Cally suggests that an attack on the Federation’s Weapons Development centre would be a good idea before Blake attacks the central computer on Earth. The centre is on maximum alert though… could someone else have broken in or has someone broken out?

Servalan has enlisted the help of both the Clone Masters and the "puppeteers" of the Psycho-Strategy department to come up with a plan that will rid of her of Blake and allow her to take control of Coser’s IMIPAK weapon.

Coser has escaped from the Federation Weapons Development Centre. Will the fact that he’s not escaped alone make a difference?

Close up Coser

Rashel.

No one really wins this one. Servalan doesn't get IMIPAK, and neither does Blake. Carnell is forced to leave as his reputation is in tatters, and so by default, Rashel and her Blake clone win, because they get to control the weapon everyone wants.

Travis kills one of the Blake clones created by the Clone Masters and Servalan uses IMIPAK to kill Coser and one of her guards.

Servalan gets the weapon

Avon tells Cally what he thinks of her suggested place of attack.

AVON: Auron may be different, Cally, but on Earth it is considered ill mannered to kill your friends while committing suicide

The class system is still around in the second century of the third calendar:

COSER: And don't call me sir. That's what THEY always wanted. "Yes, sir." "Of course, sir." "At once, sir." They treat you like dirt, patronize you. Doesn't really matter. You get used to it. I mean, I didn't really care about that. [Pounds on the table] Are you listening to me?
RASHEL: Yes, sir.
COSER: They were trying to take the credit for my work. They were going to steal it right in front of me. As though I were so unimportant or stupid they didn't even have to pretend it wasn't happening. That's what really made me angry -- the contempt they had for me. Well, they can think again now. Just wait till senior echelon hears about this. They'll remember my name then…

Clone Master Fen discusses her role as the protector of cloning:

FEN: It was never abandoned, Travis. The leaders feared its potential as a weapon. But a weapon once created cannot be abandoned. It can only be contained. And so they entrusted it to us. And we cannot create life in any form we wish. That would violate the Rule of Life.

Clone Master Fen

Servalan and Carnell have a bit of a flirt:

SERVALAN: It's going wrong, Carnell.
CARNELL: Wrong? Ma'am, I'm mortified by your lack of confidence.
SERVALAN: If I lose Coser -- and his invention -- mortified is exactly what you'll be.
CARNELL:I realize that.
SERVALAN: So long as you do.
CARNELL: A brilliant psychostrategist like me? Come now, Supreme Commander. How would I not?

Carnell realises his final mistake:

CARNELL: And the other mistake I made was not getting an advance on my fee

And finally he gets the last lines:

CARNELL: Welcome back, Supreme Commander. I apologize for not being here in person to greet you, but I think you'll appreciate my reasons. I overlooked the girl. Well, no, to be fair to myself, your people overlooked her. I know she was only a bond slave, but they should have realized she was gone rather sooner than they did. I might have adapted the strategy. Ah well, even a genius can make mistakes. Look at it this way, Supreme Commander, you haven't lost anything. Whereas I, well, I've lost my career, my position, the respect of my peers. Come to think of it, I haven't lost much, either. On the subject of losers, be careful of Travis. The catharsis he got by killing that first clone will have worn off by now. He's as mad as ever he was. But then aren't we all? One last thing, Supreme Commander. I must tell you this. You are undoubtedly the sexiest officer I have ever known. Goodbye, Servalan.

Puppeteer Carnell

Cloning is the sole preserve of the Clone Masters within the Federation. They know the potential of cloning as a weapon, and so while it is protected by the Clone Masters with their belief in the rule of life, the weapon guards itself. They do make a clone of Blake from his DNA records, but because the clone is not grown from a cell from Blake himself, he does not share the memories or experiences of the original Blake. He has been given the basis of a personality, but remains rather innocent and has had belief in the rule of life instilled within him.

IMIPAK is a weapon designed by Coser. Using the projector attachment, an unstable potential is projected into the victim. The key triggers the unstable molecule, which then kills the subject. IMIPAK has a range of one million miles and could be used to subdue whole populations. Even Travis can see the potential in such a weapon!

Coser demonstrates IMIPAK

Carnell has a chess computer, the best available apparently. It has little white plastic pieces on the top and looks to be made of plastic designed to look like wood… typical 70s design work perhaps!

Blake again wears a variation of his clothes seen in Redemption. He wears a zip up brown peasant shirt underneath a green leather waistcoat.

Avon wears a black turtleneck sweater with read leather trousers for the scenes on the Liberator. When he teleports down the planet, he wears the red leather top that matches the trousers, which has a large circular collar area, with panels around the chest area.

Jenna wears a long dark blue dress with small collar and twin broaches on either side of the top.

Cally wears red for the first time since The Web. She has a long red dress, with gold accessories that start as a necklace and then go all the way down her chest, meeting a gold belt around the waist. There are gold designs on the cuffs and she wears a pair of red leather boots.

Dressed for the occasion: Jenna and Cally

Vila is dressed in yellow trousers, above which he has a black silk top.

Travis has a new uniform, which is an all over body suit in a quilted black material. He has a large silver star just below his right shoulder.

Coser wears navy blue robes with an ornate design around a huge fanned collar.

Rashel wears a variation of this robe; only hers is much plainer, in black with no ornate patterns and only loops of thread around the collar.

Clone Master Fen wears a grey/ blue robe in a pleated fabric, with a huge collar and massive bat like wings attached to the arms. She also has a sash and a belt.

Carnell again wears navy blue robes, with a navy cloak. His robe has gold braiding around the neckline and around the shoulders, on which there are epaulettes.

Servalan has this episode’s most outrageous costume. She has a predominantly white dress again, as established in the first season. The top is made of netting, with a white top draped over it, with the midriff and sleeves showing underneath it. There is a long white skirt that matches the top. The collar is made of a silver wire mesh, which has crystals built into it. She also wears big dangly earrings. She later augments this with a big white fur!

Supremely Commanding!

Rashel says she will cook some food for Coser, but we don’t see it.

The one missed detail: Rashel

Vila is on teleport duty this episode, sending Blake, Avon and Gan down the planet and then bringing them back to The Liberator.

No one loses a teleport bracelet this episode.

Orac hacks into the security channels in order to find out what has been going on at the weapons development base.

Servalan is very playful in this episode. She strokes Travis’s chest as she reminds him that he’s living to kill Blake and she does much the same to Carnell when playfully reminding that he’ll be dead if he gets his strategy wrong.

Servalan reminds Travis of his purpose in life

There’s also a pretty close relationship between Rashel and the surviving Blake clone. The two of them remain on their planet together and are seen holding hands.

Blake finds the thought of intercourse between computers a disgusting thought, and I can’t help but agree with him!

A touching moment for Rashel and her Blake

This is a great episode for Servalan, with a number of superb moments for the character, whether it’s the way she rubs her hand down the front of Travis’s chest, the differences in the way she handles Travis behind the scenes as opposed to the her "public face" with Clonemaster Fen. The highlight has to be her flirty relationship with Carnell, the Puppeteer. Their scenes are delightfully playful, and the final moment when Carnell tells Servalan how sexy he finds her provokes a wonderful, and rare warm smile from the Supreme Commander.

The Federation's sexiest officer!

Weapon was directed by George Spenton-Foster, a director not popular with much of the cast, but who had directed two successful Doctor Who stories for Graham Williams: Image of the Fendahl and The Ribos Operation. He had previously cast Scott Fredericks in Fendahl and does so again in this episode where he plays Carnell. Fredericks had previously played Boaz in Day of the Daleks in 1972. Graham Simpson, who plays the Fedration guard who inadvertently saves Carnell’s life had also appeared in Image of the Fendahl, playing the hiker who gets killed at the start of the first episode.

Travis had been recast for this episode, after Stephen Greif decided to take a film role instead of reappearing as Travis. Brian Croucher was cast as the new Travis, and he’d appeared in Chris Boucher’s Doctor Who story, The Robots of Death in 1977.

The new Travis

John Bennett played Coser in this episode. He had appeared twice in Doctor Who by the time Weapon was broadcast. He was General Finch in Invasion of the Dinosaurs, and Li H’sen Chang in The Talons of Weng-Chiang in 1977.

This is seriously camp! What with Servalan flirting with Carnell, the rather arch performances and some wonderful costuming, this episode deserves a high rating on the campometer.

Like Shadow before it, this episode adds much to the mythos of Blake’s 7, again expanding upon the sparse universe Terry Nation set up. The creation of the different grades of human being with bond slaves at the beginning echo those mentions in Shadow and Coser’s obvious dissatisfaction with being a mere Beta-Grade parallels with the class wars still prevalent in British society. It this kind of touch that enriches the series.

This added detail isn’t restricted to the classes of the Federation’s population. The additions of the Clone Masters and the Psycho-Strategy unit (with it’s Puppeteers) also add a great deal. The parallel between the clone masters guarding their weapon, in the same way that Rashel and the Blake clone end up guarding IMIPAK is pretty sophisticated for a series that was previously content to have Blake Vs the Federation fights and it just feels a little more mature than some of the latter episodes of the first season.

The "puppeteers" are a great addition that seems to have been inspired by Project: Avalon the previous year, where Travis’s plan had been predicted to the smallest detail. The character of Carnell makes this a truly great addition, because he’s such a wonderful character. He’s superior and well aware of his own intelligence, yet he has a sense of humour and a wicked flirty side, which comes out in all his scenes with Servalan. There’s a definite frisson between the two of them, and their scenes together positively crackle with the electricity between them. In many ways it’s a shame we never saw him again in the TV series, because Scott Frederick’s twinkly-eyed performance is simply a joy to watch. His final line is joyful!

It’s a shame that there isn’t a great deal of room for Blake and his crew in his story. They’re mostly relegated to bit parts in the episode, as the focus is on the Federation. It’s not a huge problem, as again, as in Shadow, their dialogue sparkles, but there simply isn’t a great deal for Blake and co to do. For that reason, this episode isn’t as great as Shadow was, but it’s still a strong and highly entertaining episode.