Ven Jarvik

Ven Jarvik

Ven Jarvik is the secondary antagonist of the Blake's 7 episode "The Harvest of Kairos".

He was portrayed by the late Andrew Burt.

Biography

Jarvik was once a Terran Federation officer and had been Tarrant's captain. However, he ended up leaving the military, disgusted at their over-reliance on computer predictions for strategy rather than human instinct, and ended up working as a construction work on Servalan's command ship. He was heard boasting that he could take the Liberator with just three ships, prompting Servalan to have him brought to the bridge to witness her destroying the Liberator in an ambush. Instead, he forcibly kissed her and then watched smugly as the Liberator avoided the ambush completely: Servalan had set the ambush on what the computers decided was the Liberator's obvious route, only for Tarrant to second guess her and take a different route.

Jarvik correctly predicted what Tarrant's next move would be: To steal the kairopan shipment lifting off from the planet Kairos, which was only safe for human life for a short period every fifteen years, with no-one who remained on the planet outside the window having survived. Servalan gave him a chance to prove his skill, making him an acting major and charging him with protecting the shipment and capturing the Liberator. She also instructed him to treat her again in the manner he had treated her on the command deck, taking him as a lover.

After consulting with Captain Shad, in command of the escort shuttle, Jarvik had his three ships attack the Liberator: All were destroyed but this had been Jarvik's plan all along, and he had crewed them with Mutoids because he didn't want to see men die. He had a group of guards waiting in ambush in the hold where the shipment was, who almost succeeded in capturing the Liberator crew but were defeated by Avon. He then had Shad and more troopers hiding inside the actual crates, who emerged on board the Liberator and quickly subdued the surprised crew. Jarvik rejected an offer to go aboard to gloat, saying he took no pleasure in it.

Having turned down command of the Liberator, Jarvik was offered a place at Servalan's side if he could defeat Tarrant one-on-one: The Liberator crew had been stranded on Kairos and he was sent down to take their teleport bracelets. Jarvik was aware of the reason that no one survived on the planet: Giant insects would attack and kill anyone who had kairopan on them or had even touched it. He saved Dayna from one of them, then challenged Tarrant to a knife fight, defeating him and holding him at knife point. Tarrant surrendered his bracelet, as did Avon, Vila and Cally, but Dayna insisted on fighting Jarvik for hers. During the fight, another insect approached and Jarvik had the Liberator teleport them both aboard.

The ship's former crew escaped Kairos in a landing module, which Avon had rigged so the Liberator's sensors would see it as a powerful alien spacecraft. Jarvik was not fooled by the deception but Servalan was and gave the order to evacuate, also telling Shad to kill Dayna. While remonstrating with Servalan, Jarvik stepped between them as Shad fired and was accidentally killed.