Space Fall (1978) Review

Space Fall is the second half of the trilogy that initiates the series, and does a good job of effectively introducing our new cast's particular attributes, namely Blake's leadership ability and weakness of empathy.

WRITTEN BY

Terry Nation, who in a spectacular display of vanity agreed to pen the entirety of the first series.

PLOT

En route to the penal colony Cygnus Alpha, Blake rouses his fellow prisoners to commandeer their prison transport and try to escape from the Federation's grasp. After this plan falls apart, he and fellow prisoners Jenna and Avon are selected to investigate a mysterious spaceship.

ANALYSIS

By following a fairly linear plot with clear stakes right from the get-go, Space Fall is a huge improvement over The Way Back as far as sheer entertainment value goes, and much closer to establishing what the series is actually about, as it follows a group of mismatched characters taking advantage of each other's skillsets for mutual benefit(or try, at least).

It's almost presented as a kind of reverse heist film, where the characters have to escape the vault instead of trying to break in, but it still comes with all the usual tropes like the electronics expert sealed in a room, coordinating the efforts of everyone else as well as a particularly nasty, lovably cliche kind of villain who quickly becomes obsessed with stopping the heroes' work.

That being said, it doesn't entirely abandon the oppressive themes of the previous episode. The Federation remain a nigh unbeatable enemy, and there's plenty of adult moments(murder, suggestion of rape).

CHARACTERS

If The Way Back was about Blake's compassion then Space Fall sets up his charisma. Who wouldn't want to follow a man as passionate and reasonable as Blake? Not only does he believe he can do what he sets out to do, but he's also intelligent enough to make you believe it, in spite of how impossible it sounds when you think about it.

A role that Paul Darrow's Kerr Avon acquits himself to admirably. Avon is one of TV's greats - I would describe him as a strange combination of Han Solo, Severus Snape and a Greek chorus. His mercurial, self-interested and coldly logical persona make him a fascinating counterpart to Blake's humane hero, and a magnetic presence onscreen.

Jenna and Vila are both notably different from their original, creepier portrayals. Both have dropped the pretense of enigma, with Jenna becoming Blake's slightly haughty girlfriend-in-all-but-name and Vila taking the role of comic relief and trickster. It is a pity, really, particularly in Keating's case, as all he does this time around is literally perform cheap magic tricks in front of a guard and drop his weapon like a fool.

The final two notable prisoners are Tom Kelly's naive Nova and David Jackson's Little John-esque Gan, both of whom are peripheral, but it's obvious from the gap between their acting capacity who the actual main character will be.

The three Federation crewmembers - Leylan, Raiker and Artix(played by Glyn Owen, Leslie Schofield and Norman Tipton respectively) have an interesting dynamic between them, and I actually quite enjoyed seeing their side of their story. They feel like real people, with power fluctuating between the captain and his hothead first officer whilst the second officer largely ignores both and gets on with the job.

NOTES

*Avon's brother is one of those infinitely interesting ideas that you'd think the show would explore, but it never gets around to it.

*I just realised Nova is Avon backwards. I'm not sure what the significance is. I suppose the characters are complete opposites in terms of my interest in them.

*Considering what we'll eventually discover about the Liberator's owners, the fact that the ship is protected by a sort of psychic "flypaper" that depends on said flies' emotions is rather neat(as the ship's owners would've been immune to its defences).

*I'm surprised the Federation have guards dumb enough to let prisoners play tricks in front of them for hours on end. I'm also surprised that guard had the patience for it. But then I suppose just standing there without so much as a chair can do that.

*Apparently, this episode is meant to take place over the span of months, something that the director was clearly unaware of. Not to mention Nation himself(dude was really pushing those scripts out fast).

*I admire that the Liberator can be driven with what look like portable desk lamps.

INFORMATION!

*The story continues directly from where The Way Back ended. Raiker mocks Blake for his child molestation charges, which were given to him in that episode.

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"What a fiasco. You could take over the ship, you said, if I did my bit. Well, I did my bit, and what happened? Your troops bumble around looking for someone to surrender to, and when they've succeeded, you follow suit."

CONCLUSION

An enjoyable prisoner escape yarn, followed by a nicely tense exploration of our new ship.