Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

Blake gets the opportunity to find out what will happen after he achieves his victory…

Over the past few years, we’ve had some extraordinary enhanced audiobooks from Big Finish, with two voices seeming to create a cast of considerably larger size. Spoils has put all of them in the shade, as three people recreate the entire Blake’s 7 Series B cast as well as assorted new characters. There are times when you’re listening to this when you really will feel as if you’re hearing one of the series’ full-cast audios – full marks to Gareth Thomas, Dan Starkey and Jemma Churchill and director Ken Bentley for firstly being willing to take this chance (given that those full-cast audios are released alongside this set) and for pulling it off. The scenes between Blake and Jenna in particular feel totally authentic.

They’re assisted by a labyrinthine and clever script by James Goss, who extrapolates what would happen were Blake to win at this stage in their fight (the story would be markedly different if it were set during Series C or D). It’s a story whose twists and turns make perfect sense given the people we’re dealing with, as Goss examines their strengths and weaknesses, particularly that of Blake (whose final lines have a terrible irony), Jenna and Cally. Certain moments from later (and indeed earlier) in the series inevitably reappear – think of it like the Star Trek Into Darkness version of The Wrath of Khan – but viewed through this new filter, they take on a new meaning.

Verdict: Simply not to be missed if you’re a Blake’s 7 fan, this combined with the other stories in the set make this one of Big Finish’s best contributions to the mythos yet. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order The Liberator Chronicles volume 8 from Big Finish