Here's my review of the recent 40th anniversary "special" done by Big Finish....

OK, so I was blackmailed by IBookwyrm into promising to listen to all the free legal Blake's 7 I could find and mercifully the first twelve minutes of 'Liberation' were all that popped up (if anyone can point me in the direction of anything else then *sigh* feel free, I am a woman of my word):

Dana and Vila wander around a rioting planet for several days looking for a resistance leader and a member-of-Blake's-resistance-team and the Federation never arrests them for being rebels, the rioters never accost them, the resistance takes several days to get round to capturing them - and that person-with-telepathy never thinks to try to telepatically find Jenna SOONER rather than let one cowardly idiot and one gun-happy idiot stroll round the violent drug-withdrawal-fuelled anarchy?

(OK, maybe I'm exaggerating and some rioters DID accost them? I've already forgotten what happened at the beginning of the twelve minutes, it was really noisy and confusing.)

I thought Warship was pretty good. For once, BF plugged a gap that needed to be plugged as most of the Intergalactic War occurs offscreen and between series. Not stunningly great, but it felt like a story that could have been produced at the time.

The future of Blake's 7 on Big Finish following the death of Paul Darrow:
https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/the-future-of-blake-s-7?fbclid=IwAR3RXWGwr_EyyWZhV5DdjjLjnmQblFoJBPD9yvJp2V54QAox76e7KKcqmk8

The Liberator Chronicles: Solitary:
Solitary is the second episode of The Liberator Chronicles.

Starring Michael Keating as Vila and Anthony Howell as new character Nyrron.

Vila wakes up with no memory of who he is or his crewmates who are nowhere to be seen.

What ensues is a fascinating tale as Vila pierces together the memory that he has lost.

Nice little moment as Vila recalls his grandmother reading him Robin Hood and Blake's 7 is basically like Robin Hood in space.

Fascinating the ultimate revelation and why Nyrron was here.

The Liberator Chronicles: The Turing Test:

The Turing Test is the opener of The Liberator Chronicles from Big Finish.

Starring Paul Darrow as Avon and Michael Keating as Vila.

Written by Simon Guerrier and released in February 2012.

This episode has Avon and Vila infiltrating a Federation science facility with Vila posing as a scientist and Avon posing fittingly as an android.

Here they meet an android girl known as 14.

Not bad as the opener for The Liberator Chronicles but what a tragedy that befell 14.

In Memory of Paul Darrow (1941-2009)

The Way Ahead: Dissent:
Dissent is the second and concluding part of The Way Ahead.
Continuing from the previous episode Project Aquitar, Avon in the future recounts what happened in the narrative concerned.
This continues the story of Avalon.
This is set in season 3 when Blake is missing and this has Avalon being presented as his possible replacement to lead the fight against the Federation.
It ultimately has Avalon taking over the Liberator and not everyone is happy about this.
Whatever one may think of Avalon, the one thing that she has proven is that she isn't a leader.
At one point she gave an instruction in the Liberator that would have drain all the power banks.
She is presented as someone who is way over her head.
Undoubtedly presented as a contrast to Blake with Avalon's lack of leadership skills.
It is effectively done on what the rebellion was like elsewhere in the midst of Blake's disappearance.
Overall a good way to end this 40th anniversary special of Blake's 7.

Fractures:
Fractures is the opener of the first season of full-cast dramas from Big Finish and set in season 2.
Released in January 2014 and written by Justin Richards.
This starts with the Liberator and crew barely getting away from an attack by Travis.
In the course of this episode they encounter a strange phenomena which had them being suspicious of one another and quite a revelation of what was the caused of all this.
Early on in the episode Vila is lectured about the number of things and this reflected at the end when it came to the question of who does Avon trust.

Crossfire: True Believers:
True Believers is the second episode of Crossfire from Big Finish.
Written by Simon Clark.
Cally dominates this episode and Dayna the only crew member here only appearing at the start and the end of this.
A mysterious voice forces Cally to a barren world filled with a desert.
Intrigue then ensues with the people that Cally meets, a powerful god that is worshiped by the inhabitants, the mystery with the Singing Graves, the truth about this god and the Singing Graves and why the Federation hasn't been coming to this world for six years.
This is a brilliant piece presenting Cally on her own with the situation at hand in the barren world and Jan Chappell sure excels in every moment of it.
Definitely well done on her part.

The Worlds of Blake's 7: Allies and Enemies: Saurian Major:
Allies and Enemies is a boxset from Big Finish set in the Worlds of Blake's 7 and it starts with Saurian Major by Lizbeth Myles.

What is particular curious about all this is that this sees Sasha Mitchell reprising Arlen, a character she portrayed only once in the TV series in the final episode Blake in which she played a key part to the way that the TV series ended.

In Saurian Major this has Arlen on the opposite end in the timeline of the TV series as this has Jan Chappell as Cally and is set sometime before her introduction in the season 1 episode Time Squad.

Saurian Major has Cally and Arlen meeting each and this is plot convenient as they met each other in the TV series.

In fact they each bookended the final season of the TV series with Arlen in the said finale Blake and Cally, albeit only her voice, in the season opener Rescue when she was killed off.

Continuity-wise if Cally had made it into Blake she would have recognised Arlen and who knows how different the finale would have turned out.

Saurian Major is a key Federation communications hub and Arlen as a Federation officer infiltrates the rebel faction which includes Cally as a member.

Surprised to learn that playing Arlen's superior here Kovic is Jacqueline King (Donna's mum Sylvia in Doctor Who).

Quite effective to this episode of Arlen going undercover on the said rebel faction in which she tries to build distrust to Cally due to Cally being an alien.

Very good in getting to know Arlen, a character who only seen once in the TV series in Blake and this character building serves well the story which pay off greatly by the episode's denouement.

"Saurian Major has Cally and Arlen meeting each and this is plot convenient as they met each other in the TV series."

Correction - I meant they never met each other in the TV series.

Not to be confused it the Star Trek brandy.