We were contacted recently by Gianluca Gianfaldoni, the talented modeller whose diorama of Jeff Hawke, Fortuna and the HOPE starship, was featured in one of our posts last year. He has told us that he intends to make another Hawke model in the near future , but in the meantime has sent us some pictures of his latest creation. It features a subject from another well-known British sci-fi series, namely BLAKE’S 7 and is a beautifully executed model of the LIBERATOR, the alien craft which Blake, Avon and Jenna, capture and then commandeer for themselves.
Gianluca tells me that the model was scratchbuilt mainly from everyday objects including a beach-toy, lipstick cases, pins and scrap plastic, together with some plastic-card and modelling putty. The photos below show how such objects are transformed by a master-modeller, into an iconic spaceship.
We eagerly await his next Hawke creation. Skipper Prossitt
The LIBERATOR from Blake’s 7, by Gianluca GianfaldoniThe LIBERATOR – showing view from the side-front
There is one story in the Hawke series that has always stood out as being entirely different from the rest. UNQUIET ISLAND is exceptional in that it is entirely Earthbound, and contains nothing of aliens, supernatural forces or futuristic inventions which are the usual fare of all the other tales. It is a type of story that one would more usually associate with Modesty Blaise or James bond and has no science fiction aspects about it whatsoever. It fact there are slight pre-echoes of Ian Fleming’s Thunderball novel of 1961 which concerns the underwater retrieval of two atomic bombs.
The experimental rocket lies on the sea bed off the Scottish coast
The narrative is quite straightforward and concerns the testing, loss and retrieval of an experimental rocket , and a thwarted attempt by the Soviets to take possession of it. As the story proceeds we continually expect some Deus-ex-machina in the form of an alien craft to suddenly sweep the story into a new direction – but it never happens.
UNQUIET ISLAND makes a striking contrast with SANCTUARY , which immediately precedes it and which really sets the tone for all the subsequent stories and first lays out that Galactic landscape with its cast of characters that was to become so familiar to readers as the years went by.
Jeff, Mac and Laura meet Sheena on the hills of Moraig
I spoke to Sydney about UNQUIET ISLAND and he pointed out that it was no co-incidence that it was the first script that Willie Patterson, his future collaborator, had written on his own.
Sanctuary had been a collaborative affair, and had shown us the first glimpse of that “tipping-point” technique which was to become such a trademark of the Hawke tales.
Sydney considers that UNQUIET ISLAND can be seen as Willie taking stock of the Hawke universe , setting the characters on a firm foundation and exploring their relationships before sending them out into the unknown in the following stories.
There is more characterization in UNQUIET ISLAND and the dramatis personae are more sharply brought into focus. They are seen in everyday situations and for the first time the interplay between them is more fully explored. They appear here to be more rounded and believable . Even the two villains are developed to some extent, especially the fishing boat captain who, while he is keen enough for the pay from his foreign masters, balks at the prospect of losing his beloved boat.
Jeff, Laura and Mac become more three-dimensional in UNQUIET ISLAND, a development which continues into future stories. Skipper Prossitt
We were contacted recently by Gianluca Gianfaldoni, the talented modeller whose diorama of Jeff Hawke, Fortuna and the HOPE starship, was featured in one of our posts last year. He has told us that he intends to make another Hawke model in the near future , but in the meantime has sent us some pictures of his latest creation. It features a subject from another well-known British sci-fi series, namely BLAKE’S 7 and is a beautifully executed model of the LIBERATOR, the alien craft which Blake, Avon and Jenna, capture and then commandeer for themselves.
