Blake's 7

Blake's 7 was a BBC science fiction television series created by Terry Nation that ran four seasons from January 2, 1978 to December 21, 1981.

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. On the prisoner transport ship London, 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 defenses, the Londons captain decides to send Blake's group over to 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, follow him with various degrees of reluctance.

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By the end of the second season, Gareth Thomas (Blake) sought an exit from the series. His character is written out, with Blake being lost in an escape pod after Liberator is damaged in a ferocious battle with invaders from the Andromeda Galaxy over the Federation's central computer complex, known as Star One. (Terry Nation proposed that the invaders would be revealed as the Daleks, but the BBC was not happy with tying together its two sci-fi franchises in this way.) Jenna is also lost. Del Tarrant, a mercenary who has been posing as a Federation trooper, is introduced to replace Blake, although Avon clashes even more frequently with Tarrant than he did with Blake. Avon eventually rises in dominance until he becomes the de facto leader of the group. The shadow of Blake remains strong over them, however, and they search for him sporadically throughout the remainder of the series.

Related Topics:
Gareth Thomas - Andromeda Galaxy - Dalek

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Liberator is destroyed at the end of the third season, and the group soon acquires a new ship named Scorpio, together with a home base on the planet Xenon. The fight against the Federation continues, growing more desperate for both sides: the Federation was significantly weakened after the loss of 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 is later deposed and forced to operate on the fringes of the Federation in a lesser position under the alias "Sleer".

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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. Mistakenly believing that Blake has betrayed them, Avon kills Blake (blood is shown). Federation troops overrun the remainder, shooting all except Avon (it is not clear whether they are dead). Surrounded, Avon raises his own weapon, and as the picture cuts to black, a flurry of gunfire is heard and the end credits roll.

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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), to prevent any assumption (by audience or future casting directors) that Blake was only wounded and could return.

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There is a lot of confusion about the exact intention behind the final episode. Script editor Chris Boucher, who wrote the episode, has stated that it was deliberately left open-ended in case there was a fifth season. For those actors who were available, their characters would survive, while for those who were not, their characters would be confirmed as dead.

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The series did return in the late 1990s as two radio plays (The Sevenfold Crown and The Syndeton Experiment) broadcast on BBC Radio. These were set in the Season 4 time-frame prior to the events on Gauda Prime. Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Steven Pacey (Tarrant) and Peter Tuddenham (voice of Orac/Slave) reprised their original roles, with replacements Paula Wilcox and Angela Bruce as Soolin and Dayna.

Related Topics:
1990s - Paul Darrow - Michael Keating - Jacqueline Pearce - Steven Pacey - Peter Tuddenham - Paula Wilcox - Angela Bruce

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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 sequel miniseries would centre on Avon, the only crewmember still standing in the final shot. It would reveal that Avon had not died, but was taken prisoner. The sequel would take place after Avon had been left to rot in prison for twenty years, forgotten or become a myth to the outside world, because most believed he was dead. Avon's return would be a parallel to the escape from Elba of Napoleon. But much fan fiction finds ways to keep Avon and all his followers alive here.

Related Topics:
Fan fiction - Elba - Napoleon

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