Shrinker is a major antagonist in the Blake's 7 episode "Rumours of Death".
He was played by the late John Bryans, who also played Bercol in "Seek-Locate-Destroy" and "Trial".
Biography
Shrinker was a notorious torturer who usually worked for the Terran Federation, although at one point, during a rebellion, he had worked for the rebels, before switching loyalties back to the Federation when they were defeated. He was called in to deal with a particularly troublesome prisoner who previous torturers had failed to get any information from, including his identity. He taunted the prisoner about the fact they knew he had a tracking device on him and they had been waiting to see if anyone turned up.
However, Shrinker was immediately put at a disadvantage when the prisoner revealed he was Kerr Avon, who he knew had been one of Blake's crew, and that rescue was meant to come when he turned the tracking device off, as he just had. At that moment, Tarrant and Dayna teleported in and took Shrinker prisoner, teleporting both him and Avon back to the Liberator with them. Tarrant, Dayna and Vila all mocked Shrinker for asking for mercy after he gave none to his many victims, with Tarrant describing him as an animal. Cally stepped in and Shrinker was left sitting in a corner, broken.
Avon teleported himself and Shrinker to an underground cavern on Earth, where Avon took Shrinker's teleport bracelet and declared there was no other way in or out of the cave. He indicated his willingness to kill Shrinker as revenge for the death of his former lover Anna Grant, who he believed Shrinker had tortured to death. On seeing a portrait of her, Shrinker denied knowing her, saying he remembered everyone he had tortured and none had died without giving him the information he wanted. He then began recalling the details of Avon's case: The Federation knew he had been planning a fraud and had planted their top intelligence agent, Bartolomew, in his inner circle to see if he had a political motive. Bartolomew had rounded up everyone he knew and conducted the interrogations personally, so Shrinker deduced Bartolomew must have been the one to kill Anna. Avon asked for Bartolomew's identity but Shrinker didn't know, only being able to provide the fact that, when he asked a Federation controller, Councillor Chesku had been mentioned.
Having got all the information he could from Shrinker, Avon threw a gun to the ground and told Shrinker it was his way out, calling it a kinder option that he gave his victims. Avon then teleported out, leaving Shrinker sealed underground with the gun.
 Villains
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Terran Federation Other Humans Aliens Androids | ||