Blake's 7, Series One

Blake:
There can be no justification for deliberate murder.

Judge:
The accused has been found guilty on all charges. His crimes have been accorded a category nine rating and as such are judged most grave. In sentencing you, the judgement machine has taken into account your past record; your service to the state and your loyalty to The Federation. None of these has mitigated in your favour. It is the sentence of this tribunal that you be taken from this place to an area of close confinement. From there you will be transported to the penal colony on the planet Cygnus Alpha where you will remain for the rest of your natural life.

Vila:
Easy! Take it easy! I hate personal violence, especially when I'm the person.

Vila:
You're on your way to the penal colony on Cygnus Alpha. Or you will be when the prison ship's refueled. Try to look on the bright side: It must have something; none of the guests have ever left early... In fact none of them have ever left at all.

Blake:
Why are you going there?

Vila:
They didn't give me a choice. [Pause] I steal things. compulsive, I'm afraid. I've had my head adjusted by some of the best in the business. But it just won't stay adjusted.

Blake:
A professional thief?

Vila:
More a vocation than a profession; other people's property just comes naturally to me.

Blake:
No, not until free men can think and speak. Not until power is back with the honest man.

Avon:
Have you ever met an honest man?

Avon:
Listen to me. Wealth is the only reality. And the only way to obtain wealth is to take it away from somebody else. Wake up, Blake! You may not be tranquilised any longer, but you're still dreaming.

Vila:
Nervous? I'm not nervous. Just... poised for action, that's all.

Blake:
What went wrong?

Avon:
I relied on other people.

(regarding a hypothetical betrayal by Avon)

Jenna:
He fixes the log, the crew dump us, pocket the profit, and set him free.

Vila:
That's immoral. The cold-hearted murdering -- let's kill him now before he can do it.

Blake:
If you had access to the computer, could you open the doors?

Avon:
Of course. Why?

Blake:
Just wondered how good you really were.

Avon:
Don't try to manipulate me, Blake.

Vila:
No, I can't go in there, I've got a condition - a fear of enclosed spaces. There's a name for it...

Jenna:
Cowardice?

Jenna:
How do you feel?

Blake:
Sick.

Avon:
So you should. What a fiasco. You could take over the ship, you said, if I did my bit. Well, I did my bit, and what happened? Your troops bumble around looking for someone to surrender to, and when they've succeded, you follow suit.

Cpt. Leyland:
I hope hope Mr Raiker's made it clear to you that you can refuse to do this.

Blake:
Oh yes, he's also made it clear that summary execution is one of our options. We chose the other.

Avon asks Zen about the Teleport system:

Zen:
Wisdom must be gathered, not given.

Avon:
Don't philosophise at me, you electronic moron!

Blake:
[Picks up one of Liberator's side-arms] Hand gun?

Avon:
It's a bit elaborate for a tooth pick.

Blake:
Depends how elaborate their teeth were.

Vila:
[The prisoners have been dumped on Cygnus Alpha] This is nice, isn't it. What a miserable hole. If we all complained do you think they'd give us a refund?

Jenna:
You wouldn't be trying to get rid of me, would you?

Avon:
I have to get rid of Blake first. You're next on my list.

Jenna:
That would have been very disarming, if I didn't know that you meant it.

Blake:
Seven of us can run this ship properly.

Vila:
Six, surely.

Blake:
You forgot Zen.

Avon:
You're not counting that machine as a member of the crew.

Blake:
Oh, what do you say to that, Zen?

Zen:
Please state course and speed.

Blake:
Very diplomatic. Set a course for Centero, speed standard by two.

Zen:
Confirmed.

Vila:
So much for federation pursuit ships.

Gan:
At least we know we can outrun them.

Vila:
Outrun them? In this we can out stroll them!

Blake:
Except that we're not going to hide. Very soon now the Federation ships will know exactly where we are. Or at least where we've been.

Vila:
I don't follow you.

Avon:
Oh, but you do. And that's the problem.

Avon saves Blake from an explosion:

Blake:
Thank you... why?

Avon:
Automatic reaction, I'm as surprised as you are.

Blake:
I'm not surprised.

Avon:
I'll tell you a fact of life, Blake! Change is inevitable!

Blake:
Why else do we fight, Avon?

Vila:
There isn't a lock I can't open... if I'm scared enough.

Blake:
Are you scared enough for that one?

Vila:
What do you think?

Vila:
Hello there. How are you? Excuse me wandering about your premises but I wonder if you can help me. I'm an escaped prisoner. I was a thief but recently I've become interested in sabotage, in a small way you understand, nothing too ambitious, I hate vulgarity, don't you? Anyway, I've come to blow something up. What do you think will be most suitable?

Blake:
You don't matter enough to kill, Travis.

Cally:
They're taking too long.

Avon:
That's the trouble with heroics, they seldom run to schedule.

Doctor:
She's not yet well enough to submit to intensive questioning. She must have rest.

Travis:
Yes, thank you very much indeed, Doctor, you are relieved of your responsibility for the prisoner. She is now the property ... the concern of the interrogation division.

Avon:
[Over communicator] Are you Awake?

Vila:
No.

Avon:
That's what I thought. It's very quiet here. If it should get noisy, I'll be in touch.

Avon:
It is frequently easier to trust those who have nothing to lose.

Cally:
Blake will return...

Avon:
You can bet your life on it. In fact, you've just bet both our lives on it.

Cally:
My people have a saying: A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.

Avon:
Life expectancy must be fairly short among your people.

Blake:
You're quite sure about volunteering to stay?

Cally:
Well, we must help these people.

Avon:
Must we? Personally I don't care if their whole planet turns into a mushroom. I shall stay because I don't like an unsolved mystery.

Avon:
There's something else that has to happen before it all begins to come together.

Vila:
Where are Cally and Avon?

Blake:
It's a long story.

Vila:
Well, what's in the box?

Blake:
That's an even longer story.

Vila:
I like stories.

Cally:
I thought you mistrusted instinct?

Avon:
I do. So I am probably wrong.

Blake:
I get the distinct feeling I offended Zen's professional pride.

Avon:
It's just a machine, Blake.

Vila:
And he should know.

Gan:
Well, Avon is the expert.

Vila:
That's not what I meant.

Avon:
No. He was calling me a machine. But since he undoubtedly defines himself as a human being, I shall choose to take that as more of a compliment than anything else.

Blake:
on Travis: How do you demonstrate the death of a friend to a man who hasn't got any?

Blake:
Have you got any better ideas?

Avon:
As a matter of fact, no, I haven't.

Blake:
Does that mean you agree?

Avon:
Do I have a choice?

Blake:
Yes.

Avon:
Then I agree.

Vila:
Have you thought of another plan?

Avon:
Yes. I'm going to get some sleep.

Vila:
How can you sleep with all this happening?

Avon:
With all what happening? Blake is sitting up in a tree, Travis is sitting up in another tree. Unless they're planning to throw nuts at one another, I don't see much of a fight developing before it gets light.

Gan:
You're never involved, are you Avon? You ever cared for anyone?

Vila:
Except yourself?

Avon:
I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or, indeed, why it should be necessary to prove it at all. [Exits]

Vila:
Was that an insult or did I miss something?

Cally:
You missed something.

Avon:
Logic says we're dead.

Blake:
Logic has never defined what dead is.

Blake:
Avalon has started resistance movements in a dozen Federation planets.

Avon:
Another idealist, poor but honest. I shall look forward to our meeting with eager anticipation.

Blake:
Does it support any intelligent life?

Avon:
Does The Liberator? [pause] There are creatures called "Subterrons". they live in caves, quite what that says for their intelligence I really wouldn't know.

Vila (having been volunteered to go down):
Me? Oh, no, wait a minute, it's cold out there and I'm very susceptible to low temperatures. I've got a weak chest!

Avon:
The rest of you's not very impressive.

Jenna:
They don't like humanoids in general and in particular, homo sapiens.

Avon:
That puts their intelligence beyond doubt.

Avon:
I'm finished. Staying with you requires a degree of stupidity of which I no longer feel capable.

Blake:
No, you're just being modest.

(XK-72 has been destroyed by pursuit ships)

Avon:
Say goodbye to one bolthole.

Blake:
That wasn't funny, Avon.

Avon:
It wasn't meant to be.

Vila:
I'm entitled to my opinion.

Avon:
It is your assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.

Vila:
I don't want data, I want to know what's happening.

Zen:
It will be necessary for you to make a personal investigation.

Vila:
Oh, you're a big help. Personal investigation... Personal investigation... The next time Avon wants to make a personal investigation on how you work I shall make a personal point of handing him the instruments. Personally.

Avon:
First sign of trouble, we get out, right?

Jenna:
Goes without saying.

Avon:
I only wish it did.

(Vila fails to remove an explosive collar from Blake's neck)

Vila:
I told you I couldn't do it!

Avon:
I believed you all along.

Vila:
Nobody can open it!

Avon:
I thought you could open anything - that's always been one of your more modest claims.

Jenna:
It could be an injured pilot.

Avon:
It could be a trap.

Gan:
It's not a very good one, then. We're suspicious of it already.

Avon:
The test is not whether you are suspicious but whether you are caught.

Avon:
None of us showed conspicuous intelligence on this occasion.

Vila:
[To Avon] Including yourself, that's two people who think you're wonderful.

Vila:
You're enjoying this, aren't you?

Avon:
Probably.

Cally:
Did she really think you were a god?

Avon:
For a while.

Blake:
How did it feel?

Avon:
Don't you know?

Blake:
Yes. I don't like the responsibility either.

Vila:
Die? I can't do that!

Avon:
I'm afraid you can. It's the one talent we all share, even you.

Orac:
You are carrying weapons. You will remove them.

Blake:
We'd prefer to keep them with us.

Orac:
You will remove them!

Blake:
No.

(Orac fires at the ground in front of them)

Blake:
We will remove them.

Avon:
Can you stand?

Vila:
Why would I want to?

Avon:
[Hands Vila a gunbelt] Put that on.

Vila:
But I can barely stand.

Avon:
Then crawl, but put that on!

Ensor:
I disapprove of weapons.

Blake:
So do I, but I disapprove of dying even more.

(Avon shoots Travis in the hand just as he is about to fire)

Blake:
Good shot, Avon.

Avon:
I was aiming for his head.

[The Crew activate Orac for the first time. He sounds like Ensor]

Blake:
It's exactly as though Ensor were speaking.

Orac:
Surely it is obvious even to the meanest intelligence that during my development I would naturally become endowed with aspects of my creator's personality.

Avon:
The more endearing aspects by the sound of it.

Orac:
Possibly. However similarities between myself and Ensor are entirely superficial. My mental capacity is infinitely greater.

Jenna:
Modest, isn't he?

Orac:
Modesty would be dishonesty.

Vila:
What's wrong with being dishonest?

Orac:
Is that a question?

Vila:
Yes.

Orac:
The question is futile. Were I to say that I am incapable of dishonesty how would you know if I was being dishonest or not?

Blake:
A question for a question. Well, you're capable of evasion, anyway.

Vila:
I think I've heard enough, I don't like him. Orac, be a good junk heap; shut up.

Avon:
(about Blake) He's a crusader. He'll look upon all this as just one more weapon to use against the Federation. And he can't win. You know he can't win. What do you want to be, rich or dead?

Vila:
[to Avon, after he has successfully retrieved the capsule that Blake and Jenna are in] Very delicate. You know, with hands like that and a decent upbringing, you might've made a respectable pickpocket.

Blake:
[Over communicator to Liberator] I'm down and safe. I'm somewhere inside the main complex. Is Vila ready?

Jenna:
[Over communicator] Hold on, just checking. [To Vila] Are you ready?

Vila:
Tell him I've just worked out a completely new strategy. It's called Running away.

Jenna:
[Over communicator] He's ready.

Cally:
They're taking too long.

Avon:
That's the trouble with heroics, they seldom run to schedule.

Jenna:
They'll find it. There's not going to be a sign up there saying This way to the cipher room.

Gan:
They may need help.

Cally:
I think so too.

Avon:
They would have called in.

Jenna:
Avon's right.

Avon:
I usually am.

Jenna:
Hello.

Renor:
Hello, hello, hello!

Vila:
Ah. Jenna, this is Professor Kayn's assistant, his name is -

Renor:
Renor. And I had a feeling this was going to be a good day.

Jenna:
Yes, well, don't let your feelings run away with you.

Renor:
Oh, a sense of humor, too. I love girls with a sense of humor.

Jenna:
Yes, I can see where that would be an advantage. This way, please.

Renor:
Do you believe in love at first sight, Jenna?

Jenna:
Not yet.

Gan:
Do you really believe we could launch that ship?

Avon:
If the people who built that ship did their job properly, I don't see any reason why not. And it does seem that we have a reputation to live up to.

Vila:
You certainly do, Lord Avon. I wonder why she picked on you.

Avon:
Well now, you are hardly the stuff that gods are made of.

Vila:
And you are, I suppose?

Avon:
Apparently.

Avon:
Meegat, I'm sorry you waited so long.

Meegat:
Our waiting brought you.

Avon:
That seems like a poor reward, somehow.