Michael was interviewed by Alan Steven, co-author of Liberation. He did an excellent job and never let on that he didn't like Vila's portrayal as is obvious in the book.
There was a real edge to Vila in the first few episodes. Michael said the characters were quite loosely written and the writers watched the cast while the cast in their turn were waiting for the writing. If Vila was not well-formed at first, that was because there wasn't much guidance. The second episode was filmed first so that the actors would be more confident in their roles for the first one. Guest writers got the continuity for characters from the actors.
At one point Vila has a slight Cockney accent. Michael experimented with an accent in season 1, but they didn't want regional accents as they thought there wouldn't be any in the far future.
You knew Jan Chappell as a child. Yes, they were at Molly Hudson's drama school together at age 12, and did Twelfth Night together.
On the workload: When season 1 was made in 1977, they didn't factor in how long the SFX would take. It took forever to do teleports though they got faster at it in later seasons. They never completed an episode in the time allotted and always had to remount, working Sundays. At one point, Gareth Thomas did scenes for five episodes in one week.
On Vila's character: he was a 'lovable rogue. How did you feel about that as a victim of crime yourself? He wasn't a victim, not then. (Aside: As he told us in the coffee club, Michael had everything stolen from his home one night, some years later, while he was sleeping.) "Vila did get too twee in some episodes. Ultraworld for example—I was awful!" (Aside: No, Michael—the writing was.) He enjoyed Gambit though and praised the writing. Avon and Vila only had six scenes but those were excellent and very memorable. His daughter fell in love with 'baby Orac' and wanted to keep him. Vere Lorrimer, he said, really loved Vila and wished he could play him.
On Orbit: He cried, but this was cut because it was too real; an extraordinary decision considering the violence they did show.
On Blake: He thought the ending clumsy with them all being shot down at once. Incidentally, the filming was not done in sequence; they filmed the shootings first, then worked backwards. The final scene they filmed was "on the planet-hopper."
When is season 2 coming out on DVD? Michael said he keeps getting phone calls asking if he's free to do the commentary next week, but then never hears anything more.
On Vila's drinking: The drinking was added in season two because he went out drinking a lot with Gareth and couldn't keep up. Once when they were filming at a nuclear power station, he was so ill they got worried and called out the station's doctor to look at him.
On directors: The vast majority of people are wonderful to work with, but you come across the occasional control freak, though of course that happens in all professions. Once he would have ignored it and got on with the job, but he wouldn't take it now.
On season 4: He didn't like it. It was very rushed; they hadn't thought it out well and it just covered old ground. Michael thought that instead of being in the ship all the time, they should have gone to lots of different planets and had interesting locations. Hawaii, he said, would have been nice. Tanith Lee's episodes were a breath of fresh air though.
Who would play Vila now? This was a question someone asked in Saturday's panel, and Michael hadn't forgotten. He said that Steve Buscemi, who plays likeable cowards, is too old, so he'd say Wes Bentley. As for Avon, he should be played with a limp, eye-patch, and beard!