Travis (Blake's 7)

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Travis

Stephen Greif as Travis
Race Human
Gender Male
Portrayed by Stephen Greif and Brian Croucher
First Appearance Seek-Locate-Destroy
Last Appearance Star one
Status Dead
Affiliation Terran Federation

Travis is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series Blake's 7, played by Stephen Greif and Brian Croucher.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Travis was a Space Commander in the Terran Federation. He was known for his extreme brutality and ruthlessness. He rose to fame with the initial capture of Blake, a major resistance figure. In a pattern that would define his career, he found out where Blake's resistance movement was meeting, hid for two days and then ambushed the rebels. When Blake surrendered, Travis simply ordered his men to open fire. During the struggle, Blake wrestled a gun away from a trooper and shot Travis, severely injuring him. A field medic repaired Travis' face and he later had his destroyed left arm replaced with a cybernetic one equipped with a Laseron destroyer. But Travis refused to have cosmetic surgery and remained scarred for life. He began to prefer to be served by mutoids - cybernetically rebuilt humans.

Eventually, his massacres of resistance fighters put him on the brink of dismissial and trial. But Servalan, needing a ruthless officer to pursue Blake, had him assigned to her to "seek, locate and destroy" the resistance figure once and for all. He set several traps for Blake but his efforts were hampered by the Federation's insistance on capturing the Liberator intact. During the attack on Earth Control, Travis threw a grenade that killed Olag Gan.

His continuing failure eventually frustrated Servalan, who had him put on trial for a massacre of civlians (partially to cover up her own misdeeds). However, before the sentence of death could be pronounced, Blake launched an attack on Servalan's headquarters. Travis escaped to pursue Blake on his own while Servalan pursued them both.

Realizing that Blake was seeking Star One, Travis began to seek it himself, frequently crossing swords with both Servalan and Blake. However, in the end, he betrayed the Federation to aliens from Andromeda - a "final act" against humanity. During the struggle at Star One, he was wounded by Blake and then finished off by Avon.

Brian Croucher as Travis
Brian Croucher as Travis

While Travis was ruthless and determined, he did show flashes of humanity. He was extremely loyal to the soldiers who served under him and earned their devotion. But as the series wore on, his paranoia and hatred made him increasingly erratic, culminating in his final betrayal.

Travis was played by Stephen Greif throughout the first series. When Greif proved to be unavailable for series two, the part was taken over by Brian Croucher.

Blake's 7  v  d  e 
Blake's 7 – The Television Series
History of Blake's 7 | List of Blake's 7 episodes | Blake's 7 actors
The Blake's 7 Universe
Terran Federation | Liberator | Scorpio | Planets | Intergalacic War
Roj Blake | Kerr Avon | Vila Restal | Jenna Stannis | Olag Gan | Cally | Zen | Orac | Dayna Mellanby | Del Tarrant | Soolin | Slave | Servalan | Travis