Jenna's recognised the sealant foam while I've been writing. It hadn't occurred to me before, but for her to see it in the prisoner compartment means whatever penetrated the ship was forceful enough to puncture the inner hull as well as the outer hull. It's a wonder we didn't hear the air whistling out through it.

Yes, most of them were sent here for stealing food because they were hungry. There were even a few women sent out that there not really sure what crime they were convicted of - and they think they were possibly just sent to help even out the male or female numbers.

When the penal colony was first mooted, there was a lot of well-intentioned thinking behind it. Good weather and hard work, a tonic to improve the soul. They even decided there wouldn't be any alcohol in the new colony. They weren't going to take any on the ships, but the sailors complained. "We're only doing a job. We're not prisoners!" - so they were allowed alcohol. Then the Royal Marines complained. "If the sailors can have drink, then so can we. And we have to stay out there. And we're not prisoners either!" So they got to take drink as well. In the end, keeping alcohol out of the colonly resulted huge illegal brewing operations, grog becoming an unofficial currency, and the Rum Rebellion.

the convicted ex-Brits seem to have made a success of Australia.

And not just the convicted ones. Lots of other people emigrated from the UK.

And not so much ex-Brit. We were all British here up until 1948. BRMNI:REX on the money.

Good! But I thought Australia was 'working' before people started going there voluntarily?

Yes, but the population wasn't 100% convict. Captain Philip and ships' crew and Royal Marines stepped onto shore on 'day one' along with the convicts. And they didn't all sail back home and leave the convicts alone: "Get cracking, we'll be back in a few years!"

That initial sideview of the Liberator's flight deck shows what looks like a very dusty floor.

For a cynical man, Avon has a lot of crinky lines at the corners of his eyes.

That initial sideview of the Liberator's flight deck shows what looks like a very dusty floor.

Avon's identified the life rocket controls and read them in such a way that he knows one has been launched. Then Jenna looks at the controls and says it would take her ages to understand them. How can Avon understand the alien controls so quickly?

Avon's identified the life rocket controls and read them in such a way that he knows one has been launched. Then Jenna looks at the controls and says it would take her ages to understand them. How can Avon understand the alien controls so quickly?

After Jenna says it would take her ages to understand them, Blake turns to Avon and says "Help her with them, will you Avon?" Again, I hadn't ever thought about it before but it almost seems like Blake's thought "Avon's sussed it, Jenna's clueless, better get him to coach her through it all." Of course, that's totally opposite to what is intended.

He's leaping to conclusions?

Other than his Welshness, Blake just doesn't strike me as the terrorist type.

I like that idea. He's looking at the number of Cokes left in the lunchroom vending machine or something like that, and makes a guess the empty slot equals a missing escape pod.

And it's also the only theory we have as to what happened to the crew. It could be completely wrong.

Men!

On the other hand, Jenna does understand enough to make the ship move forwards, quite quickly and (I think) without Avon's help. Perhaps the problem is not so much understanding the controls as matering a very advanced ship?

I like that idea. He's looking at the number of Cokes left in the lunchroom vending machine or something like that, and makes a guess the empty slot equals a missing escape pod.

And it's also the only theory we have as to what happened to the crew. It could be completely wrong.

Sorry, I really have to talk to my brother when he calls cause he doesn’t call very often. I’m rather miffed though that I missed the show. :-(

When the penal colony was first mooted, there was a lot of well-intentioned thinking behind it. Good weather and hard work, a tonic to improve the soul. They even decided there wouldn't be any alcohol in the new colony. They weren't going to take any on the ships, but the sailors complained. "We're only doing a job. We're not prisoners!" - so they were allowed alcohol. Then the Royal Marines complained. "If the sailors can have drink, then so can we. And we have to stay out there. And we're not prisoners either!" So they got to take drink as well. In the end, keeping alcohol out of the colonly resulted huge illegal brewing operations, grog becoming an unofficial currency, and the Rum Rebellion.

After Jenna says it would take her ages to understand them, Blake turns to Avon and says "Help her with them, will you Avon?" Again, I hadn't ever thought about it before but it almost seems like Blake's thought "Avon's sussed it, Jenna's clueless, better get him to coach her through it all." Of course, that's totally opposite to what is intended.

Bye, Joe. And in fact, bye the rest of you, too. I've had the fan heater going next to me since we started and I still can't feel my fingers. I'm going to make myself a hot drink! Hope you have a great week, and see you again soon!