"We don't get offered galaxies every week."
REVIEW: Bob Holmes' last episode of Blake's 7 is a triumph! It uses the cast and only two guest characters - he needs his double acts, though Avon and Vila certainly count, this time - and no location work. It nevertheless has some nice effects (a cool planet, model shots, an interesting video communication effect, they even think of moving Orac when the shuttle tips to an extreme angle, well, sometimes). So it doesn't feel cheap, or I should say, any cheaper than usual. But it COULD and it wouldn't matter because the dialog is so fun, the science actually defensible (tachyons and neutron stars are explained correctly), and both the comedy and drama WORK.
Avon this time brings Vila on the mission and they work so well together, it's a real shame that isn't always the case. Not only is their banter strong, but by the end, when Avon considers throwing his friend (yes, friend, just look at his expression) out an airlock, we get a very tense, dark moment. Holmes lathers on the irony with the line about Vila feeling safe when he's with Avon, used three times in three different ways. Their uneasy partnership here is mirrors in the guest characters, Egrorian the mad scientist who mistreats his aged and addled (and JEALOUS!) assistant. Their dialog crackles too, and there's something off-putting about how they act like children. John Savident (Egrorian) is having a grand old time in this flamboyant role, matching Paul Darrow's joyful performance. Not to say other people aren't having fun. There are a lot of smiles among the rest of the crew, and a bit where the girls mock Vila relentlessly.
As with Gold, there's a heist/con element to the episode as both sides try to double-cross one another in an exchange between a planet-destroying weapon and Orac. Avon sells a copy. Egrorian plans for Avon's mandated shuttle to crash, leading to a desperate expulsion of ballast which almost includes Vila. And AS with Gold, the Seven DON'T get away with the loot (out the airlock!) and the trap is set by Servalan herself. Jacqueline Pearce's unctuousness in the role provides comedy most days, but this is probably the most comedy she's gotten to play. Egrorian is made up to be unattractive so that she can be repelled by his advances - he's in love with her and wants to rule by her side, so she has to play along, but also gets backed into a corner. It's amusing and not something she usually gets to play.
Of course Egrorian's abuse and the attention he lavishes on everyone BUT his assistant makes the latter pull a tachyon radiation switch at the end (once Servalan is away, don't worry) and wow, he's turned into a skeleton and Egrorian into an old man with a long beard. What a cool, dark ending for these villains! Not as dark as the Avon/Vila moment, but still. So. Much. Fun.
NOT MY FEDERATION: Egrorian reads his file on a device much like a PADD.
BUT MIGHT BE MY EMPIRE: Egrorian's weapon is essentially a death star (it just LOOKS like a television on casters).
WHO?: We've discussed before how Robert Holmes was one of Doctor Who's greatest writers and a script editor in the Golden Age of the series; this is his fourth and last episode of Blake's 7. John Savident (Egrorian) will play the Squire in The Visitation.
REWATCHABILITY: High - I wasn't always convinced by Holmes' Blake's 7 scripts, but his last assignment is a high note.
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