Blake's 7

Post Reply New Topic

I am finding that this is becoming a new obsession for me. Seeing since I enjoy Doctor Who, I have looked into this series, and am starting to like what I see.

For those of you not in the know, Blake's 7 is about a group of criminals fighting against an oppressive intergalactic government. It composes (initially) of Roj Blake (former freedom fighter, captured and brainwashed by the Federation, only to regain his memories, be framed for child molestation, but come across the means to fight back), Jenna Stannis (beautiful space pirate and one of the best pilots in the galaxy), Vila Reston (a cowardly and womanising thief), Kerr Avon (the sardonic hacker and fraudster who is in my current avatar), Olag Gan (a simple, but far from stupid, strongman with an implant in his head that prevents him from killing), Cally (an alien freedom fighter with telepathic abilities) and Zen (the computer present on the alien ship they commandeer, which they call the Liberator). Later, other crew members include Orac (a prissy, portable AI with a snooty attitude), Dayna Mellanby (daughter of a former resistance leader), Del Tarrant (skilled pilot, deserter from Federation forces, and rival with Avon), Soolin (a skilled gunfighter) and Slave (an obsequious and apologetic computer).

Among the rebel's many foes include the powerful Commander Servalan (power-mad, but cool under pressure and cunning), and her deputy, Travis (a sadist who has a vendetta against Blake).

Here's some YouTube videos related to the show. The first series' titles...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bcfKaWhb-o[/youtube]

An excellent DVD trailer for series 2...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIHPCAGMCts[/youtube]

And a music video set to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (warning, some violence and coarse language)...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHzKjLKKY8[/youtube]

I liked the show, but when the Liberator was destroyed and they got Scorpio, the show lost most any relevance to me.

And, like most British sci-fi, it ends badly for the "good guys."

I love Blakes Seven! And I met Paul Darrow.

I honestly think it had the best series ending in sci fi history.

If it's still out there, there was a web site called The Logbook. It had probably the most anal-retentive owner; a synopses of

every Dr. Who episode, from '63 to the 90s
every Blake's 7 episode (read them, but I've never seen an episode)
every Star Trek episode, from 65 to the 90's.

etc.

A bit of news, or maybe not. I am probably going to get the boxset of Blake's 7 series 1 tomorrow.

I've got the boxset, and have watched the first four episodes, The Way Back, Space Fall, Cygnus Alpha, and Time Squad. Have to say that they're bloody excellent.

Just watched The Web and Seek-Locate-Destroy. The Web had really duff special effects (the strange embryo thing in a tank in particular) but an interesting concept and morality tale. Seek-Locate-Destroy introduced Servalan and Travis, the recurring villains of the story, and was far more entertaining.

Okay, I'm not going to get any cheers for resurrecting this thread, but I finished watching series one of Blake's 7 a couple of weeks ago (very good, except that it has a cliffhanger ending at the end of the season). It also might be possible that I may be getting the next series very soon...

Just got series 2 and 3 of Blake's 7 (the latter because there was some sort of sale sticker on it at the store), and have just watched the first three episodes of series 2, Redemption, Shadow, and Weapon.

Redemption: Nice resolution of the series one cliffhanger, as well as explaining the origins of the Liberator.

Shadow: Now this episode is what Blake's 7 is all about. Blake is willing to go to almost any lengths to destroy the Federation, even deal with the drug-pushing organisation of Terra Nostra in order to gain intelligence on Earth's defences. Of course, this starts to conflict with other crew-members, particularly the usually loyal Gan.

Some of the best lines from Blake's 7 are as follows (spoiler alert, as this comes from the end of the episode):

Sad News in the B7 Community. The wife of Paul Darrow (Kerr Avon), Janet Lees Price died. She played Kyln in the B7 finale. It was just announced on Paul Darrow's website. She was very kind and generous with the fandom.
Janet Lees Price was a good actress in her own right, although I think the only thing American audiences got to see her in was "By The Sword Divided."
You can forward condolences via Horizon, a B7 fan site. http://www.blakes7online.com/news.php