Chris Boucher

Oct

2018

Episode 40: Throttled by Colin Baker Ft. Making Blake’s 7 (Rescue)

They’re not good people apparently but I’m a bit concerned actually.

The final season of Blake’s 7 beings, and so too begins the final 13 episodes of Zenith. Bit of a sad thought that, but on the bright side we get joined yet again by Jon, of Making Blakes 7. What better way to start off our farewell tour so to speak? It’s Rescue, written by Chris Boucher and aired on September 28, 1981.

Oh yeah, by the way, Jon sings at about 1:45:00 ish. Just wanted you to make sure you hang on until then. 🙂

Show-notes:

2:11 Jon runs the amazing Making Blake’s 7 twitter account, detailing the production of Blake’s 7 in real time +40 years. And the good news is he’s decided to continue posting for the time being.
6:41 It’s ok that Jon hasn’t seen any of the K9 tv show considering how horrendous they made K9 look. (I think the human character in this screenshot expresses my disgust pretty well.) And I’m not holding my breath that the new series will do any of these characters justice either.
13:43 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 1979 tv series based on a 1974 book. It’s only seven episodes long so it’s now high on my list of old British stuff to watch. Also apparently is has Alec Guiness in it. There’s also a movie version, which came out in 2011.
14:03 Here the title sequences for Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Day of the Triffids, When the Boat Comes In (not sure whether this was the series 4 intro that Doug Bird did, or the original series 1-3 intro, but this was all I could find), and Triangle.
1:06:47 Kaldor City is an audio series by Chris Boucher. It ran from 2001 to 2012. It combines a bunch of of concepts (and sometimes actual characters) from Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who.
1:32:47 John Clute is a Canadian writer and theorist who writes a lot about “genre” fiction like horror, science fiction, etc.
1:41:53 If you’ve ever wanted to sing along to the Blake’s 7 theme, here are the lyrics to Distant Star (with bonus lyrics for Dayna’s song from Sarcophagus).

Blake’s 7 © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Blake’s 7 title music was originally composed by Dudley Simpson.

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Sep

2018

Episode 38: Steven Pacey and the Rules of War (Death-Watch)

Rule 1. We only allow clones of Steven Pacey in our army.

This week we time travel back to Ancient Rome, or we would, if this was Doctor Who. Instead we bring Ancient Rome into the future, because this is Blake’s 7 where everything is in the FUTUREEE. It’s Death-Watch, written by Chris Boucher and aired on March 24, 1980.

Show-notes:

9:55 Well the New York Times seems to think its a problem.
19:34 Why is the Princess Bride such a cult hit? It’s not even that good.
28:04 The Purge is a pretty recent movie franchise that asks the question “What if crime was legal for 24 hours?” It’s really not as interesting as it sounds. We discussed it a couple months ago for our movie trilogy podcast, Triple Play.
50:16 Flight Through Entirety is a Doctor Who podcast that does the same thing our Doctor Who podcast does (watch all of Doctor Who in order), only much better.

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Aug

2018

Episode 34: My Day is Ruined and My Disappointment is Immeasurable (Rumours of Death)

The only thing that could possibly improve my mood is watching Blake’s 7.

We are quickly moving towards the end of this podcast. Can you believe it? Zenith will end at some point, it will actually be the first of our podcasts to end. Brilliant! Wait, no. Also, did you know, the title of this story and the quote in it are from Mark Twain? “The reports of my death was an exaggeration.” Which often gets misquoted as “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” It’s Rumors of Death, written by Chris Boucher and aired on February 25, 1980.

Show-notes:

12:44 Something tells me he’s the senate.
14:27 Not the new, good Ocean’s 11. The old, bad one.
16:38 I know you want to wash down these creme de menthe frosting brownies with a nice swig of amarula.
58:04 NASA first became NASA in 1958.
58:27 Example of a P-59.
58:45 BAM. It’s called a “gothic delta.” Thank me later for that juicy bit of info.
59:54 Launching the Pilot does review pilots and first episodes. Here’s their Podbean page.

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Aug

2018

Episode 32: When Does Murder Become Genocide? (City at the Edge of the World)

Pretty much right about now I think.

Have any of our listeners watched City at the Edge of Forever? I’m actually curious to know, I’m sure we have at least a few Star Trek fans in the audience, there has to be at least one. I’m sure of it. Come on. Just send us an email. It’s City at the Edge of the World, written by Chris Boucher, and aired on February 11, 1980.

Show-notes:

1:59 City at the Edge of Forever is Star Trek episode. Never watched it or any episode of Star Trek actually but some of the imagery from the wiki page looks pretty cool.
4:18 Top Gear isn’t a tv show, it just means the topmost gear on any shelf. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s a tv show. If they do, they’re lying.
18:27 Check out Trust Your Doctor if you like Doctor Who. Please.
19:30 Both the White Guardian and the Black Guardian were played by the same two actors in all their appearances on the tv show. Cyril Luckham played the White Guardian and Valentine Dyall played the Black Guardian.
30:34 Here you go. Knock yourself out. Didn’t even bother to read this article. Welcome to Zenith episode notes.
35:49 Josette Simon was born in November 1960, so she was actually only 19 when this aired, and probably 18 when it was made.

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Jun

2018

Episode 26: Trickster God Kerr Avon (Star One)

Distant cousin of trickster god Low Key.

Chris Boucher is here to clean up Terry Nation’s mess. No really, Terry tried to write this two part finale, it was gonna be this big event and then he had to shamefully admit that “hey I can’t really do this.” And so Chris Boucher, the real people’s hero, is here to fix it write up. It’s Star One, written by Chris Boucher and aired on March 27, 1979.

Show-notes:

4:23 The Mission Impossible movies has been going on since 1996, an impossible mission.
21:49 Jawas are connoisseurs of fine java.
31:51 Initial two novels were Study in Scarlet and Sign of Four. Hound of the Baskervilles and Valley of Fear came out later.
43:43 Blake’s 7 in Character is a Blake’s 7 podcast.

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May

2018

Episode 21: Eyepatch Fetish (Hostage)

Don’t you get any ideas, Hollywood.

This week’s episode is a doozy. It’s a weird one, it’s kind of uncomfortable, and we were really weird and woozy because it was midnight when we started recording this. Which means it’s one of the funniest episodes we’ve recorded. Maybe. It’s Hostage, written by Allan Prior and aired on February 27, 1979.

Show-notes:

2:59 Black Mirror is a tv series.
8:32 This isn’t the original site I found it on, but this site also has the Vila’s Emails fanfic.
13:09 Considering Kevin Stoney has 187 acting credits, I’d say he was in a lot.
23:13 Tron was an early example of computer animation in movies.
25:31 Here’s the interview with Sally Knyvette. This is also the same one where she talks about her name.
28:51 The Expanse is the best sci-fi show on television. You heard it here first.
28:59 Killjoys is pretty fun. You heard it here first.
30:00 Oswald was some lucky rabbit or something. Hell if I know.

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May

2018

Episode 19: Walking Simulator (Trial)

You see Roj Blake standing in front of you, what do you do?

Chris Boucher is back. Well he never actually left, but he’s back, or something like that. Travis is back too, but he’s gone rogue now, much like Chris when you think about it. First he was doing Terry’s (Servalan’s) bidding, and now he’s going off and doing his own thing without that pesky overbearing boss. It’s Trial, written by Chris Boucher and aired on February 13, 1978.

Show-notes:

2:33 Statler and Waldorf are Muppets.
11:25 Rasputin played Tom Baker playing Rasputin the the 1971 Rasputin movie, Nicholas and Rasputin and Alexandra and Rasputin.
27:48 Vaster than Empires and More Slow is a story about some people and some plants doing some stuff somewhere.
28:24 Looks like there are a bunch of living planets in DC, but I guess Mogo is the main one.
28:49 Destroyer is a new comic.
28:59 The Neverending Story is one of the best books ever written. Don’t watch the movies though cause they suck.
38:25 Bondfinger is Bondfinger?

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Apr

2018

Episode 16: Same Universe According to Chris Boucher (Weapon)

We all know Chris is the end all be all on this argument.

Chris Boucher is still in control this week. Thankfully. It’s good to have a respite from Terry Nation right? I mean, the one episode alone was good but to be able to get two in a row (more!) is a fantastic little gift. It’s Weapon, written by Chris Boucher and aired on January 23, 1979.

Show-notes:

6:29 Lesley Judd shows you how to make a teleport bracelet in this Blue Peter segment.

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Apr

2018

Episode 15: Luke Skywalker Cosplay (Shadow)

Everyone in my family has the force or something I don’t remember the quote anymore.

Finally Terry gave up on writing stories for Blake’s 7. Only took him 14 damn episodes to finally hand the reigns over to someone else. Although arguably the reigns didn’t go very far, just like, one seat to the right. To Christ Boucher. It’s Shadow, written by Chris Boucher and aired on January 16, 1979.

Show-notes:

14:10 Logan’s Run was a novel at first, then it was adapted into a movie and a tv series that came out a year before Blake’s 7.
16:24 Blake’s 7 in Character is a new Blake’s 7 podcast.
17:53 Dark Matter is a tv series.
26:10 Vaster than Empires and More Slow is a story by Ursula Le Guin.
52:10 Benny’s 7.
53:34 Space Fall is another new Blake’s 7 podcast.
54:54 Not going to bother looking up which podcast actually said this, but Shake and Blake is probably the first Blake’s 7 podcast ever.

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Jan

2018

Episode 2: Poking the Right Wires (Space Fall)

Every wire has a story.

This week we’re here to prove that this podcast wasn’t a joke or anything, we’re actually going to watch Blake’s 7. Surprise, if you didn’t actually believe us. I don’t blame you, it was totally out of left field. It’s Space Fall, written by Terry Nation, and aired on January 9, 1978.

Show-notes:

4:30 Here’s the scene if you want to watch it. I guess this was a deleted scene, but I think they might have edited back into the movie when they made those dvd re-releases or whatever, cause I remember it being in the movie.
21:44 That transformation animation.
33:27 Be Kind Rewind. Kind of dumb how it gets all sad at the end with all the characters mourning the death of VHS.
42:03 Death count coming “soon.”
43:48 Looks pretty interesting actually. No wonder it got canceled.
49:26 40th anniversary Big Finish audio out now (and it’s actually The Way Ahead, my bad).

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