Starring Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Brian Blessed, Michael Keating, Sally Knyvette, David Jackson and Peter Tuddenham
Written by Terry Nation
Directed by Vere Lorrimer
Now free from the Federation, Blake, Avon and Jenna start coming to terms with the ship that they've stumbled across. However, they're not alone on board the craft...
Meanwhile, the remaining prisoners arrive on Cygnus Alpha, only to find it a desolate wasteland. One rulled over by Vargas, a tyrannical mad man who kills any unbelievers in his faith. And with the Liberator directly in his sights, he can, at last, take his faith out into the stars...
After two brilliantly innovative episodes, it's such a shame that Blake's 7's third episode is a little more mundane. Certainly, one couldn't argue that the idea of religious zealots is one sci-fi idea that has been continually used, and sadly, here it's not really exploted in any different angle to how it has before. It all just turns into a bit of a predictable run around, allowing the main series plot to progress, but not much more.
One of my main issues with Cygnus Alpha is actually the basic roots of the story. Now, I'm not against using previously used ideas (such as religious zealots), but they have to find some way to make this stand out in comparison to what has been done before, either by twisting the idea in a new direction of by making it's telling better than what has come before. Sadly, Cygnus Alpha doesn't do any of these things, instead trying to completely and utterly conform to the base steriotypes of that idea. Therefore, it's really never painted in the colours that it could. One thing that Blake's 7 has done really well with has been subverting expectations that have been placed on the series, so Cygnus Alpha is at it's most annoying when it conforms to those expectations. After all, it's only by the end of this episode that the basic format of the show is established, and we've not even met Cally, Travis or Servalan yet! And it's now at this point where the great novelty of an unestablished format really starts to wear off. It was nice for the first couple of episodes, but by this point, the show really does need to have a direction, otherwise the programme just aimlessly tries to do different things. This episode certainly puts the show in the right direction, however there's still a long way to go before the programme is fully settled down. Some of the early scenes in the episode, however really are the best, showing that the show is still trying to experiment, and this can no more be summed up in the return of Glynn Owen's character and his junior subordinate. It feels like, at this point, the London and it's crew could become a recurring feature in Blake's 7, as could any of the prisoners. Any prisoner could have been killed during the fight scene, meaning that either Villa or Gan could have died instead of the others. I wonder, in the alternate universe where one of those other characters ended up on the Liberator what things would have been like.
The characters in this one do continue to facinate, and for once, we really get to see the other characters move out of Blake's shadow, This particularly applies to Jenna and Avon, who we really get to see different sides of. Jenna, especially, has lots of juicy material to get her teeth into, really getting to grips with the sheer impracticality of staying with Blake, weighed up against selling him out for wealth and riches. We already know that Avon would sell Blake out at the drop of a hat, so to see Jenna put in that position (as somebody with rather less clear morals) is very interesting. Obviously, she makes the right choice, but it's nice to see someone who's less clear cut than the usual sci fi heroes. The rest of the characters continue to facinate, but there's nothing really new about them. Of course, we have Zen, a computer, which unlike others in sci-fi feels very alien. It avoids questions and refuses to grant answers. It would have been nice had this episode focused on that point a little more, but that was something Terry Nation was saving for later, I suppose. The cast are all fantastic, with Brian Blessed and Pamela Salem making the most out of paper thin roles. It's a shame, because Brian Blessed is brilliant here, as is Pamela, but there characters have no really defining trates. There just plot devices, and it's a shame, because when you have actors of this calibre, it's a shame to waste them.
I want to make it clear: I did enjoy Cygnus Alpha, but only on a superficial level. It was a story that was fun, like eating a McDonald's. One can enjoy it, but it's not the greatest thing in the world with regards to taste or health. There are many lovely moments and now that the format is established, it will be interesting to see where it goes.
Liberator Rating - 6/10
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