On Cygnus Alpha, a religious cult under Vargas and Kara is preparing for a new batch of recruits: the incoming prisoners on the London. In the meantime, Blake, Jenna and Avon are investigating their new ship, and inadvertently activate the ship’s computer, Zen. With Zen online and responding to voice commands, they make their way to Cygnus Alpha. On arrival, they decide to try the teleport system, which puts Blake down in the middle of a group of cult members. Avon figures out how to pull Blake back to the newly-christened Liberator just before Blake becomes a sacrifice. Blake later goes down, armed, and discovers that Vargas has recruited Gan and the others and that the atmosphere of the planet supposedly is toxic and works its way into the bloodstream, and that a dose of a special drug is required once a day for the rest of the victim’s life to survive. Blake is captured by Vargas, and, before being tortured, is told that the drug is a placebo, and the disease is a myth – and Vargas wants to comandeer the Liberator. Blake refuses and gets a handful of supporters among the prisoners, including Gan, Vila and Arco, to revolt. Most of the cult is destroyed, along with a good deal of the prisoners. Gan and Vila manage to escape to the ship with Blake – and Vargas follows, armed with Blake’s gun. Blake teleports Vargas into open space, killing him, and the Liberator, now almost fully manned, leaves Cygnus Alpha.
written by Terry Nation
directed by Vere Lorrimer
music by Dudley SimpsonCast: Gareth Thomas (Blake), Sally Knyvette (Jenna), Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), David Jackson (Gan), Brian Blessed (Vargas), Glyn Owen (Leylan), Norman Tipton (Artix), Pamela Salem (Kara), Robert Russell (Laran), Peter Childs (Arco), David Ryall (Selman), Peter Tuddenham (Zen)
LogBook entry by Earl Green