Planet Of No Escape is a really funny dark comedy, with enjoyable prison escape elements.
WRITTEN BY
No specific credit.
PLOT
Much to the crew's chagrin, Blake agrees to assist in the next breakout from Cygnus Alpha. Once they get there, however, they find the plans have drastically changed and the Federation is already on its way...
ANALYSIS
What's fun about Planet Of No Escape is how real it feels. For once, the crew simply bumble around, not having a clue what's going on and getting into trouble despite not being in much real danger. It's refreshing, and hilarious once you figure out what's actually going on. It's like the sitcom version of Blake's 7. The humor in the writing is on point - it's not presented in a jokey atmosphere, but the characters are just constantly stepping into a metaphorical bucket.
Probably my favourite moment is when Vila pipes up about the crew having to teleport down to help Blake, only for them to agree to teleport Vila down offscreen. It's not even presented as a joke, there's no dialogue, but it's awesome.
If I had to mention a flaw, it's that it ends too suddenly. The Federation threat is pretty much brushed aside in favor of a jokey ending, which is the only time the comedy really rears up. I suppose the script had to be a certain length, but if that's the case, I would've preferred a more tragicomic conclusion fitting the rest of the story's tone.
CHARACTERS
Once again, Blake employs his favourite method of getting people what he wants them to do - threaten to put them off the ship. At least he gets something of a comeuppance when he completely botches the mission from the get-go.
Aside from being the butt of the story's best joke, Vila actually manages to be handy over the course of the story, singlehandedly rescuing Blake from the facility. I like seeing him work on his own, without the distracting criticisms constantly thrown at him, even if it is always fun to see him bicker with Avon.
Speaking of Avon, he and Cally make themselves useful as well. In fact, one of the story's main strengths is its strategic use of the crew. Everybody have a job to do, although poor Jenna is still stuck on the ship even in these. Avon's unspoken wish to have Vila for company(for his nimble fingers) was rather cute.
We don't learn much about Hammond other than that he's a nice prisoner who's been on the planet for a while and very fat, so all I'll say is that I imagined him being played by Ian McNeice.
NOTES
*This story was published in the 1980 Blake's 7 annual.
*How did the prisoners even contact Blake? Did he leave them the Liberator's number when he left Cygnus Alpha?
*The drawing of the Liberator's teleport room looks strikingly similar to the ones seen in Star Trek, rather than the actual set.
*Now for a really funny question - why would the Federation expend resources to build a facility for prisoners who will never leave anyway? It's funny because there wasn't one in the episode Cygnus Alpha, and it was addressed there.
*Similarly, if we're supposed to believe that Blake and co escaped from the facility in this weird alternate timeline, why exactly did they leave Hammond behind? He's clearly eager and willing to escape and I don't see Blake turning down an extra recruit.
*What exactly will the prisoners do now that they've broken out of the facility? Is there a ship on standby that will take them away? How will they avoid the Federation, especially now that they've been warned? And why on earth doesn't Blake teleport them all aboard the ship?
*Whose brain fart idea was it to make a sequel to what they're obviously aware is an important part of the series lore, without any familiarity with said lore?
*Blake's gigantic sleeves(you know the ones) appear to lose half of their size once he's teleported down. By the end of the story, his costume has somehow transformed back into his original outfit.
INFORMATION
*It's not really clear when the story takes place. Gan is gone, which would mean it's after Pressure Point, but the Federation troops summon Travis to Cygnus Alpha, so he's still got his pre-Trial authority as Space Commander. The problem is that one episode directly follows the other, and I'm pretty sure Servalan removed Travis from command immediately after getting out of Central Control.
*The crew return to the penal colony Cygnus Alpha, although as you may have guessed, it is completely different from the one seen in the TV series.
BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE
BLAKE: "They'd never try and trap us with this one - they know we'd never bite."
AVON: "But that's just what you are doing! Biting and hoping, bluff and double bluff. I don't like it one bit!"
CONCLUSION
Well, I had a good laugh and that's all that matters.
*The drawing of the Liberator's teleport room looks strikingly similar to the ones seen in Star Trek, rather than the actual set.
*Now for a really funny question - why would the Federation expend resources to build a facility for prisoners who will never leave anyway? It's funny because there wasn't one in the episode Cygnus Alpha, and it was addressed there.
*Similarly, if we're supposed to believe that Blake and co escaped from the facility in this weird alternate timeline, why exactly did they leave Hammond behind? He's clearly eager and willing to escape and I don't see Blake turning down an extra recruit.
*What exactly will the prisoners do now that they've broken out of the facility? Is there a ship on standby that will take them away? How will they avoid the Federation, especially now that they've been warned? And why on earth doesn't Blake teleport them all aboard the ship?
*Whose brain fart idea was it to make a sequel to what they're obviously aware is an important part of the series lore, without any familiarity with said lore?
*Blake's gigantic sleeves(you know the ones) appear to lose half of their size once he's teleported down. By the end of the story, his costume has somehow transformed back into his original outfit.
INFORMATION
*It's not really clear when the story takes place. Gan is gone, which would mean it's after Pressure Point, but the Federation troops summon Travis to Cygnus Alpha, so he's still got his pre-Trial authority as Space Commander. The problem is that one episode directly follows the other, and I'm pretty sure Servalan removed Travis from command immediately after getting out of Central Control.
*The crew return to the penal colony Cygnus Alpha, although as you may have guessed, it is completely different from the one seen in the TV series.
BLAKE: "They'd never try and trap us with this one - they know we'd never bite."
AVON: "But that's just what you are doing! Biting and hoping, bluff and double bluff. I don't like it one bit!"
Well, I had a good laugh and that's all that matters.
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