This is most evident in the nature of the Federation, whose methods of dealing with Blake in the first episode, "The Way Back", including brainwashing and
show trial
A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
s. These are reminiscent of the way in which the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
dealt with its dissidents.
[
]
Explorations of totalitarianism in the series are not confined to the Federation—totalitarian control through religion ("Cygnus Alpha"),
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
("The Web") and technology ("Redemption") are also portrayed.
Such authoritarian dystopias are common in Terry Nation's work, including his ''Doctor Who'' story ''
Genesis of the Daleks
''Genesis of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts from ...
'' (1975).
Loyalty and trust are important themes of the series.
[
]
Avon is presented with several opportunities to abandon Blake. Many of Blake's schemes require co-operation and expertise from others. Characters are often betrayed by family and friends, especially Avon, whose former lover Anna Grant is eventually revealed to be a Federation agent. The theme of loyalty and trust reaches its maximum during Blake and Avon's final encounter in the last episode ("Blake"); Blake, by now very paranoid, has been masquerading as a bounty hunter collaborating with the Federation as a front for his activities in recruiting and testing potential allies in the struggle and this causes Avon and the others to suspect him when Tarrant accuses Blake of betraying them; an ironic miscommunication between Avon and Blake precipitates the disastrous events that conclude the episode.
[
]
If Blake and his crew represent Robin Hood and his Merry Men, then the Federation forces, personified by the obsessive, psychopathic Space Commander Travis and his superior, the beautiful but ruthless Supreme Commander Servalan, represent
Guy of Gisbourne and the
Sheriff of Nottingham.
A common theme of Nation's science fiction is the depiction of
post-apocalyptic societies, as in several of his ''Doctor Who'' serials, for example ''
The Daleks
''The Daleks'' (also known as ''The Mutants'' and ''The Dead Planet'') is the second serial in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC TV in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to ...
'' (1963–64), ''
Death to the Daleks'' (1974) and ''
The Android Invasion'' (1975) and in his series ''
Survivors'' (1975–77).
Post-apocalyptic societies feature in several ''Blake's 7'' episodes including "Duel", "Deliverance", "City at the Edge of the World" and "Terminal". Although not explicitly stated, some publicity material for the series refers to the Federation as having developed after a
nuclear holocaust on Earth.
Plot summary
The series is set in a future age of interstellar travel and concerns the exploits of a group of outlaws.
Gareth Thomas played the eponymous character Roj Blake, a political dissident who is arrested, tried and convicted on false charges, and then deported from
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
to a prison planet. En route, he and two fellow prisoners, treated as expendable, are sent to board and investigate an abandoned alien spacecraft found drifting in space. They get the ship working, commandeer it, rescue two more prisoners, and are later joined by an alien guerrilla with telepathic abilities. In their attempts to stay ahead of their enemies and inspire others to rebel, they encounter a great variety of cultures on different planets, and are forced to confront human and alien threats. Blake's group suffer losses and casualties, and recruit newer members to join them. They perform a campaign against the totalitarian Terran Federation until an intergalactic war occurs with aliens from the Andromeda galaxy. Blake disappears and
Kerr Avon then leads the group. When their spacecraft is destroyed and another group member is killed, the survivors commandeer another craft (which they enhance with superior technology), and a secret base on a distant planet from which they continue their campaign. In the final episode, Avon finds Blake and, suspecting him of betraying the group, kills him. The group is then shot by Federation guards, who surround Avon in the final scene as shots are heard over the end credits.
Series One
Roj Blake, a worker of high social status classified as "alpha-grade", lives in a domed city. Similar domes house most of the Earth's population. Blake is approached by a group of political dissidents who take him outside the city to meet their leader, Bran Foster. According to Foster, Blake was once the leader of an influential group of political activists opposed to the Federation's Earth Administration. Blake was arrested, brainwashed and coerced into making a confession denouncing the rebellion. His memory of those years was then blocked. Foster wants Blake to rejoin the dissidents. Suddenly, the meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Federation security forces, who shoot and kill the crowd of rebels. Blake, the only survivor, returns to the city, where he begins to remember his past. He is arrested, tried on false charges of child molestation and sentenced to deportation to the prison planet Cygnus Alpha.
Whilst awaiting deportation from Planet Earth, Blake meets thief Vila Restal and smuggler Jenna Stannis. On board the prison ship ''London'', Blake meets convicted murderer Olag Gan and computer engineer and embezzler Kerr Avon. The ''London'' encounters a battle between two alien space fleets and the ''London''s crew plot a course to avoid the combat zone and continue their voyage. They encounter a strange alien craft, board it and attempt to salvage it but are thwarted by the alien ship's defence mechanism. The commander of the ''London'' sends the expendable Blake, Avon, and Jenna across to the ship. Blake defeats the defence system when it tries to use memories he recently discovered were false. With Jenna as pilot, the three convicts escape in the alien craft.
Blake and his crew follow the ''London'' to Cygnus Alpha in their captured ship, which they have named ''Liberator''. They retrieve Vila and Gan, while Blake leaves the other prisoners. Blake wants to use ''Liberator'' and its new crew to attack the Federation with the others, especially Avon, as reluctant followers. Blake's first target is a communications station on the planet Saurian Major. Blake infiltrates the station and is assisted by Cally, a telepathic guerrilla soldier from the planet Auron. Blake invites Cally to join the crew. With this new arrival, and including ''Liberator''s computer, Zen, ''Liberator'' has a crew of seven.
As Blake's attacks against the Federation become bolder, he has less success. Political pressure grows on the Administration with planetary commanders threatening to leave the Federation because of its inability to protect them from Blake's attacks. Rumours abound about Blake's heroism and other rebel groups use his name for their actions. Supreme Commander Servalan appoints Space Commander Travis, who has a vendetta against Blake, to eliminate Blake and capture ''Liberator''. Servalan often co-opts Travis for her personal projects and uses Blake as a cover for her own activities. When Travis repeatedly fails to eliminate Blake, Servalan does not assign the task to another officer and does not use more resources to eliminate him.
Blake meets a man named Ensor and discovers a plot by Servalan and Travis to seize a powerful computer named Orac, which is capable of communicating with any computer that uses a component called a Tariel Cell. Blake's crew suffers from radiation sickness but capture the device before Servalan arrives. Blake offers to perform the operation to save Ensor's life aboard the ''Liberator'' but Ensor dies when the power cells for his artificial heart are depleted before they are able to reach ''Liberator''. Aboard the ship, Orac predicts the craft's destruction in the near future.
Series Two
The ''Liberator'' is recaptured by the people that built it and Orac's prophecy is fulfilled when it destroys an identical space vehicle. Blake wants to attack the heart of the Federation and he targets the main computer control facility on Earth. Avon agrees to help on condition that Blake gives him ''Liberator'' when the Federation has been destroyed. Blake, Avon, Vila and Gan reach the control facility and find an empty room. Travis reveals that the computer facility was secretly relocated years before and the old location was left as a decoy. Blake and his crew escape but Travis throws a grenade in the confined area and Gan is killed by falling rubble.
After Gan's death, Blake considers the future of the rebellion, and Travis is convicted of war crimes by a Federation
court martial at Space Command Headquarters aboard a space station. Blake decides to restore his group's reputation and attacks the space station but Travis escapes and continues his vendetta against Blake. Blake seeks the new location of the computer control facility. He learns that it is named ''Star One''. When ''Star One'' begins to malfunction, Servalan also becomes desperate to find its location. The facility's failure causes many problems in the Federation. ''Star One'' controls a large defensive barrier that has prevented extra-galactic incursions. Blake discovers ''Star One''s location and finds that, with help from Travis, aliens from the
Andromeda Galaxy have infiltrated it. Vila discovers a fleet of alien spacecraft beyond the barrier. Travis partially disables the barrier. Blake and his crew overcome the aliens at ''Star One'' and kill Travis but the gap in the barrier allows the aliens to invade. Jenna calls for help from the Federation, where Servalan has conducted a military coup, imposed
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
and declared herself President. Servalan dispatches the Federation's battle fleets to repel the invaders, who begin to breach the barrier. With Blake badly wounded, ''Liberator'' by Avon's direction, alone until Servalan's battle fleets arrive, fights against the aliens.
Series Three
''Liberator'' is severely damaged during the battle with the Andromedans, forcing the crew to abandon ship whilst Zen carries out repairs. The Federation defeats the alien invaders but the cost considerably reduces its influence in the galaxy. Blake and Jenna go missing and Avon becomes the new leader. Two new additions, weapons expert Dayna Mellanby and mercenary Del Tarrant, join the crew. Avon is less inclined than Blake to attack the Federation but Servalan realises that if she captures ''Liberator'', the Federation will quickly restore its former power.
Servalan attempts to create
clones of herself, but is thwarted when the embryos are destroyed. Avon decides to find the Federation agent who killed Anna Grant, his former lover. The group interrupts an attempt to eliminate Servalan and Avon discovers that Anna is alive and was previously a Federation agent named Bartolemew. Anna tries to shoot Avon in the back but Avon kills her and frees Servalan. Servalan lures Avon into a trap using a faked message from Blake. Servalan finally captures ''Liberator'' and maroons the crew on an artificial planet named Terminal but does not know that ''Liberator'' has been irreparably damaged after flying through a cloud of corrosive fluid particles. As Servalan leaves Terminal, the ship explodes and Servalan is apparently killed as she attempts to escape by teleporting away.
Series Four
Booby traps, set by Servalan in her underground complex on Terminal, explode and Cally is killed. Avon, Tarrant, Vila and Dayna escape with Orac and are rescued by Dorian, a salvage operator. Dorian takes the crew in his spacecraft, ''Scorpio'', to his base on the planet Xenon, where they meet his partner, Soolin. Dorian plans to drain the crew's
life-force and take Orac but is foiled by Vila. Avon completes a new teleport system for ''Scorpio'' using the technology left behind by Dorian. Soolin joins the crew and they commandeer ''Scorpio'' and occupy the Xenon base. Avon gains control of Slave, ''Scorpio''s main computer.
The crew acquires an experimental new
stardrive
Stardrive may refer to:
*'' StarDrive'', a 4X space strategy game released in 2013 for Microsoft Windows
*"Star drive", alternate name for Torx screw drives
*"Stardrive", a 1981 episode of ''Blake's 7''
*'' Star*Drive'', a setting for the ro ...
that vastly increases ''Scorpio''s speed, making it even faster than ''Liberator''. The ''Scorpio'' crew become concerned about the speed at which the Federation is reclaiming its former territory and discover that Servalan survived the destruction of ''Liberator''. Deposed as President of the Federation, she is using the pseudonym Commissioner Sleer and is enacting a pacification programme using a drug named Pylene-50. The ''Scorpio'' crew gain the formula for an antidote to Pylene-50 but this cannot reverse the drug's effects. Avon finds a way to synthesise the antidote and the crew attempt to create an alliance between independent worlds to resist the Federation and get the resources and manpower to mass-produce the Pylene-50 antidote. One of the alliance members, Zukan, betrays the alliance to Servalan and detonates explosives on Xenon base, which is damaged and the ''Scorpio'' crew are forced to abandon it.
Avon tells the rest of the group that Orac has traced Blake to Gauda Prime, an agricultural planet. Blake is masquerading as a
bounty hunter; his latest quarry is Arlen, whom he hopes to recruit for his rebellion. ''Scorpio'' approaches Gauda Prime and is attacked. The crew, except Tarrant, use the teleport to abandon the damaged craft. Slave is damaged, Tarrant remains aboard to pilot ''Scorpio'' and is injured during a crash landing. Blake arrives, rescues and takes Tarrant to his base and purportedly captures Tarrant as bounty. Tarrant thinks that Blake has betrayed the group and Blake lets Tarrant escape. Tarrant is nearly killed by Blake's colleagues when Avon and his crew save him, giving credence to Tarrant's accusation that Blake has betrayed them to the Federation. Becoming very suspicious of Blake, Avon kills him. Arlen reveals that she is a Federation officer and Federation guards arrive. Tarrant, Soolin, Vila, and Dayna are shot by Federation troops, who slowly surround Avon with their weapons pointed at him. Avon steps over Blake's body, raises his gun and smiles. Shots are heard over the end credits.
Production history
Terry Nation had the idea for ''Blake's 7'' in a moment of inspiration during a pitch meeting with Ronnie Marsh, a BBC drama executive. Marsh was intrigued and immediately commissioned a pilot script. When he had seen the draft, Marsh approved ''Blake's 7'' for full development.
[Pixley, Andrew (1995). ''Blake's 7 Summer Special''. ] David Maloney
David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a British television director and producer, best known for his work on the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', ''Blake's 7'' and ''The Day of the Triffids''. ''The Guardi ...
, an experienced BBC director, was assigned to produce the series and Chris Boucher was engaged as script editor. Nation was commissioned to write the thirteen episodes. Boucher's task was to expand and develop Nation's first drafts into workable scripts, but this became increasingly difficult as Nation started running out of ideas. Meanwhile, Maloney was struggling with the low budget available given the need for action and special effects. Despite these challenges ''Blake's 7'' was very popular, with some episodes exceeding ten million viewers. A second series was quickly commissioned.
The BBC engaged new writers for the subsequent series. It was decided that one of the regular characters should die, to demonstrate that Blake and his crew were not invincible. Gan, played by David Jackson, was chosen because Gan had been under-used and was the least popular character. Although ratings declined compared to the first series, the BBC commissioned a third.
When Gareth Thomas and Sally Knyvette decided not to return, new characters were required so that the story could continue without its titular character. Suggestions for a replacement actor for Blake were rejected and Avon became more prominent in the story. New characters Del Tarrant, portrayed by Steven Pacey, and Dayna Mellanby, portrayed by Josette Simon, were introduced.
''Blake's 7'' was not expected to be recommissioned after the third series and there was surprise when during 1980 a further series was announced as the third series ended.
Bill Cotton
Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The TV and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her paternal ...
, BBC Head of Television, had watched ''Terminal'' and enjoyed it greatly. He telephoned the presentation department and ordered them to make the announcement.
As David Maloney was unavailable,
Vere Lorrimer became the producer. He introduced new characters, a new spacecraft ''Scorpio'' and its computer Slave. Jan Chappell (who played Cally) decided that she did not want to return, and was replaced by
Glynis Barber as Soolin.
Gareth Thomas made a final appearance as Blake and insisted that his character be killed in a definitive manner. Although the fourth series performed satisfactorily in the ratings, ''Blake's 7'' was not renewed again and the final episode had an ambiguous finale. Except for Blake, whose death was contractual, the characters were shown being attacked in such a way that their survival would have been possible had a fifth series been commissioned. The final episode, titled "Blake", was broadcast on 21 December 1981.
Although Blake's 7 never crossed over with ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' during its initial run, Gareth Thomas was open to the idea as he was close friends with ''Doctor Who'' star
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
, and the two wanted to be 'briefly crossing paths' with one another before going their separate ways. Ultimately, the idea was scrapped.
Filming locations
Interior spaceship sets and other indoor scenes were recorded on videotape at
BBC Television Centre,
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, i ...
in London. For indoor complexes, such as bases or command centre bunkers, filming often took place in local
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
s and
water turbine
A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work.
Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...
stations. Location shooting was also extensive with shooting occurring mostly in southern England. Notable location shots include episode eleven, of the first series, "Bounty", where the production was filmed at
Quex Park in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. The Waterloo Tower in Quex Park was ex-president Sarkoff's residence in exile.
The series also used
Betchworth Quarry as the surface of an alien planet and
Wookey Hole Caves as the site of an alien mine. Additional location shooting took place at
Black Park
Black Park is a country park in Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England to the north of the A412 road. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Council, formerly County Council. It has an area of , of which two separate areas totalling have been designated a ...
,
New Forest,
South Bank
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...
,
Camden Town
Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...
and
Wembley Conference Centre.
Music and sound effects
''Blake's 7''s
theme music was written by Australian composer
Dudley Simpson, who had composed music for ''Doctor Who'' for more than ten years. The same recording of Simpson's theme was used for the beginning titles of all four series of the programme.
For the fourth series, a new recording was made for the closing credits that used an easy listening-style arrangement. Simpson also provided the incidental music for all of the episodes except for the Series One episode "Duel" and the Series Two episode "Gambit". "Duel" was directed by
Douglas Camfield, who had a grudge against Simpson and refused to work with him, and so Camfield used library music.
Elizabeth Parker provided the music and sound effects for "Gambit". ''Blake's 7'' made considerable use of audio effects that are described in the credits as "special sound". Many electronically generated sound effects were used, ranging from foley-style effects for props including handguns, teleport sounds, spacecraft engines, flight console buttons and background atmospheres. The special sounds for ''Blake's 7'' were provided by the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop composers
Richard Yeoman-Clark
Richard Yeoman-Clark was a British composer and sound engineer who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1970 to 1978.
Richard joined BBC Radio direct from St Albans School as a Technical Operator at Broadcasting House, moving to the Ex ...
and Elizabeth Parker.
Critical reception
''Blake's 7'' received both positive and negative reviews. The fourth episode ''Time Squad'' review by Stanley Reynolds of ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' stated, " ... nice to hear the youngsters holding their breath in anticipation of a little terror". Reynolds elaborated, "Television science fiction has got too self-consciously jokey lately. It is also nice to have each episode complete within itself, while still carrying on the saga of Blake's struggle against the 1984-ish Federation. But is that dark-haired telepathic alien girl, the latest addition to Blake's outer-space merry men, going to spell love trouble for blonde Jenna? Maid Marian never had that trouble in Sherwood Forest."
In January 1998 Robert Hanks of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' compared the series' ethos to that of ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
''. He wrote "If you wanted to sum up the relative position of Britain and America in this century — the ebbing away of the pink areas of the map, the fading of national self-confidence as Uncle Sam proceeded to colonise the globe with fizzy drinks and Hollywood — you could do it like this: they had ''Star Trek'', we had ''Blake's 7'' ... No 'boldly going' here: instead, we got the boot stamping on a human face which George Orwell offered as a vision of humanity's future in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''". Hanks concluded that "''Blake's 7'' has acquired a credibility and popularity Terry Nation can never have expected ... I think it's to do with the sheer crappiness of the series and the crappiness it attributes to the universe: it is science-fiction for the disillusioned and ironic — and that is what makes it so very British".
Gavin Collinson of the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's website
Screenonline wrote "The premise of ''Blake's 7'' held nothing remotely original. The outlaw group resisting a powerful and corrupt regime is an idea familiar from Robin Hood and beyond." He added "''Blake's 7''s triumph lay in its vivid characters, its tight, pacey plots and its satisfying realism...For arguably the first time since the 1950s
Quatermass
Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...
serials, the BBC had created a popular sci-fi/fantasy show along adult lines". His review concludes "Ultimately, the one force the rebels could not overcome proved to be the BBC's long-standing apathy towards science fiction. However, the bloody finale, in which Avon murders Blake, exemplified the programme's strengths — fearless narratives, credible but surprising character development and an enormous sense of fun."
In 2015 Tim Stanley of ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' described the series as "oft-derided" and "gloriously low budget" but "a genuine classic". He added "this was superior drama performed by consummate professionals who made it believable by being 100 per cent committed to the material. ''Blake's 7s sets and dresses were bright and gaudy but it was dark, dark melodrama." Stanley concluded "''Blake's 7'' can be read as a document of the
Callaghan/
Carter
Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to:
Geography United States
* Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Carter, Montana, a census-designated place
* Carter, ...
years with their piles of rubbish in the streets. Then along came
Thatcher/
Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and sci-fi turned hopeful again. Cue ''Star Wars'' and its childish universe of
Wookiee
Wookiees () are fictional humanoid aliens in the ''Star Wars'' universe, native to the forest planet Kashyyyk. They are distinguished from humans by their gigantism, hirsutism, and physical strength. The most prominent Wookiee is Chewbacca, c ...
s and
Ewok
The Ewoks (singular: Ewok) are a fictional species of small, furry, mammaloid, bipeds in the '' Star Wars'' universe. They inhabit the forest moon of Endor and live in arboreal huts and other simple dwellings, being seen as primitive in comp ...
s. Moral clarity returned. The budgets ballooned. But, for my money, it was nowhere near as interesting."
The Australian broadcaster and critic
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.[Nigel Kneale
Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...]
, whose work included ''
The Quatermass Experiment
''The Quatermass Experiment'' is a British science fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television during the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells th ...
'' and other science fiction, was also critical. He described "the very few bits I've seen" as "paralytically awful", saying that "the dialogue/characterisation seemed to consist of a kind of childish squabbling".
Legacy
''Blake's 7'' deviates from the good-versus-evil
dualism
Dualism most commonly refers to:
* Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another
** ...
in ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
''; ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
s 'feel-good' future; and the episodic structure of ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
''.
''Blake's 7'' also influenced ''
Hyperdrive'' and ''
Aeon Flux
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...
''.
Television playwright
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
's final work ''
Cold Lazarus
''Cold Lazarus'' is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of pancreatic cancer.
It forms the second half of a pair with the television serial ''Karaoke''. The two serials were filmed ...
'' was inspired by the show.
''Blake's 7'' remains fairly well regarded. A poll of United States science-fiction writers, fans and critics for John Javna's 1987 book ''The Best of Science Fiction'' placed the series 25th in popularity, despite then only having recently begun to be broadcast in the US.
A similar poll in Britain conducted for ''
SFX magazine'' during 1999 put ''Blake's 7'' at 16th place, with the magazine commenting that "twenty years on, TV SF is still mapping the paths first explored by Terry Nation's baby".
During 2005 ''SFX'' surveyed readers' top 50 British telefantasy shows of all time, and ''Blake's 7'' was placed at number four behind ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''
Red Dwarf
''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...
'' and ''Doctor Who''.
A similar poll conducted by ''
TV Zone'' magazine during 2003 for the top 100 cult television programmes scored ''Blake's 7'' 11th.
Dutch musician
Arjen Anthony Lucassen was inspired by ''Blake's 7'' in naming his side-project
Star One.
In 2004 a 15-minute comedy
short
Short may refer to:
Places
* Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon
* Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place
People
* Short (surname)
* List of people known as ...
entitled "Blake's Junction 7" debuted at several film festivals around the world. It was directed by Ben Gregor, written by
Tim Plester, and featured
Mackenzie Crook,
Martin Freeman,
Johnny Vegas,
Mark Heap
Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957) is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his roles in television comedies, including, ''Brass Eye'', ''Big Train'', ''Spaced'', ''Jam (TV series), Jam'', ''Green Wing'', ''Friday Night Dinner'', ''Upstart ...
and Peter Tuddenham. This parody depicted the characters taking a break at the
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area.
It is separated from the rest of the urban ...
motorway service area. During 2006 the BBC produced a 30-minute documentary ''The Cult of... Blake's 7'' that was first broadcast on 12 December on
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 , as part of a ''Science Fiction Britannia'' series.
Planned revival
The revival of ''Blake's 7'' has been mooted for some years. Terry Nation raised the possibility on a number of occasions and proposed that a new series would be set some years after the existing one. Avon, living in exile like
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
on
Elba, would be persuaded by a new group of rebels to resume the fight against the Federation.
Radio and audio
During 1998 ''Blake's 7'' was broadcast again by the BBC by radio. ''The Sevenfold Crown'' was broadcast by
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
on 17 January 1998 as part of its ''Playhouse'' strand. The play was produced by Brian Lighthill and written by
Barry Letts. Paul Darrow, Michael Keating, Steven Pacey, Peter Tuddenham and Jacqueline Pearce reprised their television roles, but Josette Simon and Glynis Barber were replaced by
Angela Bruce
Angela Bruce (born 6 May 1951) is an English actress, noted for her television work. Bruce was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire to a West Indian father and white mother, but was put up for adoption aged three, and brought up in Craghead, ...
as Dayna and
Paula Wilcox
Paula Wilcox (born 13 December 1949) is an English actress. With a career spanning over 50 years, she is best known for her role as Chrissy in the popular ITV sitcom ''Man About The House'' from 1973 to 1976. She has also had roles in TV shows ...
as Soolin. The story was set during the fourth series between the episodes ''Stardrive'' and ''Animals''. This was followed by ''The Syndeton Experiment'', which featured the same cast, producer and writer and was broadcast as ''The Saturday Play'' on 10 April 1999 by BBC Radio 4.
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Audiobooks released a CD of readings of
Trevor Hoyle
Trevor Hoyle (born 25 February 1940 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom) is an English science fiction author. In the late 1970s he gained recognition for his "Q" series, featuring Christian Queghan, a scientific investigator possess ...
's novelisations of episodes ''The Way Back'' read by Gareth Thomas and ''Cygnus Alpha'' read by Paul Darrow.
On 11 December 2006 B7 Productions announced that it had recorded a series of 36 five-minute ''Blake's 7'' audio adventures, written by
Ben Aaronovitch,
Marc Platt and
James Swallow. This featured
Derek Riddell
Derek Riddell (born 11 January 1967) is a Scottish television and theatre actor. He is best known for the portrayal of Dr. Jamie Patterson in the Channel 4 television series ''No Angels''. He has also guest starred in '' Doctor Who'', ''Ugly B ...
as Blake,
Colin Salmon as Avon,
Daniela Nardini
Daniela Nardini (born 26 April 1968, Largs) is a Scottish actress who played Anna Forbes in the BBC Two television series ''This Life''. The role earned her a BAFTA Best Actress award in 1998 and also earned her a Scottish BAFTA. She won a sec ...
as Servalan,
Craig Kelly as Travis,
Carrie Dobro
Carrie Dobro (born May 30, 1957) is an United States of America, American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Crusade (TV series)#Cast, Dureena Nafeel in the ''Babylon 5'' feature-length film ''Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, A Call To ...
as Jenna,
Dean Harris as Vila,
Owen Aaronovitch
Owen Aaronovitch (born 1956) is a British actor, known for portraying Jon Lindsay in ''Coronation Street''.
Background
Aaronovitch was born in Parliament Hill, London. as Gan,
Michael Praed
Michael Praed ( ; born 1 April 1960), birth name Michael David Prince, is a British actor and narrator, probably best remembered for his role as Robin of Loxley in the British television series ''Robin of Sherwood'', which attained cult status ...
,
Doug Bradley and
India Fisher
India Fisher (born 1974) is a British actress, narrator and presenter. Her father is the ex- MP Mark Fisher. She is also the stepsister of musician Crispin Hunt and of actress Francesca Hunt, who appears with her in the play ''Other Lives''.
S ...
.
The new series was broadcast by BBC Radio 7 and repeated during mid-2010 as three one-hour episodes: ''Rebel'' (written by Ben Aaronovitch), ''Traitor'' (Marc Platt) and ''Liberator'' (James Swallow). B7 Productions also produced series of 30-minute prequel audio episodes named ''Blake's 7: The Early Years'', which explored the earlier histories of the central characters.
During 2011
Big Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...
, under licence from B7 Productions, announced that it would be producing a series of audio dramas named ''Blake's 7: The Liberator Chronicles'', which would be " ... a series of exciting, character-driven tales that remain true to the original TV series. We're aiming for authenticity—recreating the wonder of 1978 all over again!" The company also said it would publish a series of ''Blake's 7'' novels at a rate of two per year.
During January 2013 Big Finish released an initial full-cast audio production, Warship. This was followed during January 2014 with a series of six full-cast single-disc original stories, with a second series starting in November 2014.
Several individuals and companies have produced unofficial material based upon Blake's 7.
Alan Stevens, later of
Magic Bullet Productions, produced three unofficial audio cassettes between 1991 and 1998: ''Travis: The Final Act'', ''The Mark of Kane'' and ''The Logic of Empire''. Stevens also produced a series of audio dramas named ''
Kaldor City'', created by Chris Boucher, which link the ''Blake's 7'' universe into Boucher's ''Doctor Who'' serial ''
The Robots of Death'' through the character Carnell (
Scott Fredericks
Scott Fredericks (born Frederick Wehrly; 15 March 1943 – 6 November 2017Obituary: ) was an Irish actor best known for his roles on British television.
Early life
Fredericks was born in Strandhill, County Sligo to Edward Wehrly (d. 2001), a je ...
), whom Boucher created for the ''Blake's 7'' episode ''Weapon''.
Television
During April 2000 producer Andrew Mark Sewell announced that he had bought the rights to ''Blake's 7'' from the estate of Terry Nation, and was planning to produce a
TV movie set 20 years after the finale of the original series.
[
] During July 2003, Sewell announced that he, Paul Darrow and Simon Moorhead had formed a consortium called 'B7 Enterprises' that had acquired the rights and was planning a television
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
budgeted at between five and six million U.S. dollars. Darrow would play Avon and the series was to be televised during early 2005, depending on " ... many factors, not least financing".
[
] Paul Darrow subsequently left the project during December 2003, citing "artistic differences".
B7 Enterprises announced on 31 October 2005 that it had appointed Drew Kaza as non-executive chairman, and that it was working on two ''Blake's 7'' projects. ''Blake's 7: Legacy'' was to be a two-part, three-hour mini-series, which would be written by
Ben Aaronovitch and D. Dominic Devine. ''Blake's 7: The Animated Adventures'' was to be a 26-part children's animated adventure series written by Aaronovitch,
Andrew Cartmel,
Marc Platt and
James Swallow.
In an interview with ''Doctor Who Magazine'', writer and producer
Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos (production company), Kudos Film and Television science fiction series ''Life on Mars (UK TV series), Life on Mars'', which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has re ...
said that he had been involved in discussions to revive ''Blake's 7''. Graham's concept was that a group of young rebels would rescue Avon, who had been kept
cryogenically frozen by Servalan, and then roam the galaxy in a new ship named ''Liberator''.
On 24 April 2008, television station
Sky1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
announced that it had commissioned two 60-minute scripts for a potential series, working alongside B7 Productions.
On 4 August 2010, the station said it had decided not to commission the series. B7 Productions said the decision was " ... obviously disappointing", but that the development process has resulted in the " ... dynamic reinvention of this branded series". It said it was confident it would find another partner to develop a new version of ''Blake's 7'' for television.
During July 2012, ''
Deadline'' reported that a remake for US television networks was being developed by the independent studio Georgeville Television.
The
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
network announced on 22 August that
Joe Pokaski would develop the script and
Martin Campbell would direct the new remake.
On 9 April 2013, the BBC reported that a new series of ''Blake's 7'' would be broadcast by
SyFy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
.
Other media reported that a full-series order of thirteen episodes had been placed.
Merchandise
Terry Nation had done well financially from commercial exploitation of the ''Doctor Who'' Daleks, and recognised the potential for merchandise related to ''Blake's 7''.
Nation and his agent Roger Hancock discussed this with Ray Williams of BBC Merchandising in December 1976. By May 1977, twenty-seven items of merchandise had been proposed for release by companies including
Palitoy
Palitoy was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man, Action Girl, Action Force, Tiny Tears, Pippa, Tressy, Mainline Model Rail ...
,
Letraset and
Airfix. However, only a small quantity of these was ever made available.
A small number of toys and models were produced. During 1978,
Corgi Toys produced a die-cast model of ''Liberator'' with a transparent rear globe. This was re-released the following year in silver with a model space shuttle, and in blue on its own. Also during 1979, Blue Box Toys produced three space vehicle toys that featured the series logo; however, these had never appeared in the television programme.
Comet Miniatures produced a injection-moulded model kit of ''Liberator'' in 1989, which contained many parts. They also produced a two-inch, white metallic ''Liberator'' model, and a three-inch Federation trooper figure.
A ''Scorpio'' clip gun, and ''Liberator'' and ''Scorpio'' teleport bracelets, were also produced.
The children's programme ''
Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'' offered a cheaper home-made alternative to fans who wanted merchandise. In its 23 February 1978 show, presenter
Lesley Judd
Lesley Judd (born 20 December 1946) is an English former television presenter and dancer, best known as a long-serving host of the BBC children's programme '' Blue Peter'' (1972–1979).
Background
Born in London, the daughter of Leslie T. Judd ...
demonstrated how to create a replica ''Liberator'' teleport bracelet from common household objects. This was followed on 6 June 1983, when presenter
Janet Ellis
Janet Ellis, (born 16 September 1955) is an English television presenter, actress and writer, who is best known for presenting the children's television programmes ''Blue Peter'' and ''Jigsaw'' between 1979 and 1987. She has published two novel ...
demonstrated a similar method of making a replica ''Scorpio'' bracelet.
Music
The sheet music of the ''Blake's 7'' theme was published by
Chappell & Co. Ltd during 1978 with a photograph of ''Liberator'' on the front cover.
A stereo re-recording of Dudley Simpson's theme music, in a markedly different arrangement to the original, was also released as a single, with ''The Federation March'' (a piece of incidental music from the episode ''Redemption'') on the B-side.
The ''Blake's 7'' theme was also released on an album ''BBC Space Themes'', and ''Liberator'' was featured on the album sleeve. Another version of the theme, "Blake's 7 Disco", was recorded by Federation and released during 1979 on Beeb Records with a B-side unconnected with the series.
Many of the sound effects from the series were released during 1981 as an album, ''
BBC Sound Effects No. 26: Sci-Fi Sound Effects'', and re-released later on CD as ''Essential Science Fiction Sound Effects Vol. 1''.
Books and magazines
''Blake's 7'' books were produced by various authors and publishers. The first was entitled ''Blake's 7'', written by
Trevor Hoyle
Trevor Hoyle (born 25 February 1940 in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom) is an English science fiction author. In the late 1970s he gained recognition for his "Q" series, featuring Christian Queghan, a scientific investigator possess ...
and Terry Nation, and published during 1978 (novelising the first-series episodes ''The Way Back'', ''Space Fall'', ''Cygnus Alpha'' and ''Time Squad''). Its US title was ''Blake's 7 – Their First Adventure''.
Hoyle wrote two more books of the series: ''Blake's 7: Project Avalon'' (1979, novelising the episodes ''Seek–Locate–Destroy'', ''Duel'', ''Project Avalon'', ''Deliverance'' and ''Orac'' from the first series) and ''Blake's 7: Scorpio Attack'' (1981, novelising the episodes ''Rescue'', ''Traitor'' and ''Stardrive'' from the fourth series).
Publications continued to be issued after the series had ended. Tony Attwood's ''Blake's 7: The Programme Guide'', published by Target during 1982, is a factual overview of the series with a detailed episode guide, an encyclopedia, and interviews with the cast and writers. It was re-issued by Virgin Books during 1994.
Attwood also wrote an original novel named ''Afterlife'', which is set after the final episode and was published by Target during 1984.
Another original novel, ''
Avon: A Terrible Aspect'' by Paul Darrow, told the story of Avon's early years before he met Blake, and was published during 1989.
World Distributors produced ''Blake's 7
Annuals'' for 1979, 1980 and 1981. These featured stories, games, artwork and articles about space.
During October 1981
Marvel UK began publishing the monthly ''Blake's 7'' magazine, which included a comic strip by Ian Kennedy as well as text stories, features and photographs. Twenty-five issues including two 'specials' were published, until the magazine closed during August 1983.
Marvel produced two 'special' magazines during 1994 and 1995, with much of the content written by television historian Andrew Pixley and about how the series was made. Seven issues of ''Blake's 7 Poster Magazine'' were published between December 1994 and May 1995.
Several books offering insight and background information to ''Blake's 7'' were produced, including ''Blake's 7: The Complete Guide'' by
Adrian Rigelsford
Adrian Rigelsford (born 1969, in Cambridge) is a British writer and TV historian, most affiliated with '' Doctor Who''. His work has been subject to controversies over inaccuracies and theft. In June 2004, he was convicted of stealing photographs f ...
(Boxtree, 1995), ''Blake's 7: The Inside Story'' by Joe Nazzaro and Sheelagh Wells (Virgin, 1997), ''A History and Critical Analysis of Blake's 7'' by John Kenneth Muir (McFarland and Company, 1999), and ''Liberation. The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Blake's 7'' by Alan Stevens and Fiona Moore (Telos, 2003).
Video and DVD releases
During 1985 BBC Video issued four compilation videocassettes containing highlights from the first three series edited into 2 hour features. The first released was ''The Beginning'', containing excerpts from ''The Way Back'', ''Spacefall'', ''Cygnus Alpha'' and ''Time Squad''. ''Duel'' was released in 1986 with highlights of ''Seek–Locate–Destroy'', ''Duel'' and ''Project Avalon''. During the same year ''Orac'' was released, containing excerpts from ''Deliverance'', ''Orac'' and ''Redemption''. The first three tapes were available in both
VHS and
Betamax
Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 1975, ...
format. The final tape, ''The Aftermath,'' was released in Australia during 1986, with extracts from ''Aftermath'', ''Powerplay'' and ''Sarcophagus''. During 1990 all four tapes were re-released in the UK on VHS.
From 1991 BBC Video released ''Blake's 7'' in episodic order on 26 VHS cassettes with two episodes per tape.
Canadian company BFS also released these in North America. During 1997 Fabulous Films company re-released these tapes in different packaging. The BBC and Fabulous Films planned to issue the series as four
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
box sets, but this was disrupted by conflicts with rights-holders B7 Enterprises. These issues were resolved and one series per year was released on
region 2 DVD between 2003 and 2006. During 2007
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
sold a four-series box set, but a casualty of the difficulties with Blake's 7 Enterprises was ''The Making of Blake's 7'', a four-part documentary directed by
Kevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 2017� ...
, intended originally as an extra feature with each DVD release. B7 Enterprises said they " ... did not feel
he documentary
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
provided a proper tribute or fresh retrospective of the show".
The discs contained extra features including bloopers, out-takes, alternative scenes, voiceover commentaries, interviews and behind the scenes footage.
Gaming
A retro
point-and-click adventure game was developed in 2017 for the
Oric platform, paying homage to the ''Blake's 7'' TV series, and is available as a free download.
Streaming
BritBox
On Thursday 10 September 2020, ''Blake's 7'' was released on the UK streaming service
BritBox
BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. - all episodes in all four series are available to view for subscribers.
See also
*
Characters of ''Blake's 7''
*
History of ''Blake's 7''
*
List of ''Blake's 7'' episodes
Notes and references
External links
*
*
*
{{Blake's 7
Blakes 7 is also available to watch on Forces TV channel 181 on Sky UK.
1970s British science fiction television series
1978 British television series debuts
1980s British science fiction television series
1981 British television series endings
BBC television dramas
BBC Television shows
British science fiction television shows
Dystopian television series
English-language television shows
Space adventure television series
Space Western television series
Television series about extraterrestrial life
Television series created by Terry Nation
Television series set on fictional planets