Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Maximum Power

In (slightly late) honour of the 44th anniversary of Gauda Prime day, we’ve reconvened to look back on the series as a whole. The gang’s all here, except for Mark who’s holding the door open for us when we’re ready to leave. He’ll be fine. Join us as we pit our heroes together in a series Death-Watch matches, chuck Nation, Boucher, Maloney and Lorrimer into a slave pit on Ursa Prime with nothing but a nappy full of mangan to defend themselves, and finally decide once and for all that the...

And now on Maximum Power, our intrepid seven have reconvened to report on the latest remastered Blake’s 7 episodes to be shown on the big screen at the BFI. While Pete, Tom, Dan, Zoe, Col, Hannah and Si are still squeeing about what they’ve just seen, they are interrupted by a mysterious stranger, and this time not in bandages! Could this be their éminence grise? And what can this mysterious stranger, Richard Ashton, tell us about the new Liberator’s origins? Meanwhile back in the studio, Si...

With a grim air of finality and a total disregard for the attempt to turn this show into a terribly serious Space Opera, we look back over Series D of Blake’s 7. Kicking off with a single offscreen death and ending with definitively killing off everyone else maybe, we tour a heretofore unexplored part of the Blake’s 7 universe in our clapped-out orange planet hopper. It’s a bold vision of the future where everything is various shades of ocean, military, and gunmetal grey because of George Lucas,...

This episode, Space Commander Brendan is joined by Councillor Joe Ford and Governor Mark Rawlins to examine further evidence of rebel activity, provided by dissident production house Big Finish. Join them as they investigate the first Liberator Chronicle, The Turing Test, followed by the full cast adventures Fractures and Liberation, before returning to Earth for the first episode of the spin off series Avalon. Spoilers abound, but almost nobody will be tied to an exploding chair provided you...

Blake. Series D, Episode 13. First broadcast on Monday 21 December 1981. …And on the other side of the planet, thousands of miles away, Nathan, Brendan, James, Peter and Simon are wandering through a forest wondering why all these bounty hunters keep leaping out at them from behind the trees. But it’s not long before they hotwire a dodgem and head off down one of those holes in the ground from which everyone, eventually, fails to emerge. Will they find Servalan? Should they? Will ever they learn to trust again? Or at least to let people finish speaking before opening...

Blake. Series D, Episode 13. First broadcast on Monday 21 December 1981. And now on Maximum Power, our UK crew of thieves, killers, mercenaries and psychopaths band together, in the first of our two episodes on the final episode of Blake’s 7. This week, Si thinks he’s finally located Col, who’s been away for some time, Mark’s worried that we’re all going to end up in a hole in the ground together, Pete’s quite happy to leave the Xenon base now the wine’s run out, and has Col betrayed us, has he betrayed me? It’s time to take a trip to Gauda Prime, a bad place to be,...

Warlord. Series D, Episode 12. First broadcast on Monday 14 December 1981. This week Mark hosts a conference of non-aligned podcasters, Brendan goes to see the Federation’s acrobatic display team, Peter has an ill-advised fling, and Toby asks if are you a Zukan or a Zukan’t. It’s the penultimate episode of Blake’s 7 — Warlord. (“But blurbs are no more than… blurbs.”)

Orbit. Series D, Episode 11. First broadcast on Monday 7 December 1981. Will Si, Nathan, Peter and Simon be able to escape with the Tachyon Funnel and their lives? Will their replica of Orac give more information than requested, less information than requested or just the information that’s requested? And which of the crew weighs 73 kilos? Escape velocity is confirmed — but unattainable. Will they be able to achieve Orbit?

Gold. Series D, Episode 10. First broadcast on Monday 30 November 1981. Pete’s getting heist by his own petard, Tom’s sent a video of himself not stealing gold to trick us, Peter’s nearly felled by an airlock trip hazard, and Si wants to know WHAT’S THE SNAG? Everyone gets to play their part, as this week’s episode is worth its weight in Gold.

Sand. Series D, Episode 9. First broadcast on Monday 23 November 1981. Pete’s forgotten his bucket, Simon’s broken his spade, Kate’s got entangled in a windbreaker, and Adam was last seen chasing an ice cream van across the dunes in high heels. It’s Sand! Which, like Tarrant this week, gets everywhere, as he discovers that even after fixing the food machine for her, Servalan will still have him for breakfast.

Games. Series D, Episode 8. First broadcast on Monday 16 November 1981. This week, Nathan, Brendan, Simon and James sneak aboard an orbital station somewhere near the planet Mecron 2, where they will encounter a series of increasingly lethal versions of Flappy Bird, in the hope of finding, once and for all, some explanation of whatever the hell happens at the end of the Blake’s 7 episode Games. And because you will forever regret it if you don’t look it up, here’s a link to the triangular Coleco Telstar Arcade from 1997 with its Mecronian-knife shaped cartridges.

Assassin. Series D, Episode 7. First broadcast on Monday 9 November 1981. After Mark, Peter, Brendan and Nathan intercept an ominous message from the very edge of the sixth quadrant, fearing imminent assassination at the hands of an imminent assassin, they head off to the planet Domo for a quick slave auction, followed by a tight twenty minutes of being hunted through TC1 by the man who came top of his class at RADA in Glowering and Other Menacing Facial Expressions. But will it be fun to listen to all their little plans and squabbles? Tune in and find out — as we...

Headhunter. Series D, Episode 6. First broadcast on Monday 2 November 1981. The hunt for experts continues in this series of Maximum Power, as this week we try and recruit Jon Helm, the Galaxy’s greatest expert on everything Blakes 7. But will he lose his head before the episode is out? Will Hannah end up hugged to death? Was it sensible to send Pete and Si on a mission together when it might lead to the subjugation of the entire human race? But, most urgently, will this episode fulfil your greatest desires? Or doesn’t it know where to start? It’s Headhunter.

Animals. Series D, Episode 5. First broadcast on Monday 26 October 1981. Pete is ready for a nice sit-down in Servalan’s Comfortable Chair of Maximum Persuasion, Nathan is cleaning out the bilge tanks with half a glass of wine and a comedy oboe, Mark’s trying to spark romance between an insurrectionist shaman and Sweetums the Muppet, and Peter is howling out his rage by saying ‘rarrrrr!’ with perfect diction. Will there be fierce agreement, or will the fur fly as we discuss Animals?

Stardrive. Series D, Episode 4. First broadcast on Monday 19 October 1981. Brendan’s Vin Diesel impersonation has knackered Scorpio even more than usual, and James is avoiding repairs by pretending he’s had too much Red Bull. Conrad has found a solution by studying slow motion footage of a biker’s helmet, but it will only work if we can disguise the fact that Mark refuses to go on location. It’s Stardrive.

Traitor. Series D, Episode 3. First broadcast on Monday 12 October 1981. We’re on the planet Helotrix this week, enjoying our successful subjugation of a compliant populace consisting largely of teachers and hairdressers. The occupation is ably enforced by the supremely competent Si and his régime of casually deployed neutron strikes, while Nathan reminisces pompously about past imperial glories, and Pete conducts a surprising clandestine affair with that remarkable new police commissioner Sleer. (And somewhere, in the basement, Simon is devising a galactically...

Power. Series D, Episode 2. First broadcast on Monday 5 October 1981. This week on Maximum Power, we discuss episode 2 of Series D — Ben Steed’s normal amount of Power. There’s also a war between the sexes this week, and while Una and Zoë are deploying their wit, tactical skill and powers of telekinesis, Nathan is embroidering a lovely throw rug, while James is rigging up a boxy plastic gaming PC in the basement. Still, there’s enough time for us to get together to ask the big questions: Is this Ben Steed’s worst script or his second worst script? Does Nathan...

Rescue. Series D, Episode 1. First broadcast on Monday 28 September 1981. And we’re back with the first episode of Maximum Power for a whole new decade (of the third century of the second calendar). It’s Rescue. When a handsome stranger arrives on the planet Terminal and rescues the stranded Nathan, Pete, Peter, Si and Simon, it soon becomes apparent that he’s not the the dishy bleached-blond hero they had all been hoping for — but a depraved old man whose beauty regimen involves botox, red wine and turning twinks into cheap Doctor Who monsters. Will the boys escape...

This week, Maximum Power’s Interrogation Division (otherwise known as Si and Pete) interview documentarian extraordinaire Chris Chapman and special effects wizard Chris Thompson about their work on the lavish new Blake’s 7: The Collection Series 1 (yes, we know) box set.

This week, in a special report from the British Film Institute’s Blake’s 7 Series 1 (don’t you mean Series A?) screening, Si and Pete are joined by Zoe Baker, Dan Hollingsworth, Mark Dodyk, Tom Newsom, Ben Jolley, and David Gillespie-Pratt to discuss remastered episodes, new special effects, and Blake’s RADA cum face in HD!

And now on Maximum Power, it’s time to look back at Series C of Blake’s 7. It’s been a wild ride, from the fatal shores of Sarran, to an almost fatal sickbay on the planet Chenga. From a radioactive volcano on Obsidian to an impossible realm on the other side of a black hole. From an alien-harvest on the planet Kairos to an altercation with Bayban the Butcher. We’ve been on a mission to save the children of Auron, and in search of our long lost love, been taken over by a golden-skinned alien...

Terminal. Series C, Episode 13. First broadcast on Monday 31 March 1980. This week, Si’s acting secretive and is taking the Liberator who knows where, Col told him not to fly through that ominous looking fluid cloud, but would he listen? No! He has to get to Terminal. Pete’s getting worried, the ship’s systems have started playing up, James has noticed an upsetting green substance oozing out of the walls and consoles. Mark’s happy though, he finally has possession of the Liberator… it’s time for Maximum Power!

Death-Watch. Series C, Episode 12. First broadcast on Monday 24 March 1980. This week on Maximum Power, the crew enjoy 2-for-1 cocktails hour on the Liberator flight deck, sampling the finest space canapés and enjoying the latest galactic board game, all while watching one of their relatives (convincingly portrayed by the same actor) fight to the death. Join us as we watch Death-Watch!

Moloch. Series C, Episode 11. First broadcast on Monday 17 March 1980. And now on Maximum Power our intrepid team find themselves on Sardos, an invisible planet in the outer darkness of the galaxy, for a confrontation with Moloch. In this week’s episode, Zoe is disgusted by the casual misogyny, Pete is horrified by the mutated Muppet, Brendan is shocked by Ben Steed’s sadism and Si, well, that is how he reasoned they would react. Can any of us find anything to love in Moloch?

Ultraworld. Series C, Episode 10. First broadcast on Monday 10 March 1980. This week on Maximum Power, Simon, Brendan and Rob Valentine teleport down to a mysterious planet only to discover that it’s just one giant computer. Simon wonders at the elegance of the operating system, Brendan has a hankering for a fancy cocktail, and Rob is just hoping no-one realises what a decent, compassionate man he is. Meanwhile, back aboard the Liberator, Mark is teaching dad jokes to his laptop. Join us as we discuss the unjustly maligned Ultraworld. Head-shaving optional, apparently.

Sarcophagus. Series C, Episode 9. First broadcast on Monday 3 March 1980. This week Hannah’s been possessed by the spirit of a gold-skinned alien intent on resurrecting itself, and for some reason Si is The Warrior, James is The Jester, Pete is The Harpist, and Nathan is a foreboding figure dressed in black. That can only mean we’re talking about Sarcophagus!

Rumours of Death. Series C, Episode 8. First broadcast on Monday 25 February 1980. This week on Maximum Power, Col’s been in a Federation interrogation cell for five days, he knew if he held out Si would show up eventually, meanwhile Nathan’s crawling across the grounds of Servalan’s Presidential Palace with a yellow box strapped to his back in an attempt to block the building’s surveillance, Una’s plotting to overthrow the government, and James finally finds himself chained to the wall of an underground room, it’s an old wall, it waits. Join us as we discuss Series C, Episode...

Children of Auron. Series C, Episode 7. First broadcast on Tuesday 19 February 1980. And now on Maximum Power, the Liberator crew find themselves en route to the planet Auron on a mission to save the Children of Auron. This week, Peter receives a telepathic communication from his twin, Pete: “They’re all dying. Help us. Help Auron!” Supreme Commander Col has infected an Auron pilot with a deadly space pathogen as part of a plot to get access to the Auronar’s cloning technology, wiping out the population in the process. All is not lost howerver, Simon and Brendan manage to escape...

City at the Edge of the World. Series C, Episode 6. First broadcast on Monday 11 February 1980. And now on Maximum Power our intrepid team head to the City at the Edge of the World. This week Mark hopes all his mistakes have nice legs, Simon realises every silver lining has a cloud, Pete is treating every hour like his last and Si is just the stupid son of a slime ball, but what will they make of this Chris Boucher episode?

The Harvest of Kairos. Series C, Episode 5. First broadcast on Monday 4 February 1980. And now on Maximum Power, we’re manly men coveting Kairopan, as we try and steal The Harvest of Kairos! This week Peter finds teleporting not an unpleasant way to travel because he is a man, Simon is a man who has nothing to say to Servalan, Colin could take The Liberator with a single ship because he’s a man, Si  was a special kind of man, and Pete would like to discuss that degrading and primitive act to which he was subjected in the control room… He should like you to do it again (because...

Dawn of the Gods. Series C, Episode 4. First broadcast on Monday 28 January 1980. This week on Maximum Power, the Liberator is being dragged off course by a strange force from the other side of a black hole. James, Nathan and Peter soon find themselves in a strange place where the normal laws of physics don’t apply. Here they are taken prisoner by the fabulous Adam, caliph to the mysterious Thaarn, a god from Auron legend. Will our intrepid crew be able escape the black hole’s gravitational pull, find out as we discover the Dawn of the Gods.

Volcano. Series C, Episode 3. First broadcast on Monday 21 January 1980. And now on Maximum Power, Mark, Peter, Colin and Nathan have all decided to set up a colony devoted to pacifism not far away from an enormous active volcano containing a leaky nuclear bomb. Things are going just about as well as you might expect when Dayna and Tarrant arrive to patronise them and to cadge some free drinks, while in orbit above the colony, Servalan and the crew of the Liberator find themselves exchanging witty barbs and plumbing new levels of incompetence. Join us as we discuss...

Powerplay. Series C, Episode 2. First broadcast on Monday 14 January 1980. And now on Maximum Power, Mark and Colin finally arrive back on board the Liberator with their new friend James Cooray-Smith, only to find an uncharacteristically rough-looking Michael Sheard, and a dramatically handsome new leading man who seems to be trying to impress them by murdering a whole bunch of people. Meanwhile, back on the planet Chenga, Peter and Brendan meet a group of attractive young women who have come up with an alarming new way of solving the Trolley Problem (Organ Donor...

Aftermath. Series C, Episode 1. First broadcast on Monday 7 January 1980. And now on Maximum Power, our fearless space crew are reeling from the aftermath of the intergalactic war. While some of them take a break until next week, others go missing until later this year, and some of them are never seen again! This week, Nathan finds himself on the planet Sarran, his clothes in tatters and his Federation in ruins. Never fear, Si’s on hand to lend him a floaty purple dress, it’s a little old fashioned, and not his colour, but it’ll do very nicely. James tells us he likes...

Warship. Blake's 7: The Classic Adventures 1. Released January 2013 And now on Maximum Power, Si displays his famous optimism, Col almost gets the chance to demonstrate an old smuggler’s trick, Mark can be spared to go down to Megiddo, and finally Pete finds his telepathic powers are boosted by being in this region of space, or somewhere near Birmingham at least. Join our fearless crew as they take a sidestep into audio with Big Finish’s first full cast Blake’s 7 drama and prequel to Series C - Warship!

And now on Maximum Power, we take a look back at Series B of Blake’s 7. Our adventure has taken us from the clutches of The System on Spaceworld, to the machinations of the Terra Nostra on Space City. From the planet of the Clone Masters, to Space Command, and Horizon, Earth, Space Command, and to a planet with an ocean made of spit. We’ve been to Federation Q-Base on the planet Fosforon, Exbar, Albian, Space Command, Atlay (and its conference centre), Freedom City, Goth, Space Command, and...

Star One. Series B, Episode 13. First broadcast on Tuesday 3 April 1979. And now on Maximum Power, our intrepid crew join the precious few people who actually know where Star One is, as we reach the climactic end of Series B of Blake’s 7. This week, Col just wants it finished, he wants it over and done with, he wants to be free. Peter could talk or scream, the choice is yours. James is expecting an invasion, a hoard of hairy aliens. Pete will not be President of a ruined empire. And for what it is worth, Si wants you to know he has always trusted you, from the very...

The Keeper. Series B, Episode 12. First broadcast on Tuesday 27 March 1979. This week on Maximum Power, the Liberator has arrived at the planet Goth in search of a brain print which holds the location of Star One. But the crew’s mission won’t be as easy at it sounds, for starters the place is full of tents. While Si tries to convince the local chieftan to let him see his amulet, Col is trading barbs with the chieftain’s sister, trying to see hers. Pete is playing the fool and making the Fool jealous. And Una promises that if anyone lays a finger on her, the Federation...

Gambit. Series B, Episode 11. First broadcast on Tuesday 20 March 1979. And now on Maximum Power we head to Freedom City on the trail of a former Federation cyber surgeon who can apparently tell us the location of Star One, and while we’re here maybe a bit of light cheating at high stakes gambling. Pete’s cracked the gaming tables, Mark’s cheating at speed chess, Col’s a cheap little space tramp, Brendan’s a ten-credit touch, and Nathan will have that vulpine degenerate eviscerated with a small and very blunt knife. Join us as we discuss Episode 11 of Series B –...

Voice from the Past. Series B, Episode 10. First broadcast on Tuesday 13 March 1979. And now on Maximum Power, we’re scheming with Shivan, venting with Ven Glynd and having Le Grand old time, as we head to a governors’ conference on the planet Atlay, intent on overthrowing the Federation. This week, Si is not so enfeebled he’s forgotten the rules of the game, Simon is swathed in bandages and could be anyone, but is definitely who he says he is, promise. Peter is waiting to make his entrance on a huge cinema screen, and James, well, he has seen through your pathetic little scheme...

Countdown. Series B, Episode 9. First broadcast on Tuesday 6 March 1979. This week on Maximum Power, the crew arrive on the planet Albian in search of Space Major Provine, a Federation officer who may have information on how to find Control. But they’ve arrived in the aftermath of a rebellion which has overthrown Federation control of the planet, the Federation have activated a bomb which will wipe out the planet’s population, and Provine has escaped. While Col and Pete desperately search for the missing Provine, Nathan and Peter teleport to the planet’s polar region...

Hostage. Series B, Episode 8. First broadcast on Tuesday 27 February 1979. And now on Maximum Power, new arrival Hannah and her gang of crimos has taken Si, Col and Pete Hostage and is forcing them to watch Episode 8 of Series B of Blake’s 7, they may not survive. Join our intrepid crew as they struggle with persistent pursuit ships, convoluted kidnapping plots, and questionable familial relationships.

Killer. Series B, Episode 7. First broadcast on Tuesday 20 February 1979. This week on Maximum Power, Nathan and Brendan teleport down to Federation installation Q-Base on the planet Fosforon to steal a translator crystal, and what better way of doing that than by blackmailing an old ‘friend’. Meanwhile, an ancient spacecraft is heading towards the planet, complete with a deadly strain of space plague, and the other plot strand. Sensing something is wrong James alerts Simon who heads down to the planet to explain to the base’s chief scientist, a noted virologist, how...

Trial. Series B, Episode 6. First broadcast on Tuesday 13 February 1979. And now on Maximum Power the Liberator crew and the Federation are dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophic events of last week’s episode. This week, reeling from the loss of his fellow crew member, Si teleports down to an ‘uninhabited’ planet to do some soul searching, here he comes across ridge-headed latex-skinned alien Col. Meanwhile, disgraced for failing to capture the Liberator crew, Pete is on space trial at Space Command, and who better to pass judgement than Old Starkiller...

Pressure Point. Series B, Episode 5. First broadcast on Tuesday 6 February 1979. And now on Maximum Power, Blake and his crew are brought right back down to Earth, as we discuss Episode 5 of Series B of Blake’s 7 - Pressure Point. This week, although Si has been waiting for 18 days, Col is sure Blake is coming. Mark will dig us out eventually, and Pete will bury you! Will we all make it out alive from the multi-coloured corridors of doom? Find out as we discuss Terry Nation’s return to the show.

Horizon. Series B, Episode 4. First broadcast on Tuesday 30 January 1979. And now on Maximum Power, despite space fatigue and too many space crises, the crew are ready to discuss Episode 4 of Series B of Blake’s 7. This week, in an unlikely turn of events, Nathan becomes the Liberator’s nurse, Peter reveals he’s not an ideal teacher, Simon admits he’s not an ideal pupil, and Si, well he’s not expendable, he’s not stupid and he’s not going! Join us on a trip to the tropical mining world of Horizon!

Weapon. Series B, Episode 3. First broadcast on Tuesday 23 January 1979. This week on Maximum Power, brilliant and slightly unhinged Beta-grade technician Nathan has invented a rather curiously named weapon, and now he’s on the run from the Federation, taking downtrodden and rather fabulous bond-slave Brendan with him. To catch them, James dons one of his best frocks and enlists the services of floaty-sleeved Clonemaster Adam Richard in the creation of a pair of clones, one to be killed for dramatic effect, the other to use in a convoluted plot to grab Nathan’s...

Shadow. Series B, Episode 2. First broadcast on Tuesday 16 January 1979. And now on Maximum Power, the Liberator crew head to Space City to enlist the support of shadowy drug-smuggling criminal syndicate the Terra Nostra in their fight against the Federation. This week as Si tries to negotiate with the Terra Nostra, Col is sneakily sampling the delights of the satellite of sin, while newcomer (and dark force from another dimension) Tim Dickinson is attempting to use James’ strange and ill-defined telepathic abilities to break into our universe. Join us as we strive...

Redemption. Series B, Episode 1. First broadcast on Tuesday 9 January 1979. And now on Maximum Power, everyone’s had a haircut and found some new clothes, and we’re being dragged inexorably towards Spaceworld and the beginning of Series B of Blake’s 7. This week, Col is watching everything at half-speed, James is pondering the nature of prediction, Mark is wondering if we’re being pulled to somewhere quite particular, Peter is admiring his floaty new outfit, and Si finds himself jammed in a tight space with an exposition slave, lucky him. Join us as we face Redemption!

And now on Maximum Power, we’re excited to present the second part of our two-part interview with legendary director Michael E. Briant. In this week’s episode, Michael talks to Si and Pete about his original concept for the flight deck of The Liberator, robots at Wookey Hole, and why he didn’t return for Series B.