Category: Season 4

The launch silo doors needed to reach Scorpio and leave Dorian’s base are locked by some means even Vila doesn’t know how to open, and Avon’s mission to gather raw materials for a teleport system gets him captured by the Hommiks, the male faction of the planet’s people. Vila is visited by Pela, one of the last three surviving Seska, who are the women of Xenon, and he is told that unless the door is opened every 48 hours which will soon come to pass since Dorian is dead, a nuclear compression charge will destroy the base. Tarrant and Dayna find Avon and, with the help of the Seska, free him from the Hommiks. Avon then reveals that he in fact has the teleportal worked out, but Pella, driven by a hunger for power, uses telekinesis to open the door and board Scorpio, taking off. Avon boards using the teleportal and kills her. At this time, the others also come to Scorpio, ready to begin the fight anew, now with Soolin at their side.

written by Ben Steed
directed by Mary Ridge
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Dicken Ashworth (Gunn-Sar), Juliet Hammond Hill (Pella), Jenny Oulton (Niria), Paul Ridley (Cato), Alison Glennie (Kate), Linda Barr (Luxia)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Tarrant and Dayna teleport to Helotrix, which Orac has informed the crew as being the latest Federation acquisition in an unprecedented new period of expansion and conquest. Tarrant and Dayna discover that a new pacification drug, Pylene-50, is being used to control the normally ruthless Helots while the Federation takes over. They also discover that the inventor of the drug, “Commissioner Sleer,” is, in fact, Servalan, having miraculously escaped from the destruction of the Liberator. Avon, however, doesn’t think highly of that miracle…

written by Robert Holmes
directed by David Sullivan Proudfoot
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Malcolm Stoddard (Leitz), Christopher Neame (Colonel Quute), Robert Morris (Major Hunda), John Quentin (Practor), Edgar Wreford (Forbus), Nick Brimble (General), David Quilter (The Tracer), Neil Dickson (Avandir), Cyril Appleton (Sgt. Hask), George Lee (Igin)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Scorpio is disabled in an attempt to hide from detector beams behind an asteroid and limps back to Xenon Base. On the way, the ship is approached by three Federation pursuit ships which suddenly explode for no apparently good reason, which is what they investigate back at base. The cause of the ships’ destruction is a space-chopper, the orbital equivalent of a Harley-Davidson, with the significant exception that this one moved at time-distort 15 and was well-armed. The repaired Scorpio visits the base of the space-chopper, where Plaxton, once one of the best minds of the Federation, is devising powerful stardrives for an interstellar motorcycle gang. Dayna and Vila manage to distract the gang long enough to get Plaxton and her biggest and best stardrive out of the base safely. Scorpio is approached by a flotilla of Federation ships while Plaxton is in the engine room connecting her drive. If Avon starts the engine as soon as Plaxton connects the final wire, Scorpio will escape but the firing of the drive will kill its creator.

written by James Follett
directed by David Sullivan Proudfoot
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Barbara Shelley (Dr. Plaxton), Damien Thomas (Atlan), Peter Sands (Bomber), Leonard Kavanagh (Napier)

Notes: Scorpio apparently used the new stardrive to escape danger in Animals, the next episode, but afterward it seemed as though the new engine system was nowhere to be found – you’d imagine it would have helped them out of a few scrapes such as…crashing on Gauda Prime?

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Dayna visits a friend of her father’s, who she discovers is conducting needlessly painful experiments on some intelligent animals on that planet. Meanwhile, Scorpio is attacked after Dayna teleports, and it barely gets back to Xenon Base. When Avon and the others return to get Dayna, they find Servalan in control of the animals and of Dayna’s mind.

written by Allan Prior
directed by Mary Ridge
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Peter Byrne (Justin), William Lindsay (Captain), Max Harvey (Borr), Kevin Stoney (Ardus), David Boyce (Og)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Tarrant and Vila are sent to pick up a scientist whose cybernetic genius could help the crew of Scorpio fight the Federation, but they slowly begin to uncover the truth – the cybernetic progeny of Muller, a student of Orac’s creator, has assumed its creator’s identity and is on a murderous rampage to find the only other computer worthy of its attention and join with it: Orac.

written by Roger Parkes
directed by Mary Ridge
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), John Westbrook (Muller), Lynda Bellingham (Vena), Douglas Fielding (Technician), Nick Joseph (Android), Lesley Nunnerley (Voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Avon and the others discover that they are being hunted by a top notch killer whose services have been paid for by Servalan. Avon and Tarrant fight the odds and sometimes each other to survive, but in the end, it turns out that Avon, underestimating the opposite sex, has been fooled by Servalan and a brilliant female killer – and it is Soolin who saves him.

written by Rod Beacham
directed by David Sullivan Proudfoot
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Caroline Holdaway (Piri), John Wyman (Cancer), Richard Hurndall (Nebrox), Peter Attad (Benos), Betty Marsden (Verlis), Adam Blackwood (Tok), Mark Barratt (Servalan’s Captain)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The crew of Scorpio set out to plunder an infinite energy source, only to find that Servalan has her mind set on the same prize and a series of games designed to stop any potential thieves from every gaining the energy source requires the skills of Soolin, Tarrant and Vila to pass – and on Avon’s turn, it is learned that the entire thing is a hoax.

written by Bill Lyons
directed by Vivienne Cozens
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Stratford Johns (Belkov), Rosalind Bailey (Gambit), David Neal (Gerren), Michael Gaunt (Computer), James Harvey (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Avon decides to investigate something Servalan is investigating – a mysterious new source of energy on a distant planet. The sand-covered world is not what Tarrant and Dayna expect, nor is it expected that the sand itself is a vampire that feeds on all the unnecessary human males that arrive there, leaving any females and the strongest male as human breeding stock for future nourishment. And Tarrant becomes trapped there with Servalan.

written by Tanith Lee
directed by Vivienne Cozens
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Stephen Yardley (Reeve), Daniel Hill (Chasgow), Jonathan David (Keller), Peter Craze (Servalan’s Assistant), Michael Gaunt (Computer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

An old acquaintance of Avon joins forces with the Scorpio crew to pull off an interstellar heist from a luxury ship whose undercover cargo is transmuted gold. They then go to have the gold re-transmuted for a bargain with Keiller’s employer – who turns out to be Servalan…and she has already made sure of her own wealth in the end.

written by Colin Davis
directed by Brian Lighthill
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Roy Kinnear (Keiller), Anthony Brown (Doctor), Dinah May (Woman Passenger), Norman Hartley (Pilot)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Avon and Vila visit the planet Malodar to strike a deal with the megalomaniac scientist Egrorian for a new weapon he has devised that could ensure total power over the Federation. But only a slip of the tongue by Egrorian’s grotesque lab assistant warns Avon of impending danger: Servalan is behind Egrorian in an attempt to kill Avon. And he’s ready to sacrifice Vila to save himself.

written by Robert Holmes
directed by Brian Lighthill
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), John Savident (Egrorian), Larry Noble (Pinder)

Notes: Michael Keating, as Vila, shed tears as Avon was searching for him to kill him, but higher powers at the BBC prevented the scenes from making it to the final episode, making it appear is if Vila is sweating in hiding – apparently the tears were far more disturbing than the idea that Avon was ready to throw Vila off the ship!

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Avon calls a summit meeting of the most powerful non-Federation-aligned worlds’ leaders to devise a plan to combat the Pylene-50 pacification drug, but his most powerful ally, Zukan, turns out to be an underground informant for Servalan and plants explosives in Xenon Base. The base explodes while Avon and Soolin are en route to rendezvous with a source of vital raw material. Zukan later discovers that his own daughter has stayed behind on Xenon to remain with Tarrant, and Avon manages to save his crew just in time, but Zukan’s daughter dies while reactivating the Xenon Base life support systems.

written by Simon Masters
directed by Viktors Ritelis
music by Dudley Simpson

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Josette Simon (Dayna), Glynis Barber (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac, Slave), Roy Boyd (Zukan), Bobbie Brown (Zeeona), Dean Harris (Finn), Simon Merrick (Boorva), Rick James (Chalsa), Charles Augins (Lod), Brian Spink (Mida)

LogBook entry by Earl Green