Project Aquitar (2018) Review

 

Project Aquitar has all the bones of a good story,  but the execution is so-so.

WRITTEN BY

Mark Wright, who is in my mind one of the best Blake's 7 writers. Not just in the audios, the franchise as a whole. I don't blame him for the issues here.

PLOT

An old, exiled Avon spins a yarn of better days, when he and the Liberator crew took a stand against Travis's attempt to reverse-engineer teleport technology into a terror weapon.

ANALYSIS

Blake's 7 has always been a tale of two parts, the Blake and the Avon era. Making the anniversary special a microcosm of that by setting the story in different points of the series (plus bringing in the post-Gauda Prime timeline for a framing device) is a really clever idea and allows Wright to pay the maximum amount of homage. The stage is set for what should be an iconic celebratory adventure. 

I say 'should', because the unfortunate passing of Gareth Thomas draws a big fat X over this idea. It's impossible to do his tenure on the show justice, at least in a full-cast drama like this. Blake was such an active, bullish and ever-present character in Series A that a story where he's always off-screen becomes counter-productive to the idea of recreating the period. It's maybe the first time where someone is being out of character without even showing up. Blake just wouldn't stay on the ship, and he wouldn't be asleep when important discussions are being held. I think it might've been smarter to focus more on Avon and how his behaviour changed during Blake's leadership and beyond it, rather than try to do a story that harkened back to Series A stylistically.

But I haven't yet talked about the actual main issue with Project Aquitar, which is its abysmal production. I guess I took audio dramas for granted, because I figured it wouldn't be that difficult for professionals to get some good line deliveries and edit them together with sound effects. But here we have a case where none of the actors sound remotely believable. It's already an unfortunate established trend that they don't record these together (creating mismatched performances where everyone exists in their own bubbles, barely reacting to anyone else), but now their acting doesn't even match up with the setting! Throughout the entire Malanar Delta sequence, they're supposed to be running around a war zone with bombs dropping everywhere, yet everyone sound cosy and tucked into their beds with a warm cup of tea. 

I know these are aging performers, some of whom are ill, but it's like there was no direction at all. If they really can't add any urgency to their voices anymore, why not rewrite the script so that the stronger actors do the heavy lifting? 

It's a pity, because this is a Mark Wright script, which almost always means 10/10 quality. And here he's clearly trying to do the 40th anniversary justice. I love the notion of something from Blake and Avon's past being the central MacGuffin. The narrative is a riff on Project Avalon, which is recognised by fans as being a 'typical' Terry Nation Blake's 7 story (in other words, very representative of the Series A era). The return of Stephen Greif and Glynis Barber is brilliant fan service. And I unabashedly adore the future sequences set in Paul Darrow's Lucifer timeline. More on that in my review of part 2. It's also worth noting that as a story trying to recapture the simpler Robin Hood vibes of series A, it's perhaps inherently less interesting than a story from a period where the crew have become more developed. This is the cause... the next episode will be the effect.  

CHARACTERS

Of the main cast, I think the strongest performances were put in by Greif and Sally Knyvette. Although the writing for Travis seems more fitting for the Brian Croucher version (at one point, he calls Servalan "good girl", which Greif's Travis would never have done), he still brings a delightful amount of malice to the role. The episode really came to life during the scenes between him and Jenna. Having them near death and as genuine as they can be made for some interesting dialogue. Of course, being an anniversary special, it has to show the characters at their most 'iconic', so they prove to be absolutely committed to their choices. But to have them actually discuss them was great, especially considering where their choices ultimately lead them. 

Glynis Barber was also a revelation. Although Magda is a softer character than Soolin, she doesn't really change her acting that much. It's the same cool and confident delivery she's always had and as a result, Barber and Paul Darrow manage to recapture their banter from Series D. She's also the only one that Darrow has any chemistry with whatsoever. Much as I adore him, he seems totally exhausted by this point. I can't quite tell if he puts more effort into the Lucifer scenes (they do pay homage to his book, after all) or if Barber's understated acting and the wistful nature of these moments bolster him. Either way, I love this framing device.

We're also reintroduced to Avalon, now played by Olivia Poulet as a totally dedicated freedom fighter who puts Blake's fanaticism to shame. Although the audios have explored radicalised rebels several times now (The Magnificent Four, The Hard Road, Drones, Paradise Lost), I think it's still a relevant subject when talking about the group's legacy, which an anniversary is obligated to do. Were they ultimately a force for good? Or just a bunch of sanctimonious fools inspiring others to greater foolishness, as Avon clearly believes. I found Poulet's perfomance charismatic, and I like the choice of using Avalon's character to explore this question, given that she's one of the only rebels we met in the original show.
 

NOTES

• I found Avon's description of Gan quite odd. "If he didn't like something, he was liable to break your neck". Especially after insisting that Gan was 'anything but' a murderer. I agree with the latter sentiment. 
• Avon declaring that Blake 'knew the power of caution' and decided to stay on the Liberator is so stupidly out of character for both of them, it's hilarious. Yes, Blake decided to stay on the cozy ship, but Avon volunteered to go freedom fighting in the mud. Sure.
• Vila tripping into a pile of gore might be the most gruesome moment in the entire franchise.
• How does Travis know that the matter scoop wouldn't touch Blake or Avalon (since he clearly wants to save them for later)? And why didn't it?
• How would Magda know the details of the teleport system, enough to guess what changes Travis made to it? Has Avon been teaching her?
• Why would destroying the Aquitar mines and the prototype put an end to the project? Surely there's still a matter scoop on Travis's ship, or at least blueprints recorded somewhere. Not to mention there's more Aquitar on the planet. 
• It's weird to see Mutoids surrendering. You'd think they'd just throw themselves at the crew. 
• I know Travis can be pretty bold, but constantly yelling at the crew for not executing him is a bit much even for him. Just take what you can get, bro. It also draws more and more attention to just how many times they've let him go now.
• At one point, I could swear they used regular ballistic gun sound effects for the pursuit ships. I know Lucifer is canon now, but...
  
  

INFORMATION!

• The framing device is set during the time jump in the first Lucifer novel, between Avon being stranded on Gaius 7 by the Chinese and his discovery by Gabriella Travis. The character of Magda is featured, and her mother Cassandra gets a mention.
• Every crewmember is name-dropped at some point. Avon briefly tells Magda about Gan's demise in Pressure Point. 
• The section of the 'Heroes of the Rebellion' book Avon reads out loud references the shootout on Gauda Prime.
• Magda asks Avon about the Avalon android (from Project Avalon). Curiously, Avon tells her not to believe everything she hears. 
• The sequence of Travis and Jenna being trapped in the mines is very similar to Promises, where Cally and Travis became trapped under rubble and also had conversations about their past. 
• It's unclear when the story is meant to take place. It's obviously after Project Avalon, but Travis is suspended of command at the end of that episode and still trying to regain it in Deliverance. Servalan does mention having to use "creative accounting" to give Travis his mission here, but it still doesn't really fit with what we saw in Series A.
• Cally vaguely references her stay on Saurian Major by mentioning it's good to be fighting on the ground again. 
• Magda mentions Travis's death on Star One, and the Galactic War that followed it.
• The Aquitar project was first referred to in Cygnus Alpha. 
• It's curious why Travis is awed by a weapon that 'removes the aggressors with pinpoint accuracy and leaves the resources and infrastructure intact', when that was the exact point behind the solium radiation device in Countdown. Why not just send down another one of those? 
• Travis once again employs his favored strategy of drawing the enemy into a trap (Seek-Locate-Destroy, Duel, Project Avalon). 
  
  

BEST QUOTE AVON QUOTE

AVON: "Extreme situations demand extreme actions, we weren't on a school field trip."
MAGDA: "Do you remember them all? All the people you've killed in the name of freedom?"
AVON: "No. I can guarantee Blake didn't either. Does that change your view of us? Of me?"
MAGDA: "I don't know. It just-"
AVON: "I wish there was an easy answer. I could dress up what we did as a book for schoolchildren, but what's the point? History will always find the balance between murderers and heroes of the rebellion."
MAGDA: "Pretty words, Avon."
AVON: "It was kill, or be killed!"

CONCLUSION

I don't think it came together well, but the bones of an interesting story are there and I of course love all the callbacks and cameos.