Avon encounters an old friend…

Paul Darrow is, without question, one of the most important people in the history of the Blake’s 7 franchise. His performance as Kerr Avon was one of the key factors in the series’ initial success, and his loyalty to the franchise over the past decades is without question.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said of his writing, and although I enjoyed Avon: A Terrible Aspect when it was first published years ago, I found his Lucifer trilogy very hard to read, to the extent that we didn’t run reviews of it. It’s only because this play is part of an ongoing set – and it would look odd not to have anything here – that I’m reviewing Erebus.

To say the dialogue is arch is to say that Darrow’s performance in Doctor Who’s Timelash was a tad over the top; a lot of people might call this “comic book” – and, yes, it would fit in a TV Comic version of Blake’s 7 very well – but most comicbook dialogue is better constructed, and not as repetitive (or at times dull) as this. I could deconstruct this at length, but simplest to say: this one simply doesn’t work.

Verdict: From one of the best to possibly the worst ever Big Finish B7 audio. 2/10

Paul Simpson