Well, nice to see everyone. That is a good episode. Look forward to seeing you next week.

I'm glad we got Servalan back. Blakes 7 wouldn't be Blakes 7 without her.

Good night all. Can the last one out please kill the Leitz?

Oh, right.

Good night all. Can the last one out please kill the Leitz?

Oh, right.

Well apart from the ABBA festival being cancelled because Trundle is under water, I’m good. In fact it actually sunny here in Canberra.

Sorry I'm late. Testing negative for covid for some days now - hooray! And I've got a working fridge, shower and washing machine now. I just need to get a plumber to fix my leaky tap - which is proving harder than you would think. They all seem to be booked up for weeks.

Hi, Anne!

I've decided not to tell Travisina that had my flu jab, too, but had absolutely no reaction whatsoever, not even a sore arm. (Shh!) I think people who have 'flu and Covid jabs at the same time - as she did - might feel it more, though.

I like this episode - it's much the best one in the first half of series 4, I think. A lot of nice details.

This is the only episode where we see someone smoking - an eccentricity at this period, I think.

Hi Anne
Glad to hear that the trials and tribulations are sorting themselves. I like this episode too, for all those details. Too many people get bogged down with Avon's tunic (which, ages ago, we determined must have been bought at Space KMart) and Sleer's make-up. Furthermore, I love the uniforms, the pointy sideburns AND Servie's new look.

The answer to the first part of the Avon's tunic thing is that Tarrant and Dayna take them from the trussed-up Helots. The Helot got his from Space KMart.

Hang on - when did Dayna and Tarrant change their clothes?

Hi all,

Sorry to have missed this ep and your company again! As M...Virn explained, I had my flu+Covid jabs on Tuesday, and had quite a rough reaction.

And before I went to Egypt I had 4 in one go at the travel clinic - one in each arm, one in my bum and one on a lump of sugar! That was fun.

So anyway, thanks for your kind wishes. I'm feeling a lot better today, though still taking it easy.

Came up recently in conversation with Peter Anghelides, and he mentioned that in an early draft of the script for Bounty, one of the items Blake finds in Sarkoff's antiques collection is smoking-related (can't remember now what it was, possibly a pipe?) - Blake doesn't know what it is, and Sarkoff explains that inhaling the smoke of dried leaves was a thing people used to do.

This was quite prescient of Terry Nation, especially as he was a heavy smoker himself. Smoking was everywhere else on TV (and IRL) in the 1970s, but perhaps the BBC wanted to discourage it in a series aimed at youngsters?

So smoking isn't a thing in the B7 universe, and Traitor is indeed the only ep where you see anyone doing it.

A wee comment here from your nearest nerdy archaeologist and sometime tobacciana specialist: the funny thing about the cigarette in question is that it is the perfect "index fossil". In other words, it dates the episode to a very specific period. No-one with any real taste would have been seen dead smoking that particular brand any time other than within a few years of its introduction in 1975. Definitely declassé by the early 1980s, especially amongst men. However, the brand is still sold and appears in a recent film. The '70s have been fashionable for a few years now...