The Syndeton Experiment is a collection of Terry Nation tropes, intermixed with nigh incomprehensible technobabble.
WRITTEN BY
A rare misstep from classic Doctor Who scribe Barry Letts.
PLOT
Unable to penetrate the intense radiation field around the planet Capica, Servalan strong-arms the Scorpio crew into going there in her stead to find out what's become of the famous Dr Rossom and his research into gestalt consciousness.
ANALYSIS
Given that Nation was the creator of Blake's 7, I almost wonder if Letts deliberately parodied the former's tendency to recycle aspects of his Doctor Who scripts(a fallacy that Letts as producer had to deal with on Doctor Who). Dr Rossom and his "neuro-bot" creations are almost carbon copies of Davros and the Daleks, and their irradiated jungle planet and city are an obvious homage to Skaro.
It's a shame, too, because The Syndeton Experiment actually starts off quite interestingly, with Avon and the rest plotting a coup in order to gain legitimate power and influence to match the Federation's. I would have loved to have seen how they would manage as rulers, if only for a little while. The deviation to Capica wasn't necessarily bad(especially since these concepts are new to Blake's 7... it would only bother a fan of both shows), but I was much more interested in what they set up before.
What does bother me, however, is how Barry contrives the change in plot. Syndeton, which is initially introduced as an invaluable fuel source, is somehow also capable of inducing telepathic powers into people. This is literally the only connecting tissue between the two storylines, and its only relevance is that Servalan happens to be interested in both uses for the substance and decides to manipulate the crew when they show up on Syndexia. It just feels like a deus ex machina, especially at the maddeningly confusing ending where it's revealed that mental transference actually doesn't happen... but it did... but it didn't? And also, if you're a greedy and prideful person, that causes a "positive howlaround loop" which infinitely magnifies someone's mind until they die(cut and paste the ending of Letts's own Planet Of The Spiders). Except they didn't. It really needed some clarification.
As in The Sevenfold Crown, there's some traces of Letts's unfamiliarity with the source material, the worst of which is probably the sudden existence of hyperspace travel(I think he misunderstood the concept of the photonic stardrive). That might bother some purists, especially since it's a major part of the plot this time around.
Unlike in that story, there seemed to be quite a few audio issues, such as the sound dying out at the end of several scenes, a double Orac activation sound, odd cuts, peculiar automatic laser rifle(pew-pew-pew) noise standing in for the Scorpio handguns and the constant reuse of the main actors' voices for multiple characters(Michael Keating appears as another alien functionary and I'm pretty sure Steven Pacey was a Federation guard somewhere).
CHARACTERS
Vila has quite a crummy time. He starts off freshly fallen off the wagon(I'm surprised this expression's still in use in the far future) and at his most disliked, and then gets turned into a robot! Whether or not the transference was real, it was quite exciting to hear RoboVila actually try to murder Tarrant in a fit of despair and rage. There's a few hints in the series that Vila might have a psychotic edge and if losing his body won't bring it out, what would?
It was unexpected and interesting to see the development of Graham Padden's Vledka. In The Sevenfold Crown, he was merely someone for Servalan to talk to, but here we see her ingratiate herself into his career and transforming a decent soldier into her toady, harkening back to the early Servalan scenes on Space Command. Clearly she's using similar tactics again to try and build back her power base. It also made for some amusing comedy later when she denies him sex. Graham Padden's definitely been drunk quite a few times, judging by his inebriated acting.
Peter Jeffrey(who appeared as Count Grendel in Doctor Who) is a delight as the politely nutty Dr Rossom. There's something inherently funny about how reasonable he is, in spite of being obviously mad. It's a nice twist on an old gimmick.
Letts continues to write Servalan with motherly tones, adding a whole new icky factor to the character. I don't know if it's just his instinct or if that was his interpretation of Jacqueline Pearce based on real life encounters, but it makes her sexuality a lot weirder than it used to be. Actually, now that I think about it, there's also that scene where Soolin feeds Tarrant with a spoon. Wtf, Letts?
Speaking of Pearce, Steven Pacey gets to indulge in a humorous impersonation of her throughout, which pretty much is all he gets to do. I am noticing his voice deepening considerably. Looking forward to hearing him on Big Finish, because he's already barely recognisable as the cheeky youngster he was in the show.
Angela Bruce and Paula Wilcox continue to be adequate vocal imitators for the absent Josette Simon and Glynis Barber, respectively, but the characters are given remarkably little to do. In fact, they carry the worst scene in the story, which basically involves the two of them expositing about syndeton out of sheer boredom.
NOTES
*This is one of two Blake's 7 audio dramas produced by the BBC.
*Not only has tomato ketchup survived, but now rollerskates are apparently a part of the Blake's 7 universe also!
*"You wouldn't call it fuel, but it seems to burn away when we're in hyperdrive." Very intelligently put, Soolin.
*I don't think I've stressed enough how heavy the technobabble is in this. Syndeton simultaneously exists in hyperspace and our universe. It bridges brains thanks to their "frequency structure".
*To Letts's credit, I really like how he writes the organisation of the crew. There's references to previous heists, which add a bit of weight and history(you get the sense that they've already had the Scorpio for years). They assemble a "council of war" before targeting Syndexia. It's neat.
*Syndexia's American defense grid operator's well ahead of her time!
*The sequence where the crew lose Tarrant to Servalan, only to teleport back in five minutes later to get him back was so stupid it's funny.
*Nobody could predict that Tarrant would fall under Servalan's influence again after making such a huge point about how he'd only broken it due to being in hyperspace? I would definitely have tied him up just for basic safety.
*I've noticed that Paul Darrow always says the name "Servalan" the same way. Serrrrvalan.
*Jacqueline Pearce's delivery of "Why have I lost control?! WHYWHYWHY?!?" might be her worst yet. Mind you, the line is also rubbish.
*Why couldn't the crew abort the Scorpio's landing? We've seen the ship fly through atmosphere before.
*Just once, I'd like to see someone not fall to the old "would you loosen my shackles?" routine.
*I love how Avon just assumes that Dr Rossom will try to dominate humanity, because "what else would he do?"
*Why on earth would Vledka just let a bunch of dangerous renegades go??? He'd probably get a medal if he arrested them.
*The Syndeton Experiment marks the final performance of Peter Tuddenham as Slave and Orac.
*I've no idea what Jacqueline Pearce was screaming there at the end, her voice was far too distorted to make out.
INFORMATION!
*Avon's familiar with Syndexia, having been there around the time he was kicked out of the Academy until he was betrayed by Gaskia. His criminal career had also started by this point.
*It's revealed that Dr Plaxton's stardrive(installed in Stardrive) is fuelled by syndeton. This must also mean that syndeton was in the unnamed fuel cells that Tarrant stole from a Federation base during the events of The Sevenfold Crown.
*At some point prior to this story, the crew pulled off "the Parriman job", which left them with enough credits to legally buy syndeton.
*The Scorpio crew recognise Dr Rossom's gestalt experiments as being of a similar nature to Dorian's creature from Rescue.
*Orac uses the term "meanest intelligence", which he memorably said in his debut appearance in Orac.
*The character of Captain Vledka first appeared in The Sevenfold Crown.
BEST QUOTE
"Today is the day I shall become a demi-God!! Would you like some toasted cheese?"
CONCLUSION
It's enjoyable, but it's far too confusing for its own good, and the Terry Nation references just stand out like a sore thumb if you're familiar with Doctor Who. With a quick rewrite, it could've been a lot of fun.
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