Big Finish Blake’s 7 Liberator Chronicles X
This is a classic twisted Blake’s 7 story from start to finish. The team heads to Speranza, a newly liberated planet, free of the Federation’s rule but not it’s political machinations. There are forced labor camps where they produce the mutoid serum, a new government made unstable by the old government cronies still in place, and a variety of self-interests keeping everyone at each other’s throats. Blake comes in with Avon and the story is told from Avon’s point of view. He is investigating while Blake talks to people, then Avon and Cally are kidnapped and taken to a labor camp where the people don’t know that the war ended months earlier. Needless to say, the Federation doesn’t give up easily. And the epilogue to this story is classic Avon – talking about the return to Federation rule on Speranza and a final call to Servalan, where she gets to gloat about winning while Avon considers the waste of life and energy spent.
Overall, this is a fantastic story. Some very odd things happen (kidnap two of Blake’s crew to make things less conspicuous?) but they do make sense for the story as a whole. I love that this is from Avon’s point of view the entire time. Fantastic stuff! And it once again proves that though he’s all about himself, somehow he ends up doing the morally right thing every time. Somehow. He would say Blake rubbed off on him in a bad way. But he pitches it just right as the morally ambiguous anti-hero that we love to listen to!
Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan)
Writer: Una McCormack
Director: Lisa Bowerman, Ken Bentley
Release: November 2014