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''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British
science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
programme produced by the
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 exam. ...
...
. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
between 1978 and 1981. It was created by
Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...
, who also wrote the first series, produced by
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 ...
(series 1–3) and
Vere Lorrimer Vere Lorrimer (8 June 1920 – 1 October 1998) was a British television producer and director. His work as director included many BBC dramas including ''Compact'', '' Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Doomwatch'' and ''Blake's 7''. He later moved on t ...
(series 4), and the script editor throughout its run was Chris Boucher, who wrote nine of its episodes. The main character for the first two series was
Roj Blake This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreat ...
, played by Gareth Thomas. ''Blake's 7'', which was broadcast in 25 other countries, had a low budget but featured many tropes of space opera, such as spaceships,
robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...
s,
galactic empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of s ...
s and aliens. Critical responses have been varied; some reviewers praised the programme for its dystopian themes, strong characterisation, ambiguous morality and pessimistic tone, as well as displaying an "enormous sense of fun", but others have criticised its production values, dialogue, and accused it of lacking originality. A limited range of ''Blake's 7'' merchandise was issued, and books, magazines and annuals published. The BBC released music and sound effects from the series, and several companies made ''Blake's 7'' toys and models. Four video compilations were released between 1985 and 1990, and the entire programme was released in
videocassette Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasset ...
format starting 1991 and re-released during 1997, and as four DVD boxed sets between 2003 and 2006. The BBC produced two audio dramas during 1998 and 1999 that feature original cast members and broadcast by Radio 4. Although proposals for live-action and animated remakes have not been realised, ''Blake's 7'' has been revived with two series of audio dramas, a comedic short film, and a series of fan-made audio plays involving the original cast.


Overview

Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were made, and first broadcast in the United Kingdom between January 1978 and December 1981 by BBC1. They are set in the third century of the second calendar (this is mentioned in associated publicity material, not in the series) and at least 700 years in the future. ''Blake's 7''s narrative concerns the exploits of political dissident Roj Blake, who leads a small group of rebels against the forces of the
totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
Terran Federation that rules the Earth and many colonised planets. The Federation uses mass surveillance, brainwashing and drug pacification to control its citizens. Blake was arrested, tried on false charges, and deported to a remote
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
. En route, he and fellow prisoners Jenna Stannis and Kerr Avon break free and escape on a technologically advanced alien spacecraft, which its central computer 'Zen' informs them is named ''Liberator''. ''Liberator''s speed and weaponry are superior to Federation craft, and it also has a
teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...
system that enables transport to the surface of planets. Blake and his crew begin a campaign to damage the Federation, but are pursued by Space Commander Travis—a Federation soldier—and Servalan, the Supreme Commander and later Federation President. The composition of the titular "seven" changes throughout the series. The initial group—Blake, Vila, Gan, Jenna, Avon and Cally—included Zen as the seventh member. At the end of the first series, they capture a supercomputer named Orac. Gan is killed during the second series, after which Blake and Jenna disappear and are replaced by new characters Dayna and Tarrant. At the start of the fourth series, Cally dies and is replaced by Soolin. After the destruction of ''Liberator'', the computer Zen is replaced by a new computer, Slave, on board their new commandeered ship ''Scorpio''. While Blake is an idealistic freedom fighter, his associates are petty crooks, smugglers and killers. Avon is a technological genius who, while apparently motivated by self-preservation and wealth, consistently acts to help others. When Blake is separated from his crew, Avon becomes commander. At first, Avon believes the Federation has been destroyed; he becomes tired of killing, and seeks rest. However, by the middle of the third series, Avon realises that the Federation is expanding again, faster than originally realised, and he resumes the fight. The BBC had planned to conclude ''Blake's 7'' at the end of its third series, but a further series was commissioned unexpectedly. Some changes to the programme's format were necessary, such as the introduction of a new spacecraft, ''Scorpio'', and new characters, Soolin and Slave. ''Blake's 7'' was watched by approximately 10 million people in the UK and was broadcast in 25 other countries.


Characters


Regular characters

*
Roj Blake This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreat ...
, played by Gareth Thomas (leader of the crew in series 1–2, guest appearances in series 3–4). Blake is a long-term political dissident who uses the ''Liberator'' to wage war on the Federation. He is passionately opposed to the Federation's injustice and corruption, and prepared to accept loss of life in pursuit of its destruction. He thinks nothing of placing himself in danger to protect his crew or advance his cause. Although Blake is respected by many of his crew members, Avon accuses him of fanaticism and recklessness. *
Kerr Avon This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...
, played by
Paul Darrow Paul Darrow (born Paul Valentine Birkby; 2 May 1941 – 3 June 2019) was an English actor. He became best known for playing Kerr Avon in the BBC science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'' between 1978 and 1981. His many television rol ...
(series 1–4, leader of the crew in series 3–4). Avon is an electronics and computer expert who once attempted to steal 5 million credits from the Federation banking system. He distrusts emotion, and he attempts to pursue a code based on logic and reason. This frequently causes him conflict with Blake. He becomes a reluctant rebel, agreeing to participate only on the basis that he will control ''Liberator'' once the Federation is destroyed. At times, he seems motivated by financial gain and shows his readiness to put companions in danger in order to protect himself. He has an ambiguous and sometimes playful relationship with Servalan. Avon appears in 51 of the series' 52 episodes, being absent only in the first episode, "The Way Back". *
Vila Restal This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreat ...
, played by
Michael Keating Michael, Mike or Mickey Keating may refer to: Politics * Michael Keating (Irish politician) (born 1946), Fine Gael then Progressive Democrats TD from Dublin * Michael Keating (Manitoba politician) * Michael Keating (political scientist) (born 1950) ...
(series 1–4). Vila is a skilled thief, lock-picker and conjurer and is usually reluctant to risk his life. His behaviour is often cowardly, and although other crew members regard him as tiresome, he has a high IQ. He has weaknesses for alcohol and women, and apparently talks to himself at times. Vila is the only character to appear in every episode of the series. *
Jenna Stannis This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...
, played by
Sally Knyvette Sally Knyvette (; born 9 February 1951) is a British actress, theatre director and drama teacher. Early life Born Sally James in Horsham, Sussex, the daughter of a doctor, Knyvette lived in France and then Switzerland for nearly twelve years. ...
(series 1–2). Jenna is a glamorous space smuggler and skilled pilot who becomes adept at piloting ''Liberator''. She has a great deal of affection for Blake, and is loyal to him once he gains her trust. In earlier episodes, Jenna often maintains her opinions stubbornly. * Cally, played by
Jan Chappell Janet Victoria Chappell (born 7 June 1945 in Brixton, London) is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Cally (Blake's 7), Cally in the first three series of ''Blake's 7''. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1963–65) wher ...
(series 1–3). Cally is an alien guerrilla fighter from the planet Auron. She is a
telepath Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
, like all of her people, who can transmit thoughts silently to others. She later develops mind-reading, telekinesis and precognition abilities, but is also uniquely vulnerable to telepathic control by alien forces. Cally develops as the moral conscience of the group, especially for later episodes of series 2 and throughout series 3. *
Dayna Mellanby This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreat ...
, played by
Josette Simon Josette Patricia Simon is a British actress. She trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and played the part of Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series ''Blake's 7'' fro ...
(series 3–4). The daughter of former dissident Hal Mellanby, Dayna is an expert in weapons technology. She is adept at designing mechanized weapons, but also appreciates the nobility of what she describes as more 'primitive' combat. Brave and loyal, but at times reckless and naïve, she often successfully challenges men who are supposedly accomplished fighters. Her vendetta against Servalan (who murdered her father) motivates her to endorse Avon's fighting of the Federation. * Del Tarrant, played by
Steven Pacey Steven Pacey (born 5 June 1957) is an English actor, best known for his role as Del Tarrant in the 3rd and 4th series of the science fiction series ''Blake's 7'' from January 1980 to December 1981. Personal life Pacey was born in Leamington Spa ...
(series 3–4). Tarrant is an expert pilot who trained with the Federation before beginning illegal activities. He is ruthless and charming, and often challenges Avon's leadership. He also takes advantage of the cowardice of Vila, whom he bullies into performing his instructions. *
Olag Gan This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreati ...
, played by David Jackson (series 1–2). Having killed the Federation guard who murdered his girlfriend, Gan has been implanted with an electronic "limiter" device which prevents him from ever killing again. However, he is courageous, strong and dedicated to Blake's cause. *
Soolin This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...
, played by
Glynis Barber Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama '' Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grac ...
(series 4). Soolin is an expert
gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...
, distinctive for her apparent lack of fear or self-doubt, perhaps developed in response to the fact that her parents were murdered when she was a child. She joins the group after she is betrayed by Dorian, her partner. No-one can match her speed at drawing a gun. Soolin's logical and cynical attitude proves an asset to her colleagues. On several occasions, her quick thinking and prescient actions save the crew from perishing, overpowering the Cancer Assassin and surviving the Betafarl Conspiracy. Barber had also previously played the role of a Mutoid in series 1 (episode 9: "Project Avalon"). *
Orac ORAC or Orac may refer to: * Oxygen radical absorbance capacity, a scalar value derived in the laboratory for comparing the antioxidant content of different foods or nutritional supplements * Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations, for ...
, voiced by
Derek Farr Derrick Capel Farr (7 February 191221 March 1986) was an English actor who appeared regularly in British films and television from 1938 until his death in 1986. His more famous roles include Group Captain John Whitworth in '' The Dam Busters' ...
(first appearance) and
Peter Tuddenham Peter Tuddenham (27 November 1918 – 9 July 2007) was a British actor. He was well known for his voice work, and provided the contrasting voices of the computers in the science-fiction series Blake's 7 (BBC, 1978–1981). Life and career Tudd ...
(series 2–4). Orac is a portable super-computer capable of reading any other computer's data and built by an inventor named Ensor. It uses a component called a Tariel cell—a universal computer component—and can access information stored on any computer that uses one. It can also control other computers. Orac dislikes work that it considers unnecessary, enjoys gathering information and has delusions of grandeur. *
Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
, voiced by
Peter Tuddenham Peter Tuddenham (27 November 1918 – 9 July 2007) was a British actor. He was well known for his voice work, and provided the contrasting voices of the computers in the science-fiction series Blake's 7 (BBC, 1978–1981). Life and career Tudd ...
(series 1–3). The main computer aboard ''Liberator'', Zen controls the craft's secondary systems, including the battle and guidance computers. It is susceptible to interference from outside influences, such as Orac. It is considered a character in its own right. It is rendered nonfunctional after ''Liberator'' is damaged by corrosive fluid particles, and is destroyed with the ship. * Slave, voiced by
Peter Tuddenham Peter Tuddenham (27 November 1918 – 9 July 2007) was a British actor. He was well known for his voice work, and provided the contrasting voices of the computers in the science-fiction series Blake's 7 (BBC, 1978–1981). Life and career Tudd ...
(series 4). Introduced during the fourth series, Slave was built and programmed by Dorian and is the master computer of Dorian's ship, ''Scorpio''. It has a cringing personality, frequently apologetic and obsequious, and addresses Avon as 'master' and others as 'sir' or 'madam'.


Other recurring characters

* Supreme Commander
Servalan This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recreati ...
/Commissioner Sleer, played by
Jacqueline Pearce Jacqueline Pearce (20 December 1943 – 3 September 2018) was a British film and television actress. She was best known for her portrayal of the principal villain Servalan in the British science fiction TV series ''Blake's 7'' (1978–1981), ...
. Servalan began her service career as a cadet, and eventually became Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation. Her desire for power began at the age of eighteen when her lover abandoned her. Shortly before the Intergalactic War, Servalan conducted a
military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
and installed herself as president. She is later overthrown herself and presumed killed, but survives and adopts the pseudonym of Commissioner Sleer. She conducts a campaign of drug-induced pacification in order to regain territory for the Federation and her own position of power. Servalan is determined to pursue the crew of the ''Liberator'' and win control of the ship and Orac for herself. * Space Commander Travis, played by
Stephen Greif Stephen John Greif (; 26 August 1944 – 23 December 2022) was an English actor known for his roles as Travis in ''Blake's 7'', Harry Fenning in three series of ''Citizen Smith'', Signor Donato in ''Casanova'' and Commander John Shepherd in '' ...
(first series) and
Brian Croucher Brian Croucher (born 23 January 1942) is an English actor and director best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997, in the soap opera '' EastEnders''. Croucher also had a regular role in the science fiction series ' ...
(second series). Travis is a dedicated and ruthless Federation officer, with the rank of Space Commander. His left eye and arm were destroyed by Blake, and replaced with an eye patch and a prosthetic arm fitted with a concealed weapon. Travis is known for treating his troops well and leading them personally, but also for his ruthlessness and contempt for human life. After his trial and conviction for killing civilians, Travis becomes increasingly obsessed with killing Blake.


Sources and themes

Series creator Terry Nation pitched ''Blake's 7'' to the BBC as "''
The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy ...
'' in space", a reference to the 1967 Robert Aldrich movie in which a disparate group of convicts are sent on a suicide mission during World War II. This influence shows in that some of Blake's devotees are escaped convicts (Avon, Vila, Gan and Jenna). ''Blake's 7'' also draws much of its inspiration from the legend of Robin Hood. Blake's devotees are not a band of "Merry Men". His diverse crew includes a corrupt computer genius (Avon), a smuggler (Jenna), a thief (Vila), a murderer (Gan), a telepathic guerrilla soldier (Cally), a computer with a mind of its own (Zen) and another wayward computer (Orac). Later additions were: a naïve weapons expert (Dayna), a mercenary (Tarrant), a gunslinger (Soolin) and an obsequious computer (Slave). While Blake intends to use ''Liberator'' to strike against the Federation, the others are often reluctant soldiers—especially Avon. Blake and Avon's clashes over the command represent a conflict between idealism and cynicism, emotion and rationality, and dreams and practicality. Similar conflicts occur between other characters; the courage of Blake and Avon compared with Vila's cowardice, or Avon and Jenna's scepticism of Blake's ideals compared with Gan's unswerving loyalty, Blake's mass murdering methods compared with Avon's targeted and less destructive methods. Script editor Chris Boucher, whose influence on the series increased as it progressed, was inspired by Latin American revolutionaries, especially
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...
, in exploring Blake and his devotees' motives and the consequences of their actions. This is most evident in the episode "Star One", in which Blake must confront the reality that in achieving his goal of overthrowing the Federation, he will cause chaos and death for many innocent citizens. When Avon gains control of ''Liberator'', after Blake's disappearance after the events of "Star One", he uses it to pursue his own agenda, such as avenging his lost love Anna Grant. Later, Avon realises that he cannot escape the Federation's reach and that he must, like Blake, resist them. In this respect, by the end of the fourth series Avon has replaced Blake. Classic films, such as the Western ''
The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay by William Roberts is a remake – in an Old West–style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film ''Seven Samurai'' (itself initially relea ...
'', were an important influence upon ''Blake's 7''. Chris Boucher incorporated lines from Westerns into the scripts, much to the delight of Paul Darrow, an enthusiast of the genre. The final episode, "Blake", was inspired by ''
The Wild Bunch ''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on th ...
'' and '' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''. ''Blake's 7'' also drew inspiration from the classic British dystopian novels ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...
'' by George Orwell, ''
Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hiera ...
'' by
Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxle ...
and ''
When the Sleeper Wakes ''The Sleeper Awakes'' is a dystopian science fiction novel by English writer H. G. Wells, about a man who sleeps for two hundred and three years, waking up in a completely transformed London in which he has become the richest man in the worl ...
'' by
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
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 trials. 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 fr ...
'' (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 Sir Guy of Gisbourne (also spelled Gisburne, Gisborne, Gysborne, or Gisborn) is a character from the Robin Hood legends of English folklore. He first appears in "Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne" (Child Ballad 118), where he is an assassin who atte ...
and the
Sheriff of Nottingham The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, ...
. A common theme of Nation's science fiction is the depiction of
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
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 (radio and television), serial in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadca ...
'' (1963–64), ''
Death to the Daleks ''Death to the Daleks'' is the third serial of the 11th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 23 February to 16 March 1974. In the serial, the Daleks ...
'' (1974) and ''
The Android Invasion ''The Android Invasion'' is the fourth serial of the thirteenth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 November to 13 December 1975. The serial is ...
'' (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 A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
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 This is a list of characters from ''Blake's 7'', a media franchise created by Terry Nation. Kerr Avon Kerr Avon is a fictional character from the British science fiction television series ''Blake's 7'', played by Paul Darrow (who was recrea ...
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 A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
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 The Andromeda Galaxy (IPA: ), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy with the diameter of about approximately from Earth and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. The gal ...
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 Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
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 A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
; 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 Vere Lorrimer (8 June 1920 – 1 October 1998) was a British television producer and director. His work as director included many BBC dramas including ''Compact'', '' Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Doomwatch'' and ''Blake's 7''. He later moved on t ...
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 Glynis Barber (born Glynis van der Riet; 25 October 1955) is a South African actress. She is known for her portrayals of Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the British police drama '' Dempsey and Makepeace'', Glenda Mitchell in ''EastEnders'', DCI Grac ...
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'' 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 incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...
, 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 Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
, Shepherd's Bush 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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...
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, ...
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 Quex Park itself is of parkland and gardens plus a further 1500 acres of farmed land, with Quex House and other buildings situated just south-east from Birchington-on-Sea near Margate in Kent, England. It houses the Powell-Cotton Museum, and t ...
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 Wookey is a village and civil parish west of Wells, on the River Axe in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Henton and the nearby hamlets of Yarley and Bleadney where the River Axe travels the length ...
as the site of an alien mine. Additional location shooting took place at Black Park,
New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...
, South Bank, Camden Town and
Wembley Conference Centre Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre in Wembley Park, London, England, that existed from 1977 to 2006, located next to Wembley Arena. History In the later 1970s, modern multi-purpose halls began opening in British towns and cities. ...
.


Music and sound effects

''Blake's 7''s
theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
was written by Australian composer
Dudley Simpson Dudley George Simpson (4 October 1922 – 4 November 2017) was an Australian composer and conductor. He was the Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House orchestra for three years and worked as a composer on British television. He worked on ...
, 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 Douglas Gaston Sydney Camfield (8 May 1931 – 27 January 1984) was a British television director, active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Early life Camfield studied at the York School of Art and aimed to work for The Walt Disney Company. He was ...
, 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 The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
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'' (f ...
'' 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 publish ...
'' compared the series' ethos to that of '' Star Trek''. 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 (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
's website
Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...
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 f ...
'' 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 There are a number of lists of fictional species: Extraterrestrial *List of fictional extraterrestrials (by media type) *Lists of fictional alien species: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, ...
s. Moral clarity returned. The budgets ballooned. But, for my money, it was nowhere near as interesting." The Australian broadcaster and critic Clive James gave a negative appraisal, calling it " ... classically awful British television SF ... no apostrophe in the title, no sense in the plot". He continued "The depraved space queen Servalan ... could never quite bring herself to volatilize the dimly heroic Blake even when she had him square in the sights of her plasmatic spasm guns. The secret of Blake's appeal, or Blakes appeal, for the otherwise infallibly fatale Servalan remained a mystery, like the actual wattage of light bulb on which the design of Blake's spaceship, or Blakes spaceship, was plainly based". Screenwriter
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 in '' Star Wars''; '' Star Treks 'feel-good' future; and the episodic structure of '' Doctor Who''. ''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 ''SFX'' is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy. Its name is a reference to the abbreviated form of "special effects". Description ''SFX'' magazine is published every four weeks by Future plc and was founded in 19 ...
'' 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 ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'', '' Red Dwarf'' and ''Doctor Who''. A similar poll conducted by ''
TV Zone ''TV Zone'' is a British magazine that was published every four weeks by Visual Imagination that covered cult television. Initially, it mostly covered science fiction, but branched out to cover other drama and comedy series. History ''TV Zone' ...
'' magazine during 2003 for the top 100 cult television programmes scored ''Blake's 7'' 11th. Dutch musician
Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...
was inspired by ''Blake's 7'' in naming his side-project
Star One Star One was an Indian pay television network based in Mumbai. It was launched on 1 November 2004 and was it owned by Star TV and distributed worldwide by Fox International Channels. In November 2006, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky. ...
. In 2004 a 15-minute comedy short entitled "Blake's Junction 7" debuted at several film festivals around the world. It was directed by Ben Gregor, written by
Tim Plester Timothy Marc Plester (born 10 September 1970) is a British actor, playwright, and filmmaker, best known for the documentaries ''Way of the Morris'' and ''The Ballad of Shirley Collins'' - plus a multifarious number of cameo roles for film and TV ...
, and featured
Mackenzie Crook Paul James "Mackenzie" Crook (born 29 September 1971) is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He played Gareth Keenan in ''The Office'', Ragetti in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, Orell in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones ...
,
Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...
,
Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...
,
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'', ''Green Wing'', ''Friday Night Dinner'', '' Upstart Crow'' and '' ...
and Peter Tuddenham. This parody depicted the characters taking a break at the Newport Pagnell 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, 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 Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...
, 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 Barry Leopold Letts (26 March 1925 – 9 October 2009) was an English actor, television director, writer and producer, best known for being the producer of ''Doctor Who'' from 1969 to 1974. Born in Leicester, he worked as an actor in theatre, ...
. 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 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 exam. ...
...
Audiobooks released a CD of readings of Trevor Hoyle'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 Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the ''Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who' ...
, Marc Platt and
James Swallow James Swallow is a British author. A BAFTA nominee and a ''New York Times'', ''Sunday Times'' and Amazon #1 best-seller, he is the author of several original books and tie-in novels, as well as short fiction, numerous audio dramas and video ga ...
. 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 Colin Salmon (born ) is a British actor. He is known for playing Charles Robinson in three James Bond films and James "One" Shade in the ''Resident Evil'' film series. He has had roles on many television series such as ''Doctor Who'', ''Merli ...
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 se ...
as Servalan,
Craig Kelly Craig Kelly (born 29 September 1963) is an Australian politician, who represented the Division of Hughes as a Liberal Party and later United Australia Party MP from 2010 to his defeat at the 2022 Australian federal election. Kelly initially ...
as Travis, Carrie Dobro as Jenna,
Dean Harris Dean Harris (born 30 December 1946) is an English actor. He began working "in the round" in 1966, in weekly and fortnightly repertory theatres across the United Kingdom, Canada and Zimbabwe. His two West End theatre, West End appearances are Ju ...
as Vila, Owen Aaronovitch 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 Douglas William Bradley (born 7 September 1954) is an English actor and author, best known for his role as the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in the ''Hellraiser'' film series and for narration on various Cradle of Filth albums. He is also starrin ...
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''. ...
. 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, 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 Magic Bullet Productions is an independent audio-production company formed in 2000 by Alan Stevens, focusing on ''Doctor Who'' and ''Blake's 7'' spinoff audios. Originally set up to produce the Kaldor City audios, in 2004 they acquired the right ...
, 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 ''Kaldor City'' is a series of audio plays using elements from the British TV series ''Doctor Who'' and ''Blake's 7''. Many of the elements borrowed from these series for use in ''Kaldor City'' were originated by Chris Boucher, who wrote for '' ...
'', created by Chris Boucher, which link the ''Blake's 7'' universe into Boucher's ''Doctor Who'' serial ''
The Robots of Death ''The Robots of Death'' is the fifth serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 29 January to 19 February 1977. In the serial, the Fou ...
'' through the character Carnell ( Scott Fredericks), 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 A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
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 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 Ben Dylan Aaronovitch (born 22 February 1964) is an English author and screenwriter. He is the author of the ''Rivers of London'' series of novels. He also wrote two ''Doctor Who'' serials in the late 1980s and spin-off novels from ''Doctor Who' ...
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 Andrew J. Cartmel (born 6 April 1958) is a British author and journalist. He was the script editor of ''Doctor Who'' during the Sylvester McCoy era of the show between 1987 and 1989. He has also worked as a script editor on other television serie ...
, Marc Platt and
James Swallow James Swallow is a British author. A BAFTA nominee and a ''New York Times'', ''Sunday Times'' and Amazon #1 best-seller, he is the author of several original books and tie-in novels, as well as short fiction, numerous audio dramas and video ga ...
. 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 Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where organisms, organelles, cells, tissues, extracellular matrix, organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage caused by unregulated chemical kinetics are preserved by co ...
by Servalan, and then roam the galaxy in a new ship named ''Liberator''. On 24 April 2008, television station Sky1 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 Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
'' reported that a remake for US television networks was being developed by the independent studio Georgeville Television. The Syfy network announced on 22 August that
Joe Pokaski Joe Pokaski is a writer and television producer known for his work on the television series '' Marvel's Cloak & Dagger'', as well as the television series '' Underground'' and '' Heroes''. He has also written ''Heroes'' tie-in products, and a num ...
would develop the script and
Martin Campbell Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand film and television director based in the United Kingdom. He is known for having directed '' The Mask of Zorro'' as well as the James Bond films '' GoldenEye'' and '' Casino Royale''. He ...
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. 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 Rai ...
,
Letraset Letraset was a company known mainly for manufacturing sheets of typefaces and other artwork elements using the dry transfer method. Letraset has been acquired by the Colart group and become part of its subsidiary Winsor & Newton. Corporate his ...
and
Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...
. However, only a small quantity of these was ever made available. A small number of toys and models were produced. During 1978,
Corgi Toys Corgi Toys (trademark) is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby. 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'' 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 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 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 World Distributors (known colloquially as "Pembertons") was a British publisher and distributor of magazines and comic books. The company was known for repackaging American comics and producing comic book annuals based on licensed properties. For ...
produced ''Blake's 7 Annuals'' for 1979, 1980 and 1981. These featured stories, games, artwork and articles about space. During October 1981
Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Di ...
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 (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 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 kind ...
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 technolog ...
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 201 ...
, intended originally as an extra feature with each DVD release. B7 Enterprises said they " ... did not feel he documentaryprovided 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 An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
was developed in 2017 for the
Oric Oric was the name used by UK-based Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of 6502-based home computers sold in the 1980s, primarily in Europe. With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a ho ...
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