The Gang's All Here

 Sad news today with the death of Michael Keating, known and loved by Blake's 7 fans as Vila. As kalypso notes, we have been watching the Blu-ray box sets saying "I hope they get a new interview with Michael Keating". With any luck they did.

We'd got to the end of series B last week and were contemplating rewatching Gambit to do a bit of research for a possible story. It will be no hardship to watch it again just to say farewell to the actor - it was a superb and very funny performance.

Day 19: Favourite Scorpio momentDay 20: Favourite outfits


Going with the alternative question from vilakins for 19, and doing 20 at the same time.
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 Day 16: Best use of a hoary old trope

The entire concept of the show is "Robin Hood leading the Dirty Dozen in space", and I think it does it very well. There are many reworkings of Robin Hood out there, but I think this is one of the best. Blending it with 1984 as Robin's motivation makes it even better.

 Day 15: Character who didn’t get enough screen time

A day late again, for the same reason - Eurovision semi finals. Anyway...

Gan, of course. With that many main characters and only 50 minutes per episode, something had to give, and that something was Gan. His primary role is as muscle, and he's not as smart/obnoxious as the others so presumably less interesting to write - although he's perfectly capable of giving as good as he gets from Avon. "For a clever man you're not very bright". :-> In some ways he serves the same function as the Doctor's companion, being the one who tends to ground the others when they get a bit too carried away with whatever shiny thing has caught their attention/obsession/ego. Also the one who's frequently lectured at for "as you know, Bob" purposes. Even Avon manages to forget his own ego long enough to genuinely enjoy teaching Gan about some of the ship systems, minus the usual snark once he has a genuinely interested student. (And I do find that scene very believable.)

Some people see him as a violent thug only restrained by the limiter. But what he claims to have been sentenced for doesn't match that. Obviously, the word there is "claims", but it's all too plausible in the what we see of the Federation. He enjoys fighting the primitives in Deliverance, but doesn't give the impression that he'd kill them without the limiter inhibiting him. It reads much more as enjoying a wrestling match, one that he's only engaged in as self-defence. The truly chilling scene is on the London, when he points out to the guard that they only need the hand. (Seriously, who came up with that idea of security in a barracks cell with a bunch of potentially dangerous people who really don't want to be there?) With that he doesn't need to be actually capable of carrying through the threat, whether emotionally or through the limiter's control; he just needs to convince the guard that he is. And very convincing he is.

 Day 13: Favourite guest character

So many to choose from in series 1 and 2, fewer but not non-existent in series 3 and 4. I'm going to go with the first choice as vilakins and for the same reason. Bellfriar and Gambrill from Killer are well-developed characters, who show that there are still decent people in the Federation. They're so well written and played that it hurts to see their fate.