Just What is a Planet Hopper Anyway?
The spacecraft Scorpio was described by Tarrant as "a Wanderer class planet hopper" in the Blake's 7 episode Rescue. What does the term "planet hopper" mean exactly? Was it intended only for short-range travel? What does "short range" mean for an interstellar civilization like the Federation on Blake's 7?
There are indications that Scorpio wasn't intended to support a crew for extended periods. Only the main deck was normally pressurized in flight. This didn't leave much room for crew support, especially since the main deck was represented by a single set. It was implied that Dorian, Scorpio's owner previous to Avon, lived on Xenon Base and simply used Scorpio as a means of transportation. This may explain why Avon decided to find Blake in the final episode - with Xenon Base destroyed, he needed a new base to operate Scorpio from and a place for the crew to live.
Avon's activities after acquiring Scorpio seemed to be limited to the outskirts of the Federation. Initially, this was due to Scorpio's rather unimpressive propulsion system, but this was no longer a factor after the photonic drive was installed. In comparison, Liberator was able to operate more freely, even visiting Earth on occasion and carrying out an attack on Space Command.
The term "planet hopper" was also used in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novels. It appeared when Ford and Zaphod are preparing to leave The Restraunt at the End of the Universe and are looking for a ship to steal. "...the star buggy was a small ship - a totally misnamed one in fact, because the one thing it couldn't manage was interstellar distances. Basically, it was a sporty planet hopper dolled up to look like something it wasn't. Nice lines though. They passed on."
The notion that "planet hopper" is a term for a small spacecraft limited to interplanetary or even orbital flights is an interesting one, but it clearly doesn't apply to Scorpio. Tarrant doesn't remark on the ship's ability to make the trip from Terminal to Xenon in Rescue despite the two worlds being in different systems. Besides, Scorpio isn't exactly a "small" ship.
"Paddlejumper" is a real-world term for airplanes designed for short duration flights. It carries some of the connotations of "planet hopper" - a craft that doesn't have the "legs" for longer ranged travel. The term "paddlejumper" was the inspiration for the name used for the Ancient spacecraft discovered by the Atlantis Expedition on Stargate Atlantis. I suspect that John Sheppard - the first to use the name - was inspired by the appearance of the event horizon of an operating Stargate.
It's funny how a term like "planet hopper" can grab my attention. In all likelihood, it was a throwaway line of dialogue intended to add a little depth to the universe that Blake's 7 was set in. I doubt if the writer put much thought into it. The line was probably just something that sounded right for Tarrant to say as he was evaluating the crew's newly-acquired spaceship. Still, it's fun to speculate.