Villordsutch reviews Big Finish Audio Productions’ Blake’s 7 – Cold Fury…
Written by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott.
Directed by Ken Bentley.
Starring Gareth Thomas (Roj Blake), Paul Darrow (Kerr Avon), Michael Keating (Vila Restal),Jan Chappell (Cally), Sally Knyvette (Jenna Stannis), Brian Croucher (Travis), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Hugh Fraser (The President) and Caroline Langrishe (Dr Tirus).
Well this is an incredibly sneaky episode. Sneaky in the way that you’re expecting a very basic episode in which the crew of the Liberator have to rescue Vila, but what unravels instead isn’t a very basic episode; you’d almost believe some sort of compression software was used to get this rather epic story squashed down into a mere 59 minutes.
You’ll recall in my last Blake’s 7 review Mirrors which although I enjoyed, had a story that was broken into two, with the Ladies on one side slowing it down and the chaps on the other keeping the adrenaline going. Well here, in Cold Fury, Mark Wright and Cavan Scott make sure that all the characters are moving at a fantastic pace throughout this episode and there is at no moment any respite for anyone, let alone the listeners.
It’s not just Blake and his merry band that get the spotlight too – the President and Dr Tirus certainly have a few memorable scenes and especially one that shows that our President isn’t as soft-headed as I thought he was. The only actor not really allowed to stretch his wings is Brian Croucher who plays Travis, but this is Travis and to me he was only ever the muscle for Servalan.
Horst Minor (where Vila is held captive) from the Big Finish mixing desk sounds amazingly brutal, and the sound technicians involved in creating these productions are absolute artists in their fields; added on top of that the full cast rattling off this amazing performance you’ve got a storming disc here. You really need to pick this one up.
This may be a Vila rescue episode at its core, but Cold Fury so far is the best episode of this season hands down.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published May 24, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
