Cheap Blake's 7, Vol. 03 - The Web / Seek, Locate, Destroy (Video) (Desmond McCarthy, Viktors Ritelis, Douglas Camfield, George Spenton-Foster, Fiona Cumming, David Maloney, Mary Ridge, Gerald Blake (II), Jonathan Wright-Miller, David Sullivan Proudfoot) Price

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Customer Reviews of Blake's 7, Vol. 03 - The Web / Seek, Locate, Destroy

Blake trapped in a space web, worse and old enemy after him.
The next two titles in Blake 7 called The Web and Seek-Locate-Destroy
Blake and the others outrunning federation pursuit ships for weeks now have just about lost them. What they didn't count on was Cally. Trying to destory key functions of the Liberator and send them to some unknow part of the galaxy. Unknow to any of the crew but Cally mind is placed under control by a group called The Lost. A group from her planet Auron long ago who were exiled and went out into the stars to do dangerous experiments on themselves and other beings. The liberator traveling at speeds unheard off rams itself into some kind of webbing. Blake and the others are stumped as to why they can't get free. The Lost contact Blake informing him that they need power to replace thier own dying power source. Blake makes a teleport and finds two humans fighting off strange creatures weilding crude weapons (Doctor who fans should note that the aliens look an awful lot like Zygons or just took the concept from them and made for that). Worse Blake meet the last of the Lost or should I say the remains of the last of the Lost and his combined minds of the others now dead. Blake finds out they want to kill the creatures that the Lost created along with the web that got out of control. For only they can free the Liberator and its crew. But Blake doesn't know that federation pursuit ships are fast on thier trail.
In the next episode entitled Seek-Locate-Destory
We are introduced to the main villianess Supreme Commander of Federation Forces Servalan (Doctor Who fans should note she appeared in "The Two Doctors")who would dog Blake until his capture or his death. She would like that latter. Her first act to stop Blake is bring in Space Commander Travis a man who knows Blake all to well. Seeing as how he was the one who took Travis eye and arm when Blake was leader of the first rebellion. Travis wants nothing more then to see Blake dying before him as he aims his gun at Blake to get his revenge. He has his chance when he finds out that Blake and the others just hit a communications centre and ran off with a cyper device but in the process of getting away Cally is hurt and left behind. Blake has to find a way to get Cally back and avoid Travis traps along the way.
Now the stage has been set for fans to watch the villans try and stop or even capture Blake. The charter of Travis would be in many of the adventures to come but Servalan was the true villian of Blake 7 and I couldn't see it any other way.

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New wrinkles in the B7 universe
This tape collects two episodes of "Blake's 7," the classic British space adventure TV series. These two installments continue the adventures of Blake, who leads his crew of rebels in their quest to overthrow the corrupt, tyrannical Federation.

In "The Web," the spaceship Liberator is trapped in a giant web in space, and Blake bargains for help to get it free. This episode features a genetically-engineered race of creatures known as the Decimas. There are some genuinely surreal and disturbing scenes in "The Web," as well as an interesting moral dilemma for Blake.

In "Seek-Locate-Destroy," Blake masterminds a daring raid on a Federation facility. This episode is especially important in the overall saga for introducing the recurring villains Servalan and Travis. This episode also reveals the conflict at work within the Federation and its space officer corps. Travis' fascinating backstory is part of this conflict.

Overall, these two episodes are good examples of B7's first season. If you like low-budget sci-fi with well-written dialogue and memorable character dynamics, check this tape out.

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"I'm always grateful for a rough analogy..."
For long-suffering new viewers who have perservered and survived the somewhat slow four episodes that provide an exposition to "Blake's 7", they can take heart that now, finally, the series gets going. However, for those expecting an immediate rush into Blake's crusade against the forces of the Federation, you'll have to hold on a bit longer, for "The Web" diverts the Liberator crew to a planet inhabited by an exile from Cally's home world and a genetically engineered race, the Decimas. The Decimas are the first truly alien species encountered in Blake's 7, and the focus of this episode is on their plight, making for a non-Federation adventure (with the exception of a group of pursuit ships approaching the trapped Liberator, providing some race against time tension). While the episode makes topical points about genocide, as a whole it is rather boring, primarily because it is so slow. The Decimas do engage sympathy, but "The Web" is too ponderous to be really gripping. It is well intentioned but unsuccessful in realisation. The appearance of Saymor is totally unconvincing, also adding to the episode's detriment. However, all is not lost - "The Web" has a few saving graces, all associated with the fleshing out of the crew, be they personal traits or interaction with each other. Cally's possession by the alien force (which would become a cliche in later seasons) reinforces Jenna's suspicion of her; Jenna believes she is the weak link and is slightly jealous of Cally's respect for Blake. Avon's contempt of Gan, and his ominous musings that one day Blake will not be around to thwart his ambitions are, at this early stage, interesting character revelations. The Blake/Avon relationship is also given more strength, especially when Avon gives in to Blake's insistence on assisting the Decimas. The location work is also nice. But, overall, "The Web" is a diversion from the main action that, because it is not fast paced, would only infuriate the new viewer even further. However, this cannot be said of the following episode, "Seek-Locate-Destroy". In this, the action of "Blake's 7" truly begins. Although this is the second attack on a Federation base, it is much more interesting than that of "Time Squad". The location work (this time at the Fulham Gasworks) is again excellent; the tension builds up as time begins to run out, and the sense of humor prevalent in the series is present in Vila's "I've come to blow something up" speech. Although stolen by Terry Nation from his own Doctor Who script "Genesis of the Daleks" (in which Tom Baker walks up to guards and says "I'm a spy"), it is still very funny. When Cally is left behind on Centero, it is infuriating that nobody notices her until it is too late (it should be obvious that she is not aboard the ship), but this is one of the few glaring errors of the episode. The most interesting aspect of the episode is the inside look at Federation politics, and in particular the introduction of Servalan and Travis. Jacqueline Pearce's first portrayal of elegant, sexy and villanous Supreme Commander is an understated one - she is not the central character she would become in the latter half of the show's history. Travis's character is the most interesting; Stephen Greif's performance is exceptional - he makes the character cold, heartless and totally determined. I feel that the introduction of these two characters at this stage, and not in the very first episode, is an excellent move. If they had appeared at the very beginning, there would be no build-up of drama or tension as the series progressed; the main characters needed to be developed before the chief antagonists could be introduced; done the way it has been, the characters that would become recurring individual enemies are given greater justice, able to be explored with more depth as they are brought into the ongoing story.