The reason why I like to read/write torture/suffering scenes concerning Avon is probably politically incorrect, but was dismissed as "not allowed" right at the start of this debate. That is *He Suffers Beautifully*.

I`ve read all the inticate arguments from some very articulate writers, but for me, personally, it boils down to that one statement.

So why do I prefer to see Avon suffering when Blake has a better background to produce angsty suffering (ie he witnessed 2 massacres, and his family was killed).? Why Avon over Vila - Vila has spent a lot of time in penal institutions where they tried to rehabiltate him (and knowing the Federation, it wouldn`t have been a gentle form of rehab)?. Virtually every other member of the Liberator/Scorpio crews had much better backgrounds more suited to produce angsty suffering (apart from Jenna and Tarrant).

For me, it is simply the way Paul Darrow played the charactor, it was his eyes that showed the haunted look that captured my imagination. A look I didn`t see in Blake`s eyes (no doubt stalwart Blake fans CAN see that look in Gareth`s eyes, which is why THEY prefer to see Blake suffering).

I`m not saying that Paul is a better actor, or that Gareth is a bad actor I still get shivers up my spine when I think back to Gareth`s skit at Neutral Zone where he acted out a trapped Welsh Miner after a cave in). I just think that within the confines of the scripts of Balke`s 7, Avon made *suffering beautifully* into an art form. And I loved it.

Jakx