Blake's 7 (TV Series) Dawn of the Gods (1980) User Reviews

Good, solid episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 20 August 2022]

The Liberator is drawn off course, and lurches towards a Black Hole.

It's a decent episode, I can't say it's a favourite of mine, but it does have some very good points. The best element here, I'd argue is Cally, she's central to the story, and puts in a performance to match. I love the way the story is told, and the fable element works really well.

Orac is definitely more interesting here, for a box, we do actually get to see some character, and there are a few sarcastic moments.

It is a little bit of a box ticker in parts, we have Cally taken over, Avon putting Villa down and behaving sarcastically, and we have the villainous showman, in the form of The Caliph.

Sam Dastor was very good I thought, and he did perhaps steal the show as The Caliph. Charismatic, sinister, and not visually presented in the regular way.

7/10.

Not the best B7 episode

[harrylagman-02356 · 6/10 · 6 November 2022]

It's still Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Peter Tuddenham etc, otherwise I'd give it a 5 or less.

This was absolutely great when I was young, but looks particularly dated now.

The story is a bit redolent of Star Trek ("we need an idea for an episode", "Okay, here's a silly one"), to me anyway. With the silly Caliph character and his absurd hat. Although Tharn doesn't look anywhere near as ridiculous as Moloch later on. Those deformed BBC-scifi characters were quite scary when I was a lad, watching in black & white. The episode did feel similar to Dr Who episodes of the time - no bad thing

Again, Cally getting taken over telepathically is a concept the writers used a few times too many.

Yawn Of The Gods

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

The computer Orac over rides Zen's control of The Liberator because of curiosity about a nearby black hole which causes the ship to spiral towards it . The crew are knocked unconscious only to reawaken wondering why they are not dead . How could anyone or anything survive being sucked in to a black hole ?

Dawn Of The Gods is the debut script by science fiction author James Follet for BLAKES 7 . Like Allan Prior it's painfully obvious that Follet doesn't really understand what the show is about and his script could easily be modified to fit in to any science fiction programme you wish to name especially that one featuring the USS Enterprise . There's also some very dodgy science involved such as Avon believing if he sticks on a space suit that'll save him from a black hole . I know Avon gives cynical self preservation a bad name but even he would know this would be the 21st Century equivalent of putting on a tin helmet to protect yourself a nuclear bomb

Like the previous episode the director is Desmond McCarthy who continues to show he's probably the worst director to have worked on the show - at least to this point . . As in the previous episode Dawn Of The Gods there's an air of blatant cheapness running throughout the entire production that is so obvious it becomes distracting to any potential drama . It's also not helped by the rather Dickensian look of the costumes and the rather theatrical acting style of the guest cast in a very duff episode

My favourite "sci-fi" episode of the series

[GusF · 8/10 · 8 August 2014]

Written by "Blake's 7" newcomer James Follett, this is my favourite "sci-fi" episode of the series as the idea of advanced aliens posing as gods has always appealed to me (in fiction, anyway!). However, its true strength lies in the interaction between the regular characters, who are the only ones to appear for the first half of the episode. As to be expected, Avon sends several fantastic put downs in Vila's direction but the most interesting character interaction comes in the form of his renewed power struggle with Tarrant, who once again demonstrates an air of authority when he essentially takes command of the Liberator once it begins to be drawn into the black hole. Their already rather fractious relationship is best demonstrated when Tarrant tells Avon that he may have to kill him one day (after Avon attempts to abandon ship) and, with a devilish grin, Avon replies that it has been tried. Great stuff. The dynamic between them is somewhat similar to that between Blake and Avon in the first two series but at the same time he feels different enough so as not to be repetitive. Vila's expedition on Krandor is another highlight.

Cally, who once again falls under the influence of an alien due to her telepathic abilities, is very well treated and this episode is another demonstration of how strong a character she is. Dayna has less to do than the other characters but she continues to come across very well. She and Tarrant really were great additions to the series. All three guest stars - Sam Dastor, Marcus Powell and Terry Scully - give great performances as well. Of the guest characters, Groff is my favourite as he has a nice character arc in spite of his limited screen time, since he moves from being convinced that he will be able to rule a planet in Thaarn's territory one day to helping to destroy Krandor at the cost of his own life. The fact that Thaarn survives probably meant that they were going to bring him back in Series Four but Jan Chappell's departure - which I'm dreading - put paid to that idea. Incidentally, this episode is the first in which Blake is neither seen nor referenced in any way outside of the series' title as well as the first in which we hear Zen and Orac speak to each other directly.