Scorpio (Blake's 7)
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| Scorpio | |
|---|---|
 Scorpio, a Wanderer-class transport |
|
| First appearance | "Rescue" |
| Last appearance | "Blake" |
| Fate | Destroyed in episode "Blake" |
| General Characteristics | |
| Defences | Minimal armor plating |
| Propulsion | Experimental photonic drive |
The Scorpio is a spaceship featured throughout the fourth season of the British science fiction television series Blake's 7.
Originally, the ship was owned by an (alleged) salvager named Dorian, who had a base on the planet Xenon. Dorian rescued the crew of the recently destroyed starship Liberator when they were left stranded on the planet Terminal. However, the Liberator crew later killed Dorian in self-defence when he revealed his true intention was to feed them to a living entity known as Gestalt that inhabited a room deep in his underground base (by doing this, the Gestalt entity then enabled Dorian to cleanse himself of "age and appetite" and remain perpetually youthful, a homage to The Picture of Dorian Gray). The Liberator crew then took over the Xenon base and the Scorpio starship for their own purposes.
As stated by Tarrant, the ship was an early Mk IV "Wanderer-class" planet-hopper used by Dorian as a salvage vessel, but was originally a freighter. The Scorpio was docked in an underground silo within the Xenon Base when it was not in use. Unlike the Liberator, which outmatched the Terran Federation's finest warships, the Scorpio was initially disadvantaged in almost every way conceivable compared to the Federation's ships. It was slow, ungainly and had no weaponry. In the episode "Star Drive", however, the Scorpio was greatly enhanced after being fitted with a new, experimental "Mk II" model of the "Photonic Drive" developed by Doctor Plaxton. This increased the ship's speed to the equivalent of Time Distort 15 but in real time (i.e. - without the need for the ship to move into a "time-distorted" dimension), which technically made the Scorpio even faster than the Liberator had been (and assumingly now the fastest ship in the galaxy). Furthermore, the "Photonic Drive" was powered by light rather than plasma, making it even more superior. However, retreat was always the order of the day whenever the crew faced the Federation, as the ship was better equipped to flee than to fight.
Whilst he owned the ship, Dorian had begun work on a teleport system but he had never been able to complete it due to lack of knowledge and materials. Avon and Orac were later able to complete it with a dynamon crystal.
The ship was shot down in orbit of the planet Gauda Prime and destroyed upon crash-landing during the events of the series' final episode "Blake". The crew escaped by teleporting out, apart from Tarrant who was seriously injured by the crash, but survived. The crew (including Tarrant) were apparently later slaughtered by Federation troops. It is still unknown what happened to Orac.
The ship's interior was designed by Roger Cann using the panelling that had previously adorned the set of the Heart of Gold in the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy TV series, and the model was designed by Jim Francis.
[edit] Slave
| Slave | |
|---|---|
| Race | Computer |
| Gender | None |
| Portrayed by | Peter Tuddenham |
| First Appearance | Rescue |
| Last Appearance | Blake |
| Affiliation | Resistance |
Slave was the intelligent computer on the Scorpio, voiced by Peter Tuddenham.
Slave was designed and built by Dorian and programmed with an aloof and obsequiously servile personality, which occasionally irritated the crew. It was constantly apologising for its failings, real or perceived. It addressed Dorian and later Avon as "Master", and the rest of the crew as "Sir" or "Madam". It was far less capable, competent and dynamic than Zen, prone to panic in emergency situations.
In the series finale, when the Scorpio crashed on Gauda Prime, Slave, like Zen before it, demonstrated some unseen characteristics in its last moments. Audiences were surprised by its momentary humanity as it addressed Tarrant by name, expressing hope that the human would survive.
| Blake's 7 |
|---|
| 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 | Intergalactic War |
| Roj Blake | Kerr Avon | Vila Restal | Jenna Stannis | Olag Gan | Cally | Zen | Orac | Dayna Mellanby | Del Tarrant | Soolin | Slave | Servalan | Travis |
