New Blakes 7 Audio - Rebel
Aug. 1st, 2007 10:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fangrrl_squeesI've just listened to the first Blakes 7 audio from B7 Media, Rebel, by Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt and Mark Swallow. So far, so good.
Rebel is pretty much a straight retelling of the first three eps of the original series (The Way Back, Spacefall, Cygnus Alpha), with a few tweaks for current tastes, and a whole lot of chaff cut out. The scenery (so to speak) is littered with little homages and a few direct lifts - I squealed in fannish glee at one particular musical break that I won't spoil for you. However, it's hardly the "radical re-imagining" that B7 Media has been bragging up. Then again, I can understand not wanting to have the longtime fans feel like the rug has been pulled out from under them. Caution might well prove the best path, when setting out.
Overall, the acting is pretty good. There are a few moments where things fall flat - clunky dialogue, too obvious an homage to the source material or simply pedestrian editing where one can hear the cut. That last was particularly painful when it's a high-paced dialogue between two characters, but I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn't been listening on headphones in a quiet office. It's a mere technical quibble. The performances were quite solid, throughout and when I caught myself wincing at one or two moments - such as the characterization of Vlia - I can still say that it's far, far better than most of the Kaldor City series (my personal bottom-of-the-heap for SF audio, despite the fact that I love it the same way I can't help loving something that's bad for me)
The characterizations are largely unchanged from the old series. The most significant divergence from the original setup is the apparent switching out of Tarrant with Mezin. As I was never particularly fond of Tarrant (too pretty!), that change isn't going to keep me awake at nights. The similarities between Mezin's and Tarrant's backstories are similar enough to have me thinking that Mezin will be sticking around for a while, rather than being killed out in the second reel, so to speak. Amusingly enough, Mezin is played by India Fisher, so I keep expecting her to break out in a rash of "What's happening, Doctor?" at any moment...
There's been a tangible effort to make Jenna more useful and a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, part of that involves making her just a wee bit nutty which strikes me as a bit of a copout. Reaching for the Can of Psychosis to make a character "interesting" is so overused as to come across as lazy writing. Then again, I know quite a few folks who firmly believe that most pilots are certifiably insane, so I could be way off-base, here. As I'm a forgiving soul, and it's early days, yet, my opinon of Jenna is neutral, pending further evidence.
Speaking of Jenna, who on earth is that playing her? *Wikis* Hm, Carrie Dobro. Not ringing a bell. I think I've heard her on some BFA thing, but I can't remember which one. She was on Crusade, apparently, but heaven knows I never watched an episode of that.
Meanwhile, Roj Blake (Derek Riddell) with a Scottish accent is throwing me for a loop more than I expected. Ditto Servalan (Daniela Nardini). Great voices, great actors, the pair of them - just a bit of readjustment in my ol' noggin is required, that's all. No variance from what you expect in terms of character motiviation and, honestly, I'd be really surprised if there was. They've been set up exactly as one would expect them to be: Idealistic Rebel Leader, meet Ambitious Power-Hungry Establishment. Add plot elements, stir vigorously and brace for further developments.
Hang on. Wait a mo'. Craig Kelly is playing Travis? Oh man, that just sent my head into a whole slew of weird places. The only other thing I've seen him in is Queer as Folk. Oh dear god, there go the plotbunnies. *Ahem* Anyways... Travis had a small part in this story, so I haven't formed an opinon of him, either way. He's is one of those characters that's riddled with potential - bashing heads against Servalan and Blake - so it would be great to see that opportunity picked up, this time around. At the moment? He's just there, uttering dire warnings to Servalan as needed. Again, my opinion's is neutral, pending further input.
Unfortunately, It's going to take me a while to warm up to Vila (Dean Harris). The comic-relief bit was played a bit broader than I like - particularly in combination with the apparent belief that audiences can't help but love a Cockney ne'er-do-well - a characterization so archtypical as to be skirting on the verge of a cliche, which is a bit worrying. However, they're also allowing him to have demonstrable smarts, too, and not just in thievery, so it might prove to be an acceptable tradeoff.
Gan is, well... he's Gan. Big, strong, well-meaning. No mention of a limiter, and I hope there never is, as even when I was a six year old we'en watching the show the first time out, I thought that was a hellishly lame plot device. But I digress... If they simply set Gan up as a big ol' boy scout ready to back Blake up against the more morally, er, flexible characters, I'll be satisifed. And, as Gan was so underutilized the last time 'round, the writers have got a lot of room for 'reinterpretation' without alienating the fans too much - should the writers choose to do so. If it's going to be a true ensemble cast, he might get some good moments. Or he might end up working the transporter for half the season. We'll see.
Much like Gan Avon is, for the moment, exactly what you expect. A lot of snark, a fair whack of brains, and already banging the drums of paranoia. I'll miss Paul Darrow's hilariously shameless scenery chewing, but Colin Salmon seems to be filling the bill nicely. Great voice, good performance and easy on the eyes, to boot. Makes me wish I'd taken the time for the B7 Media panel at G1, earlier this year. Rawr. *ahem*
On a much more frivolous note, Michael Praed's cheerfully chomp on the scenery during his guest shot as Soris gets my vote for most amusing line, uttered when reassuring Gan about his intentions regarding a female character: Relax. I'm a sociopath, not a sadist.
God knows, bad tech can sink a project, no matter how noteworthy. My minor quibble about some editing, aside, the production values were excellent. Sound effects, music, general sound mixing all came together very well. Some audio productions out there have sounded like they were recorded in someone's garage, with foley provided by the contents of a tool box, but that's not the case, here.
Overall, I think that Rebel was a good first-outing. B7 Media is pushing the notion of 'bold new re-imagining', but even if it wasn't apparent in this particular project, there's the entire rest of the run for them to muck about and have fun. Of course, the creators have their work cut out for them, with a fandom that has emotional baggage comparable to Doctor Who and Star Trek, so they've got to tread carefully. I can understand that, I'm glad that they've eased the fandom into the new phase of the show's existence and so I'm willing to cut the PR crew a break - for the moment.
For many reasons (budget, said emotional baggage, etc) I think going the audio route was a good idea. I know that B7 Media are still talking about a live-action revival, the notion of which I have some severe misgivings about - I'll discuss those in another entry - but for now, I think that the audio series will make a lot of fans very happy.
Rebel is pretty much a straight retelling of the first three eps of the original series (The Way Back, Spacefall, Cygnus Alpha), with a few tweaks for current tastes, and a whole lot of chaff cut out. The scenery (so to speak) is littered with little homages and a few direct lifts - I squealed in fannish glee at one particular musical break that I won't spoil for you. However, it's hardly the "radical re-imagining" that B7 Media has been bragging up. Then again, I can understand not wanting to have the longtime fans feel like the rug has been pulled out from under them. Caution might well prove the best path, when setting out.
Overall, the acting is pretty good. There are a few moments where things fall flat - clunky dialogue, too obvious an homage to the source material or simply pedestrian editing where one can hear the cut. That last was particularly painful when it's a high-paced dialogue between two characters, but I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn't been listening on headphones in a quiet office. It's a mere technical quibble. The performances were quite solid, throughout and when I caught myself wincing at one or two moments - such as the characterization of Vlia - I can still say that it's far, far better than most of the Kaldor City series (my personal bottom-of-the-heap for SF audio, despite the fact that I love it the same way I can't help loving something that's bad for me)
The characterizations are largely unchanged from the old series. The most significant divergence from the original setup is the apparent switching out of Tarrant with Mezin. As I was never particularly fond of Tarrant (too pretty!), that change isn't going to keep me awake at nights. The similarities between Mezin's and Tarrant's backstories are similar enough to have me thinking that Mezin will be sticking around for a while, rather than being killed out in the second reel, so to speak. Amusingly enough, Mezin is played by India Fisher, so I keep expecting her to break out in a rash of "What's happening, Doctor?" at any moment...
There's been a tangible effort to make Jenna more useful and a bit more interesting. Unfortunately, part of that involves making her just a wee bit nutty which strikes me as a bit of a copout. Reaching for the Can of Psychosis to make a character "interesting" is so overused as to come across as lazy writing. Then again, I know quite a few folks who firmly believe that most pilots are certifiably insane, so I could be way off-base, here. As I'm a forgiving soul, and it's early days, yet, my opinon of Jenna is neutral, pending further evidence.
Speaking of Jenna, who on earth is that playing her? *Wikis* Hm, Carrie Dobro. Not ringing a bell. I think I've heard her on some BFA thing, but I can't remember which one. She was on Crusade, apparently, but heaven knows I never watched an episode of that.
Meanwhile, Roj Blake (Derek Riddell) with a Scottish accent is throwing me for a loop more than I expected. Ditto Servalan (Daniela Nardini). Great voices, great actors, the pair of them - just a bit of readjustment in my ol' noggin is required, that's all. No variance from what you expect in terms of character motiviation and, honestly, I'd be really surprised if there was. They've been set up exactly as one would expect them to be: Idealistic Rebel Leader, meet Ambitious Power-Hungry Establishment. Add plot elements, stir vigorously and brace for further developments.
Hang on. Wait a mo'. Craig Kelly is playing Travis? Oh man, that just sent my head into a whole slew of weird places. The only other thing I've seen him in is Queer as Folk. Oh dear god, there go the plotbunnies. *Ahem* Anyways... Travis had a small part in this story, so I haven't formed an opinon of him, either way. He's is one of those characters that's riddled with potential - bashing heads against Servalan and Blake - so it would be great to see that opportunity picked up, this time around. At the moment? He's just there, uttering dire warnings to Servalan as needed. Again, my opinion's is neutral, pending further input.
Unfortunately, It's going to take me a while to warm up to Vila (Dean Harris). The comic-relief bit was played a bit broader than I like - particularly in combination with the apparent belief that audiences can't help but love a Cockney ne'er-do-well - a characterization so archtypical as to be skirting on the verge of a cliche, which is a bit worrying. However, they're also allowing him to have demonstrable smarts, too, and not just in thievery, so it might prove to be an acceptable tradeoff.
Gan is, well... he's Gan. Big, strong, well-meaning. No mention of a limiter, and I hope there never is, as even when I was a six year old we'en watching the show the first time out, I thought that was a hellishly lame plot device. But I digress... If they simply set Gan up as a big ol' boy scout ready to back Blake up against the more morally, er, flexible characters, I'll be satisifed. And, as Gan was so underutilized the last time 'round, the writers have got a lot of room for 'reinterpretation' without alienating the fans too much - should the writers choose to do so. If it's going to be a true ensemble cast, he might get some good moments. Or he might end up working the transporter for half the season. We'll see.
Much like Gan Avon is, for the moment, exactly what you expect. A lot of snark, a fair whack of brains, and already banging the drums of paranoia. I'll miss Paul Darrow's hilariously shameless scenery chewing, but Colin Salmon seems to be filling the bill nicely. Great voice, good performance and easy on the eyes, to boot. Makes me wish I'd taken the time for the B7 Media panel at G1, earlier this year. Rawr. *ahem*
On a much more frivolous note, Michael Praed's cheerfully chomp on the scenery during his guest shot as Soris gets my vote for most amusing line, uttered when reassuring Gan about his intentions regarding a female character: Relax. I'm a sociopath, not a sadist.
God knows, bad tech can sink a project, no matter how noteworthy. My minor quibble about some editing, aside, the production values were excellent. Sound effects, music, general sound mixing all came together very well. Some audio productions out there have sounded like they were recorded in someone's garage, with foley provided by the contents of a tool box, but that's not the case, here.
Overall, I think that Rebel was a good first-outing. B7 Media is pushing the notion of 'bold new re-imagining', but even if it wasn't apparent in this particular project, there's the entire rest of the run for them to muck about and have fun. Of course, the creators have their work cut out for them, with a fandom that has emotional baggage comparable to Doctor Who and Star Trek, so they've got to tread carefully. I can understand that, I'm glad that they've eased the fandom into the new phase of the show's existence and so I'm willing to cut the PR crew a break - for the moment.
For many reasons (budget, said emotional baggage, etc) I think going the audio route was a good idea. I know that B7 Media are still talking about a live-action revival, the notion of which I have some severe misgivings about - I'll discuss those in another entry - but for now, I think that the audio series will make a lot of fans very happy.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-01 11:13 pm (UTC)I tuned out the minute Avon mentioned "God." I know the new owners of the property are into religion big time, and they keep inserting casual references to God all over the place (which I found grating since in the classic B7 verse the only references to religion are priests/priestesses who are in some sense "primitives," and it's clear that religion has been banned.) I don't have anything against religion - I have something for character. I actually would have found it interesting if Blake was religious despite his society's prohibition against it...
When I write Thomas Doughtie, he's all about God (I've learned more about Anglicanism than I've ever dreamed possible since I switched into Drake's Venture fandom.) But Avon's primary self-defined characteristic is that he is a man who believes in nothing. To me, the major interest value of the series is the inner conflict in Avon caused by believing in Blake despite himself. Even if (in fact, especially if) the other characters accepted religion as a casual part of their existence, I think Avon would consciously reject it. He'd be the guy who stayed up all night in his dorm at Uni trying to convince you that since the miracles in the Bible couldn't have happened, religion is pointless. Thus, I feel like the new owners missed the point of the character.
But like you, I don't really feel like their "radical revisioning" gives us much of anything new or different in return. The only thing they have given us is the promise of no silly costumes or wobbly sets. But damn, those things were half the charm of the original series! It isn't like BSG, where the new series is so profound and thoughtful, I barely miss the hot guys from the old one.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-01 11:51 pm (UTC)So Travis has a fiance. If I can accept the Master having a wife, I can deal with Travis having a girlfriend. Besides, a nickel says she'll be dead, and probably at the hands at Blake or one of his band by the end of the next reel...)
I think that some of the story changes (such as Blake using violence) were somewhat necessary because of changing tastes (and expectations of character motivations). I would have *preferred* that Blake didn't resort to that sort of thing but, honestly, I'd quite forgotten what a (relatively) non-violent rebel he was and I'd have a hard time accepting that as a plausible aspect of the character in this unpleasant day and age. Maybe I'm just cynical...
Do you tune out any/all creative endeavors when they mention god, or was it a case of it happening in this particular project really getting on your goat?
As a cheerfully atheist sort, I've gotten such a thick skin about mentions of deities that I must admit I didn't even *notice* 'em. Granted, I've only listened to Rebel the once.
To me, the major interest value of the series is the inner conflict in Avon caused by believing in Blake despite himself.
Indeed, that's a core part of what saves Avon from being (let's be honest here) utterly 2D. As I said, above, I've only listened to the audio the once - does Avon mention a belief in god, or simply *refer* to a deity, in a figurative manner? There's a heck of a difference between the two, hence my curiosity (after all, I've used the phrase 'heaven knows' in my time, but I don't mean it literally - even if I don't take the time to explain that to my conversation partner, but I digress). I agree that the man who believes in nothing should definitely be free of theism...
In fact, I thought that presentation of the religious-fanatic aspect in the Cygnus Alpha plot was actually more subtle than in the original eps, but it's been about a year since I've seen it, so I could be misrembering.
Theism stuff aside, I think you've summarized it nicely in pointing out that some of the classic (and admittedly a bit silly) appeal of the show has been taken out, and not much has been offered in its place. Yet.
It's early days, this is their first offering and I, for one, am willing to give them a chance. Granted, I'm the person who managed to get through three - count 'em, three - Kaldor City audios before giving up... ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-08-02 12:13 am (UTC)Actually, I'm a very religious person, and, as I said, when I write Drake's Venture, I write TD with enormous conflicts between his desires and the expectations of his religion. But when I wrote B7, I was always careful to keep my beliefs out of it, and really loathed fanfic where the characters celebrated solstice etc. To me, part of the absolute desolation of that universe is the lack of anything worth believing in - the state demands all loyalty, and it's a sterile mother. That's why Blake has such appeal as an alternative. It's also exemplary of how the Federation is softened in this one - the fact that they don't seem to care that the characters are religious means that they aren't even as totalitarian as Maoist China.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-02 01:15 am (UTC)D'oh! That's what I get for reading LJ on the sly at work. I totally mis-read you. Sorry 'bout that.