The Sevenfold Crown is a phenomenable Indiana Jones quest adventure.
WRITTEN BY
Barry Letts, known for his producership of the Third Doctor era of Doctor Who. A terrific, old-school choice and one who clearly did his homework regarding the show.
PLOT
The Scorpio crew and Servalan race to track down the Sevenfold Crown, one of the last artifacts of an ancient civilization and the key to mental power so great that it would grant its wearer near-omnipotence and the chance to rule the galaxy.
ANALYSIS
Not only the best audio drama I've ever heard, but certainly one of the best Blake's 7 adventures. The Sevenfold Crown is an enthralling treasure hunt across time and space. The lengthy runtime(it clocks in at an hour and a half), incredibly high stakes, cataclysmic ending and surprising emotional depth overall give this one a truly epic feel that's difficult to match.
It's certainly more Doctor Who than Blake's 7, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Barry Letts is a specific kind of writer and he brought his own supernatural, slightly spiritual flavor to the series that I don't think was ever really there previously, whilst respecting and building on what came before. It's commendable and heck, it's such a good story that I can forgive it for not being as grim and fatalistic as usual.
In fact, given that the entire galaxy's fate hangs in the balance, you might be surprised to hear that a lot of the story is quite comical in tone, with a large chunk spent running around on the medieval tourist planet Torella. And that is probably the only part where Sevenfold Crown drags, but the characters are so entertaining and the situational comedy and wordplay so good that I can scarcely complain.
But oh, how I love the climax. Letts employs a classic sci-fi cliche - that of the doppelgänger - and gives us Crown's masterstroke - Paul Darrow acting against Paul Darrow. It doesn't get better. The atmosphere inside the Divani pyramid is breathtaking, you could cut the tension with a knife(I must say the audio work is spot-on, it feels cinematic).
CHARACTERS
Avon is in his Series D zone - a bemused, sarcastic daredevil and plotter with little to lose, but always to gain. The scenes between him and his "brother" are just superb and provide unprecedented insight into his personal feelings. Darrow is at his peak here, and also with the lovely Jacqueline Pearce, as the two have a few of their classic confrontations - I love that the audio is manipulated in a way to imply they're standing centimeters away from each other.
Speaking of Servalan, Letts has interpreted her in a somewhat... motherly fashion. I don't remember the Supreme Commander ever referring to herself as "mommy" before. And I would never forget her calling Avon "baby" either. Freud would love this. Also, there's the whipping scene. I bet they loved that one.
Pip Donaghy is a hoot as the retired pirate King Gheblikon - he's one of those Hommik-style fat kings with beards, but in the best possible way. I love how matter of fact Gheblikon is about everything, and that he takes his defeat at the hands of Tarrant with such utter grace - he's pompous and crude, but far more reasonable than he'll let on. Letts can be so effortlessly clever.
The rest of the cast are more or less ok. Steven Pacey has aged into a stronger actor, but Michael Keating had a few awkward deliveries(I can only assume it was his first audio performance). As for the recasts of Dayna and Soolin, I think Paula Wilcox does a damn good Glynis Barber impression whilst Angela Bruce manages to at least give a passable performance as Dayna, even if she most certainly doesn't sound like Josette Simon.
NOTES
*This is one of two Blake's 7 audio dramas made by the BBC themselves.
*Starting the episode with the ending theme was a bizarre choice.
*Letts makes a few simple errors, presumably due to his unfamiliarity with the programme. The Scorpio suddenly has the capacity to jump into hyperspace(and thus inherently avoid Federation ships due to the nature of that type of travel). Vila has a fixation on food instead of drink. The Federation is also known as "the Galactic Empire" and Servalan is referred to as Empress on several occasions. Slave refers to people other than Avon as "master".
*Tomato ketchup has survived to the second calendar. Dammit.
*I love that Tarrant picks the fuel cells based on what firm made them - it's a neat, down-to-earth-touch(reminds me of the Laserson probe in Doctor Who's "The Robots Of Death").
*Slave is also accompanied by the Orac whine sound effect, presumably to indicate that he's a computer.
*The scene where Avon and Vila hide behind Servalan's couch as she's having a conversation was just gold.
*Letts does slightly write himself into a corner by giving Servalan psionic powers - why doesn't she constantly use them to outwit the crew?
*I'm surprised Avon didn't let the crew bring guns to Torella - even if in secret. Surely they could stuff them in their boots or something.
*The fact that King Gheblikon's assistant is named "Flander" can only lead me to assume that Letts was a big Simpsons fan.
*Servalan seems to be quite sloppy in this one. Forgetting to take Tarrant's bracelet off? Actually letting Vila live? Rookie mistakes.
*One of my few genuine negatives - Letts writes Orac aggravatingly, to the point where every time somebody asks Orac something, he first has to tell how stupid the question is and then explain why he's bothering to answer(cue "the ship could be destroyed, so I guess I'll tell you" a hundred times).
*Avon knows who the Egyptians were - I guess he took the same history class as Blake.
INFORMATION!
*The drama is set after Stardrive, with a reference being made to the new photonic engine.
*Servalan continues to masquerade as Commissioner Sleer, as established in Traitor.
*Avon tasks Tarrant with infiltrating the Federation base to find new fuel cells for the Scorpio due to him being a former Federation officer(as seen in Powerplay).
*Avon claims to have once torn out the throat of a tiger with his bare hand.
*Hanging hasn't been used as a punishment in the galaxy since the days of "the first empire".
*Vila's mother used to cook him jam roly-poly.
*According to Orac, the Federation rule only a small portion of the galaxy(and it's not implied to be because of the Intergalactic War).
BEST QUOTE AVONS' QUOTE
The dialogue/monologue between the two Avons: "Look at the way it gleams. To be in sight of power! Real power, at last. So many years... no pain, no feelings. And now this. Not to be alone. From the earliest memory, the emptiness of the desert. The emptiness. Was it joy or was it sadness? Was it pain or was it bliss? The emptiness. But now, to be... other. To know... how could I have known? How could I have known then? How could I have ever known? How?"
CONCLUSION
Fantastic!
*Letts makes a few simple errors, presumably due to his unfamiliarity with the programme. The Scorpio suddenly has the capacity to jump into hyperspace(and thus inherently avoid Federation ships due to the nature of that type of travel). Vila has a fixation on food instead of drink. The Federation is also known as "the Galactic Empire" and Servalan is referred to as Empress on several occasions. Slave refers to people other than Avon as "master".
*Tomato ketchup has survived to the second calendar. Dammit.
*I love that Tarrant picks the fuel cells based on what firm made them - it's a neat, down-to-earth-touch(reminds me of the Laserson probe in Doctor Who's "The Robots Of Death").
*Slave is also accompanied by the Orac whine sound effect, presumably to indicate that he's a computer.
*The scene where Avon and Vila hide behind Servalan's couch as she's having a conversation was just gold.
*Letts does slightly write himself into a corner by giving Servalan psionic powers - why doesn't she constantly use them to outwit the crew?
*I'm surprised Avon didn't let the crew bring guns to Torella - even if in secret. Surely they could stuff them in their boots or something.
*The fact that King Gheblikon's assistant is named "Flander" can only lead me to assume that Letts was a big Simpsons fan.
*Servalan seems to be quite sloppy in this one. Forgetting to take Tarrant's bracelet off? Actually letting Vila live? Rookie mistakes.
*One of my few genuine negatives - Letts writes Orac aggravatingly, to the point where every time somebody asks Orac something, he first has to tell how stupid the question is and then explain why he's bothering to answer(cue "the ship could be destroyed, so I guess I'll tell you" a hundred times).
*Avon knows who the Egyptians were - I guess he took the same history class as Blake.
INFORMATION!
*The drama is set after Stardrive, with a reference being made to the new photonic engine.
*Servalan continues to masquerade as Commissioner Sleer, as established in Traitor.
*Avon tasks Tarrant with infiltrating the Federation base to find new fuel cells for the Scorpio due to him being a former Federation officer(as seen in Powerplay).
*Avon claims to have once torn out the throat of a tiger with his bare hand.
*Hanging hasn't been used as a punishment in the galaxy since the days of "the first empire".
*Vila's mother used to cook him jam roly-poly.
*According to Orac, the Federation rule only a small portion of the galaxy(and it's not implied to be because of the Intergalactic War).
The dialogue/monologue between the two Avons: "Look at the way it gleams. To be in sight of power! Real power, at last. So many years... no pain, no feelings. And now this. Not to be alone. From the earliest memory, the emptiness of the desert. The emptiness. Was it joy or was it sadness? Was it pain or was it bliss? The emptiness. But now, to be... other. To know... how could I have known? How could I have known then? How could I have ever known? How?"
CONCLUSION
Fantastic!
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