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Blake's 7

Blake’s 7 – Mission To Destiny: “When You Have Nothing To Lose”

A murder, a mystery – and a race to save a planet. The Liberator crew find themselves thrust into the roles of galactic detectives and embark on a mission of mercy. Mission To Destiny is a Star Trek storyline in a Blake’s 7 universe.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: Cally and Avon

Mission To Destiny again shifts the goalposts in Blake’s 7. A Flying Dutchman / Agatha Christie pastiche that frames the Liberator crew as galactic do-gooders; a Star Trek mission in a Blake’s 7 universe. It bears all the hallmarks of Terry Nation’s most hackish instincts – recycling plots, set pieces and, of course, character names.

If the plot feels familiar then so too are the characters by this point. Blake and Jenna again adopt their parental role on The Liberator, with Avon the awkward one, Vila the coward and Gan there seemingly to keep the latter in check.

As the most able member of Blake’s crew, taking Avon to the Destiny is understandable but it’s less clear what he has to gain by taking Cally. Her contribution so far has been to disable the ship while possessed by a malign force and to get captured on her first mission.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "I believe you"

Rarely do we see Cally’s initial role as a warrior and guerrilla – not unlike Doctor Who’s Leela – in the series after Time Squad – instead she’s recast as a healer and mystic.

The sole instance of her telepathy here, when Cally succumbs to sono vapour, has her moaning “Alone” – presumably a reference to the trauma of being the sole survivor of the Saurian resistance, but this is never expanded upon.

And despite both female characters having moments of agency and self-determination – Jan Chappell’s ambiguous “I believe you” to the untrustworthy Sonheim is a nice touch – neither Cally nor Jenna is dissimilar from the standard female Doctor Who companion at this point in the series.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: Mandrian (Stephen Tate)

Onboard the Ortega we get set-piece after set-piece of TV detective drama, no surprise given Terry Nation’s extensive background in TV series such as The Saint, The Champions and The Baron, among others. Dudley Simpson clearly notes the shift as his score for Mission To Destiny is less operatic; more suggestive and tense than in previous episodes.

One again, as with The Web, the running storyline of the fight against the Federation takes a backseat to what would now be termed a bottle episode. This format of one-off episodes amid long-running story arcs, later adopted by series such as The X-Files and Deep Space 9, was relatively unusual in genre television at the time.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "Vila, are you awake?" Avon (Paul Darrow)

Here, Blake’s 7 is much more obviously similar to those later shows, as Blake and his crew adopt the roles of galactic good guys, with nothing to gain from helping Destiny beyond the fact they have resisted Federation integration.

In tone too, the programme has shifted. Mission To Destiny has several outright jokes and the banter between the Liberator shipmates is fonder than it has been previously.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "I can always sense danger"]

“I can always sense danger,” claims Vila at one point.

“Yes, even when there isn’t any,” remarks Gan with a smile, to Jenna’s amusement.

Even Avon’s barbs are delivered without his trademark sneer. We see the first stirrings of Avon’s occasional fondness for Vila, when he contacts The Liberator to ask if he is awake. He smiles a genuine smile when the thief replies in the negative.

When Cally remarks that among her people a man cannot be betrayed, only mistaken, Avon replies: “Life expectancy must be fairly short among your people.” But even this seems playful, flirtatious even.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "You just bet both our lives on it"

Although much of this demonstrates how significantly Blake’s 7 has moved away from the template of The Way Back and Space Fall, it works surprisingly well. Avon makes a convincing protagonist; a man who is self-centred and cautious, but also one who ‘can’t resist a mystery’.

Paul Darrow’s theatre experience allows his to carry several stagey, expositional scenes with ease – and Avon’s narcissism, his will to win – not to mention his background as a criminal – make him a believable detective.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "...already knows"

Despite his protestation that he wouldn’t care if the planet Destiny were to turn into ‘a mushroom’ and cavilling at Cally offering them up as hostages, the game’s afoot, and besting the thief appears to be reward enough for him.

That suspicion is confirmed when he knocks out the villain with a punch and ‘rather enjoys it’. Few television heroes punched women, even villainous women, in the face during this era, but Avon’s actions are consistent: Man or woman, Avon will happily strike or kill a foe.

Blake's 7 - Mission To Destiny: "I rigged a charge"

With the mystery wrapped up there’s just enough time for Blake to blow the villain, the Ortega and the ship with which it docks out of the sky.

For Blake the implication that the crew would happily allow a planet to starve is all the reason he needs to kill every single one of them – news he imparts with an amused grin.

It’s a useful, troubling reminder of Blake’s blithe outlook on good and evil.

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