Blakes 7

Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – Allies and Enemies

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Review by Ian McArdell

Of all the Blake’s 7 characters destined to grab centre stage in their own spin-off, I’m not sure I had ever anticipated Arlen (Sasha Mitchell). However, in retrospect, she’s one who was begging for a backstory; the insidious Federation security officer was responsible for bringing down the errant Blake, and all of Avon’s crew, during the show’s shocking finale.

Following Arlen’s story, this boxset has a wide timeframe. In the first adventure she encounters Cally prior to the telepath’s time with Blake, the second sits somewhere in Series B, and the third brings us Jenna Stannis, after her Liberator days.

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Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – After the War

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Review by Ian McArdell

Of the many iconic moments across the four-year run of Blake’s 7, the closing moments of the Series B finale ‘Star One’ ranks high. Finally tracking down the heart of the Federation’s control system, a series-long quest, the rebels achieve their objective… only to find that they are opening the door to a larger, interstellar threat. After Travis ultimately betrays humanity, the episode ends with Avon ordering Liberator into the breach against a flotilla of alien invaders.

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Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – Zero Point

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Review by Ian McArdell

The Terra Nostra: Zero Point is the third in a set of audiobooks tied to Big Finish’s The Worlds of Blake’s 7 range. A companion to the recent boxset The Terra Nostra, it deals with the insidious organisation who wield soft power in the criminal underbelly of the Federation. Continue reading →

Audio Review: The World’s of Blake’s 7 – Heroes And Villains

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Review by Ian McArdell

Heroes and Villains is the latest release from The Worlds of Blake’s 7 range from Big Finish. Exploring the universe away from the Liberator, boxsets so far have focussed on fellow freedom fighter Avalon, the mysterious Clone Masters, Colin Baker’s bombastic villain Bayban the Butcher and the  insidious criminal organisation known as The Terra Nostra. Each of these releases have seen members of the show’s original cast appear.

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Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – Bayban the Butcher: Bayban Ascending

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Review by Ian McArdell

Bayban Ascending is the latest tie-in audiobook release for The Worlds of Blake’s 7, Big Finish’s spin-off range exploring wider elements in the Federation universe. While born of necessity, due to the sad passing of a number of core cast members, the range has opened up all sorts of interesting stories away from the Liberator.978-1-83868-607

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Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – The Terra Nostra

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Review by Ian McArdell

The Terra Nostra returns us to the criminal organisation first glimpsed in the Blake’s 7 episode Shadow, for a set of stories in the shady underworld of the Federation. Taking their inspiration from the Mafia, the Terra Nostra seemingly stretched throughout the galaxy and it was heavily implied that they existed as a form of Federation soft power within the criminal classes. This boxset also draws together strands from the previous two in The Worlds of Blake’s 7, The Clone Masters and Bayban the Butcher – notably the story of the psycho-strategist Hinton. Continue reading →

Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – Bayban the Butcher

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Review by Ian McArdell

Bayban the Butcher grants Colin Baker’s famously off-the-hook villain centre stage. Although best known for playing the colourful Sixth Doctor, he gave an entertainingly big guest performance years earlier in Blake’s 7; Bayban, a self-aggrandising baddie with a penchant for alliteration, came up against Vila in Series C’s City at the Edge of the World.

This self-titled boxset follows an appearance in the recent Avalon series and there’s an audiobook origin story, Bayban Ascending, due in February too. While Bayban apparently died at the end of his only onscreen appearance, it seems you can’t keep a good berserker down. Continue reading →

Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – The Rule of Death

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Review by Ian McArdell

Released as a tie-in to the full-cast boxset The Clone Masters, is the latest Blake’s 7 audiobook from Big Finish. As well as building on the events of that excellent three-part drama, which saw the destruction of the Clone Masters and their living city, this story goes back to the well; the civilisation of genetic manipulators and their culture were first introduced in the Series B episode Weapon. Here, writer Trevor Baxendale develops the stories of various characters who were caught up in the machinations of Servalan, weaving them into an exciting tale.

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Audio Review: The Worlds of Blake’s 7 – The Clone Masters

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Review by Ian McArdell

The Clone Masters once again takes a step away from the Liberator, providing another angle on The Worlds of Blake’s 7. Despite being framed as a spin-off, it actually stars two Blake’s 7 regulars, Sally Knyvette (Jenna) and Jan Chappell (Cally), and well as the recurring menace(s) of Travis in two aspects, as played by Brian Croucher and Stephen Greif.

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Audio Review: Blake’s 7 – The Palluma Project

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Review by Ian McArdell

The Palluma Project is the latest Blake’s 7 audiobook from Big Finish. Set in early Series B, it tells the story of a secretive Federation base and its off-book project which Blake and the Liberator’s crew stumble into. Continue reading →