Blake's 7 (TV Series) Weapon (1979) User Reviews

Kitsch fun.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 11 July 2021]

IMIPAK is the latest weapon devised by The Federation, only its creator, Coser, and his assistant have run away with it.

It's a ridiculously camp episode, everything about it is so outlandish, the music for starters is so dramatic, the clothes are fabulously garish, they are all elaborate, dramatic and over the top. The same can almost be said for the story, it does however have a kitsch fun feel to it.

The Clone Masters are a great idea, I'm not sure about the realisation, Kathleen Byron was a phenomenal actress, with an illustrious career, I'm not sure this was her finest moment.

Pearce is also wearing an incredibly elaborate costume, she however gets away with it, if you compare her outfits from series one, she definitely became more elaborate. I'm not sure the others get away with the costumes, poor John Bennett certainly doesn't. Only two years after he had played Li H'sen Chang, what a difference.

Stephen Greif was sadly unavailable, so was replaced by Brian Croucher, I'm not sure you could get two different men, Croucher was not exactly subtle, louder and more brash, but definitely more physical, I think fans would earn to him in time.

It's a little disappointing after Shadow, but all in all, it's still a good watch, 6/10.

Camp and corny but a fun watch

[bigfootmurf-72304 · 6/10 · 29 June 2020]

A scientist escapes from a Federation weapons development facility that Blake is about to attack taking with him Imipac, a new and deadly weapon. Avon deduces that the facility is on full alert because someone has left and stolen something. There is no way to deduce this. Like Colombo, he read the script. Over the top corny comic book villains Servilan and Travis are plotting to get Imipac and inevitably run into Blake and company. The clone masters were a good idea and the Puppeteer was fun. All in all, an enjoyable yarn.

Firing Blanks

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 26 March 2013]

After a new super-weapon called IMIPAK Servalan and Travis try and track down the weapon's creator Coser by employing the psycho-strategist Carnell to find out where Coser is hiding

One wonders if writer Chris Boucher pulled out all the stops to make the previous episode a classic to the detriment of Weapon .. This isn't a bad episode but it's hardly a classic one either . Like so many Boucher episodes the guest characters are the main focus of the story but while John Bennett gives a fine performance as Coser Scott Fredericks a Carnell is rather camp though one suspects that's how he's written . The episode also suffers from an unlikely plot . Ask yourself why someone would develop a weapon that delays a death until the person using the weapon wishes it ? The episode does try to explain the thinking behind it but not convincingly

Weapon also sees the debut of Brian Croucher as Travis previously played by Stephen Grief who wasn't available for season 2 of the show . To his credit Croucher doesn't try to emulate the Latino sadist that Travis was in season one but plays him more like an angry young man but never really convinces he's the same character . Croucher's version of Travis is held in fairly low regard in B7 fandom but it's never easy to play a role written for and established by someone else

Abnormally large collars, replacement actors, and brand new eyepatches

[ametaphysicalshark · 10 June 2008]

Do all arrogant beings in BBC sci-fi shows require abnormally huge collars?

"Weapon" is almost intolerably camp. I don't mind the cheapness of Blake's 7 and other older British sci-fi television series, but "Weapon" is just hilarious from start to finish. The sequences with the clone masters, Servalan, and Space Commander Travis (Brian Croucher takes over the role and gets a new costume/eyepatch, but does nothing to improve on the foundations of the character) are ludicrous, displaying a level of stagey-ness that is reminiscent of a cheap neighborhood pantomime and are 'enhanced' by offensively failed attempts at being 'epic' and 'mysterious'.

Sorry, I should be fair. "Weapon" is actually for the most part a halfway decent episode and the scenes with Coser and the other survivor are fairly good... Oh, who am I kidding?! This is an atrocity! There are several fairly rubbish Blake's 7 episodes but many of those are at least somewhat interesting. "Weapon", Chris Boucher's second Blake's 7 script commits the worst crime of all- it's boring. It's very, very boring. Lots of drawn out line deliveries and a paper-thin plot padded to infinity. One of the worst of the series (I'm aware that's an unpopular opinion). There's some good dialogue aboard the Liberator as per usual, and Jenna always looks hot, but other than that...

3/10