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For the set-up for this story see the previous episode, Deliverance. ...
on their way to Aristo, to save Ensor's father, conveniently also named
Ensor (Derek Farr), & to keep Orac (whatever that is) from falling
into the clutches of the federation, all the crew of the Liberator
having been on the last rescue mission - that being Avon (Paul Darrow),
Vila (Michael Keating), Jenna (Sally Knyvette) & Gan (David Jackson)
- falls ill from radiation contamination, leaving only Blake (Gareth
Thomas) & Cally (Jan Chappell) to teleport down to the planet. But
to spice things up, federation supreme commander Servalan (Jacqueline
Pearce) & space commander Travis (Stephen Greif) decide to pay Ensor
an unfriendly visit at around the same time to get their hands on Orac,
who/what turns out to be the ultimate supercomputer - & not even an
elaborate defence system, caving in caverns & dragon-like monsters
can keep them from getting ot Ensor's lab. Thank god Blake &
Cally have gotten there just before them & help Ensor escape, but
unfortunately on their escape he dies, the medicine brought by Blake
& Cally having arrived just a few minutes too late. On the beach,
Blake & Cally have their final shoot-out with Travis & Servalan,
& it seems Travis can finally get around to kill Blake ... but
thanks to a timely intervention by Avon & Vila, Blake, Cally &
Orac are saved at last, Travis & Servalan are left on the planet
empty handed. Orac might not be a very sophisticated episode,
nor has it much originality to offer, but as pure sci-fi-action it's
pretty solid, though some of the plot does leave to be desired (e.g. who
come all of a sudden Avon & Vila are able to save Blake & Cally
when during the whole episode they were seen dying from radiation
contamination), & the cliffhanger ending (this was the end of
Blake's 7's first season) copmes a bit heavy-handed when the crew's
newly found supercomputer-pal predicts their spaceship will be blown up. By
the way, Stephen Greif had to undergo surgery while shooting this
episode of the series, which did not allow him to stand up let alone
walk afterwards - meaning he could only be shot from the waist up &
had a body double for walking-scenes - this becomes bloody apparent
considering the odd camera-angles in which many scenes are filmed, just
showing legs or feet. |