I’m quite keen on this episode and I tend to remember it as the one with the great Avon-Vila interaction and the one where Vila looks good in leather trousers!
The first ships reached deep space around 700 years ago. Given this is the case, it does seem a bit odd that such detailed records of the first deep space flights still exist. After all, events have been disastrous enough that people on earth have had to resort to sheltering in domes etc . I suppose it is possible that these events occurred before the ship was built or the ships didn’t take off from earth. Mind you, that doesn’t explain Blake’s knowledge of Lord Jeffrey Ashley and the small pox blankets!
I love the idea of the “Darkling” zone, that there exists in a region near earth “an alien civilisation, highly advanced, deeply distrustful of mankind, avoiding all contact”. In some ways I’m glad that this is the last we hear of it, because to have elaborated might have lessened the creepy, eerie impact of the idea. On the other hand, it is strange that Blake and the Federation aren’t a bit more worried about these aliens and what they could get up to in the future!
I notice that the scavenger space ship coming into land looks awfully like the spaceship that blasted off to take Blake and Co to Cygnus Alpha!
Ah, Doctor Bellfriar. A very likeable character with a good sense of humour, calm, authoritative and avuncular. He seems to get on very well with Blake. I wonder if Dr Bellfriar is burying himself on Fosforon because of some kind of run in with the Federation. Perhaps he is trying to avoid getting involved in dubious research for the government. It would certainly explain his attitude to Blake. It is possible that Blake knew or suspected that many of the base staff had “exiled” themselves to get away from aspects of the Federation rule of which they disapproved.
I notice that headbands are in this year and Tynus wears a special gold one, presumably because he is top dog! However, Dr Bellfriar and Gambrill don’t wear them at all and perhaps that signifies their unconventionality. I also wonder if Tynus, despite getting away with the fraud, is under a bit of a cloud since he is put in charge of such a remote station. He could be selling Avon out in order to redeem himself. Certainly, he informs on Avon to Space Command before Avon starts to put real pressure on him.
Blake seems a bit too knowledgeable in this episode, particularly in the area of virology, but actually the bigger problem is that Dr Bellfriar and Gambrill are written as a bit too passive and lacking in ideas. I suppose one possible explanation could be that the virus is already effecting their memories. I'm more happy with Blake’s historical knowledge, since I think that this is not so unlikely for a political type.
Avon thinks it is OK to risk killing off swathes of the galactic population in order to bump off Servalan, but a few episodes later he is declaiming about Blake “wading in blood up to his armpits” if he destroys Star One. The cheek of it! Blake should have given a dramatic, grandstanding, scene stealing “wading in pus” speech at this point, if you ask me.
I’ve heard people say that Blake’s decision to set a plague warning is inconsistent with his desire to destroy Star One, but there is no guarantee that the Federation would be destroyed by the plague.There is a risk that the Federation might come up with a cure and distribute it preferentially, for instance. Even if there was a good possibility of the Federations's destruction, it is clear that for Blake there are worse things than control by the Federation. It is interesting that Blake’s estimate of casualties is so high, given that the plague kills only those that have travelled off-world. This would imply that the various planets of the Federation are very interconnected and thus sudden planetary isolation would be disastrous. I’m sure Blake wouldn’t have been too keen on total civilisational meltdown and reversion to the primitive.
A very likeable character with a good sense of humour, calm, authoritative and avuncular Oh, "avuncular" is a good (and highly fitting) word! I did not know that one. *adds to vocabulary* Yes, Bellfriar was lovely. He reminds me of several of my favourite teachers and professors at once, all rolled into one.
declaiming about Blake “wading in blood up to his armpits” To be fair, what Avon says is that he doesn't care if that's what it takes ("as long as there is an end to it") ...so at least that's consistent? :-)
If it was only a matter of destroying the Federation, then I would have to say that I think the virus looks like a much better alternative than destroying Control. Of course, we haven't got enough information about either to really be able to compare effects, but assuming for the sake of the argument that the "direct", short-term death toll is on the same order of magnitude for both (very hard to tell!), then it looks to me like the long-term prognosis would be much more optimistic after the plague - after all, basic planetary infrastructure would still be intact and there would be more time for people to prepare/adapt to the upcoming shortages of imported goods compared to the devastation caused by the natural disasters and climate changes in the other scenario. And most of all, there's the demographics of it: the people that will suffer most from the destruction of Control are likely to be exactly the "oppressed masses" that Blake is fighting for; when it comes to the plague, they are the ones most likely to survive - with the added benefit of having the old regime removed without having to resort to revolution.
However... The main problem with the plague scenario (in relative terms, of course - I certainly don't find either "method" justifiable!) I think is that it would leave humanity defenceless against hostile aliens. In fact, thinking about it, that might actually have been what the "darkling zone" aliens had in mind all along: first immobilise the enemy, then conquer.
...So yeah, no matter how you look at it, plague = Bad Idea. :-)
The first ships reached deep space around 700 years ago. Given this is the case, it does seem a bit odd that such detailed records of the first deep space flights still exist. After all, events have been disastrous enough that people on earth have had to resort to sheltering in domes etc . I suppose it is possible that these events occurred before the ship was built or the ships didn’t take off from earth. Mind you, that doesn’t explain Blake’s knowledge of Lord Jeffrey Ashley and the small pox blankets!
I love the idea of the “Darkling” zone, that there exists in a region near earth “an alien civilisation, highly advanced, deeply distrustful of mankind, avoiding all contact”. In some ways I’m glad that this is the last we hear of it, because to have elaborated might have lessened the creepy, eerie impact of the idea. On the other hand, it is strange that Blake and the Federation aren’t a bit more worried about these aliens and what they could get up to in the future!
I notice that the scavenger space ship coming into land looks awfully like the spaceship that blasted off to take Blake and Co to Cygnus Alpha!
Ah, Doctor Bellfriar. A very likeable character with a good sense of humour, calm, authoritative and avuncular. He seems to get on very well with Blake. I wonder if Dr Bellfriar is burying himself on Fosforon because of some kind of run in with the Federation. Perhaps he is trying to avoid getting involved in dubious research for the government. It would certainly explain his attitude to Blake. It is possible that Blake knew or suspected that many of the base staff had “exiled” themselves to get away from aspects of the Federation rule of which they disapproved.
I notice that headbands are in this year and Tynus wears a special gold one, presumably because he is top dog! However, Dr Bellfriar and Gambrill don’t wear them at all and perhaps that signifies their unconventionality. I also wonder if Tynus, despite getting away with the fraud, is under a bit of a cloud since he is put in charge of such a remote station. He could be selling Avon out in order to redeem himself. Certainly, he informs on Avon to Space Command before Avon starts to put real pressure on him.
Blake seems a bit too knowledgeable in this episode, particularly in the area of virology, but actually the bigger problem is that Dr Bellfriar and Gambrill are written as a bit too passive and lacking in ideas. I suppose one possible explanation could be that the virus is already effecting their memories. I'm more happy with Blake’s historical knowledge, since I think that this is not so unlikely for a political type.
Avon thinks it is OK to risk killing off swathes of the galactic population in order to bump off Servalan, but a few episodes later he is declaiming about Blake “wading in blood up to his armpits” if he destroys Star One. The cheek of it! Blake should have given a dramatic, grandstanding, scene stealing “wading in pus” speech at this point, if you ask me.
I’ve heard people say that Blake’s decision to set a plague warning is inconsistent with his desire to destroy Star One, but there is no guarantee that the Federation would be destroyed by the plague.There is a risk that the Federation might come up with a cure and distribute it preferentially, for instance. Even if there was a good possibility of the Federations's destruction, it is clear that for Blake there are worse things than control by the Federation. It is interesting that Blake’s estimate of casualties is so high, given that the plague kills only those that have travelled off-world. This would imply that the various planets of the Federation are very interconnected and thus sudden planetary isolation would be disastrous. I’m sure Blake wouldn’t have been too keen on total civilisational meltdown and reversion to the primitive.
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I love that the proper scientists have no respect at all for Tynus (He'll be doodling again, is the consensus.)
Tynus seems a tad scared of Avon in person. I wonder who he has seen Avon do over?
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Oh, "avuncular" is a good (and highly fitting) word! I did not know that one. *adds to vocabulary* Yes, Bellfriar was lovely. He reminds me of several of my favourite teachers and professors at once, all rolled into one.
declaiming about Blake “wading in blood up to his armpits”
To be fair, what Avon says is that he doesn't care if that's what it takes ("as long as there is an end to it") ...so at least that's consistent? :-)
If it was only a matter of destroying the Federation, then I would have to say that I think the virus looks like a much better alternative than destroying Control. Of course, we haven't got enough information about either to really be able to compare effects, but assuming for the sake of the argument that the "direct", short-term death toll is on the same order of magnitude for both (very hard to tell!), then it looks to me like the long-term prognosis would be much more optimistic after the plague - after all, basic planetary infrastructure would still be intact and there would be more time for people to prepare/adapt to the upcoming shortages of imported goods compared to the devastation caused by the natural disasters and climate changes in the other scenario. And most of all, there's the demographics of it: the people that will suffer most from the destruction of Control are likely to be exactly the "oppressed masses" that Blake is fighting for; when it comes to the plague, they are the ones most likely to survive - with the added benefit of having the old regime removed without having to resort to revolution.
However... The main problem with the plague scenario (in relative terms, of course - I certainly don't find either "method" justifiable!) I think is that it would leave humanity defenceless against hostile aliens. In fact, thinking about it, that might actually have been what the "darkling zone" aliens had in mind all along: first immobilise the enemy, then conquer.
...So yeah, no matter how you look at it, plague = Bad Idea. :-)
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