Blake's 7

Despite the somewhat clunky special effects and plastic sets and costumes this series has always had a devoted following. Its plot lines, its witty and sharp dialogue, and the development of the characters seems to make you want more; and for 52 episodes 'more' is what we get. Splendid performances by all the major participants, this series has all the qualities you might wish for in a good book. You just have to keep 'turning the page'. For my money this is more fun than the old "Doctor Who" series (although the new Doctor Who series is another matter - fabulous!) The BBC, it seems to me, has always been lucky in having good writers for Sci-Fi. Right from Nigel Kneale (Quatermass, 1953 onwards) to Terry Nation and others. Great fun and completely addictive.

For those of us weaned on Doctor Who, shows like Blake's 7 are instantly appealing. But for today's audiences, try this trick:

Listen closely to the dialogue and notice how the acting--unlike the SFX--is quite good. Then imagine that George Lucas, Jerry Bruckheimer and any actor you admire collaborated on a faithful remake, line for line, with top-level effects. Can you see it? (May require more than one viewing.)

Good. Prior to Battlestar Galactica on TV and Star Wars on the big screen, this is about all we had in terms of production values. (We were lucky if the boom mics were not showing at the top of the screen.) We had to make do with fascinating story ideas and characters we could inhabit each week. If the monsters were made of rubber, the spaceships made of cardboard, well, we lived with it.

Note to Spielberg, Bruckheimer, Lucas, et al: Keep the script stet and consider giving these back to the world.

This has to be one of the best--perhaps THE best science fiction serials ever produced. It is a true serial in that the story goes, stage by stage, through a complete, novelistic sequence. Even though the fourth season was not planned when they finished up the 3rd (originally designed as the finale), the ideas, themes, and characterizations continued as a logical (if sometimes twisted) culmination of the history that had preceded it. Blake's 7 inspired what is undoubtedly the finest American sci fi series ever--Babylon 5, which in some ways surpassed B7, certainly in terms of quality effects and production values. If you look carefully, I believe you can spot a ship closely resembling the Scorpio in some of the battle formations in Season 4 of B5.

My personal favorite performer on Blake's 7 was the extraordinary Jacqueline Pearce--surely one of the most gifted actresses of our day. In one way it is a shame that she will always be remembered for his work on this series, but, from another perspective, her creation of Servalan has a truly legendary quality, larger than life and yet intensely human. Jackie imbued Servalan with a wit, grace, and elegance that made her absolute evil all the more intriguing. Paul Darrow as Avon provided the perfect complement to Servalan's infamy. Coldly self-aggrandizing and exquisitely poised in his own right, Darrow's performance is often tinged with streaks of frighteningly believable psychosis, especially during the memorable final season.

If this series had had a wider airing in the US, it would have attracted a massive cult following over here. Grab this on tape if you can find it!

Blakes 7 was launched in 1978 by the BBC, and in the aftermath of 'Star Wars'. I remember eagerly awaiting Thursday evenings when the adventures of Blake and his crew would enthrall me.

The premise of the series was simple; Blake and his band, prisoners of the evil federation, manage to gain control of a powerful alien spaceship, and become freedom fighters.

The series was very low budget, reflected in the poor quality of the sets (spot the egg boxes sprayed silver!!), but the characters were real (despite the occasional wooden acting), and the storylines were first class.

What helped to make the series a success was the perfect chemistry between the cast. There was the fiery passion of Blake, the cold logical Avon, the laid back Villa to name a few. Their Arch enemy, Servalan, was ruthlessly ambitious, and assisted by the focussed and determined Travis.

I would give this series 9/10.

Blake's 7 is my favorite sci-fi series, mainly because of the witty dialogue and shades-of-gray characterizations. I own all the videos and rewatch the Blake episodes often.

I understand a TV movie in the UK is projected for 2000. I wish Blake or Gareth Thomas were involved and, also, that people who understood Blake's 7 better were involved. The last two recent radio dramas (done by the people involved with the proposed movie) have suffered by being Blakeless as well as being rather corny and twisting the characters so formerly well defined by the series.

I strongly recommend the Blake's 7 series to anyone who can be mature enough to ignore the terrible special effects. This is a series where characterization and acting are strong.