Project Avalon was the ninth episode of Series A of Blake's 7 first broadcast in 1978.
Synopsis[]
From VHS release:
Travis engineers another deadly plan to destroy Blake and capture the Liberator. Even Servalan believes that it cannot fail and when Blake carries out a rescue he wonders why it's been allowed to succeed.
Plot[]
The Liberator is en route to an ice planet to retrieve Avalon, a rebel leader who has been organising the resistance movement on the planet. However, Travis is already there and a traitor in the group, Terloc, has informed him of the cavern where Avalon's people are hiding. Surrounding the rebels, Travis takes Avalon prisoner. The Mutoids then gun down everyone else present, including Terloc.
The Liberator arrives in orbit and Blake and Jenna teleport down to the site of the massacre. They discover a lone survivor, Chevner, who tells them Avalon was captured. They elect to attempt a rescue and Vila teleports down to help them. With the Liberator under threat from interceptors, Avon elects to temporarily take it out of teleport range.
Servalan arrives on the planet to observe Travis' latest plan to capture the Liberator. She brings with her a virus capsule that forms part of the plan. Travis tests the virus on a prisoner: It kills him in seconds with a lethal fungal infection.
Blake's group manage to take a guard prisoner and have him take them to the cell area. At the last minute, he raises the alarm and after a brief struggle one of the guards escapes. Blake and Vila retrieve Avalon from her cell while Jenna and Chevner engage the Federation troopers in a gun battle. Despite being under heavy fire and both Blake and Avalon being hit, they make it out of the base, by which point the Liberator is back on station to teleport them aboard.
Blake examines the troopers' guns and realises they only had reduced power. Someone wanted them to escape, probably to capture the Liberator, meaning Avalon or Chevner is a plant. In sickbay, the crew find Cally unconscious and Avalon and Chevner missing. The crew begin a search. Jenna goes back to check on Cally, at which point Chevner staggers in, badly injured, and collapses.
Avalon asks Gan to get her tunic, then produces a virus capsule from it. Jenna appears and shouts that she isn't Avalon. Gan struggles with the imposter, in reality an android. Blake and Vila appear and together they overpower it: It killed Chevner because he suspected the truth. Blake directs Avon to reprogramme it.
Travis is stunned by the news the Liberator has returned to orbit and Blake has teleported down into the base. Blake has both the android Avalon and the virus capsule with him and threatens to smash it if the real Avalon isn't released. Servalan orders Travis to comply. Blake hands the capsule to the android, then he and Avalon teleport up to the Liberator. Travis catches the capsule as the android drops it but Servalan informs him he is relieved of his command pending an enquiry.
Cast[]
- Blake - Gareth Thomas
- Jenna - Sally Knyvette
- Avon - Paul Darrow
- Cally - Jan Chappell
- Vila - Michael Keating
- Gan - David Jackson
- Zen - Peter Tuddenham
- Travis - Stephen Grief
- Servalan - Jacqueline Pearce
- Avalon - Julia Vidler
- Chevner - David Bailie
- Mutoid - Glynis Barber
- Scientist - John Baker
- Terloc - John Rolfe
- Guard - David Sterne
- Guard - Mark Holmes
Crew[]
- Writer - Terry Nation
- Script editor - Chris Boucher
- Designer - Chris Pemsel
- Director - Michael E. Briant
- Producer - David Maloney
- Stunt Co-ordinator - Frank Maher, Stuart Fell
- Production Assistant - Victor Mallett
- Production Unit Manager - Sheelagh Rees
- Film Cameraman - Ken Willicombe
- Film Recordist - John Gatland
- Film Editor - David Martin
- Series Videotape Editors - Sam Upton (Uncredited), Malcolm Banthorpe (Uncredited)
- Visual Effects Designer - Ian Scoones, Mat Irvine
- Electronic Effects - A.J. Mitchell
- Graphics Designer - Bob Blagden
- Studio Lighting - Brian Clemett
- Studio Sound - Tony Millier
- Special Sound - Richard Yeoman-Clark
- Costume Designer - Barbara Lane, Rupert Jarvis
- Make Up Artist - Marianne Ford
- Music By - Dudley Simpson
- Series Devised By - Terry Nation
Story notes[]
- Glynis Barber, who appears as the principal Mutoid in this episode, later returned to the show in the fourth season in the regular role of Soolin.
- In the original script, Cally accompanied Blake to the planet. When Sally Knyvette complained that she wasn't given much to do, it was rewritten to have Jenna go down.
- Glynis Barber was doubled by Stuart Fell in the scene where her mutoid leaps from a ledge and attacks a guard, who was doubled by Cyd Child. They originally planned to do the opposite stunts, but it didn't look right.
- The cave scenes were filmed in Wookey Hole, near Wells. This was the same location used for the Doctor Who serial "Revenge of the Cybermen", also directed by Michael E. Briant.
- Before been cast in a guest role in this story Julia Vidler had been seen for Jenna.
- This episode saw the second and last appearance of the Federation Security Robot. The shooting schedules were very tight for the whole of the first season and there just was not enough time to deal with an unruly robot.
- The shoot-out in the base was inspired by the opening battle from Star Wars, which premiered in the UK on the same date that the series aired.
- The gun that Chevner uses is actually a US Army M16 automatic weapon.
- In Arthurian mythology, Avalon was a island where King Arthur was buried after he died in the Battle of Camlann.
Ratings[]
9.7M
Filming locations[]
Milton Quarry, Wells, Somerset. Wookey Hole, near Wells.
Production errors[]
When we see Jenna exchanging fire with the Federation guards in the sequence after Vila and Blake break Avalon out of her cell, we see her fire at a guard who ducks out of the way, then we see her fire again and then see the guard fall to the ground. However, as they fall, another dead guard has suddenly appeared in the left hand of shot. Also, the falling guard hits the wall as they go down and causes it to wobble.
When Jenna shoots another guard a short while later, one of the "dead" guards in the foreground twitches their foot.
In the shot of the guards of all chasing the group out of the metal doorway, the doorway wobbles.
After the group have teleported up to the Liberator, a boom microphone is briefly available above the teleport bay after Blake's line "Gan, take care of Avalon. Put her up in a cabin".
Continuity[]
- Among the prisoners in the Centre are Istar, Hend, Raiker, Kalor and Pelar.
- Travis states that he could have killed Blake twice if he hadn't been instructed to leave the Liberator intact. This could refer to his on-screen encounters with the Liberator crew in Seek-Locate-Destroy and Duel but it doesn't seem an accurate description of events so may refer to off-screen encounters. It is notable that at the end of Duel Travis was pursuing the Liberator, yet here he is already on the planet waiting for Blake to arrive.
Quotes[]
Blake: Does it support any intelligent life?
Avon: Does the Liberator?
Vila: I've got a weak chest.
Avon: The rest of you's not very impressive.
Vila: I'm tired of being indispensable.
Travis: It's not a pleasant death, Blake.
Blake: So I gather. But it would have its compensations. I'd share it with you.
Home video releases[]
- In edited form as part of compilation video Duel in 1986.
- Original BBC video release (Volume 5) in 1991.
- Fabulous Films video reissue (Volume 5) on 26 May 1998.
- DVD release as part of the Series 1 box set on 1 March 2004.
External links[]
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