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.

The series

The series was created by Terry Nation, who had previously worked on Doctor Who and created the Doctor's most famous adversaries, the Daleks. It was made in the United Kingdom and was produced and broadcast by the BBC. Blake's 7 resembled 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).

Related Topics:
Terry Nation - Doctor Who - Dalek - United Kingdom - BBC

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Loosely based on the Robin Hood legend, the show followed the exploits of a group of outlaw revolutionaries, led by a patriot-hero named Roj Blake (Gareth Thomas), who fought the fascistic interstellar Terran Federation in the second century of the third calendar. Blake's 7 was watched by 10 million viewers at its peak, an enormous number for a space opera.

Related Topics:
Robin Hood - Gareth Thomas - Fascistic - Space opera

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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. Unlike many mainstream TV dramas, the morally ambiguous or evil characters (specifically, Avon and the ruthless but charismatic Servalan) proved to be the most interesting, and both soon gathered dedicated fan followings.

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According to actress Jacqueline Pearce, who played Servalan, Terry Nation originally intended her character to be a man, but halfway through writing the script he realised that it would be more interesting if the gender was reversed. Servalan was also meant to make only one appearance, but Pearce's commanding performance, great beauty and unusual close-cropped hairstyle made Servalan an instant hit and Pearce became a regular cast member.

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The show's fascination with and careful study of dictatorial societies has made it a surprise hit in several Eastern European countries as a sort of pop culture Nineteen Eighty-Four. Characters working for the evil Federation were often portrayed as being motivated by their own concepts of duty and loyalty, as well as the overpowering pressure exerted by society. Tactics studied from Stalinist Russia (such as forced psychiatric treatments and show trials) were intermixed with papier-mache giant spiders and fur-suited aliens.

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Blake's 7 was also remarkable for its range of influences; dialogue inspired by Casablanca and The Importance of Being Earnest was mixed with Spaghetti Western nihilism and pure camp, as well as the odd plot and a major character stolen from Shakespeare. (Most of the cast had classical training, and actor Michael Keating played his character, Vila Restal, as if channelling Feste, the brilliant but flawed jester in Twelfth Night.)

Related Topics:
Casablanca - The Importance of Being Earnest - Spaghetti Western - Nihilism - Camp - Shakespeare - Jester - Twelfth Night

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One striking characteristic of the show was its highly effective use of cliffhangers at the end of each season, a feature used to maximum effect in the fourth season's last episode, "Blake". This was deliberately written to be open-ended in case the series returned, but also to be final in case it did not.

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Another notable (and often satirised) aspect of the show was the light construction of its sets. The "wobbly set syndrome" was particularly apparent during the numerous fight scenes—one presumes the actors had to be very careful to avoid colliding with the walls. Many scenes set on the surface of other worlds were filmed in quarries; fans of the show can now go on a Blake's 7 quarry location tour of the UK. The series also repeatedly used a corridor at Leeds Polytechnic. While some critics lampooned the comparatively meagre production values, it is only fair to note that, like Doctor Who, Blake's 7 was made with what would now be considered a tiny budget, only a fraction of what would typically have been spent on an American prime-time drama at that time.

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In 2003 there was a revival movement (led by Andrew Mark Sewell and Simon Moorhead of B7 Enterprises) 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 has since left the project. As of 2005 nothing more has emerged regarding the miniseries, though B7 Enterprises have been involved in the production of DVD compilations of series one and two.

Related Topics:
2003 - Andrew Mark Sewell - Simon Moorhead - B7 Enterprises - Paul Darrow - 2005

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Blake's 7s major legacy to future TV space opera was the use of moral ambiguity and dysfunctional main characters to create tension, as well as long-term plot arcs to hold episodes together. Most (though not always all) of these traits were seen in Lexx, Andromeda, Deep Space 9, Babylon 5, Farscape, and ', rather than the "feel good" tone and unconnected episode structure of early Star Trek. Blake's 7 was also arguably unique in TV SF in that it had a major influence on written SF, with the revival of written space opera in the '90s coming from the UK at the hands of writers such as Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, and Iain Banks. These authors are all of the generation that watched Blake's 7, and their work features morally ambivalent, often sarcastic and driven characters, whose usually violently-terminated lives are spent in vast and baroque spacecraft.

Related Topics:
Lexx - Andromeda - Deep Space 9 - Babylon 5 - Farscape - Star Trek - '90s - Stephen Baxter - Alastair Reynolds - Iain Banks

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