An opportunity to deal with Servalan once and for all? Not something that many on board the Liberator would be willing to pass up…

One of the reasons that Big Finish continues to impress is their willingness to adopt new models for their releases, and hot on the heels of the serialised three-box-set Aliens Among Us for Torchwood comes Crossfire, an epic 12 part story set during Series C of Blake’s 7. The sad loss of Gareth Thomas means full cast audios for the first couple of series are going to be much harder to do (albeit not impossible although I wonder how fans might react to a recasting) but with the arrival of Yasmin Bannerman as Dayna, Series C stories are the obvious way to go. And, as has been commented on before, Series C could cover a great deal of time.

This opening story by Steve Lyons is a strong piece of standalone Blake’s 7, with quick repartee between the characters, enjoyable character moments, and the air of betrayal and mistrust that’s part of any Blake’s 7 story at its heart. The fact that it also sets up parts of the season arc is a bonus – it’s great to hear Hugh Fraser return as the President (it was clear when I went to a recording a few years back in which he was appearing that he was loving being part of this world), and he unleashes the deposed ruler’s venom as widely as needed. We’re also introduced to a number of other characters who are (to a greater or lesser extent) willing to follow the President… leading, one presumes (although I’ve learned not to be wedded to such presumptions) to the titular crossfire.

Director John Ainsworth keeps things moving so that like the crew of the Liberator, we don’t necessarily have time to do more than react to events until there’s a little bit of downtime, and a chance to put pieces together.

Verdict: A great start to the new adventures. 9/10

Paul Simpson