On Oct 08 10:34 93, Paul Edwards of 3:711/934{at}fidonet wrote:

 pj> The seven in the original series were Avon, Blake, Cally, 
 pj> Gan, Jenna, Vila and Orac.  I don't believe Zen was 
 pj> sentient, which is probably why he wasn't counted.

 PE> Tsk tsk tsk.  Time to rewatch the videos I think.  You've 
 PE> lost your "expert" tag now!  :-)

I don't recall the videos ever actually explaining that Zen was the seventh
member - although obviously Zen was a "part" of the group
*before* Orac.  In "order of appearance", first there was Blake
(in the first episode), then Jenna, Villa, Gan and Avon (in the second
episode), and then Zen (in the third episode).  Cally arrived in episode
four, and Orac in the final episode of the first series, completing (I
believe) Blake's 7.

If you think about it, Zen was, after all, only the voice of a spacecraft
computer, and obviously not sentient.  How could you consider that he might
be a member of the group?  Have you been drinking too much Soma? :-)

Orac, on the other hand, was clearly and demonstratably capable of
independent thought and action.  If he wasn't sentient, he was close enough
for me!

Nope - whether I'm right or not, I really do believe Orac was more a member
of the seven than Zen ever was or could be.  And in the unlikely event that
I *am* wrong, at least we're livening up this area by discussing it :-)

Regards, Peter

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