Blake's 7 (TV Series) Volcano (1980) User Reviews

Left Me Cold

[Theo Robertson · 3/10 · 27 March 2013]

Needing a base in which to continue their war against the weakened and depleted Federation the crew of The Liberator teleport to Obsidian , a planet full of pacifists who refuse to help the crew and also refuse to protect them from a Fedration pursuit party hot on their heels

Another episode from Allan Prior and another example of what's wrong with his contributions to the show . BLAKES 7 receives the constant criticism that it's a very cheap British rip off that's continually trying - and failing - to emulate STAR TREK and STAR WARS . Nothing could be further from the truth . Tery Nation , Chris Boucher and David Maloney have crafted a gritty pessimistic idiosyncratic drama . However you can understand the criticism of the episodes that aren't written by Nation or Boucher . Very often you do have a rather generic space opera that with some revision could easily be slotted in to any action adventure series set in outer space and Volcano is a good example of this

If Prior's script is substandard it's less than matched by director Desmond McCarthy who is possibly the worst director to have ever worked on the show and several scenes stick out in their level of ineptitude . McCarthy could claim he doesn't have the budget to realise some scenes in an effective manner such as the death of Mori which has to be seen to be believed ( That's not a compliment ) but we have a confusing scene where a couple of Obsidians give the impression they're jaunting in and out of another dimension and that's got nothing to do with a lack of budget

That said even with these flaws - and their big ones - Volcano still manages to find a semblance of the programme's unique ethos . The average life span of a guest character in BLAKES 7 is just under 45 minutes and the viewer sees a downbeat nihilistic ending to this one of he lesser episodes . You wan't happy life affirming feel good television ? Try EASTENDERS instead

There's also a nod to the internal continuity of the series by having the Intergalatic war with Andromeda being mentioned but after this episode it's like the war had never happened and the Federation become all powerful again and what would be obvious running threads across the season such as the Federation trying to rebuild a lost empire and The Liberator crew searching for Blake are never really touched upon

A tedious episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 17 August 2022]

Dayna and Tarrant land on the volcanic planet Obsidian, in search of a base and allies, and rumours of a visit from Blake.

It really is a space opera, after Aftermath and Powerplay, this came as something of a disappointment. It felt as though its only real purpose was to give new recruits Dayna and Tarrant an outing, one I wish they hadn't bothered with.

I never minded the show being a little whacky, a little wild, I could never forgive it however, when it was boring, Volcano was definitely one of the show's most boring episodes.

It ambles by at such a sedentary pace, it offers so little to hold your attention, neither the velvet voice of Michael Gough, nor the glory of Jacqueline Pearce can save it.

Some of the acting is a little wooden, even some of the regular cast seem disinterested. The Battle Commander looks as though he's sat selling raffle tickets. You even see Cally's bracelet drop of when she's dragged into the teleport, it's almost as if nobody cared.

Disappointing, 5/10.

Just not very good

[GusF · 5/10 · 8 August 2014]

After a string of five very good to excellent episodes, I suppose that we were due a dud and here it is. It started off promising but went down hill fast, I'm afraid. Allan Prior is not the series' best regarded writer but I enjoyed all of his stories prior to this one. It's not a particularly bad story but it is a very dull one. The Pyroans are reminiscent of the Dulcians from the "Doctor Who" story "The Dominators", another uninteresting race of pacifists. Michael Gough plays their leader Hower with nobility and quite dignity and saves the character from being irredeemably boring but I'd have liked to have seen him in a better role in a more exciting episode. Newcomers Steven Pacey and Josette Simon are once again very good and do the best that they can with the weak material, as do the other regulars (all of whom again get something to do, even if isn't terribly interesting) and Jacqueline Pearce.

Speaking of Servalan, her characterisation seems a bit odd as she seems surprisingly willing to leave the Liberator to its own devices, at least for a while. While she has always been pragmatic, it doesn't seem terribly consistent with her determination to rebuild her powerbase, as demonstrated repeatedly in the previous two episodes. Malcolm Bullivant, who plays Hower's treacherous son Bershar, is the weak link in the cast and Servalan's minions are rather forgettable. Still, as I said, there are nice performances as well as some good lines near the beginning.