telepathic distress signal when the planet Auron is ravaged by a plague which has, in fact, been unleashed on the pacifist Aurons by Servalan in an attempt to capture the Liberator and its crew.

written by Roger Parkes
directed by Andrew Morgan
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally, Zelda), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Rio Fanning (Deral), Ric Young (Ginka), Jack McKenzie (Patar), Beth Harris (CA Two), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (CA One), Sarah Atkinson (Franton), Michael Troughton (Pilot Four-Zero)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Avon sets out to avenge the death of his lover, Anna Grant. He kidnaps a Federation “prison psychologist” (torturer) whom he believes is responsible for her execution, but information gained from that encounter leads Avon and the crew back to Earth in a raid on Servalan’s mansion – which has been taken by a rebel group already – where Avon discovers that Anna was never killed…nor was she ever, in fact, alive.

written by Chris Boucher
directed by Fiona Cumming
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), John Bryans (Shrinker), Peter Clay (Chesku), Lorna Heilbron (Sula, Anna), Donald Douglas (Grenlee), David Haig (Forres), Philip Bloomfield (Balon), David Gillies (Hob)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

After visiting a derelict alien “tomb-vessel,” Cally is inhabited by the soul of a long-dead creature who begins to take her shape, draining her of her energy, and takes over the ship and, one by one, the crew – except for Avon, the one member of the crew who is determined not to surrender into slavery. But the alien possessing Cally has predicted Avon’s presence and his resistance.

written by Tanith Lee
directed by Fiona Cumming
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The Liberator is captured by an artificial planet whose inhabitants wish to use the ship as the centerpiece of a sort of galactic museum. The crew is studied too, though they discover that after Ultraworld’s organic central brain digests all the information about them that it can, it intends to digest them physically as well to keep itself alive.

written by Trevor Hoyle
directed by Vere Lorrimer
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Peter Richards (Ultra), Stephen Jenn (Ultra), Ian Barritt (Ultra), Ronald Govey (Relf)

Notes: Trevor Hoyle also authored several novelizations of the series, which combined and condensed the plots of several episodes in each book, aimed primarily at a younger audience.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The Liberator crew follows Servalan’s star cruiser to a cloaked planet on the edge of known space, where they discover a band of rogue Federation troops who are inviting criminals to join their new world. The planet’s every need is provided by a computer called Moloch – or at least everyone assumes it’s a computer until its reveals its true nature to Avon.

written by Ben Steed
directed by Vere Lorrimer
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), John Hartley (Grose), Mark Sheridan (Lector), Davyd Harries (Doran), Sabina Franklin (Chesil), Debbi Blythe (Poola), Deep Roy (Moloch)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Tarrant’s brother, Deeta Tarrant, first champion of the planet Teal, is killed in a gunfight which decides the fate of two warring worlds who use gladiators instead of conventional weapons to fight their battles. Tarrant challenges the victor, which Avon and Orac discover to be an android placed in combat by Servalan, who hopes the two governments will suspect each other of cheating, resulting in a real war which would allow the Federation to take over both planets.

written by Chris Boucher
directed by Gerald Blake
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jan Chappell (Cally), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Del Tarrant, Deeta Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Peter Tuddenham (Zen, Orac), Stewart Bevan (Max), Mark Elliot (Vinni), David Sibley (Commentator), Kathy Iddon (Karla)

LogBook entry by Earl Green