When Vila Met Gan

Blake's 7: The Early Years #1

by Ben Aaronovitch

For detailed review and product information, see which includes details and reviews of this title. This is a one hour audio CD, US consumers should be sure they are getting the licensed pressing of the audio.

Genres: Science Fiction

1 pages, Audio CD

First published June 2, 2008

About the author

Ben Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series.

Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently enjoyed a trilogy of Blake’s 7 audio adventures (Rebel/Traitor/Liberator) I was keen to explore this series of prequels to the programme, entitled, “The Early Years.” “Rebel” was written by Ben Aaronovitch and he also writes the first in this series: “When Vila Met Gan.”

Although I am sure that the actor who played Vila in the audio trilogy is very good, he never worked for me and so I was delighted to find that Michael Keating returns to his role as my favourite Blake’s 7 character – the cowardly thief, Vila Restal. Owen Aaronivitch plays the strong man, Olag Gan and plays him well (as he also did in the trilogy).

This audio drama shows, through the reminiscences of the characters, how Vila and Gan met on Earth. Aaronovitch keeps very much to the alternative view of the show that he wrote in the trilogy, so there are some minor differences (the crew of the Liberator use shuttles, rather than teleportation, for example. I have always found Aaronovitch to be, very much, a London author and he does indeed place the characters in a future London (even Walthamstow gets a name check!) and so this is a strange version of the domed city we see in the television series; although people do live according to their status (Alpha’s, Beta’s etc) and they live on ‘tiers’ so it works.

It is 2230AD and Blake is on posters and trying for political power, which is a nice name check. Meanwhile, Vila, of course, is only interested in making a living from other people’s property and Gan has his eye on a beautiful woman. The only problem is that she is an Alpha and her family would never accept Gan as a suitor. This episode shows the pair teaming up to help Gan achieve success in love and shows Vila’s complicated nature perfectly. First aired in 2010, this is great fun to listen to. The next episode, “Point of No Return,” features Travis as the main character.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit surprised when I came across in the LA County Overdrive Library. Blakes 7 was a low budget cult British SF series from the 80's. It was a bit like the UK version of Firefly, although it ran for over 50 episodes. If you come across it anywhere on a streaming service it's well worth watching. DVD releases outside the UK are pricey.

This is a very short radio play that's actually a prequel story to the TV series. It's how Vila (the thief) and Gan (the muscle) first met up and became best buddies. They are a bit like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser in space. Supplementing the audio play are some interviews with the author and other people connected with this production and the TV series.

There are probably more in this series so I will have to see if I can track them down. As it's short it's worth a listen even if you're not familiar with the TV series. There is some typical Aaronovitch humor in the dialog that people may enjoy.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Largely conversational and barely a plot but surprisingly humorous. It is of course wonderful to hear Michael Keating as Vila.

After a night on the town we join the pair as they make their way back to the liberator, which starts this story after their first meeting. Even when it flashes back to (presumably) their first meeting, we join them mid discussion. Vila explains his motivation for thievery and Gan admits that he was sent to collect on a debt that Vila owed. The conversation reveals the beginnings of their partnership.

It has been I think 3 years since I last watched Blake's 7 so my recall of the details is going to be sketchy, but I feel fairly certain that the ship commandeered by Blake and company was renamed by them to the Liberator. In this story, which is obviously set before the beginning of the TV series, the characters are already referring to the ship as Liberator which I think may be in error.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly fluffy little romp, but a nice bit of backstory for the characters of Vila and Gan. It's nice to hear Michael Keating back in the role of Vila.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of Ben Aaronovitch's Blake's 7 prequel stories -It features the beginning of the unlikely friendship between Vila and Gan. (Michael Keating reprises his role as Vila, however Owen Aaronovitch takes the role of Gan due to the death of actor David Jackson in 2005).

I like the idea of B7 individual cast prequels in general and this one's great fun. It has two time strands - one on board the liberator before they discover teleport and the main flashback to where they meet - Gan (pre brain chip implant) being an enforcer for a criminal boss to whom Vila owes money.

At first things feel a little off - the flashback world too like our own with police and a far greater autonomy than the life under the Federation we see from the series - but it's actually quite clever as the revolution kicks in at the end. The other issue I had to get my head around was the Liberator pre-teleport. However that again works, particularly if Vila never says anything to the others.

Over all I really enjoyed this. Vila, his usual mischievous thieving self is a given. However it was nice to see Gan get some attention. Of all the original cast he seems to be the most overlooked in the audio drama world and it was fun seeing him in love and trying to manipulate Vila. While Owen Aaronovitch didn't quite get the voice down in a few places I thought he did a decent job and Vila and Gan are a great double act so the pairing here worked nicely.

It is a little shorter than usual - 50 minutes only and that includes interviews, highlights from other productions and soundtrack, still a nice addition to the B7 universe.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

===Series 1 Episode 5: When Vila Met Gan===
Vila Restal (gesprochen von Michael Keating, der in der BBC Fernsehserie auch die Rolle des Vila spielte) ist ein Dieb, ein sehr feiger Dieb. Olag Gan ist ein Epsilon, ein genetisch modifizierter Mensch, der einfach nur unglaublich stark ist, sonst aber vollkommen normal ist. Die beide lernen sich ein paar Tage vor den Wahlen kennen, weil Gan für einen Gangsterboss arbeitet und Vila in der Zwickmühle hat. Irgendwann beschließen die beiden, sich zusammenzutun, weil Gan sich in eine Alpha verliebt hat, und diese erobern will. Dafür muss er aber mehr über sie erfahren. Die beiden beschließen in das Haus ihrer Familie einzubrechen und dabei auch noch ein paar Sachen für Gans Chef mitgehen zu lassen. Unruhen und massive Polizeipräsenz wegen Unruhen nach der Wahl, erschweren den beiden ihre Aufgabe massiv.

Blake's 7 war zwischen 1978 und 1981 eine in UK sehr erfolgreiche BBC Science-Fiction Serie. Ausschnitte kann man heute auf youtube sehen (ziemlich trashig aus heutiger Sicht). Die Welt von Blake‘7 jedoch ist das genaue Gegenteil von der ach so heilen amerikanischen Star Trek Welt und damit ein Spiegel unserer heutigen Zeit. Während sich die Amis gerne als Retter der Welt, als die guten ansehen, was sich natürlich auch in Star Trek wiederspiegelt, ist die Föderation von Blake’s 7 ein Spiegel unserer heutigen Zeit. 7 Mächtige Familien und ihre Ergebenen Diener beherrschen die Erde und ihre Kolonien, indem sie eine Pseudodemokratie errichten. Die Bevölkerung ist in Kasten von Alpha bis Gamma gegliedert, ohne wirkliche Aufstiegsmöglichkeiten (auch das kommt bekannt vor). Nun jedoch betritt zum ersten Mal ein Mann die Bühne der Politik, der nicht bestechlich und korrumpierbar ist und der das ändern will: Roj Blake. Das macht den Eliten Angst, man würde Blake wohl heute als radikalen Linken bezeichnen, daher muss er verschwinden und mundtot gemacht werden.

Diese Hörspielserie ist die Vorgeschichte zur Serie Blake’s 7, in der Blake bereits gegen die Föderation rebelliert und mit seiner Gruppe von Geächteten (Lauter Diebe, Schmuggler und Zwielichtige Charaktere) versucht, die Föderation zu stürzen. Blake wird Vila und Gan etwa 5 Jahre später von einem Gefangenplaneten aufgabeln, wovon vor allem Vila nicht sonderlich begeistert ist, denn er war nur ein ehrlicher Dieb und durch Blake’s Idealismus wird er zu einem politisch Verfolgten und kann sich auf keinem Planeten mehr blicken lassen.

Blake’s 7, the early years erzählt in Hörspielform die Vorgeschichte der Hauptfiguren der Serie und wie sie zu dem wurden, was sie in der Serie sind. Die meisten Folgen spielen am Tag der Wahl, die Blake sogar gewinnt, und schildern diesen Tag aus der Sicht der zukünftigen Crewmitglieder.
Auch wenn man die Fernsehserie nicht kennt, sind diese Hörspiele sehr gute Science Fiction Geschichten, deren Reihenfolge prinzipiell vollkommen egal ist. Diese Episode ist die letzte der ersten Staffel, also Episoden 105. Mit jeder neuen Folge bekommt man ein neues Puzzleteil, wie diese Welt funktioniert und nach welchen Regeln hier gespielt wird. Auch wenn in dieser Folge nicht wirklich viel passiert, erfährt man mehr über die Gesellschaftsstrukturen dieser Föderation und zwar aus Sicht der Unterschicht, die sich mit der Armut und dem Elend arrangiert hat und sich ihre Nischen gesucht hat.

Top Sprecher, sehr guter Soundtrack und perfekte Abmischung. Kino für die Ohren, wenn auch die Geschichte an sich eher ein wenig mau ist.