Hurt/comfort doesn't exist because it's all boys running around shooting weapons these days.

Actually, it would seem they didn't really need Tarrant if Avon was contemplating, back as early as Horizon, zooming around the galaxy with Orac as his sole companion. Even Blake leapt in to grab the controls from Jenna at one stage.

I know we talked about this at the Tuesday rewatch, but you can always tell a Ben Steed episode, can't you?

Professionals backbite and plot against each other.

Cato seems a good sort. He needs to train up a successor.

Yes, but perhaps less openly - in well-run workplaces.

My point was that the arguing makes B7 more human, less workplace and more approachable, easier for the audience to suspend their disbelief.

I agree that Avon could fly the ship on his own, under most circumstances, with ORAC's help - but, as his conversation with ORAC in Horizon makes clear, he is not a confident pilot. I suspect he would prefer to have a professional around - and I think that he is confident that he will always be able to dominate Tarrant. And Tarrant is useful for doing the running around, action hero kind of stuff.

I was wondering if you thought the Blakes 7 fanbase had become more male. I first became aware of it through a BBC series on cult TV fandoms - it was noticeable that the B7 episode was all women - Una McCormack, Judith Proctor and others.

My point was that the arguing makes B7 more human, less workplace and more approachable, easier for the audience to suspend their disbelief.

Of course, we make much of the decline of Seska numbers, but we see no young Hommmiks either - and no Hommik women except Nina. Perhaps they are not very good at capturing Seska, and their numbers are declining too? In that case, there may not be the couple of likely boys to be trained as Cato's apprentices.

Where can I get some dynamon? And someone to help me implant it.Telekinesis wouild be sooooo useful.

Yes, but perhaps less openly - in well-run workplaces.

Has anyone written about what happened to the Seska and Hommicks after the Scorpio left?

Looks just like Tracy Island.

So instead of a pirate, they've picked up a mercenary? Soolin might outlast the lot of them.

Definitely no-one to replace Cato and I've been asking myself who all the Hommicks are that Gunn Sar boasts about taking out.

Again, not very intelligent - reducing your manpower in pointless feuds and challenges.

Absolutely! That was one thing I liked in the convention footage from the Series B blu-rays. Sally, Jacks and Jan are interviewed and Jacks, in particular, points out that it is the relationships between the characters that are driving force in the show.

Again, not very intelligent - reducing your manpower in pointless feuds and challenges.

Another reason for doubting whether 'survival of the fittest' is really the way things move forward. It depends what you mean by survival, and what they are fit for. Killing is hardly the best survival strategy.

You must find that rather familiar from the time periods you deal with. Studying medieval history as an undergraduate, remembering who was who did my head in.

Yes - when I came back to it as an adult I was amazed at how consistent they were, despite the ragbag of writers who wrote for the series. And it's what makes the Tanith Lee episodes so interesting - she picks up on things that were lying dormant and beings them to the fore.

The 'fittest' might perhaps be those who can lead by bringing others with them, who know when to compromise, when to build consensus, when to put their foot down, rather than those who just rely on brute force.

You must find that rather familiar from the time periods you deal with. Studying medieval history as an undergraduate, remembering who was who did my head in.

The 'fittest' might perhaps be those who can lead by bringing others with them, who know when to compromise, when to build consensus, when to put their foot down, rather than those who just rely on brute force.

So...women, then? Pella and co made the mistake of trying to compete with the men at their own game - forced into it by circumstances, perhaps, but still misguided.

I'm not sure that I think the Middle Ages were as different from us in that respect as is often believed. Yes, power was more personal, but a good ruler kept his nobles busy and not at each other's throats the whole time, and they knew who was boss. They knew that infighting weakened them.

Men or women - I think it's an entirely gender-neutral skill. Yes, Pella makes the mistake of playing the Hommiks at their own game and, as Avon brutally points out, she is bound to lose - but Gunn-Sar is also weakening his forces by playing that same game.

Anyway, I need to go and do things. Hope you sort that pesky little clasp out, Obsidian. Glad you're getting over your cold, AnneA. See you next time for...the return of the main driving force behind season 4...in feathers, no less. Black ones. Bye.

Needless to say, Jacks liked 'Sand' the most.

The whole thing is remarkably consistent and I think that's down to Chris Boucher as script editor. Even when he plainly gave up on some episodes, there's a shape to the show. I hadn't seen the final series until someone put it on YiouTube, and I was likewise amazed at how it all fitted and made sense in terms of character development.