Escape from Destiny (2015) Review

 

Escape from Destiny has a fairly decent idea at its core, but the execution is bland. 

WRITTEN BY

Andrew Smith. He's written Battleground and Retribution, both equally as mediocre. Shame, I quite liked that Doctor Who serial he wrote in the 80s. 

PLOT

Pasco begs for the help of the Liberator crew to cope with the growing Federation influence on Destiny, and to rescue his daughter. Vila and Cally teleport down to the planet to meet with him, and uncover an insidious scheme within the planet's government... 

ANALYSIS

There's no breaking new ground here - we've seen the Federation make a planet's government look bad to seem like an appealing alternative before, most recently in Ministry of Peace. But that doesn't make it any less eerie to hear the citizens cheer the arrival of their ships, knowing the fate that Destiny will inevitably endure. It's a classic Blake's 7 moment: morbid, dystopian and darkly humorous. Having it happen to a planet that the audience has some investment in (or not, depending on how fondly you remember Mission to Destiny) also adds a solid hook, or at least good fan service. 

I just wish it wasn't so by-the-numbers. It's very much a runaround story without any real setpieces or notable dramatic scenes beyond the invasion itself. Not much memorable dialogue either. The plot twists feel mundane in comparison to what the franchise has done previously. Pasco's daughter not being dead (as her lengthy absence from the narrative implied) is nice, but it makes the fall of Destiny feel a bit distant, since we didn't lose anyone we knew about other than Dr Kendall, whose death occurs off-screen and before the story even really begins. There's a betrayal, a capture, an escape. Nothing special here. 

What did intrigue me slightly was the descriptions of Destiny's squalor - the planet is almost lawless and there are cannibal groups going around. They could've done something with that and really show how low the world has sunk and have the poor citizens almost worship the Federation as a chance to escape that. Really make it hit home. But instead, that idea is pretty quickly discarded and we find ourselves in what's described as "your typical colony city" without anyone really bothering the heroes apart from troopers. Destiny never really comes alive as a result. 

Structurally, it's not a very good story either. Smith relies constantly on having Keating and Chappell speak for the other characters, and the result is clumsy (at one point, Chappell starts doing a hilarious Russian accent purely to differentiate between roles). The narration switches between the two actors frequently in an arbitrary fashion whenever Cally and Vila are in the same place. 

CHARACTERS

It's mildly cool to have John Leeson reprise an original role, although I imagine the entire fandom would rather have it be Toise from Gambit instead. Pasco is endearingly optimistic, but he also lacks any personality. The latter goes for Louise Jameson's Lorena as well. It's a bit strange to see Jameson in such a thankless role. She has no chemistry with Leeson at all. I wish they'd instead had her play one of the villains, who are all voiced gratuitously by Keating and Chappell. 

Having Vila in this story is a slightly odd choice (none of his skills come into play), and makes me wonder whether Darrow was unavailable. Avon was basically the star of Mission to Destiny, so you'd think they'd try to recapture the dynamic between him and Cally, especially given the murder of Dr Kendall. This isn't a detective mystery and Avon has no more interest in the planet than Vila would, but still, I think everyone thinks of Mission as "the one where Avon plays Sherlock Holmes". 

NOTES

• This is set in Series B, so why Blake has to specifically assign people to remain on the flight deck when others go to rest, I have no idea. Shouldn't this be a matter of fact by now?
• Reusing the Liberator's alert sound effect from Mission to Destiny is a nice touch. 
• Zen isn't voiced by Alistair Lock for the first time since Vol 1. 
• I like how Cally describes the Ortega crew as "a bit dry". That's putting it very kindly. 
• They punched me! (punch sound effect) Kicked me! (kick sound effect). It's that boxing scene from Fortuitas all over again... 
• "I had a bad feeling about this." Classic. 
• Chappell really comes alive whenever she's playing a nasty. Give the woman some gritty material!
• Pel Varon is a beautifully Terry Nation name. 
• Never thought I'd hear Chappell scream "DADDY!"

INFORMATION!

• This story is a direct sequel to the TV episode Mission to Destiny. The characters Kendall and Pasco first appeared there. It's revealed that Minister for Science Pel Varon authorized the neutrotope mission. 
• Escape from Destiny is set in early Series B, with Gan and Orac both still on the Liberator.
• Pasco is referred to as "Scientician Pasco", similarly to "Clinician Franton" in Children of Auron. Not sure what the old-fashioned phrase is. 
• The Destiny ships carrying food are referred to as 'planet hoppers', the same type of ship that the crew will use in Series D. 

BEST QUOTE

CALLY: "I thought you weren't a man of action?"
PASCO: "The Federation makes fighters of us all, one way or another."

CONCLUSION

It just kinda exists. Not offensively bad, not good.