I just spotted Travis in the crew from "Robots of Death" . I've watched this episode a billion times but never made the connection. But this time I heard his voice and knew I knew it from somewhere and then it only took a moment to work out. It's funny because BBC SciFi only shows Red Dwarf now (as I feared they would) so I haven't seen Blake's 7 in ages.
As reported by the BBC’s Lizo Mzimba.
I did not quite follow the plot of this one.
I am going to have to look at a summary. There was this technology on this planet where all the information of an object could be stored on a keycard. The card could be plugged into a machine where it would rebuild a copy of the object. It did not work on living creatures. The creature would die when it was built.
The main computer on the planet was actually this creature called Moloch. He was the predicted evolution of these aliens. He tries to beam aboard the Liberator and take it over. He forgets that the computer he was attached to was keeping him alive and dies.
I think it was a case where the actors got a little too big for their britches.
The one that played Blake was afraid of being typecast and felt he did all he could do with the character. I disagree with that. We barely get to know Blake in those first two seasons.
The one that played Jenna left because her role was not that big on the show. Still, I think she should have stuck with it and waited for episodes that focus on Jenna.
Initially, I thought the episode was stupid, but it won me over.
The crew of the Liberator come across a metal sphere in space. It is totally shielded. Blocking out all signals.
Cally gets taken over by an alien force again and teleports into the sphere. The crew go in to rescue her. It turns out that the sphere is Ultraworld, a big computer with a brain as it's core. All they want to do is absorb the minds of the crew into there computer and put the Liberator in a museam.
Avon and Cally get absorbed, but Terrant and Dayna outsmart the aliens and save the day. They manage to restore the minds of Avon and Cally. The aliens take over the Liberator remotely and dock it in the sphere. It turns out that Villa and Orac confuse the core brain with comedy and cause it self destruct. The crew get back to the Liberator and make it break loose from the docking clamps. They narrowly escape before Ultraworld explodes.
Really, the original space effects are pretty good. The models are good for the most part. I like the use of light on the models. Space on the show is actually colorful.
What cracks me up is that the sets are so damn cheap on the show. You really see it on Servalan's ship. The set is like painted cardboard. Her ship also looks really fake too.
I think they were relying on the old TV sets to blend the image.
This is a weird ass episode.
Of course, it is a Cally episode.
Cally gets possessed by a powerful alien again. Centuries ago, it was alien royalty and it tries to make the crew of the Liberator her subjects. She can take control of the minds of the crew and manipulate them. She can also knock you out with an electric shock. The alien tries to absorb Cally, but Avon knows Cally will not let it kill him. So, Avon waltzes up to it and takes her ring, the source of her power. The alien begs for her life. She does not want to die. Avon chucks her ring into the fire.