Stardrive (1981) Review

 

Stardrive's fun at times, but it's extremely padded. And the Space Rats are rubbish. 

WRITTEN BY

James Follett, who wrote Dawn Of The Gods. That was a very different kind of episode, so at least I can say he's got flexibility. 

PLOT

After catching a glimpse of the speed-crazy Space Rats in action, Avon is convinced that the crew must acquire their experimental photonic drive to be able to outrun the Federation. 

ANALYSIS

There's the bones of a really great episode in here. I love that the setup is about the crew needing a vital resource. This was rarely a problem during the Liberator era, but everything is about survivalism now. It's at the heart of the more romanticised western take the series has adopted. Literally all of us can relate to the need to stay alive against overwhelming odds and so the episodes are often easier to get into. There's several nailbiting action sequences, and eccentric visual direction with all the Star Wars homages. 

But the main thing that drags it down for me is just how slowly it moves. There is no reason why getting to the point of the episode - the mission to get the stardrive - should take 20 minutes. It could be handled in five. Ten, if you want to squeeze in some character moments. But not half the runtime. That whole sequence where they fly back to the Base(never actually leaving the ship!) and sit through footage of what we just saw frame by frame because Orac refuses to give a straight answer is ridiculous. 

Not that it gets better after that. Avon, Tarrant and Soolin spend about a quarter of eternity posing on the dunes. And in the meantime, we have to endure... the Space Rats. A ghastly, out of touch parody of punk culture that feels like it was written by a grumbling middle-aged man. Oh wait. I could argue that the production team is at fault for the costumes, but the dialogue with all the "gooks" and Vila's repetitive descriptions of "if it's got wheels, they ride it and if it hasn't, they zap it" is just as bad. Basically, everything surrounding the Space Rats is cursed. 

Another thing I have to criticise(although this is something that covers this entire season) is the copious amount of CSO used. There's some neat camera tricks you can do with CSO, and they do try that here, but I just cannot stand seeing the awkward, miscoloured Scorpio floating in a bluescreen space. The asteroid scene in particular has to be one of the worst special effects in the series. One paper cutout flying towards another paper cutout is what it looks like. Oh, and the Federation pursuit ships, which seem to be cut from the same piece of paper. Awful.

I will admit, however, that Stardrive just about redeems itself with an awesome climax. The chase back to the Scorpio is exhilarating, and I love that the ship actually touched on the planet. It's a neat detail that sets it apart from the Liberator. And then... "Dayna? Check! Vila? Check! Soolin? Check! Tarrant? Check! ALL RIGHT, GO!!!" That's a badass crew! The tension there at the end kept me glued to the screen(partially thanks to Dudley Simpson - his score is among the best he's ever done). So yeah, it ended on a high note. No hard feelings then, but definitely not one I'll be too keen to revisit. 

CHARACTERS

I was kinda 50/50 on Darrow this time. When nothing is happening, his dramatics can get a little irritating. Maybe it's the fact that in older, not-so-good episodes, Avon was a sort of grounding force. His understated delivery brought lowkey tension to otherwise flat scenes. Here, I wanna shake him out of his cowboy daze and tell him to get a move on. 

However, Stardrive also contains one of my favourite Avon moments. It's the very first scene, where he rams the Scorpio into the asteroid. See, Avon's main characteristic is his logic. Every time the crew argues against a decision that he makes, he usually shuts them up by outlining exactly why his plan is the correct one. It can be a foolhardy scheme, but he relies on well-calculated odds. So for him to produce an idea that is blatantly illogical yet still try to defend it as the only reasonable course(as opposed to going to Terminal, which he knew was a bad idea) is so fascinating. He's no longer thinking straight. 

Barbara Shelley should not be in this. It's like Michael Gough all over again. They're such respectable, relatively high profile actors of a theatre background that it just feels like they're secretly judging the production the entire time they're present. I have no evidence to prove that, of course. For all I know, they were lovely on set. But it feels so off. She gives a fine performance, but I would much rather have anyone else in this role. 

Damien Thomas seems to have some fun with his role as Atlan, leader of the Space Rats... yet not a Space Rat. It seems like Follett tried to passively compare him to Avon with lines like "Mindless destruction of Federation ships, you've got no plan!" "So long as I give them what they want, I'm their leader." But whatever it is he was going for, it didn't land with me. I like his accent, though. Shrug. 

I find that Dayna has become quite intolerable this season. She comes off as a miserable ass all the time, particularly towards Vila. Dayna is the new Tarrant. But speaking of Vila, I was very proud of the way he saved the crew's ungrateful butts there and avoided volunteering at the same time. It's always lovely whenever someone remembers he's supposed to be a genius. 

NOTES

*I must say, this current title sequence really grows on you. Something about the way it starts with that massive spinning planet in your face is so cool, and I like the HUD shot and how it counts down to the appearance of the Blake's 7 logo.

*The Altern system(where the crew try to steal fuel crystals at the start of the episode) is located in Sector 8. Caspar, the base of the Space Rats, is in Sector 5. 

*Tarrant still measures velocity with the old "Standard By" system, but I could swear they switch to Time Distort at some point. 

*At one point, the red coloring of the Scorpio seems to turn space outside red as well(some kind of SFX mishap?). Also, the helmet of the Space Rat on the paused monitor is moving.

*I cannot stand when Orac criticises the crew for missing something that nobody would guess. I know that he's a computer and all, but... no, actually, BECAUSE he's a computer, he should know that nobody can guess something when they don't have the accurate information nor the ability to gain it! Humans have no ability to see something that's faster than their perception, so why should they jump to the conclusion that something like that is out there!?

*Something about the way Vila says "since I joined with you lot" bugs me. He didn't join with any lot, except for Avon. They joined him.

*What exactly is the "ancient Earth sect of unbelievable viciousness" that the Space Rats are supposed to be descended from? ... Punks?

*Why do Dayna and Vila decide to return to the Scorpio after finding the space choppers? It's not like they didn't know the Rats were on the planet... the whole point of them going down there(at least allegedly) was so the two could make contact with them!

*Space Rats. Speed crazy. Also spend most of their time lounging on decidedly non-speedy sofas.

*One thing that Follett shouldn't have stolen from Star Wars: space trade routes(although to be fair, The Phantom Menace came out 18 years after this). How do you get routes in space?

*Is there any reason why Plaxton can't develop the stardrive with the Federation instead of the obviously unreliable Space Rats? Did the lack of a "shipbuilding program" delay the project somehow and she just got bored with the Federation? And even so, she displays some pretty gross judgment by picking punks to fund her obviously invaluable project. 

INFORMATION!

*Traitor established that Avon was working on ways to give the Scorpio more in-flight speed. 

*Soolin references Dayna's sheltered upbringing on Sarran, which we saw a glimpse of in Aftermath. 

*Vila claims to have been in a penal colony with several Space Rats. I can only assume he means a less rigid one on Earth, rather than something like Cygnus Alpha. 

*According to Orac, the Federation have re-established their shipbuilding program ahead of his predictions, presumably another result of the new pacification drugs.

*The design of the binocular POV is reused from Rescue.

*Dr Plaxton began developing the stardrive around the time of the Federation's collapse. In other words, during the events of Star One. 

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

"Who?"

CONCLUSION

It's not bad... it's not good either. Just about watchable. Barely scrapes through onto the positive side of my feelings.