Blakes 7, Redemption: Blake & Avon Script Fragments

Episode Outfits

Blakes 7
Script Fragments

Music Videos

Orac

Redemption

Shadow

Avon thinks they can thwart Orac's prediction by identifying the stars around the exploding ship and avoiding that part of space. Unfortunately for this good idea, Liberator is taken over by the creators of the ship, and is forced to a space station located at the location Avon was trying to avoid. The crew manages to escape with their ship, while Orac gets Liberator's sister ship to blow up, thus fulfilling his prophecy.


.	[In the first season cliffhanger, the newly adopted Orac computer has predicted the destruction of Liberator.]
Blake:	Orac, why won't you give us the background to that prediction?
Orac:	Because that would invalidate the prediction.
Blake:	And if we knew the future in detail we could change it, so it wouldn't be the future.
Orac:	Correct. That is the paradox of prediction.
Blake:	Alright, Zen. Standby to run it again. At half speed.
Avon:	Slow or fast, it will still look the same.
Blake:	How long have you been there?
Avon:	I was here when you came in.
Blake:	Why didn't you speak?
Avon:	I had nothing in particular to say. Besides you looked as though you were planning something you didn't want the rest of us to know about.
Blake:	Orac's prediction still hasn't come into effect. I am trying to find some reason why he was wrong.
Avon:	Have you found what you want?
Blake:	No.
Avon:	That's because you're looking for the wrong things.
Blake:	What exactly does that mean?
Avon:	It's a common enough failing. Now if you've finished with Zen, I'd quite like to get on. We have a malfunction on the intermediate range sensors. I need to check the systems.
Blake:	Leave it. If I've missed something, I want to know what it is now, Avon.
Avon:	Well, now, all you had to do was ask. Zen, replay, half speed.
Zen:	Confirmed.
Avon:	Stop. Alright. Reverse to the instant before the explosion. Freeze it there. All the reassurance you could want.
Blake:	Do you think you could forget your superiority complex for a moment and get on with it?
Avon:	Alright. But first of all let us examine the nature of prediction. The human mind is capable of seeing into the short range with reasonable accuracy. For example, imagine that you are standing on the edge of a cliff.
Blake:	As long as you're not standing behind me.
Avon:	There are a number of alternative futures. Take a pace forward and plunge to your death. The cliff could crumble under your feet with the same result. A gust of wind could carry you over.
Blake:	Alright, alright. Yes, but the probability is that I would turn around and walk away.
Avon:	Exactly. You have just made a prediction based on the known facts. A computer works on precisely the same principle.
Blake:	But all you're saying is not immutable fact.
Avon:	Right. If you had not gone near the cliff in the first place, you wouldn't have had to face any of the inherent dangers.
Blake:	So?
Avon:	Zen, selective magnification. Show us the background.
Zen:	Confirmed.
Avon:	Look at it, Blake. Look at the configuration of the stars. That position is unique in the universe.
Blake:	Ah, of course. Zen can give us a precise astral fix and tell us exactly where the event is supposed to have happened.
Avon:	Congratulations.
Blake:	Alright. Where is it?
Avon:	It's in the 12th sector, astro .781.
Blake:	What? That's halfway across the galaxy. Now if we make sure we never go into that area, then the prediction becomes void. I'll tell the others. Uh, how long have you known?
Avon:	Oh, several hours.
Blake:	And you just let the others go on worrying.
Avon:	Well, all they had to do was ask. Perhaps in the future they won't rely on you to provide all the answers.
.	...

.	[Something is happening to Liberator. Avon decides that the ship is rejecting them.]
Blake:	Avon, concentrate on Zen. Give priority to the detectors and the navigation systems. And then see if you can get us some scans.
Avon:	Is that all? What shall I do with the other hand?
Blake:	I'll let you know.
.	...

.	[a live cable snakes up in front of Blake. He calls for help from Avon.]
Blake:	Jenna, it's Blake. I'm in subcontrol room 4. Get Avon down here fast.
Jenna:	Avon.
Avon:	I heard. I'm busy.
Jenna:	He's working on Zen.
Blake:	I don't care what he's working on. Get him down here.
Avon:	Blake, what I'm doing is vitally concerned with our survival. Are you prepared to take responsibility for what happens if I delay?
Blake:	Don't I always? Now just get down here.
Avon:	Anything you say.
Blake:	And Avon, don't come crashing in. Gently as you open the door.
Avon:	Blake's concern for our safety is inspiring, don't you think?
Gan:	Avon, there's no structural damage in the other control unit.
Avon:	Well, that's something.
Gan:	But the instrument and systems damage is enormous.
Avon:	I shall tell our fearless leader. [leaves flight deck to meet Blake]
Vila:	What's the matter with him?
Jenna:	What do you think?
Vila:	If it ever comes to a showdown, my money's on Blake. Well, half of it. I'll put the other half on Avon.
Jenna:	That's a safe bet. But if Avon is right, we'll probably all be dead anyway.
Vila:	Dead? Is that your idea of a safe bet?
.	...

.	[Avon hurries in, so much for a gentle approach, and reaches for the cable. Blake stops him.]
Blake:	Easy. Easy. This coil's live in every sense. It's got enough energy to vaporize both of us.
Avon:	Alright. You're giving the orders. What do you want me to do about it?
Blake:	Turn off the power. Without touching the main switch.
Avon:	What happened?
Blake:	I tried to shut off the auxiliaries. But they switched back on automatically.
Avon:	That's happening to every function aboard.
Blake:	Then this coil leapt at me as though it were trying to protect the switchbox.
Avon:	The ship is working against us. From now on we are just passengers.
Blake:	The question is, "Where to?"
Avon:	I'm going to try and break the circuit.
Blake:	It knows. It knows what you're trying to do, Avon.
Avon:	It's linked to the computer circuits. They're feeding in a defensive program. I'm going to put an explosive charge across the main energy feed. When it senses what I'm trying to do, it should move away from you.
Blake:	Towards you.
Avon:	When it does, you move to the door.
Blake:	And when it homes in on you?
Avon:	I think my instinct for survival is more finely tuned than it is.
Blake:	It's moving. Leave it now. Come on.
.	[having attached the explosive, Avon runs too late for the door and is locked in. He and Blake try to open the door, which opens just after the explosion goes off.]
Blake:	That is one I owe you.
Avon:	Don't worry. At the right time, I will remind you of it.
.	...

BLAKES 7 EPISODE DVDs
The Blakes 7 episodes are available in PAL DVDs through Amazon.com UK. For people in the US, these DVDs will play on your computer, but NOT on your TV. The only safe way to play them on your computer is in an external DVD player devoted ONLY to PAL DVDs. When you put a DVD into a DVD drive, it's able to tell whether the DVD is PAL or NTSC (US standard) and play the DVD correctly. But it will ONLY SWITCH BACK AND FORTH something like 7 times. After that, it stays on whatever was played in it last. So if you only have a single DVD player, you could get it stuck being ONLY able to play PAL DVDs. But you're safe if you attach an extra DVD player to your computer and use it exclusively for PAL DVDs.