The Logic Of Empire (1998) Review

The Logic Of Empire is a nice, bittersweet epilogue to Blake's 7, but it failed to really catch my interest as a story beyond the slight sense of melancholy.

WRITTEN BY

Alan Stevens and David Tulley, fans of the series. Yes, this is fanfiction, though the inclusion of actors from the series gives it credibility.

PLOT

Seven years after the events on Gauda Prime, Avon is hired to assist in a robbery, only to run into a final trap sprung by President Servalan...

ANALYSIS

The strongest aspect of The Logic Of Empire is its doomladen atmosphere and implication that the events of the series have essentially happened before and will happen again, thus adding even more sad futility to the heroes' lives.

However, the vast majority of the story is simply build-up to that final reveal and is more or less throwaway. Avon and Servalan could've met anywhere, and in far more interesting circumstances than a run-of-the-mill retread of a gold theft story(possibly deliberate, but still disappointing).

There's a meta quality to the script - Servalan literally has scripted out the events that take place, and enigma surrounds Avon's impossible survival in Blake. I do like the sense of destiny that that gives to the proceedings. But yeah, overall, this is kind of similar to El Camino for Breaking Bad. It's nice and a chance to see old faces again, but it's just adding to what was already a good ending.

CHARACTERS

Paul Darrow and Jacqueline Pearce are mesmerising as always. Darrow in particular manages to convey a more exhausted and older Avon, who has nothing more to care for. The final twist of him assuming Blake's role is somehow just surrealistic enough to work for me and adds a nice level of doubt to everything we know about the show.

It was also nice to hear Gareth Thomas's cameo, even though it sounds like he recorded his lines at a convention.

Tracy Russell played Avon's girlfriend Elise, who was actually rather interesting(a given for any of Avon's girlfriends) if you could look past the adorable Russian accent.

Watch out for Alistair Lock's appearance as Major Brecht - he went on to voice Zen and Orac in pretty much all future audio dramas. The OG voice, Peter Tuddenham, is once again on hand here, although the electronic distortion on his voice isn't quite exact to the old days.

Ian Reddington and Trevor Cooper were a great pair as Lydon and Kelso respectively, clearly meant to evoke younger versions of Avon and Vila,

NOTES

*The Logic Of Empire marks Peter Tuddenham's final performance as Zen.

*Presumably due to rights issues, the Blake's 7 theme is not played here.

*The amateur nature of the production means that some of the audio is a bit unclear - there were a few scenes where I wasn't entirely clear on what was going on.

*"Federation bullshit".

*I like Elise's idea of the human race taking over the galaxy long after most alien races have died out - it reminded me a lot of The Sevenfold Crown.

*Some of the exposition regarding the show was really painful, especially the sequence where Servalan pointlessly clarifies her lying to Avon about Blake's fate.

*Avon, Lydon and Elise telling Kelso to shut up simultaneously was a godawful Looney Tunes moment.

*The idea of Servalan carefully writing her plan out on paper is hilarious.

*At one point, Avon implies that he's been "taken out of the grave", which I found quite intriguing. Is this a clone of Avon?

*Having Blake warn Avon via a dream is very odd for a B7 story, which usually covers up supernatural events with some kind of science.

*How could Servalan not know who Kelso was? Isn't he in the script?

*Servalan is either very naive or very confident to believe the Federation would actually accept that Blake did go to Cygnus Alpha and none of his heroics ever happened. Until Avon-as-Blake reappears and the cycle starts all over again. But wouldn't some people eventually recognise and be able to tell that Blake is a fake if he keeps showing up every other decade? Wouldn't some version of Blake uncover the truth?

INFORMATION!

*The story takes place seven years after the events of Blake. It's also revealed that five years passed between Star One and Blake.

*It is reiterated that all intelligent life came from Earth, a belief established in Traitor.

*Elise asks Avon whether he passed through the Clouds of Magellan. His father Rogue Avon travelled through them in Avon: A Terrible Aspect.

*Servalan has resumed the role of President and destroyed Earth. She was previously deposed between Series C and D.

*There are numerous direct references to Gold due to the nature of Lydon's plan.

*Orac has helped Avon construct a teleport system for his ship, based on the one from the Liberator. It was established in Cygnus Alpha that the Federation have been unable to develop one.

*Blake's supposed death on Jevron that Servalan mentioned in Terminal is refuted here.

*Avon's team-up with Tarrant in Powerplay is briefly referenced.

*Orac's ability to interfere with any computer with a tarial cell is mentioned - this was established in Orac.

*There is a dream sequence showing events from between Star One and Aftermath. This time period would be later covered more extensively in Warship.

*The dialogue after Avon's brainwashing directly recalls The Way Back.

*Servalan employs the services of a psychostrategist, just as she did in Weapon.

*According to Servalan, the Federation still believes Blake is on Cygnus Alpha with Avon, where they were supposed to go in Space Fall.

*The final sequence takes place on Gauda Prime, which was established as a Federation colony in Blake.

*Avon dreams of his meeting with the illusory Blake in Terminal. 

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"I'm not inferring anything, I'm implying. You're the one who is inferring."

CONCLUSION

Worth it for the final reveal, but otherwise it's just an enjoyable nostalgia trip with beloved actors.