Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Sally Knyvette, Michael Keating, Jan Chappell, Alistair Lock, Brian Croucher, Bethan Walker.
Nothing quite makes Science Fiction more entertaining than when the cast of your favourite programme have been set a problem which drives at the very psyche, the paranoia of the mind and the suspicion in those that you would normally defend with your life. It has been done so many times on screen and the tension it creates can be one of palpable enjoyment and dread that it might spill over too far. It is about the timing of the paranoia and suspicion and knowing when to pull back, leaving just the trickle of distrust seeping through after all is seemingly resolved.
None perhaps do it so well as the makers of Blake’s 7. For the distrust is already there, eating away at every crew member of The Liberator because of their past and their possible futures depend on being slightly disconnected from their allies. In the audio drama Fractures by Big Finish, the writer Justin Richards captures the essence of distrust between friends superbly. As the Liberator and its crew manage to evade seizure by Travis, a returning Brian Croucher, the ship is damaged and somehow manages to pick up a signal in which starts the process of one of the five becoming a traitor.
What makes this particular audio drama more than worth while listening to is that five of the original cast are on it, this opens the possibilities up endlessly and whilst the Liberator Chronicles are great value, with these five cast members making a story line incredibly dramatic, it feels as if time has come full circle. The interplay between Paul Darrow’s Avon and Michael Keating’s Vila is heightened as the mockery and mischievous tormenting is renewed. The femininity of the ship is restored with the great Sally Knyvette and Jan Chappell repeating their roles as Jenna and Cally and adding that touch of class to a ship full of renegades and cheats.
The real dynamic though is the return of the animosity felt between Avon and Blake, the respect in each other’s ability never quite getting past the unease they feel in each other’s company. It is a relationship that rivals anything on screen and it is a real shame that the two didn’t work together during the final two seasons of the television series. Avon’s reliance on pure logic and Blake’s almost compulsive need to save anybody in need is the hostility that binds the pair. On audio this is taken to terrific levels as Paul Darrow’s electric like personality sneers his way through the episode and plays off well against Gareth Thomas’s Blake.
As the net closes in on everybody’s personal paranoia, the feel of dread and loathing reaches new pinnacles, the Liberator is at risk and something remains hungry enough to kill.
Blake’s 7, Fractures is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall