Belkov

Belkov is the main antagonist of the Blake's 7 episode "Games".

He was portrayed by the late Stratford John, who also played Monarch in Doctor Who.

Biography

Belkov was the head of the Terran Federation's mining operation on Mecron-2, obtaining the precious feldon crystals. Since the crystals were sacred to the natives, he managed to convince them he had permission from their gods, by arranging to have anyone other than him who tried to wear a necklace made of the crystals killed by a concealed laser. He was secretly hiding away most of the crystals, storing them on board his Orbiter satellite. He was also a keen game player, competing against his computer Gambit, and had set up a series of lethal games and tests on board the Orbiter. The Scorpio crew's ally Gerren attempted to pass the first test, in which the player had to try and outshoot an image of themself, but ended up retreating after he was injured and his two associates killed.

Servalan arrived on the planet in her guise as Commissioner Sleer but Belkov disrupted her investigations, including tricking her troopers into a conflict with the natives by having them trespass on sacred territory. He began playing all sides against each other: He contacted Scorpio and asked them for transport off planet in return for the crystals, then trapped Tarrant, Dayna and Gerren in a silo and offered to help Servalan capture the crew in return for his freedom and Orac.

Finally, Belkov left the planet in the confusion, organising Gambit to self-destruct in order to destroy the evidence against him. At the same time, the Scorpio crew boarded the Orbiter to take the tests but learned the crystals weren't there and completing the tests would cause the Orbiter to be pulled into a black hole. Gambit refused to release control of Belkov's ship to him before self-destructing so he ordered it to lock his controls and the Orbiter onto the black hole. Scorpio managed to escape but Belkov's ship was apparently pulled in.

Trivia

• Belkov's fate at the end of the episode is somewhat unclear. As scripted, he was meant to order Gambit to lock the controls of the Orbiter onto the black hole, at which point his ship exploded. As broadcast however, his ship was never seen to be destroyed and he instead ordered Gambit to lock his controls and the Orbiter onto the black hole, suggesting that was where he ended up. (This seems to be supported by Vila's later remark that Belkov won't need the crystals where he's gone.)