Blake's 7 (TV Series) Powerplay (1980) User Reviews

A change in the lineup, very good episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 10 August 2022]

Avon and Dana land on The Liberator, but instead of finding Blake and co, they find Federation troopers, and the shop in the hands of

It's essentially a direct continuation from Aftermath, finally we learn the fate of Villa, Cally and Jenna, we learn that Blake has gone.

It's a very good, well made episode, credit to Terry Nation's writing, there are so many strands, so much happening, even a little humour.

I liked the idea of that hospital, and I really liked the power play happening on board The Liberator. Dana's character is further developed, and Tarrant' is also explored and built.

I bet fans of the show were pretty stunned at the time to learn that the title character had gone, seldom had it been the case that such a central character had left a show, and it had continued. I think it's fair to say that we see an even bigger side to Avon's character, credit to Darrow, he's been awesome in the last two episodes, full of charisma.

I mentioned previously that I felt like they'd made the show a little sexier, and I suppose you could argue that's the case here, Stephen Pacey definitely filling the handsome hero part as Del Tarrrant.

8/10.

An Improvement Over The Previous Episode Mainly Down To Michael Sheard

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 27 March 2013]

Finding themselves held at gunpoint Avon and Dayna manage to give a cover story to the Federation death squad on The Liberator but they know their bluff will be quickly uncovered . Meanwhile on the Planet Chenga Vila is rescued by two young women who assure him he will come to no harm and take him to a medical station . What Vila doesn't realise is that the medical station is for transplants where donors are not volunteers

Again you get the feeling Nation is pulling out all the stops not to bring back the Andromedans which leads to a rather implausible concept at the medical centre . Ask yourself how unlikely it is that each and every stranded survivor on Chenga is conveniently a human ? Not one survivor is from the Andromedan fleet ? Servalan ends up on Chenga but no Andromedans do ? It might be churlish to watch a television sci-fi show and complain about something being far fatched but this plot turn seems contrived to say the least . Indeed when watching this episode all those years ago I was expecting the medical technicians to suddenly reveal themselves as Andromedans but this never happens

Meanwhile back on The Liberator Avon and Dayna do their best to stay alive which isn't easy if you've got a Federation death squad as your only company . It's made worse by the fact someone is killing the squad members and you know who's going to get the blame . Actually the episode misses the opportunity to bring an air of much needed suspense and mystery because it's painfully obvious who the killer is even on first transmission

Not to be too harsh on the episode it's better than Aftermath and the highlight of the episode is guest star Michael Sheard as Section Leader Klegg . Sheard is on record as having played Adolph Hitler on stage , television and cinema more times than any other actor so it shouldn't be surprising he's so good as being a cold hearted fascist . Michael Keating as the cowardly Vila has a comic scene where he pretends to be in charge of a band of heavily armed men that could have been painfully embarrassing ( And would probably have been if it'd been that other BBC show at the time that starred Tom Baker ) but is genuinely amusing . New crew member Tarrant makes his full debut in this episode and it's interesting how different he seems in later episodes where he seems to be a totally inconsistent character ranging from angry young man to laid back hipster stoner depending on the writer or director . Here the character of Tarrant is one of the few times where he feels like the writer knows the character

Another very strong episode written by Terry Nation

[GusF · 10/10 · 8 August 2014]

Although he appears briefly in the final scene of "Aftermath", this is Steven Pacey's first full appearance as Del Tarrant and he makes a very impressive debut. Even though Pacey was only 22 at the time, he projects a wonderful air of authority as Tarrant, helped in part by his deep and rather commanding voice. Tarrant was apparently inspired by the exceptionally brave RAF pilots of World War II and the parallels are many and obvious from the get go: he is extremely self-assured and cool under pressure and his confidence in himself is very well justified. The title comes from the power struggle between Avon, Tarrant and Klegg for control of the Liberator and it is extremely well done. Tarrant's demeanour throughout the episode means that it comes as quite a shock that he was really on Avon's side all the time and was merely playing the role of a Federation captain in order to save both their lives from Klegg, wonderfully played by "Doctor Who" stalwart Michael Sheard, and his death squad.

Paul Darrow once again excels as Avon and is clearly relishing the fact that he is being given even meatier material now that he is the star while Josette Simon continues to impress as Dayna. One of the strengths of this episode is the fact that, in contrast to several Series Two episodes, it gives all of the regular characters as well as Servalan something interesting to do. The forever put upon Vila is "rescued" from Chenga by the Hitechs, personified by the extremely attractive and seemingly pure of heart Barr and Zee, played by Julia Vidler (who previously played Avalon in "Project Avalon") and Primi Townsend respectively, only to discover that he was being taken for organ harvesting. Cally, who nearly meets the same fate, has been picked up a hospital ship where she meets Servalan, last seen hiding from the Sarrans. This episode is an excellent demonstration of Cally's intelligence and strength as she is able to stand up to Servalan and tell her that her former position of power won't do her any good on the hospital ship. However, she's underestimated Servalan, who once again lands on her feet and arranges passage away from what is charmingly called the Slaughterhouse. An excellent episode with fantastic performances from both the regular and guest casts.