REVIEW: MIRROR – BLAKE’S 7 / AUTHOR: PETER ANGELHIDES / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / STARRING: GARETH THOMAS, PAUL DARROW, MICHAEL KEATING, JAN CHAPPELL, SALLY KNYVETTE, BRIAN CROUCHER, ALASTAIR LOCK, BETHAN WALKER, HUGH FRASER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Mirror is the fourth episode in Big Finish’s first full cast Blake’s 7 series. Although it follows on from last month’s Drones, it is a separate story in its own right. The action starts with Cally being dropped off on the planet Vere while the rest of the crew make haste to Stellidar Four where they have a chance to find out the secret of the Federation’s latest creation.
In Drones we learned that the Federation has developed a threat to Orac, the highly advanced computer able to infiltrate the Federation’s networks and a major source of advantage. The Liberator heads to Stellidar Four as swiftly as it can to investigate but on the way they have the chance to put paid to Space Major Kade, the man who killed Jenna’s father, who is on Vere. Jenna is frustrated that she cannot be the one to finally gain her revenge as she is needed to pilot the ship to Stellidar Four.
This is the first of many tensions that permeate the crew and after leaving Blake, Avon and Villa on board a transport ship, Jenna takes the Liberator back to Vere, abandoning the others. There is much more to come as we learn the fate of Kade, find that Travis is back with his Mutoids and a young woman named Locklan (Walker) may know more than she lets on. All this and the President (Fraser) too.
The mirror theme of the title plays out on several levels, and by the end of the episode Blake, Avon and Villa will have faced more than they bargained for and we learn more about each of them. The episode also does a good job of planting a seed for the next one, something that all the writers have done well this series.
Peter Angelhides wrote the first Big Finish full cast Blake’s 7 story, Warship, and again does a good job at finding tasks for all the characters and expanding the territory. He even folds in Travis, takes some familiar themes and uses them well. Another rock solid release, Mirror is available now.
