General name for a small fitting piece of mechanism, or an object that is interesting for its ingenuity or novelty rather than its practical use, used by Vila to refer to Avon's detector shield in Trial. Due to this variant meaning, Vila's remark of 'Avon's gadget works!' was regarded by the latter as seeming to lack 'a certain style' as 'the description of a highly sophisticated technical achievement'.
In Seek-Locate-Destroy Travis was told that the only three Starburst class pursuit ships built to date had been assigned to the Galactic 8th Fleet. In Trial, Fleet Warden Samor, one of the arbiters at Travis" court-martial, was noted as rarely being away from his "beloved Galactic 8th Fleet". In Star One the Flagship Galileo reported that the Galactic 8th Fleet could intercept the alien invaders in four hours.
The events in Star One make it clear that Blake's 7 is confined
to our own galaxy, but two statements run counter to this. In Duel,
as Travis watched Liberator's approach, he commented that "the
other patrols have pushed him into this galaxy". In Killer, Blake
talked of the plague on Fosforon going out "to all the galaxies".
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Ro referred to the hyper space ships and their need for monopasium 239 to reach other galaxies. In Star One Avon conjectured that an intergalactic drive may have been developed by the Federation.
Civilian vessel of Outer Planets manufacture. The Ortega was a Mark III cruiser of this class, and Jenna pointed out that such ships had not been built for at least fifty years. Blake noted that Galaxy class cruisers were fitted with communicators, as if this were something unusual. Nine people were aboard the Ortega, although not all of them may have been necessary crew: Rafford was the pilot, Dortmunn the engineer and Grovane the communications officer. Without an ison crystal the ship was required to fly at sublight speeds.
A Federation flagship, reported as being just four hours away from intercepting the alien invaders. Apparently attached to the Galactic 8th Fleet. Presumably named after the scientist and inventor Galilei Galileo (1563-1642)
Federation officer holding the rank of Deputy Commander. He was in charge of security arrangements for the governors" conference on Atlay.
Belkov's computer, and the only thing he trusted. Based on a Federation class Alpha 197 model, Gambit had been extensively modified with parts from other computers, including a number of units from a pleasure planet computer and numerous games. Orac noted that many functions had been added or disconnected at whim, and Gambit contained much redundant circuitry. Vila persuaded it to release a circuit to allow Orac to deduce the games sequence in Belkov's Orbiter. The computer had its own defence system to prevent unauthorised tampering, and killed one of Servalan's troopers. Like Orac, Gambit mirrored some of the logic of its creator and was a skilled games player and strategist. It could communicate vocally, and had been given a female persona. Gambit obeyed the self-destruct sequence issued (with notable sadness) by Belkov, but refused to relinquish control of his Alpha 3 vessel. It did allow him to lock his controls and those of Orbiter's feldon panels onto Cygnus XL.
A scientist working under Dr. Bellfriar on Fosforon. Like his superior, he turned a blind eye to Blake's presence on the base. One of those who entered the autopsy room when Wardin's corpse attacked Dr Wiler, he died after contracting the disease introduced from Wanderer K47. |
The crew were seen to play a number of games, presumably to break the
monotony of long voyages. In Trial Avon and Jenna played a strategy game on a circular table with marker lines radiating out from the centre. Large and small playing pieces were seen, the larger towards the centre.
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In Dawn of the Gods a form of Monopoly was played by the crew,
including Orac. Movement was controlled by dice, and players could acquire
ships and property: Vila had a shuttle, Avon a battle fleet, and Dayna a
hotel on Space City. The ultimate goal was apparently control of the galaxy.
Orac reminded Vila of Rule 10, that a player on a penal colony could stay
there for two turns, but on the third had to pay a 10,000 credit fine and
leave the colony.
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In Children of Auron Avon and Tarrant were seen playing a game whi#h
utilised a triangular board marked out in triangles. The playing pieces -
red, blue, yellow and white in colour - were pyramidal. This game or one
very like it was seen again in Sarcophagus, where Avon beat Vila, and
also much earlier on Goth where Jenna let Gola win. In this latter case it
appeared to be a game native to Goth, and the only pieces seen were red and
black.
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In Terminal the same Monopoly-like game was played between Dayna and
Cally, and Vila claimed to play it to Galactic Master level. At least some
computer moderation was apparently involved. Cally beat Dayna in 9,721 moves
and promptly asked for another game.
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In Power, the Hommiks of Xenon apparently played a three dimensional
game similar to noughts and crosses. Gunn-Sar cheated by removing pieces when
no one was watching.
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In Warlord Soolin, Dayna and Vila were seen playing a game involving
the placement of coloured balls in transparent cylinders. The balls were
variously red, green and white, and Soolin was apparently red.
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Gan was first seen unstrapping himself from his seat after the London
left Earth. He helped Vila in his attempts to distract the guards while
Blake gained access to the ship's service tunnels, and persuaded the guard to
open the exit door from the prisoners" quarters. He was the first of the
prisoners ferried on the London to walk out onto the surface of Cygnus
Alpha, which seemed to impress Kara. He played the part of the prisoner
chosen by Vargas" followers as a sacrifice in Blake's escape attempt. He was
first heard to be addressed by his full name by Zen in Time Squad.
| In Cygnus Alpha |
Very few details of Gan's past were revealed. In Time Squad he told
Jenna that he had killed the security guard who had killed his "woman" and
was subsequently accused of murder: he seemed to resent this on the basis
that the guard had been armed whilst he himself had not. He later revealed
that he had been fitted with a limiter implant to prevent him killing. He
could threaten easily enough, however, as he showed whilst on the
London, and could handle a weapon with no problems. In Time
Squad he tried, but failed, to overcome the restraints imposed by the
limiter as one of the reawakened guardians attacked Jenna. All that is known
about the fitting of the limiter was that it occurred before he boarded the
London but presumably after his killing the guard. This killing was
probably, but may not have been, the reason why he was sentenced to Cygnus
Alpha.
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Known relatives: None, except for his unnamed partner. Bodycount: Unique amongst the crew, Gan never killed anyone, although he tried to overcome the limiter as noted above.
| In Breakdown |
In Breakdown |
Significant brawls: In hand-to-hand fighting he acquitted himself well,
sometimes against considerable odds. He forced a guard on the London
to open the door of the prison compartment, and later dealt with two more
guards single-handed; he threw down Vargas and Laran on Cygnus Alpha, but
might have been killed but for a warning from Kara; the android Avalon,
however, proved more than a match for his strength; he took on three
Scavengers in Deliverance, and three Space World guards in
Redemption. When his limiter malfunctioned in Breakdown he
attacked Jenna and needed to be restrained by Blake and Avon together. Later
in the episode he attacked Cally, then Avon.
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Places visited: Cygnus Alpha, Centero, UP-Duel (where he was the first to see Sinofar and Giroc), Cephlon, Space World, Space City, UP-Weapon, Horizon and Earth - a total of just 9 planets/space stations.
Significant injuries: He was injured by the programmed guardians in Time Squad, burnt his hand trying to repair the Liberator in Redemption, treated with the Alta's hand-held pain-inflicting device later in the episode, and rendered unconscious in Horizon, requiring two darts to knock him out. He was also the first person seen to use the first aid kit on the flight deck, treating Jenna after she was injured by one of the programmed guardians.
His immense strength came in useful in Cygnus Alpha, holding the church door shut against Vargas" followers as he, Blake and Vila tried to escape; in Seek-Locate-Destroy, when he ripped the cypher machine free of its housing; in subduing the android Avalon in Project Avalon (with the aid of Blake, Jenna and Vila); in escaping from the church cellar in Pressure Point, and opening the door to Control in the same episode.
In his own words, Gan followed Blake because "I need people I can rely on" (Time Squad), and his loyalty, whilst strong, was not unswerving: he was not prepared to die for Blake's cause, and with the others only agreed to go ahead with the attack on Control so long as there was a chance of success. He was less than happy with Blake's plan to enlist the help of the Terra Nostra, objecting on moral grounds. On two different occasions he was seen to place instant but misguided trust in young women, in Project Avalon and Pressure Point. In Horizon he was seen to have difficulties learning how to operate the teleport, and largely blamed himself, but he was not entirely without technical expertise. He was the most tolerant of Vila out of the rest of the crew, but still found him irritating at times.
In Weapon |
His last words, as he held up a collapsing doorway in the bunker where
Control was supposedly housed, were: "I'm not worth dying for." Vila, in
Trial, described him as "straightforward".
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