Blake's 7 (TV Series) Aftermath (1980) User Reviews

Confusion...

[sarastro7 · 8/10 · 29 November 2010]

"Aftermath" is the first episode of the third season of Blake's 7. Apparently, it is also the title of a later, edited TV movie composed of various TV episodes unwisely cut together. As a result, this IMDb page is rather confused, as both comments and ratings are a mix of these two different items!

To clarify, in the following I am reviewing the original episode, the 1st of the 3rd season. This is one of the best episodes of the entire show. In the aftermath of an intergalactic war, our main characters (except for Blake himself, who's busy somewhere else, and the show doesn't suffer from his absence; rather the opposite!) have crash-landed on various planets, most of which have primitive, warlike or evil ruling cultures, and the Liberator must scramble to pick up its crew members before it's too late. The episode has got new and interesting characters, esp. the intelligent and amazon-like Dayna, and her hilarious Disco Daddy of a father, who looks more like a nightclub regular than a futuristic weapons inventor. Their beach base is also entertainingly low-budget (the whole episode takes place in the sandy dunes), although on the inside (recorded in some studio) it is impressively futuristic. Orac also has some cool moments (also while buried in the sand).

Generally, this is one of the most entertaining episodes of them all, and it well deserves an 8 out of 10 rating.

New series, new feel, very good episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 10 August 2022]

The war is over, Star One is destroyed, and the crew land on the inhospitable planet, Sarran, where Servalan is also stranded, alone.

I thought it was a really strong start to series 3, it serves to give a resolution to Star One, and introduces Dana.

I'm a big fan of Josette Simon, and I think she's great here, I adored Dana, here she's given a reason to have Servalan, her story somehow had meaning, she wasn't shoehorned in, they spent time developing her.

One of Paul Darrow's best episodes, but the highlight for me, Jacqueline Pearce, there's been a big switch up in her character, she's definitely holder, a bit more extravagant, her performance here is awesome.

Is it me, or did Blake's 7 just get a bit sexy? They've definitely added a bit of sex appeal here to jazz it up.

I loved the location work, the scenes on the beach looked really nice, and really did fit the vibe of the story.

8/10.

Good continuation of the story

[harrylagman-02356 · 8/10 · 6 November 2022]

This is, mainly, the story of what happens to Avon after the battle of Star One - and how he finds the first of the new crew-members. He's down on the planet Sarran - a planet seemingly populated with another primitive, murderous tribe (bit of a BBC/Blakes 7 cliche in those days) - with no useable weapon, and has to use his wits to survive.

He is saved by Dayna, who takes him to a buried spaceship where she and her father - a outlaw from the federation live and design defence systems...and then Servelan turns up and causes havoc in her usual smiling, deadly way. She gets a bit nastier in series 3 - without Travis around to be a dystopian cartoon villain.

Great stuff, as usual from Paul Darrow & Jacqueline Pearce. But nearly all the acting is of an exceptionally high standard in Blakes' 7, to my eye

This episode and the next get a lot of interest from seeing what happened to the main characters & the storyline after the magnificent last episodes of series 3.

Interesting that one other reviewer doesn't like Josette Simon as Dayna. I struggle to imagine how the (very attractive) Marina Sirtis would have done the role better. I never realised she had been in the running. I found Soolin a bit of a disappointment in series 4, but there's nothing wrong with Glynis Barber's acting, I just think Cally was as big a loss as Gan & Blake to the crew. Series 4 was a bit of a disaster, anyway

SPOILER Jenna & Blake will be sorely missed. They're still alive, but both absent until Blake alone turns up in the excessively tragic last episode of series 4 - which I like to ignore. It actually seriously upset me as a10-year old.

A wonderful season premiere

[GusF · 10/10 · 8 August 2014]

Seldom has a television episode been more aptly titled as it deals with the immediate aftermath of the seemingly brief but brutal Intergalactic War. Star One has been destroyed, the Federation is practically non-existent and the Liberator crew has been scattered. The unseen Blake and Jenna are seemingly relatively well and Vila and Cally's escapades will be seen in the next episode but "Aftermath" appropriately focuses its attention on Avon, the series' new leading man. He and Orac are placed in an escape capsule and arrive on the planet Sarran, which is inhabited by barbarians not unlike the Goths (either the historical ones or the ones from "The Keeper"). While on the planet, Avon meets not only Servalan, the Federation's new de facto President, but the new regular character Dayna Mellanby, as played by the then 19-year-old Josette Simon. She makes a very impressive debut as the extremely self-reliant and overly violent Dayna. However, she nevertheless comes across as a real person due to her loving relationship with her father Hal Mellanby, a former rebel in hiding from the Federation after leading a revolt much like Blake's original one 20 years earlier. Cy Grant, the first black person regularly seen on British television, is very effective as Hal, who is portrayed as a loving father to both Dayna and his adoptive daughter Lauren who has established a new life for himself in exile. His death is unfortunate as he was a great character but dramatically necessary as, much like the deaths of parents or other relatives in numerous first stories for "Doctor Who" companions, it gives Dayna a reason to accompany Avon to the Liberator.

The real strength in this episode, however, lies in the wonderful interaction between Avon and Servalan. While this is not the first episode in which they have any interaction, it is the first in which they shared so many scenes and confronted one another in a violence free setting. After the Galactic War, the Mellanbys' base on Sarran is a practically an oasis. The chemistry between Paul Darrow and Jacqueline Pearce, two of the series' strongest performers, is electric and their dialogue contains some of Terry Nation's best writing. His new status as leading man affords Servalan the opportunity to work her wiles on him in the way that she never could with Blake. The "infinitely corruptible" Avon resists her offer to ally themselves as the new rulers of the galaxy but, true to form, not because he thinks that it's unethical or not what Blake would want but because he predicts that he'd be dead in a week. (Though I think that a week might be a tad optimistic! I've give him a life expectancy of about six minutes after she gains control of Orac.) Fantastic stuff.

After The Previous Finale This Opening Episode Is An Anti-climax

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 27 March 2013]

The Liberator and the massed Federation fleet finally manage to stop the attempted Andromedan invasion but at heavy cost to themselves. Effectively The Terran Federation has ceased to exist The damaged Liberator is evacuated and Avon finds himself having to battle for his life on the Planet Sarran . He is rescued by Dayna who takes him back to father's base only to find that President Seravalan has also landed on the planet

After the season two finale Star One you will be rubbing your hands wondering what's going to happen next and this episode proceeds to kick your teeth in with bitter disappointment . The possibilities and potential of this episode are limitless and anyone hoping to see more of the Andromedans will be left shaking their head wondering why their demise has been skated over so lightly . One can't help thinking a childish resentful attitude of not having used the Daleks in the previous episode has led to a fit of pique on the part of Terry Nation and has decided he won't use Chris Boucher's monsters under any circumstances . This is just a very ordinary episode once again featuring primitive barbarians trying to hunt down fallen Gods from the sky

It wasn't clear on the original transmission but this marks an entirely new direction for the show . Travis was seen to die in Star One but at least that character had an on screen demise a luxury never afforded to either Blake or Jenna . Orac states that Blake and Jenna have left in a separate escape pod and that's the nearest they get to a leaving scene , though Gareth Thomas does make a cameo appearance in the finales of seasons three and four . It must be said that if you watched this in 1980 you spend most the season thinking he's going to reappear but doesn't

Aftermath doesn't smack the audience over the head but the series has now changed and I'm in a very sizable minority when I state the change isn't for the better . New characters Dayna and Tarrant are introduced but never found either character all that interesting , at least not compared to Jenna and Blake and you often find yourself noticing how often writers could have easily had Jenna and Blake in the roles of Dayna and Tarrant . In short this opening episode shows signs that it's something of a rushed ill thought out production which sums up season three of the show

Why did I stop watching Blakes 7 after the first two series?

[chrisivory · 4/10 · 9 June 2022]

An avid viewer when these were first broadcast by the BBC, and not having seen them since until recently, a question that I had completely forgotten was answered.

Why was I not so avid a viewer after the first two series?

The answer? Josette Simon

What a bad piece of miscasting at the time. She may have gone on to greater things, but her acting skills were frankly awful here, to the point that maybe she should have gone back to the Central School of Speech and Drama - from whence she was plucked for this show - for a refresher. For me she detracted hugely from my enjoyment of the show, and was not believable as Dayna Mellanby - expert in arms and combat. Give me strength!

How she got the role over Marina Sirtis, we may never know, but how different Blakes 7 would have been.