The Web is one of those stories that could have appeared in DOCTOR WHO or STAR TREK or any space opera based science fiction series . In other words it's rather generic where as the production team of BLAKES 7 tried to make their show idiosyncratic and unique . From the little I know about B7 fandom this episode isn't held in all that high regard but in its defence I will state I thoroughly enjoyed it and anyone with a casual interest in telefantasy will enjoy it too
The plot revolves around a moral dilemma where the hero must make a decision to help some aliens eliminate some other aliens . It's more down to Darwinian subtext rather than a straight fight between good and evil but Blake being the hero doesn't take kindly to having to commit genocide against benign sentinent beings but as Avon is more than quick to tell him it's the Decimas or us and there's no choice involved
What makes this episode more impressive than it's given credit for is the amount of visual imagination director Michael E Briant brings to the episode . You can see the production team balking at the thought of creating yet another planet that looks like a quarry just outside of London so they've gone to a woodland and stuck a few balloons and silvery web type stuff everywhere . It's probably the type of creativity that's inspired by desperation rather than genius and yet the production crew manage to pull it off superbly
The episode also features one of the most memorable species from the show - the Decimas . As I said in a previous episode review BLAKES 7 isn't really a show that's interested in aliens and monsters but certainly they'd be well regarded in any SF series in both the way they're written as a concept and the way they're realised on screen . Unfortunately Saymon is poorly realised being a head stuck through a backdrop and a body stuck on to a chin ( Stop laughing at the back ) but it still remains a highly enjoyable episode
The plot revolves around a moral dilemma where the hero must make a decision to help some aliens eliminate some other aliens . It's more down to Darwinian subtext rather than a straight fight between good and evil but Blake being the hero doesn't take kindly to having to commit genocide against benign sentinent beings but as Avon is more than quick to tell him it's the Decimas or us and there's no choice involved
What makes this episode more impressive than it's given credit for is the amount of visual imagination director Michael E Briant brings to the episode . You can see the production team balking at the thought of creating yet another planet that looks like a quarry just outside of London so they've gone to a woodland and stuck a few balloons and silvery web type stuff everywhere . It's probably the type of creativity that's inspired by desperation rather than genius and yet the production crew manage to pull it off superbly
The episode also features one of the most memorable species from the show - the Decimas . As I said in a previous episode review BLAKES 7 isn't really a show that's interested in aliens and monsters but certainly they'd be well regarded in any SF series in both the way they're written as a concept and the way they're realised on screen . Unfortunately Saymon is poorly realised being a head stuck through a backdrop and a body stuck on to a chin ( Stop laughing at the back ) but it still remains a highly enjoyable episode