I have included these two episodes together, as they really work best listened to as a pair, though they are stand alone stories also.
In Battleground, the Liberator crew are searching for someone who has information they need to search for a Federation Super Computer.
As the ship comes into teleport range of the planet known as Battleground 9, they are attacked and the Liberator is damaged.
Avon and Blake meet a group struggling to survive this terrible world and help them avoid destruction, find their target and make it out intact.
In the meantime those left on the Liberator try to remain intact and available for the ground crew to get away when necessary.
The whole episode is excellent and sets us up for the next one which is entitled Drones.
On board Liberator, Orac has taken over control of the ship as Zen’s attention has been completely taken up by damage control. This leads to a time of waiting while repairs take effect and the crew become bored, so Vila, Cally and Blake teleport out and find themselves in the middle of a refugee group struggling to avoid anihilation by the Training Corps trialling a new, deadly weapon.
During this time, Jenna and Avon are caught up in Liberator’s ongoing struggle to repair itself and have to attract its attention to self defence before things get worse.
Building on previous cannon this episode highlights the impersonal nature of the Federation and their total readiness to treat all their citizens as dispensable.
The ability of people in extreme circumstances to maintain their principles and social mores is well shown. Also the desperate way people can be pushed to behave when dealing with circumstances they have no hope of escaping.
The characters of each of the crew is well developed – even Orac, who is showing more and more signs of self-interest. Vila again shows his versatility, and Cally her compassion. Blake is again focussed on the Bigger Picture, while Jenna and Avon have to deal with what is happening in the here and now.
GuestsDan Starkey, Tim Bentinck, Abigail Hollick, Tim Treloar, Sara Powell hold their own while playing against our regulars.
Writers Andrew Smith and Marc Platt have produced excellent stories well worth listening to.
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