Starring Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow, Derek Smith, Karl Howman, Adrienne Burgess, Michael Keating, Sally Knyvette, David Jackson, Jan Chappell & Peter Tuddenham
Written by Chris Boucher
Directed by Jonathan Wright Miller
The Terra Nostra are the greatest criminal force in the galaxy. They have information on everything and everyone - and are in control of the lethal drug Shadow...
And Blake wants to make a deal with them...
When the deal fails, however, Blake goes instead to Zondar, where Shadow's supply is controlled from. There, however, both Orac and Cally begin acting strangely. As Blake, Avon and Jenna discover the dark secret at the heart of the Terra Nostra, Cally battles against Orac in the realms of the mind, and Gan, Villa and Zen face the very real consequences of that battle...
The first thing one notes about Shadow is that it instantly feels more original than anything that Terry Nation came up with in the latter half of series 1 or Redemption. And that's really down to Chris Boucher's writing, who writes really well for Blake's 7. He really is strong at plotting and creating a complex plot that really makes Terry Nation's scripts for the second half of series 1 look a bit limp.
The main strength of this script is right down in it's themes: it deals with the very real dangers of drug abuse, in the same year that Doctor Who tackled the subject in Nightmare Of Eden. Obviously, drug related issues were big in sci-fi in 1979. But unlike Nightmare Of Eden, Shadow takes the issue, and looks at it in a very deep sense, not just standing on the moral high ground, but also showing how drugs actually destroy somebody. It doesn't shy away from it either, but presents it in all it's gritty glory. Certainly, there are camp elements, particularly where Derek Smith's Largo is concerned, but that, unlike in Redemption, is a smoke screen for what the Terra Nostra is all about: exploting the most vulnerable. But Boucher goes one step further: by tying the Terra Nostra and the Federation together, we get to see the desperate and corrupt Federation are desperate to cling onto power, so are even controlling the illegal world. That's an utterly terrifying idea: that the Liberator and the other pockets of resistance that are out there are the only people not subjugated by the oppressiveness of the Federation. Now, while Boucher has the lovely subplots with Largo and the Terra Nostra, he also makes sure that that's not the only thread in his story, and has Cally battle an alien intelligence that has possessed Orac. While this aspect of the story is relatively ingnored, it's still an interesting idea, one that is done incredibly well, especially considering that, normally, it's Cally being possessed by the alien intelligence. One thing that does detrimentally affect the story is that, with all these plot elements, it's difficult to wrap them all up satisfactorily, and therefore, the story suffers from having to juggle all these elements at once.
The cast, however, are on really good form. It's nice in this story to see Gan have something to contribute that isn't just paper thin loyalty, and his resistance to doing a deal with essentially murdering swines is great to see. It's just a shame we never got more of this, because it's really nice to see here. The rest of the crew also get little moments, although Blake and Avon do seem marginally neglected, just going through the motions, rather than actually contributing anything new. Certainly both Cally and Orac fare best out of the regulars. Peter Tuddenham, in particular, gets a chance to show off how decidedly creepy he can actually be, and Jan Chappell gets a chance to so some much lacking steel, with her threats to battle Orac and attack space city. But the gold dust really lies in the secondary characters, who are just so well written and so strong that it seems that nothing can stop them. And that extends into the really strong performances, which are just so fantastic that it seems a shame that they should only be in one episode. Karl Howerman, in particular, seems like he'd have made an excellent Blake's 7 regular. It's just a shame he didn't stay on, but with the team as crowded as it is, that may have been a mistake. And the previously mentioned Derek Smith is brilliant as Largo, a really nasty piece of work and somebody who wouldn't be out of Blake's 7. He such a good reflection of the evil in humanity. Jonathan Wright Miller's directorial debut for the show is an excellent one, really managing to make the story come alive in a way that Vere Lorrimer just didn't do with the previous episode. The stuff with Cally and Orac is especially interesting, and shot in a very unusual way.
Shadow may not be perfect, however it is certainly a very strong story. After a handful of episodes which could only manage average at best, Shadow really gets Blake's 7 back into it's groove. A strong script, very deep characters and some really good direction help to make Shadow a minor triumph.
Liberator Rating - 7/10
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