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Blake's 7 was a BBC science fiction television series created by Terry Nation which ran four seasons from January 2, 1978 to December 21, 1981.
The Series
The series was produced in the United Kingdom and aired on the BBC. It was similar to other BBC science fiction shows such as Doctor Who, but was characterised by a darker tone and often defied the traditional sharply defined ethical stances associated with this type of drama, with considerable blurring of the distinction between the "good" and the "bad" guys (and gals).
It stars a group of outlaw revolutionaries, led by a patriot-hero named Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas), who fight the fascistic interstellar Terran Federation in the second century of the third calendar. The show was watched by 10 million viewers at its peak, an enormous number for a space opera.
The show is noted for its strong focus on character; Blake and his band of outlaws were all highly individual, distinctive, and flawed, as often at each others' throats and in pursuit of their own private agendas as they were facing down their common enemies in the Federation. It also featured a remarkable attrition rate among its main characters, in violation of accepted practice for a drama of its nature.
One notorious characteristic of the show was its highly effective use of cliffhangers at the end of each season, a feature that was used to maximum effect at the end of the fourth season, "Blake". This was deliberately written to be open ended in case the series returned, but also to be final in case it did not.
Another notable and often satirised aspect of the show was the light construction of its sets (something it shared in common with Doctor Who). The "wobbly set syndrome" was particularly noticeable during the numerous fight scenes - one presumes the actors had to be very careful about avoiding colliding with the walls. Many exterior shots portraying the surface of other worlds took place in quarries; fans of the show are now able to go on a Blake's 7 quarry location tour of the UK.
As of 2004, there is a revival movement (led by Andrew Mark Sewell and Simon Moorhead) to create a new miniseries of the show, entitled Blake's 7: Legacy. Series star Paul Darrow (who played Avon) was involved for a time, but this is no longer the case.
Plot summary
Blake begins the series being captured by the Federation, convicted on trumped-up charges of child molestation, and sent to a remote penal colony planet called Cygnus Alpha. It is on the prisoner transport ship London that he meets most of his future crew, whom he convinces to join him in a mutiny to take over the London. The mutiny fails, but before Blake and his cohorts can be executed the London comes upon a mysterious unidentified starship apparently derelict from a space battle. After several crewmembers attempt to board it and are killed by the ship's automated defences, the London's captain decides to send Blake's group over to see if they can defuse them or die in the attempt. They take over the mysterious and highly advanced ship, name it the Liberator, and set out to topple the Federation. At least, that is Blake's goal. His other crew members, particularly Kerr Avon, followed him with various degrees of reluctance.
By the end of the second season, Gareth Thomas (Blake) sought an exit from the series. His character was written out, with Blake being lost in an escape pod after the Liberator was damaged in a ferocious battle with invaders from the Andromeda Galaxy over the Federation's central computer complex, known as Star One. Jenna was also lost. Del Tarrant, a mercenary who had been posing as a Federation trooper, was introduced to replace Blake, although Avon clashed even more frequently with Tarrant than he had with Blake. Avon eventually rose in dominance until he became the de facto leader of the group. The shadow of Blake remained strong over them, however, and they searched for him sporadically throughout the remainder of the series.
Liberator was destroyed at the end of the third season, and the group soon acquired a new ship named Scorpio together with a home base on a planet called Xenon. The fight against the Federation continued, growing more desperate, for both sides; the Federation had been significantly weakened after the loss of its computer control Star One and the galactic war that followed, allowing Servalan, the Supreme Commander of its military forces, to seize power and sweep aside any remaining positive qualities the Federation may have had. She was later deposed and forced to operate on the fringes of the Federation in a lesser position under the alias of "Sleer".
Finally, in a climax that ensured the show a lasting place in the history of television, the crew at last finds Blake working as a bounty hunter on a backwater planet named Gauda Prime. Thinking Blake has betrayed them due to a misunderstanding, Avon kills Blake (blood is shown). Then Federation troops overrun the remainder, shooting all (it is not explicit if they are dead or not) except Avon, whom they surround and hold at gunpoint. Avon raises his own weapon, then as the scene cuts to black a flurry of gunfire is heard and the end credits rolled.
Blake's death is shown in surprisingly graphic detail considering that the episode ended at around 20:10, well before the watershed for violence. The blood and gore was added at Gareth Thomas's insistence (it was in his contract), in order to make sure that both the audience and potential casting directors would not assume that Blake was only wounded and could return.
In spite of (or perhaps because of) the cliffhanger ending, so-called "post Gauda Prime" stories about possible resolutions are a particularly popular topic in Blake's 7 fan fiction. The proposed relaunch of 2004 would centre around the only crewmember still standing in the final shot: Avon. It would be revealed that Avon had not died, but was taken prisoner. The timeline of the sequel series would essentially coincide with ours: roughly 20 years would have passed in the relaunch series. During these time, Avon had been left to rot in prison for twenty years, forgotten and to the outside world almost a myth, because most believed he was dead. Avon's return would be a parallel to the escape from Elba of Napoleon.
A note on the show's name: When Terry Nation originally scripted the show, he intended Blake to have seven companions, hence the name Blake's 7. Due to budget constraints, however, Blake's crew never included more than six human actors (including Blake who was now counted as part of the 7) at one time. The show subtly addressed this discrepancy by counting one or more computers as "members" of the crew. Thus, the original seven were
- Humans: Roj Blake, Kerr Avon, Jenna Stannis, Vila Restal, Olag Gan, Cally (6)
- Computers: Zen (1)
By the end of the series, the lineup had become
- Humans: Kerr Avon, Vila Restal, Del Tarrant, Dayna Mellanby, Soolin (5)
- Computers: Orac, Slave (2)
Using this system, the total does actually add up to seven with fair consistency throughout the series. Note how this list also demonstrates the characteristic attrition of main characters (including Blake himself!) throughout the series:
- Gan killed early in Season B (replaced in the count by Orac; thereafter never more than five humans at one time)
- Blake and Jenna lost at the end of Season B (replaced in the count by Dayna and Tarrant)
- Zen destroyed and Cally killed at the end of Season C/start of Season D (replaced in the count by Slave and Soolin, respectively).
Also, Travis, one of the main villains of the first two seasons, is killed at the end of Season B. He is never replaced by a recurrent character, as Servalan, the other main villain, henceforth has a tendency to quickly lose her sidekicks either by accident or by design.
It is also worth noting that the on-screen logo gave the series title as 'Blakes 7', without the apostrophe; fans often abbreviate the title to 'B7'.
Cliffhanger Season Endings (spoilers)
- Season A End of season cliffhanger: A look into the future shows the Liberator apparently destroyed by a sudden explosion.
- Season B End of season cliffhanger: The Liberator is about to engage a fleet of enemy starships of overwhelming numerical superiority.
- Season C End of season cliffhanger (intended as an end of series cliffhanger): The Liberator is destroyed, leaving its crew marooned on the planet Terminal.
- Season D End of series cliffhanger (?): Blake is killed by Avon, followed in quick succession by the apparent deaths of Scorpio's crew members with the sole exception of Avon, who seems about to suffer the same fate.
Cast:
Episode List:
1978 (Season A)
- The Way Back
- Space Fall
- Cygnus Alpha
- Time Squad
- The Web
- Seek Locate Destroy
- Mission to Destiny
- Duel
- Project Avalon
- Breakdown
- Bounty
- Deliverance
- Orac
1979 (Season B)
- Redemption
- Shadow
- Weapon
- Horizon
- Pressure Point
- Trial
- Killer
- Hostage
- Countdown
- Voice from the Past
- Gambit
- The Keeper
- Star One
1980 (Season C)
- Aftermath
- Powerplay
- Volcano
- Dawn of the Gods
- The Harvest of Kairos
- City at the Edge of the World
- Children of Auron
- Rumours of Death
- Sarcophagus
- Ultraworld
- Moloch
- Death-Watch
- Terminal
1981 (Season D)
- Rescue
- Power
- Traitor
- Stardrive
- Animals
- Headhunter
- Assassin
- Games
- Sand
- Gold
- Orbit
- Warlord
- Blake
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