Sevencyclopaedia - M

MORPHENNIEL

When Avon returned to the Liberator after the Intergalactic War, Zen informed him that Jenna was on a neutral cargo ship headed towards Morphenniel. No more was heard of Jenna until Blake told Tarrant of her death on Gauda Prime.

MOUNTIES

Nickname for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). That force was founded in 1873 AD as the North-West Mounted Police, to bring the authority of the new Dominion of Canada to the latter's newly acquired North-West Territories. The NWMP was given the 'Royal' prefix in 1904 by King Edward VII; and, in February 1920, it absorbed the Dominion Police, then responsible for policing in eastern Canada, was renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and became Canada's national police force.

On Earth in the twentieth century, the 'Mounties' became the one of the most distinctive Canadian institutions, recognisable due to their ceremonial uniform, particularly the red jacket and wide, flat-brimmed Stetson hat. The red jacket, based on the standard British military pattern, was used to differentiate the NWMP from the blue US military uniforms of that period.

It appears from Orbit that this distinctive red jacket ensured the continuing survival of the 'Mountie' nickname. In the episode, Vila speculated that using the Tachyon Funnel against the Federation, they could have 'whatever we want'. Among the things he wanted were a bodyguard of 'a thousand handpicked virgins in red fur uniforms', whom he would call 'Vila's Royal Mounties'.

See also this link to the RCMP's official website: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

MOVO

Father of Ro, who ruled Horizon before Ro was installed as the Federation's puppet. Possibly trained by the Federation's Colonial Service, Movo proved recalcitrant and was personally killed by the Kommissar. Ro believed he had died in an accident, but Cally telepathically told him the truth whilst under interrogation. She had obtained this information from Orac.

MULLER

Genius in the field of cybernetics, taught at an early age by Ensor. This tuition instilled the driven pace at which Muller conducted his work for the robot development cartel on Pharos. He created an android remarkable for its kind, which could influence circuitry over a distance, was "as powerful as Orac" (according to Avon) but had the capacity to enslave all of humanity. Restraining circuits were needed and built, but the android killed Muller before they were fitted, ripping off its creator's head to pose as Muller. By some means unspecified, the android was able to effect facial movement and speech in the head.

A woman named Vena came to Xenon some time before Muller: Avon described her relationship with Muller as "recreational". She may have been Muller's wife, though this was never explicitly stated - Tarrant referred to her as "Muller's lady".

See also ANDROIDS.

MUSIC

Music was heard in a few episodes.

In The Way Back the suppressent-dosed citizens of the dome city on Earth tottered through the corridors to the sound of quiet background muzak. The duty officer at the Public Records Computer was seen listening to something rather livelier, but unheard since he was wearing headphones and a pair of tinted spectacles that might have been video accompaniment of some sort (glasses like these were also worn by Gan in The Web, Servalan in Project Avalon, and Cally in Deliverance).

In Cygnus Alpha monastic-style chanting was heard as Blake entered the church. A gong was sounded prior to the planned sacrifice of Gan.

In Bounty President Sarkoff played two (very scratchy) 20th Century records, Singing The Blues by Tommy Steele and Blow The Wind Southerly by Kathleen Ferrier.

In Deliverance Cally appeared to enjoy listening to something which can only be described as tasteless: she was wearing a pair of tinted spectacles as noted above.

In The Keeper a lyre-like instrument was played, as were drums.

In Sarcophagus both Dayna and her menial predecessor played an electronic lyre-like instrument. Dayna also sang a short song, possibly of her own composition, as follows: I left my world to wander in this endless midnight sky, For space is just a starry night where no suns ever rise. No other suggestion of her interest in music appeared in any other episode.

In Moloch one of the prisoners from Kalkos was heard playing a harmonica on the T-16 transporter, and later on Sardos, where he provided accompaniment to a song from his colleagues which went as follows:

It's great to be free;
It's great to be free;
It's great to be free from the law....
It's great to be free,
And we all agree...
We're not going back any more.

In Gold there is continual background muzak on board the Space Princess.

MUTANTS

When Blake investigated the mining plant on Asteroid P-K118, Vila suggested that mutants might be present down there. Servalan later transmitted a signal on "pre-revised cyphers" saying: "Behold the mutants shall wither". The destination of this transmission was unspecified.

MUTOIDS

Travis specifically requested mutoids to crew his ships in Seek-Locate-Destroy, and two were seen on Travis' command ship in Duel, one male, the other female with her previous name given as Keera. These were the first mutoids seen in any episode. At least 11 mutoids were seen on UP-Project Avalon, only two discernibly male.

Keera

This is from Project Avalon, it might be Glynis Barber

Travis entered the Control complex on Earth with two female mutoids. After his escape in Trial he was given a ship by Servalan with a mutoid replacement crew (though when next seen, on Exbar, he was accompanied by Crimos). Three female mutoids accompanied Servalan to Exbar.

Servalan's cruiser in the 3rd Season usually had four mutoids present on the command deck. Jarvik crewed three pursuit ships with mutoids when he planned his attack on the Liberator, being unwilling to let men die in what he knew would be a suicide assault. Servalan's aide on Sardos was a mutoid, killed by Lector.

Mutoids appeared only once in the 4th Season, again accompanying Servalan on her visit to Bucol-2. Avon and Soolin each shot one, the third apparently left with the ship. All three were female, and of a "model" not seen in previous episodes. The earlier model had a tall, black headpiece which may have contained communication equipment; the later model had blonde wigs.

Travis expressed a preference for mutoids, citing their "high bionic rebuild" as making them "more reliable, less likely to let emotion interfere with judgement or duty". Keera and the mutoid that attacked one of the Subterrons working with Avalon both exhibited exceptional physical strength. Other mutoids on UP-Project Avalon responded spontaneously to a transmitted signal, suggesting implanted receivers being a (possibly standard) fitment. The mutoids given to Travis in Trial were ordered to be "blanked" and programmed to respond to the first person to use the trigger word "outlaw".

In Hostage

Mutoids used blood serum to supply their nutritional needs, a process described by Keera as "a functional convenience". Serum bottles were housed in a chest unit. Keera was also fitted with a hypodermic device for extracting blood, mounted on her right wrist. She attempted to use it on Jenna, but was ordered to stop by Travis. Opponents of modification apparently referred to mutoids as "vampires".

In Volcano

Mutoids claimed to have no memory of their past lives, and believed that this information was not held on any computer record. Travis, however, did manage to obtain information on Keera from the Central Computers.

Rashel in Weapon noted that a disobedient slave could be modified, possibly a reference to mutoid modification. Travis conjectured in Duel that a mutoid dismissed the service would probably cease to exist, although there seems no obvious reason why such a mutoid could not simply be reprogrammed (though this would, in a sense, be ceasing to exist for the dismissed personality). Keera at least held an officer's rank and was threatened with a court-martial.

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