In Review: Blake’s 7 – The Liberator Chronicles: Volume 9.1 “Defector”

Synopsis: Avon orders Tarrant and new crewmember Del Grant to assassinate a Federation figurehead. Has he gone too far this time?

Review: Having recently been re-acquainted with the core characters from ‘Blake’s 7’ thanks to Big Finish’s regular series. I figured why not try ‘The Liberator Chronicles,’ which seem to tell stories that happened at various points throughout the shows regular run.

‘Defector’ is the first of three new stories, which have been released in volume 9 of the fantastic Liberator Chronicles. I’ll be reviewing the other two stories included in this box set over the next couple of days.

‘The Liberator Chronicles’ are done in the same style as ‘Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles’ where you have one or two actors narrating the action and its very effective. Especially when you get an actor with some versatility in their intonation.

In Defector we have a story in which Avon who now commands The Liberator’ orders Del Grant a new crew mate to assassinate a Federation figurehead.

The story is narrated and told from Tarrant and Del Grants point of view, which is always a fun storytelling device.

We get treated to some fantastic acting and the sound effects as always are absolutely top notch.

I loved the fact that Del Grant was struggling a little with the morality of what Avon was asking him to do.

One point of the story that I particularly enjoyed was a radio broadcast in which the Federation Brass oversee the execution of those that dared to appose them. Or do they?

As the title suggests there are a number of twists in this tale and half the fun is how they are eventually revealed by the close of the story.

Ever since my reintroduction to Blake’s 7 through Big Finish. I don’t think I have come across a story yet that I haven’t enjoyed, which is pretty high praise given that like a lot of folks I can be rather nit picky. Especially when it comes to plot holes and character inconsistencies.

By listening to these stories it is very obvious that writers Cavan Scott and Mark Wright have watched the classic series numerious times and have gotten to know the characters really well because their love of ‘Blake’s 7’ really shows through in their writing.

The voice acting by Steven Pacey and Tony Chadbon was outstanding.