Synopsis:
Tarrant forces Vila to teleport down to a planet which may be called Kezarn. The natives of the planet want Vila’s help, and in return, they promise crystals for the Liberator’s weaponry system. Tarrant’s bullying does not go down well with the others on the Liberator, with Avon even threatening to kill him if he intimidates Vila again.
Having teleported down, Vila instructs Cally to teleport down also. Cally finds a box with Vila’s teleport bracelet on top, but it turns out to be a booby trap. Tarrant is aghast, having felt sure that he could trust the natives. What’s worse is that he’s intimidated Vila so much that he deliberately left a tracer behind which could have shown the crew his location. Tarrant speculates that Vila may have been taken to an ancient ruin which is translated as the City At The Edge of The World.
Vila is escorted by two natives to the ruin where he meets a woman fighter called Kerril. Kerril takes Vila at gunpoint to meet her boss Bayban, known in galactic circles as Bayban The Butcher or Bayban The Berserker. Dismissing Kerril and his other assistant Sherm, Bayban explains to Vila why he has been brought here. Vila is to open a door that can’t be penetrated. Behind the door is a world full of wealth and riches which can’t be found on this side – it contains “This world and the next” according to Norl, the leader of the natives. Bayban gives Vila one hour to complete the task.
Vila discovers that the door is actually a force-field which is set to refract light so that it appears solid. Vila uses a low energy probe to penetrate the forcefield at a very slow rate in order to open the door. After Kerril has got herself ‘cleaned up’ into a mini-dress and new hairdo, a delighted Vila is even more pleased when his plan works.
After they go through the door, it seals up again. Vila is convinced that he is working against an opponent that set up the whole trap. Despite being thousands of years old, the opponent is – according to Vila – trying to out-think him. Kerril enters a room that contains a teleport, and after Vila hears her shocked scream, teleports too.
They enter a spaceship containing two skeletons. A disembodied voice comes through on the communicator, telling them what has happened. The voice belongs to Vila’s opponent, as he supposed. The voice explains that Kezarn’s economic expansion and personal development have reached their limits, and so, facing barbarism and a new dark age, a solution was discovered. A terminus system was devised so that people could teleport from the world of Kezarn onto the ship which is programmed to seek out a new planet to live on.
However, the voice says that if the ship is still in flight, any occupants will not be able to return to Kezarn, and what’s worse, the air is running out. Resigned to her fate, Kerril takes off her gun belt. Thinking that she’s about to kill herself, Vila moves over to Kerril, as she actually tells him that’s not what she was thinking of – she starts to embrace her new friend…
Avon and Cally teleport down to the planet to find the location, and having forced Bayban’s guards to tell them, Tarrant and Dayna teleport down too. They overpower Bayban’s guards and make for the main control room where Bayban is training a laser cannon on the resealed door. Bayban is held at gunpoint and is appalled to learn that Vila and Kerril succeeded in opening the door. As Bayban is taken away as captive by Dayna, Norl tells the Liberator crew that he is expecting Vila’s return at any minute.
Having enjoyed their uninterrupted passion, Vila and Kerril realise that the air hasn’t actually run out – and that they must have actually landed at their destination.
Vila works out that there must be another force-field in order to hide the exit door so that no one would attack the weakest part of the ship. Vila again manages to open the ‘door’ where they both find themselves on a tranquil planet that could be christened Vilaworld or Homeworld. Vila suddenly discovers the crystals that he was meant to get, and takes a reluctant Kerril back to the City.
Vila and Kerril are reunited with Norl and the Liberator crew, who welcome him back, even Tarrant, who makes his apologies to Vila. As the Kezarn inhabitants make their way through the terminus which is now officially open for business, Norl offers a place for both Vila and Kerril. The Liberator crew allow Vila to make a decision as they teleport back up. Vila tells Kerril that being a thief makes him who he is, but also that he likes Kerril more than anyone he has ever met – the only difference being that Kerril loves him.
Before Vila can reply, Bayban – having escaped from Dayna – bursts in with his gun trained on Vila, Kerril and Norl. Vila urges Kerril and Norl to escape in order to protect them, but before he can follow or even say goodbye, the door reseals itself. Vila teleports up in a hurry as Bayban fires the laser cannon in a foolish bid to open the door again. The laser backfires and destroys not only Bayban, but the whole city.
A morose Vila gives the crystals to his friends, and speculates that he has made the biggest mistake of his life. Orac, however, says that there are far greater mistakes to be made by someone of Vila’s obvious talent for making them. Vila hopes that all of these mistakes have good legs…
Cast
Roj Blake - Gareth Thomas
Jenna Stannis - Sally Knyvette
Vila Restal - Michael Keating
Guest Stars: Colin Baker (as Bayban), Carol Hawkins (as Kerril), Valentine Dyall (as Norl), John J. Carney (as Sherm)
Credits
Director -
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Writer -
Script Editor -
Episode Information
Originally Broadcast: on BBC1
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