User Reviews

Avon is starting to act mysterious and sets The Liberator on course to Terminal an artificial planet created by Earth scientists before the Federation era . Warning on pain of death that his companions are not to follow the increasingly erratic Avon teleports down to Terminal

This is series creator Terry Nation's final script contribution to the show and indeed his final contribution to British television . Once a household name in Britian and relocated to Hollywood in the hope of becoming a Beverly Hills bigwig only to contribute a Television movie and a handful of television episodes . Regardless of his quixotic plan of becoming a Welsh born Jerry Bruckheimer it can never be overstated that his contribution to British television has been immense . He brought us the Daleks which instantly assured DOCTOR WHO of immortality and created SURVIVORS which was remade by the BBC a few years ago

Terminal was originally to be the episode that killed the show off permanently . It would have been a great episode to finish on seeing both the death of The Liberator and of Servalan but would also seemed very inconclusive as Avon and company are stranded on Terminal having gained a small victory against their nemesis . It'd be too much of a temptation for a production team to resurrect the show under these circumstances and temptation proved too much and script editor Chris Boucher and new producer Vere Lorimar brought the show back 18 months later . The first the regular cast knew about the resurrection was in March 1980 when the BBC continuity announcer said BLAKES 7 would be back next year during the end credits of this episode on its original broadcast

What's interesting about this finale from Nation is how he reuses a shocking plot turn of his own from an obscure source . Terminal has been built by scientists to find out the mysteries of evolution and the planet is infested with Links which are a violent simian species . " Terrible to think that's what we are descended from states Cally but as Servalan explains it is not what what man evolved from but what man will become . This ties in with a short story Nation wrote for the Radio Times DOCTOR WHO tenth anniversary special publication where the humanoid inhabitants of the Planet Skaro accelerates evolution and eventually evolve in to the Dalek race . It is very fitting that the last script Terry Nation wrote for British television was a BLAKES 7 episode featuring a plot twist that he originally wrote featuring the Daleks . It's what Nation will deservedly be remembered for

The final episode written by Terry Nation, this episode was originally intended as the series finale and, as such, was designed to be an epic conclusion to the "Blake's 7" storyline which began with "The Way Back". While it isn't as strong as "Star One", it still makes for a very exciting ride. The stakes are the highest that they have been since the Galactic War as Avon diverts the Liberator to the artificial planet Terminal after receiving a series of secret messages, supposedly from Blake, regarding a mysterious discovery with the potential to make him rich and powerful. While all the regulars get a chance to shine, this is primarily Paul Darrow's episode in which he gets to play Avon as being as ruthless and determined as he has ever been. He threatens to kill Tarrant on the flight deck and Cally confirms that he had every intention of doing so. It was nice to see a return of the Avon- Tarrant power struggle for the first time since "Sarcophagus" as well. While teleporting down to Terminal, he tells the other Liberator crew members that he will kill them if they follow him down. In almost any show, particularly from this era, you would think that the relevant character was bluffing when he said that but not Avon. I saw an interview with Paul Darrow in which he described Avon as being scrupulously honest because if he said that he would kill you, he would. While he doesn't make good on this threat when reunited with the others later on, I'm convinced that he had every intention of doing so at the time.

This episode is filled with great moments but some of its best scenes are the ones featuring the deterioration of the Liberator after it passes through a cloud of fluidic particles on the way to Terminal and is damaged so severely and at such speed that it is too much for the ship's autorepair systems to handle. The usually unemotional Zen has by far in his best character moment in his final scene when, referring to himself in the first person for the first time, he apologises to Vila and Dayna for having failed them. It's actually quite an emotional moment. The destruction of the ship which had protected the group from the Federation and other aggressors for three years was a great idea for the final episode. While I doubt that they would have done so if they known that they were going to have a fourth series, it makes for great television and shows how serious the situation is and, of course, leads to a great ending. Another highly memorable scene is Gareth Thomas' brief but hugely enjoyable cameo as Blake. The fact that Blake and Avon's relationship has not changed one iota and their discussion of old times made me rather nostalgic for the Blake era and is probably the closest thing to genuine sentiment that the two had ever shared. This is made all the more interesting by the fact that it is not the real Blake but an illusion created by Servalan. Avon's reaction to the revelation that Blake is dead speaks volumes about their complicated relationship.

Speaking of Servalan, this is a wonderful episode for her as well, even though she has less screen time than usual. She gets everything that she has ever wanted: control of the Liberator. However, the ship literally falls apart within minutes and her dreams of creating a fleet of Liberator-class ships to reconquer the galaxy are dashed. In spite of everything, Avon manages a smile as he knows that he has won. At least for the moment. It's only a minor thing but I loved the fact that the Links on Terminal are intended to be a future evolution of humanity. It may not be very scientifically accurate as evolution is obviously not a preset course but the idea of humans evolving into primitive ape creatures is a very bleak vision of the future and, in that sense, is very "Blake's 7".

On a sad note, this episode marks the final appearance of the series' most underrated performer Jan Chappell, notwithstanding a brief voice-over in "Rescue". According to an interview in a recent edition of Vortex, she decided to leave the series as her enthusiasm for it had waned. I have to say that I'm surprised by that. If anything, I'd have expected her to leave at the end of Series Two, as Sally Knyvette did, since they were both relegated to manning the teleport for several episodes while Blake, Avon and Vila had all the fun. Conversely, she got some very good material in Series Three as she developed into the conscience of the crew. I wish that she had stayed with the series until it had ended as her presence was sorely missed.