Kerr (2013) Review

 

Kerr presents a fascinating twist on the age-old 'nature vs nurture' question.

WRITTEN BY

Nick Wallace, a media consultant, novelist and short story writer associated with Big Finish. I know nothing about him, but he's clearly a very diligent fan of this series, judging from how well he nailed the characters, right down to their physical movements. 

PLOT

In another bid to stop Blake, Servalan creates a clone of Avon to use his remarkable intelligence against the crew. Soon enough, the duplicate - now calling himself Kerr - proposes an ostentatious scheme that will see him let loose inside a Federation insane asylum. 

ANALYSIS

This one constantly kept me guessing. Would Kerr really give the Liberator to Servalan? Just how different is he from Avon? What's his endgame here? It's clear that the cloning was different from that of Blake's in Weapon, as Kerr retained the original's mind and some of his memories. But is that for good or ill? 

That enigma seems to mirror the original show-spanning mystery behind Avon himself. As a character, Avon has been discussed and analysed to death by this point. So in a way, the character of Kerr provides an oppurtunity to go through it all over again, because not only is he just as unpredictable, but he's also constantly in the shadow of his true self. I spent much of the story wondering which aspects of Avon he'd inherited and why, and what is different. That, coupled with the U-turn into the fascinating nuthouse setting made for a really good listening experience. I was consistently invested all the way through. 

Wallace has good skill at narration - in fact, there's very little dialogue here even for a Liberator Chronicle. Much of the story is spent on elaborating on Servalan's perspective of events(which is implied to be retrospective) and her attempts to outwit Kerr. She is an unreliable narrator of course, which adds to the uniqueness of the story. The actual, undeniable heroes do not even make an appearance. 

CHARACTERS

Kerr is, as Servalan's narration basically admits to, an 'amplification' of Avon that burns through his four-year arc in the span of an hour. Fittingly, Paul Darrow's performance shifts gradually from his disdainful and icy Series A take on the part to the manic, self-doubting persona from Series D. I particularly loved seeing Kerr criticise Avon's choices from a safe distance, in the same way as Avon himself no doubt did in his own mind. Kerr's attempt to disassociate himself with Avon of course proves entirely fruitless, which provides the tragic edge to his story. In spite of his fresh start, he still ends up at his own Gauda Prime. 

Chronologically speaking, this is the first time we see Servalan take an interest in Avon at all, and it lays the foundation for their relationship throughout Series C and D. The chemistry between Darrow and Pearce is as electric as ever, although it's obvious that Kerr isn't quite as interesting for her as Avon eventually will be. Just the appetizer, one might say.

NOTES

*Having Kerr and Servalan's first scene together on a windswept beach is a neat reference to Avon and Servalan's first scene in Aftermath. 

*Servalan never reveals who exactly cloned Avon, but the fact that they were able to keep his intelligence when they weren't able to do the same for Blake in Weapon is curious. 

*Avon's memories were taken from his first arrest, which appear to predate his relationship with Anna Grant. 

*Thanks to Wallace, I had to look up what 'realpolitik' means.

*I love the concept of a Federation insane asylum. It's just brimming with creativity. There's so much one could do with it. An absolute pity that they had to go and blow it up.

*I wonder what Kerr meant by calling the destruction of the asylum "Blake's final act of revenge". Did he mean to discredit Blake by implying that his crew were responsible? I'm not sure how that would work. Is the asylum held in that much reverence?

*The section where Kerr 'creates a reality' for the crazy old man was really cool. I just love seeing that kind of psychological manipulation in stories. 

*There's something truly terrifying about Kerr simply letting all the patients asphyxiate. We never saw Avon be that much of a cold bastard. 

*I'm not sure I'd agree with the assertion that Blake's greatest weakness is his ability to trust... given that lack of trust pretty much caused all his problems later on. But he does unequivocally trust Avon, so I suppose there's some sort of truth to it.

*Station KS-96 is in Sector 78. 78! I think the most we've ever gotten before is Sector 12!

INFORMATION!

*Servalan misquotes the Bible: "the eyes are a window to the soul".

*There's a brief mention of Commander Travis and his string of failures, setting Kerr after the events of Project Avalon, presumably.

*20 years ago, Avon and Tannis were part of the maintenance crew at a leisure facility, their task being
to repair computerized gaming tables. 

*At KS-96, Kerr convinces Tannis that they're fixing speed chess machines. The game of speed chess appeared in the episode Gambit. 

*As the radiation wave closes in on Servalan's pursuit ship, she screams "MAXIMUM POWER", an obvious reference to her famous command from Terminal. 

BEST QUOTE KERR QUOTE

"In that original preatomic derivation, a cur was a term used to describe a dog, a dog of an uncertain or dubious breed. And of all the names I could have picked for myself, I returned to that one. What, I wonder, was my subconscious telling me?"

CONCLUSION

Perhaps not something I'd relisten to frequently, but a great one-off.