I think this video does a good job of succinctly explaining Blake’s 7 and what makes it distinct and appealing. One nit-pick: the show clearly states that the Terran Federation only rules part (perhaps most) of a single galaxy. Like Trek, travel between galaxies is still out of reach for the Federation. So the Terran Federation isn’t an “intergalactic government”.
BBC: "Here's twenty quid. Make Star Wars." Scriptwriters: "Oh God. Can we at least make it all bleak, gritty and depressing?" BBC: "You mean there are other options?"
Overall it was a mess but an enjoyable part of my childhood. I rewatched the pilot and it was very serious and Orwellian, I think they kind of ran out of ideas quite soon. A show with great potential, I'd imagine the production was rushed and under budget.
@@pexxos1 Dr Who from Jon Pertwee until the Tom Baker (which elapsed in 1981) was way better than the 5h1te offering you have nowadays. Good actors, great scripts, despite the seriously low budget effects and costumes etc....
I love how you said (about the finale) "It's hard to not get emotional"...my friend, I screamed at the top of my lungs when everybody died and then cried uncontrollably for 30 minutes while my mom tried to console me. "Emotional" doesn't cut it. If you were a kid obsessed by science fiction watching Blake's 7, it was devastating. I also cried when the Liberator was destroyed...the ship as much a part of the beauty of the show as the characters. It was way beyond its time...what show in that era had the guts to have one of the heroes die (Gan) when something went wrong? Where do the bad guys actually win? It took me a while to appreciate just how unique the show was. This was the era where Optimus Prime would give you motivational speeches after each episode of Transformers and He-Man talked about kindness. Anti-heroes like Avon, Villa and to a lesser extent Blake were really not a thing commonly used in TV shows. Plus the idea of finding an ancient drifting space ship, more powerful than anything else in use, is still massively intriguing to me.
I have my own theory on the ending... Roj was no fool, that place was built to root out spies, he wouldnt be walking around without the best armor he could get his hands on. When Avon shoots him thats the *only* time we see blood in the whole series, from a vest made to make a hit look fatal. No, I think Avon started laughing, because Roj winked at him, then all the firing heard is Roj's men in the enemy's uniform opening up on their infiltrator. The crew were just heavily stunned. Thats what I like to think anyway...
I can remember watching as well , I can remember hating how they wrapped it up but I can appreciate it a bit better now I’m (much) older . I remember thinking at least let Avon (my favourite character) get away but from the sound of the weapons it didn’t look like it .
I used to secretly take my mum's curling tongs and run around the back garden pretending I was brandishing Blake's Weapon whilst trying to fight my way back to the Liberator! .... I was 28 years of age! 💪😉🇬🇧
As a teenager during the Blakes7 The "most memorable aspect of Blakes7" was the Servilan character and her wardrobe. I think she must have launched a million or two teenage fantasies during those seasons episodes.
Jacqueline Pearce, the actress playing Servalan was even more outrageous than her on screen persona, apparently coming in late one day to rehearsal for a different TV show and saying ‘Sorry I’m late, I was up all night f***ing a Russian priest.’
Was going to write the same. Many a teenage boy had naughty thoughts about Servalan. Usually what people (well, men) say when the subject of Blake's 7 arises.
Blakes 7 has one of the best theme tunes of any sci-fi series ever & it had such of an impact on my childhood as a must watch. Love your breakdown on this....nice work 😍
There's a bit in the middle of the theme music which is identical to an instrumental section in John Miles song "Music". Maybe a coincidence, or perhaps the John Miles song just stuck in his head. I doubt that he deliberately copied it.
Listen to John Miles - Music.. the synth bit at 3 min 20 is the Blakes 7 (well 2 actual bars of the main part) theme. th-cam.com/video/lAsvjVx-Mg4/w-d-xo.html
yes a key character of the series it would have been a very different story without Servalan and the computer characters Zen and the remarkable Orac it helped that there was a minimal use of cute though humor was not absent. would like to see a new version that could compare to what they did with "Lost in Space"
Loved this since it was first screened. Hated the final episode when first shown but over time, have come to realise how brilliant it actually was (especially the pain in Avon's face and the great acting between the two) and am now at peace with it... thanks for very good video...
Has to be noted Garath Thomas for Blakes death scene asked the effects guys to give him extra blood packs. He thought with SO much blood it'd be impossible for the BBC to resurrect Blake.
One of the things I love about B7 is they had good female characters. They weren't side characters sitting around waiting for the men to do stuff, nor were they over the top caricatures, they were active important members of the team. Then there was Servalan, a great combination of sexy and intimidating.
True, up to a certain point. However, the actresses playing Cally and Jenna were increasingly unhappy as it went on, because they were often relagated to working the teleport and staying on the ship, while the men went down to the planets.
Villa was the weak link, but it was for a reason, not "just" so the women could "be strong". Cally was always going to be ten times stronger than him, because of the different society she was raised in, not because "grrl power"..
From the episode "Traitor": Leitz : After all, how many people've you killed to protect your secret? Servalan : You mean now? [Stabs Leitz] Servalan : Twenty-six. 😈
@@rockwell666 Someone developed a weapon which, I forget how, programed your body or nervous system when you "fired" it at them. Then at a later point, when it suited you, you could send the message and the person dropped dead. Her slavishly loyal commander of troops captured it and delivered it straight to her. *Dispassionately fires it into his back the moment he turns to leave the room* 🤔🤩
Thanks for creating this wonderful video! I loved the character of Servelan! Her full title: “President of the Terran Federation, Governor-General of the seven armies, Lord-Admiral of the Space Fleet, Protector of The inner and outer worlds and Defender of the Earth!” Such an impressive and imperial title!
It's difficult to determine how many times Roger Blake was brainwashed by Federation Scientists. Their definitely altered his personality to point where even he was sure about his last history.
…..I was just thinking that. I remember watching this when it was first screened age 6 asking my parents, “….what’s child molest1ng?” Cue lots of uncomfortable awkwardness from my folks.
Watched this on ABC in Australia in the '70s. Loved it as a kid. The characters in this show were way more deep and complex than anyone in Star Wars or Trek. Kerr Avon was the real star.
Avon is the nexus point of this series, not just his relationship with Blake, his verbal sparing/relationship with Servelan is absolutely delicious dripping is sarcasm, distaste for each other yet... respect for each others intellect, true frenemies. But at the same time, Avon and Villa is to Blakes 7 as Londo and G'Kar is to Babylon 5... Apparently the germ of what became Firefly was from a Traveller Tabletop RPG he played when he was in the UK for a while. If Wheadon didn't know the series then, you can be sure that the other players did.
I've heard that too, that he thought up Firefly after playing Traveller. While the RPG is set in the future of the entire Milky Way (or most of it), I also like how Firefly is only set in one massive, multi-star system ("dozens of planets, with hundreds of habitable moons") much closer to present day (just 500 years ahead). Both are great settings for stories, just like Blake's 7.
My favourite character was Vila, actually. I liked the single episode where he got to be the hero, for a bunch of people in another dimension, I think it was? But he went back and rejoined the crew of the Liberator. Mistake, because they didn't respect him or value him enough.
From the UK and grow up with this show, was and still is one of the best. Helps that a lot of people that worked on Dr who also worked on Blake 7, and of cause Terry the daddy of the Daleks.
It has its charm and its faults, the faults are , well, for me.... entirely down to 2 things, its scant budget (reflected in props etc) and when it was made (editing and scripting conventions of the eras television, not all have stood up well). But I am not sure a remake/reboot will fix those issues and keep the charm or the character of the original.
Servalan deserves a video to herself - it's a credit to Pearce that the BBC could dress her up like a pantomime dame and she's still a credible source of danger.
I was but a mere seven years old when this show premiered in Australia, and I lived it right away. A far cry from the hero’s journey of Star Wars, and the utopian society of Star Trek, but brilliantly written, and superbly acted. The special effects were good for the period, on such a small budget. IIRC, “Blake” was never meant to be the series finale. Rather, it was meant to be a cliffhanger, leading into season 5. But the fifth season was cancelled, so they set up show Avon’s paranoia becoming more pronounced, as the crew’s resources begin to wither, and their chances of alliances with other groups fading. Which leads to a slightly ambiguous, but very downbeat, finale. Still one of the best finales in TV history, IMO. Cheers,
@@ParkNarczthat’s really honoring you’d think about me while making your videos. I started since the commando duck video and have watched everyone since then. I love your content and hope the best for you mate ❤
I was 12 when Blake's Seven aired. I was 12 and not much older when Servalan occupied most of my waking thoughts. I believe the phrase is, Hamana Hamana Hamana.
same age, and I can reassure you that you were not alone by a long shot. everything about her, especially her voice and mannerisms, oozed sensuality and seduction. her character still having the same (if not more) hypnotic affects today as she did then.
About 10-15 years ago I worked on a short film which had Paul Darrow as the narrator and only ‘star’. The man was incredible. His acting chops, which included chewing scenery in this short film, were incredible. Given his status as a sci-fi icon in the UK, he was genuine and a complete gentlemen while working on this decidedly zero budget film. Well, not exactly zero, I believe he was paid a not particularly large sum out of the pocket of the director. I did the sound (both production and music) for fun as I was friends of a friend of the director and writer. This was in a time when film nuts were still considers nerdy freaks, not like today when it seems anyone with an iPhone is a director. And the equipment used was the bare minimum required to match low def TV. My experience with Paul Darrow made me respect the man who I’d known about through watching Blake’s Seven as a kid. I didn’t really like the show, too much talking and psychological stuff, but I was a stupid kid. I’ll have to look it up and rewatch. It’s not often people have such an effect on me, I’m pretty immune to being star struck through working in the record industry through the 80s and 90s. But I’ll make an exception for Mr Darrow.
@@NeilCWCampbell Yep, same here. Met him and Michael Keating in the early 90s at a fan run convention, they were gracious and obviously cared about their fans.
This is my favourite sci fi ever. It still has to be bested. Servalan is such a powerful female character. As a young girl, I aspired to be her. At that time, other than Ripley (which I didn't get to see until years after it's cinematic release) there were few women who held it together, controlled authority and oozed power in drama. Most were "eye candy". At the time, it was revolutionary on many levels (no pun intended).
Yes but star Trek had those as well and it looked good and had good actors and writers. It's absurd to even compare the two. It's like comparing a chocolate cake to a dog pooh.
Series 1 has had a new Blu Ray release with extensive updated special effects. All the space craft and planet effects have been re-done. The model effects now look really good. It's given series 1 a new lease of life. Presumably series 2-4 will get the same treatment.
My brother & I were 15yrs old when it started - we were enthralled. Thanks to dad we'd been watching sci-fi since we were young but there was nothing comparable to it. Nothing. The good guys had little wins but they were fighting against the tide and each other. Superb show.
Great review from a great show-thank you. And you managed to do the entire review and not make fun of the true arch enemy of Blake7, Servalan, running around in a ballgown and high heels! A little bit camp, dodgy special effects and scenery but probably the best and most grittiest script for a sci-fi show ever. Love from the UK!
Thank you! There was just so much to talk about that I decided to leave most of it out and simplify as much as I could. Servalan is great! She's actually much less ridiculous than Travis imo 🤣
Blake's 7 was the evil twin of Star Trek. I think the optimism of the 60s that spawned Trek had been replaced by the late 70s by a more cynical and dystopian view of the future reflecting the economic and social conditions of the time. It didn't have the special effects and sets of Star Wars, or even earlier Trek, and I got to see the original props of Blake's 7 at a Sci Fi exhibition in London, and yes, some were poor when seen up close. There were subsequent theories of whether and how Avon survives? I'll definitely get that blue ray edition to see how the FX look now.
Blake’s 7.. The defining show of my youth, ( this and Grange Hill - the Tucker Jenkins years, of course), and turned an 8yr old into a distrustful skeptical pessimist forever more. Well done BBC! After all, it was the Thatcher era, so a sense of hopelessness permeated. Loved the show. Tore my childhood heart out when in the end….”apparently, the good guy can be turned, and the good do not win in the end." Didn’t know about any of the backend details with Gareth leaving to apparently stave off being typecasted. Just thought it was the continuation of the journey AND the quest to find Blake and team up again and take down the evil Federation. But… Alas… Blake was acting all weird and evasive when the met… it confused me too… Any hope of that being explained and revealed ended when Avon was ‘compelled’ to shoot him down. Then one by one… Then Avon… Then CUT! Serverlan wasn’t even there to gloat! I dunno… it was like when you found out what your dad had to do ‘to’ your mum to get the kids! Traumatic gut-punch, followed by initial disbelief and then denial 😢… At some point later you came to terms with the facts (when you learned them for real, and you never saw them in that childhood ignorant way again. Such it was with Blakes7. lol Watching the show now on TH-cam and BritBox.
I finally got to know Blake's 7 in syndication when I entered my 20s. It was particularly refreshing after enjoying so much of Star Trek and Doctor Who throughout my childhood. Thank you for your review.
Almost every single successful American tv show and film, has been lifted from British culture. Did you know their very nice and quite powerful National Anthem, was originally a lewd British drinking anthem for a London Gentlemen’s club ?.
Thank you to the poster. Takes me way back. I really enjoyed Blake's 7 in the 80s. British acting is so much more grittier in the relationships over american special effects - and that's what sets British shows apart. I had heard what the final episode contained but never saw it. It was a fitting conclusion - and emotional knowing the characters like I did (way back then).
Such a cool show. I remember when the PBS station I watched Doctor Who on, stopped broadcasting Doc Who after the Baker season ended. I was very upset, but they soon started showing Blake's 7 instead, and I got into it right away. It was so different from other British Sci-Fi TV I had seen.
That chilling theme tune is my Phones ringtone. When I was a teenager and this show was in it's first run, I was OBSESSED with it. I recently bought a full dvd set on ebay and watched the whole thing again. The special effects were very wonky, but the plots and characters were great. I am still obsessed with it. Why can't I travel in space on the Liberator?😥
Well done on this review. BLAKE 7 is one of the best and sadly, most under-appreciated Sci-Fi shows of its time. I loved it then and still do now. What is amazing is the number of highly respected authors who scripted some of the episodes, like Terry Nation and Tanith Lee.
Blake's 7 is an amazing series. Dark and nihilistic. And oh, man, that ending. I'd love to see something done with modern production values, but with the same themes, characterizations, and plot points.
I watched some episodes recently after hearing about it's cult reputation. I wasn't expecting to be overly impressed, as some shows don't age well and can come off as corny to a modern audience. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the scintillating dialogue actually trumps the low budget. The character interplay is multi-layered and so riveting, it's superior to many modern shows.
@@snipelite94 It is a shame that the special effects budget wasn't higher, but they did what they could, and the Liberator was a good ship. I'm glad that you weren't disappointed by the characters and their interactions. They are far more believable as people, not Mary Sues, not complete villains (OK, maybe Servalan was, and a couple of her more 2 dimensional accomplices, but she was interesting, and deeper than the usual run of the mill adversary/foil). Terry Pratchett's work is similar in that the people in his books were interesting, but more real, more normal, characters, set in a bizarre world. Watching BBC shows from the 70s (repeats, in my case, as we didn't have a TV until I was a teenager) meant that one became accustomed to bad special effects, and, for example, I much prefer the 80s, cheap TV version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to the film, with its much more advanced effects. The original had a charm and an atmosphere missing from the film (now don't get _touchy_ about that, Martin Freeman).
As a slightly dyslexic 7 year old, when I saw the first episode listed in the newspapers, I assumed it was BLACK 7....a show about snooker. I'm so glad that I decided to watch it. Great show....stuck with me nearly 50 years!
@@Jon6429 Lol! You won't regret it. Another classic that has grown more relevant with age. I've watched it many times and there are some similarities to B7's early episodes with the domed city, mass surveillance, a group of underground dissidents etc.
Great vid introducing an all-time classic British sci-fi - many thanks! I loved this show from it's very first episode and you're spot on, it WAS like an antidote to Star Wars for us grungier, darker-toned loving Brits!
I think Zen and Orac are part of the seven, so by the end of Series One, Blake's seven do not include Blake himself. The number drops one when Gan departs in Series Two, but goes up to seven again when Blake and Jenna disappear at the start of Series Three but Dayna and Tarrant join. I am old enough to remember the first episode in 1978. Love this video essay. An excellent summing up.
Thanks for this, it's really good. Whenever I see people asking "what's the best series finale?" I always throw Blakes 7 into the debate...usually to widespread indifference. You can't begin to imagine how shocking it was to watch "live" on television as a 13 year old. It still hits hard all these years later.
The Prog Metal supergroup Star One (A side project of Ayroen's Arjen Lucassen, all of Star One's songs are inspired by Science Fiction or Fantasy movies/TV series) gets it's name from Blakes 7, as well as inspiring one of thier most popular songs 'Intergalactic Space Crusader'. Blakes 7 was also an influence on Babylon 5.
"An anti-Stat Trek," is how I described the show. Also, the character of Cally, was based on the terrorist Astrid Proll, who, at the time of the show's production was still at large. When Cally's character emerged, the real Astrid Proll, was discovered working as a welder in a garage in Hackney, east London.
It's interesting to look back and see how elements of "Blake's 7" end up in things like "Total Recall" as well as later series like "Firefly." I found "Blake's 7" as a kid watching PBS on Saturday mornings along with "Dr. Who" and have always loved it. It's also fascinating to see how pieces of other movies and series, like "The Man With The Golden Gun" and "Star Wars" made it into "Blake's 7."
Interestingly enough, the last moments of the last episode 'Blake', contained even more 'stuff' for fans to grab onto... after the freeze frame at the end, and the subsequent barrage of blasts from federation guns - the last shot heard is from Avon's gun (it had a different sound effect to the one used for the federation troops' weapons) hinting that Avon wasn't killed. Another interesting thought is that B7 is almost definitely never going to be rebooted in the modern age - because no tv channel will want to glorify a bunch of 'terrorists' who are fighting against the establishment ... too close to home for most major governments these days ...
…..and the only episode to ever feature blood. I remember my slightly older brother being convinced Avon got away and said there should be a spin-off called, ‘Avon’s Run’.
I fondly remember Blake's 7. I was 5 years old when Series 1 aired. Some of my earliest TV watching memories were of The Liberator, Zen and the guns that looked to me like big jack plugs, then Orac later on. My brother even had a Corgi die-cast model of The Liberator. I remember watching Series 4 in 1981and in particular the final episode and oh what an ending to the series! I was also taken by the Series 4 title sequence with the head up display like artificial horizon and compass rose. I'm now in my 50's and work in the airline industry and see where the idea for those graphics came from. Whilst Star Trek was also being aired on BBC One on a weekday evening in the late 70's (another early TV memory), Blake's 7 stands out for me as my favourite sci-fi show of all time.
I've been peripherally aware of this show for decades and somehow ive still never watched it. Gonna settle in for the winter and get my campy british sci fi on.
@paulscottrobson I liked ol Jacq's response to the wearing of stilettos in a quarry "I was playing the president of the known federation. Of course the president would wear exactly the shoes she wanted". That lady was a legend ☺️
Blake's 7 was a brilliant and entertaining show, I loved the interaction between Blake and Avon and also between Avon and Villa, plus I had a major crush on Jenna. Such a great show, thanks for telling me about the Blu-Ray release of season 1. I went straight from your video and purchased it although it won't be available in NZ until Jan 2025, it is now pre-ordered and will soon be added to my collection. I really do hope they release the other seasons as well. Sapphire and Steel is another groundbreaking very dark series that scared the hell out of me as a kid but I loved every minute of the low budget sci-fi grim series; where they often lost or had to sacrifice someone in order to maintain the balance, it really pushed the boundaries and was not afraid to do the unthinkable.
Ah! When the BBC had no budget, but still made great shows. Now they seem to have the budgets, but are incapable of making anything decent. How far we have fallen!
Got into this right after finding The Prisoner (the show that now ranks as my all time favorite TV series ever) and so glad I did. I actually appreciated the general downbeat vibe.
I think this video does a good job of succinctly explaining Blake’s 7 and what makes it distinct and appealing.
One nit-pick: the show clearly states that the Terran Federation only rules part (perhaps most) of a single galaxy. Like Trek, travel between galaxies is still out of reach for the Federation. So the Terran Federation isn’t an “intergalactic government”.
Crap, you're right. Thank you for correcting that!
@@ParkNarcz You’re wrong about the Blu-ray being available in North America
@@Howyaduing Wrong. He said December 10th and that is what Amazon also says.
@@ParkNarcz It's a common mistake amongst sci fi writers, don't worry.
@@ParkNarcz You should have said: "Did I say intergalactic? I meant intragalactic" 😄
BBC: "Here's twenty quid. Make Star Wars."
Scriptwriters: "Oh God. Can we at least make it all bleak, gritty and depressing?"
BBC: "You mean there are other options?"
👏👏😁😁
Brilliant! 😂😂
I spat my coffee 😂😂😂😂😂
LoL 😂
Cardboard costs nothing. Tinfoil you might have to pay for. Anyway, 20 quid was a bit of tin in those days.
I love Blake's 7. It's depressing, unfair, callous and downbeat. Makes me proud to be a 🇬🇧. Essential viewing ❤❤.
I have the originals on DVD, fantastic characters and stories. Have you tried the Big Finish Audios with the original cast? They are pretty good too.
Before you start waiving the Union Jack with pride, remember that your country has also produced Dr Who, which is overrated at best.
Overall it was a mess but an enjoyable part of my childhood.
I rewatched the pilot and it was very serious and Orwellian, I think they kind of ran out of ideas quite soon.
A show with great potential, I'd imagine the production was rushed and under budget.
@@pexxos1 Dr Who from Jon Pertwee until the Tom Baker (which elapsed in 1981) was way better than the 5h1te offering you have nowadays.
Good actors, great scripts, despite the seriously low budget effects and costumes etc....
"I'm not expendible, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going"
This would never be heard in Star Wars or Star Trek.
The way the world is going the Federation in Star Trek is what we wanted, the Federation from Blake's 7 is what we are ending up with.
Go woke...
Elon's Federation will definitely be the one in Blake's 7.
@@garethhanby LOL! NICE try!
Certainly the unexpected violent ending of the series has ensured it will never be forgotten.
Brave new world
I love how you said (about the finale) "It's hard to not get emotional"...my friend, I screamed at the top of my lungs when everybody died and then cried uncontrollably for 30 minutes while my mom tried to console me. "Emotional" doesn't cut it. If you were a kid obsessed by science fiction watching Blake's 7, it was devastating. I also cried when the Liberator was destroyed...the ship as much a part of the beauty of the show as the characters.
It was way beyond its time...what show in that era had the guts to have one of the heroes die (Gan) when something went wrong? Where do the bad guys actually win? It took me a while to appreciate just how unique the show was. This was the era where Optimus Prime would give you motivational speeches after each episode of Transformers and He-Man talked about kindness. Anti-heroes like Avon, Villa and to a lesser extent Blake were really not a thing commonly used in TV shows. Plus the idea of finding an ancient drifting space ship, more powerful than anything else in use, is still massively intriguing to me.
I have my own theory on the ending... Roj was no fool, that place was built to root out spies, he wouldnt be walking around without the best armor he could get his hands on. When Avon shoots him thats the *only* time we see blood in the whole series, from a vest made to make a hit look fatal. No, I think Avon started laughing, because Roj winked at him, then all the firing heard is Roj's men in the enemy's uniform opening up on their infiltrator. The crew were just heavily stunned.
Thats what I like to think anyway...
Me too. I never forgave the BBC for it.
@@ImageSlayer Heres some more :
Dr. Samuel Becket never returned home.
To Serve Man is a cook book
The butler did it
Soylent Green is people.
Umm, maybe not do a spoiler for the end of the series?
@@peterinbrat I think the 'no spoilers' window for this series has expired, since it first aired Jan 2nd, 1978....
The finale is, along with Blackadder Goes Fourth one of the absolute greats. Still remember watching it from the original broadcast.
Avon ducked.
Baldrick, George and Darling went first, second and third respectively
The guards actually shot Arlen, then lead Avon away...?
I can remember watching as well , I can remember hating how they wrapped it up but I can appreciate it a bit better now I’m (much) older . I remember thinking at least let Avon (my favourite character) get away but from the sound of the weapons it didn’t look like it .
I used to secretly take my mum's curling tongs and run around the back garden pretending I was brandishing Blake's Weapon whilst trying to fight my way back to the Liberator!
.... I was 28 years of age! 💪😉🇬🇧
Lol!!! We did to. We even got hold of some old telephone receiver cable and sellotaped it to the ends
As a teenager during the Blakes7 The "most memorable aspect of Blakes7" was the Servilan character and her wardrobe. I think she must have launched a million or two teenage fantasies during those seasons episodes.
Aye, I used to run home from the cubs to watch this and recall being strangely fascinated by Supreme Commander Servilan...............
Jacqueline Pearce, the actress playing Servalan was even more outrageous than her on screen persona, apparently coming in late one day to rehearsal for a different TV show and saying ‘Sorry I’m late, I was up all night f***ing a Russian priest.’
Was going to write the same. Many a teenage boy had naughty thoughts about Servalan. Usually what people (well, men) say when the subject of Blake's 7 arises.
Not wrong.
She was a right cow! Based on Maggie T, Nation said.
Amazing video. Fourteen minutes about Blakes 7 without one mention of Servalan. I truly didn't think that could be done.
Maximum Error !
gotta confess, Servalan was hot. And didn't she get it on with Villa?
Criminal - Her character was so unexpected at the time, complete trailblazer.
Back in 1978 my class of 7 year old boys all fancied Servelan
@@HarryFlashmanVCShe was hot as f***. I was a year older than you back then.
Blakes 7 has one of the best theme tunes of any sci-fi series ever & it had such of an impact on my childhood as a must watch.
Love your breakdown on this....nice work 😍
Thank you!
@ParkNarcz no sir....Thank you ...👏🏻
There's a bit in the middle of the theme music which is identical to an instrumental section in John Miles song "Music". Maybe a coincidence, or perhaps the John Miles song just stuck in his head. I doubt that he deliberately copied it.
Listen to John Miles - Music.. the synth bit at 3 min 20 is the Blakes 7 (well 2 actual bars of the main part) theme. th-cam.com/video/lAsvjVx-Mg4/w-d-xo.html
@@miamijim5964 The John Miles song was the earlier of the two🙂
In Blakes Seven having a female arch-enemy and recurring, arch-villain in the form of the woman Servalan was awesome in billions of ways.
yes a key character of the series it would have been a very different story without Servalan and the computer characters Zen and the remarkable Orac it helped that there was a minimal use of cute though humor was not absent.
would like to see a new version that could compare to what they did with "Lost in Space"
I heard that Jacqueline Pearce modelled some of her performance on Margaret Thatcher. Which explains a lot.
And Servalan was costume designed as Shirley Bassey in space. Awesome!
Played by the force of nature that was Jacqueline Pearce
Had an absolute crush on that character, if not the actor Jacqueline Pearce... 😅
Loved this since it was first screened. Hated the final episode when first shown but over time, have come to realise how brilliant it actually was (especially the pain in Avon's face and the great acting between the two) and am now at peace with it... thanks for very good video...
I always felt that Farscape and Lexx both had a little Blake in their DNA
But Farscape was good.
Sounds like Firefly does also
@@liquidsonly I loved Farscape, and felt that it didn't get the recognition it deserved.
Lexx is its own thing. Me and my friend always enjoyed watching it. A guilty pleasure show.
@@Apple2-ux8uoFirefly is a direct copy.
Has to be noted Garath Thomas for Blakes death scene asked the effects guys to give him extra blood packs. He thought with SO much blood it'd be impossible for the BBC to resurrect Blake.
Avon's gun is also different from all the others to presumably be more lethal
Thank you for this. Absolutely love Blake's 7, a truly underrated show.
Thank you for watching!
excellent recap - i picked up the Blu-ray set and just started rewatching the series again - been a long time
Thank you!
One of the things I love about B7 is they had good female characters. They weren't side characters sitting around waiting for the men to do stuff, nor were they over the top caricatures, they were active important members of the team.
Then there was Servalan, a great combination of sexy and intimidating.
True, up to a certain point. However, the actresses playing Cally and Jenna were increasingly unhappy as it went on, because they were often relagated to working the teleport and staying on the ship, while the men went down to the planets.
Villa was the weak link, but it was for a reason, not "just" so the women could "be strong". Cally was always going to be ten times stronger than him, because of the different society she was raised in, not because "grrl power"..
From the episode "Traitor":
Leitz : After all, how many people've you killed to protect your secret?
Servalan : You mean now?
[Stabs Leitz]
Servalan : Twenty-six.
😈
@@rockwell666 Someone developed a weapon which, I forget how, programed your body or nervous system when you "fired" it at them.
Then at a later point, when it suited you, you could send the message and the person dropped dead. Her slavishly loyal commander of troops captured it and delivered it straight to her.
*Dispassionately fires it into his back the moment he turns to leave the room*
🤔🤩
Thanks for creating this wonderful video! I loved the character of Servelan! Her full title: “President of the Terran Federation, Governor-General of the seven armies, Lord-Admiral of the Space Fleet, Protector of The inner and outer worlds and Defender of the Earth!” Such an impressive and imperial title!
Thank you, I couldn't remember her name, but what a character she was!
Not only does the Federation convict Blake on false charges, but those charges are child molestation. It is pretty dark.
they implanted memories of being molested into the kids minds !
Yep! 'Corrupting the morals of children' was the charge iicr!
It's difficult to determine how many times Roger Blake was brainwashed by Federation Scientists. Their definitely altered his personality to point where even he was sure about his last history.
@@DMSProduktions Even though it's mostly used in much worse context, the actual definition of 'molest' is 'to bother'.
…..I was just thinking that. I remember watching this when it was first screened age 6 asking my parents,
“….what’s child molest1ng?”
Cue lots of uncomfortable awkwardness from my folks.
We were big fans of Blake's 7 back in the day. i'm still scarred by the finale, and i agree it's one of the best finales in TV history.
Watched this on ABC in Australia in the '70s. Loved it as a kid. The characters in this show were way more deep and complex than anyone in Star Wars or Trek. Kerr Avon was the real star.
Avon is the nexus point of this series, not just his relationship with Blake, his verbal sparing/relationship with Servelan is absolutely delicious dripping is sarcasm, distaste for each other yet... respect for each others intellect, true frenemies. But at the same time, Avon and Villa is to Blakes 7 as Londo and G'Kar is to Babylon 5...
Apparently the germ of what became Firefly was from a Traveller Tabletop RPG he played when he was in the UK for a while. If Wheadon didn't know the series then, you can be sure that the other players did.
I've heard that too, that he thought up Firefly after playing Traveller. While the RPG is set in the future of the entire Milky Way (or most of it), I also like how Firefly is only set in one massive, multi-star system ("dozens of planets, with hundreds of habitable moons") much closer to present day (just 500 years ahead). Both are great settings for stories, just like Blake's 7.
Fond memories of playing traveller in the early 80s.
When Firefly released I cried Plagiarism.
@@jon-paulfilkins7820
“…..you can save the galaxy…..or destroy it….”
My favourite character was Vila, actually. I liked the single episode where he got to be the hero, for a bunch of people in another dimension, I think it was? But he went back and rejoined the crew of the Liberator. Mistake, because they didn't respect him or value him enough.
From the UK and grow up with this show, was and still is one of the best. Helps that a lot of people that worked on Dr who also worked on Blake 7, and of cause Terry the daddy of the Daleks.
It has its charm and its faults, the faults are , well, for me.... entirely down to 2 things, its scant budget (reflected in props etc) and when it was made (editing and scripting conventions of the eras television, not all have stood up well). But I am not sure a remake/reboot will fix those issues and keep the charm or the character of the original.
Which he HATED!
@@jon-paulfilkins7820 MAYBE a 3 movie set & be done with it!
Servalan deserves a video to herself - it's a credit to Pearce that the BBC could dress her up like a pantomime dame and she's still a credible source of danger.
I was but a mere seven years old when this show premiered in Australia, and I lived it right away. A far cry from the hero’s journey of Star Wars, and the utopian society of Star Trek, but brilliantly written, and superbly acted. The special effects were good for the period, on such a small budget.
IIRC, “Blake” was never meant to be the series finale. Rather, it was meant to be a cliffhanger, leading into season 5. But the fifth season was cancelled, so they set up show Avon’s paranoia becoming more pronounced, as the crew’s resources begin to wither, and their chances of alliances with other groups fading. Which leads to a slightly ambiguous, but very downbeat, finale. Still one of the best finales in TV history, IMO.
Cheers,
intriguing, thoughtful vid. You've got a new subscription from me.
Liberator is the coolest looking ship ever. Avon is the coolest SF character ever.
Thank you! You rock!
Unmissable TV when it was originally broadcast and still as good when I rewatched the DVD box set recently.
If only those of us in the U.S. could get our hands on a DVD set. 😢
Absolute brilliance i was obsessed with this series as a kid the best in British dystopian sci-fi.
My wife loved Blake 7!! She even encouraged me to watch the full thing after we got married and moved to England
Great show, Avon is one of my favorite sci-fi characters of all time. So well acted.
I was allowed to stay up late to watch Blake's 7. I think I can thank my Dad for that - looking back, he was the Sci-fi fan. A great series!
Great video. Blake Seven was great storytelling. I`m off to rewatch it. Thank you.
Thank you!
Brilliant video mate. I had no idea this show exsisted until this and I am now gravely interested in it.
In all seriousness, I was hoping you especially would enjoy this one! I'm happy to see you did!
@@ParkNarczthat’s really honoring you’d think about me while making your videos. I started since the commando duck video and have watched everyone since then. I love your content and hope the best for you mate ❤
You rock!
I was 12 when Blake's Seven aired. I was 12 and not much older when Servalan occupied most of my waking thoughts. I believe the phrase is, Hamana Hamana Hamana.
same age, and I can reassure you that you were not alone by a long shot. everything about her, especially her voice and mannerisms, oozed sensuality and seduction. her character still having the same (if not more) hypnotic affects today as she did then.
About 10-15 years ago I worked on a short film which had Paul Darrow as the narrator and only ‘star’.
The man was incredible. His acting chops, which included chewing scenery in this short film, were incredible.
Given his status as a sci-fi icon in the UK, he was genuine and a complete gentlemen while working on this decidedly zero budget film. Well, not exactly zero, I believe he was paid a not particularly large sum out of the pocket of the director.
I did the sound (both production and music) for fun as I was friends of a friend of the director and writer.
This was in a time when film nuts were still considers nerdy freaks, not like today when it seems anyone with an iPhone is a director. And the equipment used was the bare minimum required to match low def TV.
My experience with Paul Darrow made me respect the man who I’d known about through watching Blake’s Seven as a kid. I didn’t really like the show, too much talking and psychological stuff, but I was a stupid kid. I’ll have to look it up and rewatch.
It’s not often people have such an effect on me, I’m pretty immune to being star struck through working in the record industry through the 80s and 90s.
But I’ll make an exception for Mr Darrow.
Met the guy at convention, he was a gentleman and took it all in his stride.
@@NeilCWCampbell Yep, same here. Met him and Michael Keating in the early 90s at a fan run convention, they were gracious and obviously cared about their fans.
@@NeilCWCampbell Met him at Anglicon in Seattle decades ago. He was hilarious, a very memorable guest of that convention.
He is, without a doubt, THE star of the show.
This series was extremely popular in New Zealand when I was a kid. A good summary. Kudos.
Thank you!
This is my favourite sci fi ever. It still has to be bested.
Servalan is such a powerful female character. As a young girl, I aspired to be her. At that time, other than Ripley (which I didn't get to see until years after it's cinematic release) there were few women who held it together, controlled authority and oozed power in drama. Most were "eye candy".
At the time, it was revolutionary on many levels (no pun intended).
One of my all-time favorite science fiction series. They didn't have Star Trek money so they relied on character-driven stories.
See the new Blu Ray series 1 - the special effects have been extensively updated. It now looks amazing.
Yes but star Trek had those as well and it looked good and had good actors and writers. It's absurd to even compare the two. It's like comparing a chocolate cake to a dog pooh.
i was born in 71 (in the UK)... this is LITERALY my childhhood😁thnx man!!!!!!!
'Orbit' was perhaps my favourite episode with Avon weighing up jettisoning Villa from the ship to save himself.
Series 1 has had a new Blu Ray release with extensive updated special effects. All the space craft and planet effects have been re-done. The model effects now look really good. It's given series 1 a new lease of life.
Presumably series 2-4 will get the same treatment.
My brother & I were 15yrs old when it started - we were enthralled. Thanks to dad we'd been watching sci-fi since we were young but there was nothing comparable to it. Nothing. The good guys had little wins but they were fighting against the tide and each other. Superb show.
Great review from a great show-thank you. And you managed to do the entire review and not make fun of the true arch enemy of Blake7, Servalan, running around in a ballgown and high heels! A little bit camp, dodgy special effects and scenery but probably the best and most grittiest script for a sci-fi show ever. Love from the UK!
Thank you! There was just so much to talk about that I decided to leave most of it out and simplify as much as I could. Servalan is great! She's actually much less ridiculous than Travis imo 🤣
@@ParkNarcz very true- looking forward to more show reviews and best of luck with the channel- looks great!
Thank you!
I was 10 when it was first broadcast. Perfect age, I loved it. And watched it all. And I still love it.
Blake's 7 was the evil twin of Star Trek. I think the optimism of the 60s that spawned Trek had been replaced by the late 70s by a more cynical and dystopian view of the future reflecting the economic and social conditions of the time. It didn't have the special effects and sets of Star Wars, or even earlier Trek, and I got to see the original props of Blake's 7 at a Sci Fi exhibition in London, and yes, some were poor when seen up close. There were subsequent theories of whether and how Avon survives? I'll definitely get that blue ray edition to see how the FX look now.
Blake’s 7..
The defining show of my youth, ( this and Grange Hill - the Tucker Jenkins years, of course), and turned an 8yr old into a distrustful skeptical pessimist forever more. Well done BBC! After all, it was the Thatcher era, so a sense of hopelessness permeated.
Loved the show.
Tore my childhood heart out when in the end….”apparently, the good guy can be turned, and the good do not win in the end."
Didn’t know about any of the backend details with Gareth leaving to apparently stave off being typecasted. Just thought it was the continuation of the journey AND the quest to find Blake and team up again and take down the evil Federation. But… Alas… Blake was acting all weird and evasive when the met… it confused me too…
Any hope of that being explained and revealed ended when Avon was ‘compelled’ to shoot him down.
Then one by one…
Then Avon…
Then CUT!
Serverlan wasn’t even there to gloat!
I dunno… it was like when you found out what your dad had to do ‘to’ your mum to get the kids! Traumatic gut-punch, followed by initial disbelief and then denial 😢… At some point later you came to terms with the facts (when you learned them for real, and you never saw them in that childhood ignorant way again. Such it was with Blakes7.
lol
Watching the show now on TH-cam and BritBox.
So many great things about Blake's 7. Great theme music, loved Servalan, Blake and Avon were electrifying.
The ultimate 'toxic' relationship 😊
More things wrong with it, though.
I finally got to know Blake's 7 in syndication when I entered my 20s. It was particularly refreshing after enjoying so much of Star Trek and Doctor Who throughout my childhood. Thank you for your review.
The Firefly concept was totally lifted from Blake's 7. Blake's 7 needs a modern-day remake.
There have been threats of a horrible reboot..........
Oh no it doesn’t…
Andromeda and Farscape also borrowed from Blake.
Almost every single successful American tv show and film, has been lifted from British culture.
Did you know their very nice and quite powerful National Anthem, was originally a lewd British drinking anthem for a London Gentlemen’s club ?.
@@RetroRobotRadio Farscape was fairly excellent.
Servalan, I would say, was one of the great sci-fi villains wonderfully played by Jacqueline Pearce.
Thank you to the poster. Takes me way back. I really enjoyed Blake's 7 in the 80s. British acting is so much more grittier in the relationships over american special effects - and that's what sets British shows apart. I had heard what the final episode contained but never saw it. It was a fitting conclusion - and emotional knowing the characters like I did (way back then).
Thank you!
I don’t remember a single thing about this show but i remember absolutely loving it when I was a kid 😂
Such a cool show. I remember when the PBS station I watched Doctor Who on, stopped broadcasting Doc Who after the Baker season ended. I was very upset, but they soon started showing Blake's 7 instead, and I got into it right away. It was so different from other British Sci-Fi TV I had seen.
That chilling theme tune is my Phones ringtone. When I was a teenager and this show was in it's first run, I was OBSESSED with it. I recently bought a full dvd set on ebay and watched the whole thing again. The special effects were very wonky, but the plots and characters were great. I am still obsessed with it. Why can't I travel in space on the Liberator?😥
Well done on this review. BLAKE 7 is one of the best and sadly, most under-appreciated Sci-Fi shows of its time. I loved it then and still do now. What is amazing is the number of highly respected authors who scripted some of the episodes, like Terry Nation and Tanith Lee.
Thank you!
Blake's 7 is an amazing series. Dark and nihilistic. And oh, man, that ending. I'd love to see something done with modern production values, but with the same themes, characterizations, and plot points.
Watched on PBS in the U.S. Love the low budget sets and effects of British sci-fi like Blake's 7, Dr.
Who and Red Dwarf.
I watched it on a B&W TV when I was young, but rewatched it on TH-cam a year or 2 ago.
Avon is one of the best characters in Sci Fi imo.
I watched some episodes recently after hearing about it's cult reputation.
I wasn't expecting to be overly impressed, as some shows don't age well and can come off as corny to a modern audience.
However, I was pleasantly surprised that the scintillating dialogue actually trumps the low budget.
The character interplay is multi-layered and so riveting, it's superior to many modern shows.
@@snipelite94 It is a shame that the special effects budget wasn't higher, but they did what they could, and the Liberator was a good ship.
I'm glad that you weren't disappointed by the characters and their interactions. They are far more believable as people, not Mary Sues, not complete villains (OK, maybe Servalan was, and a couple of her more 2 dimensional accomplices, but she was interesting, and deeper than the usual run of the mill adversary/foil).
Terry Pratchett's work is similar in that the people in his books were interesting, but more real, more normal, characters, set in a bizarre world.
Watching BBC shows from the 70s (repeats, in my case, as we didn't have a TV until I was a teenager) meant that one became accustomed to bad special effects, and, for example, I much prefer the 80s, cheap TV version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to the film, with its much more advanced effects.
The original had a charm and an atmosphere missing from the film (now don't get _touchy_ about that, Martin Freeman).
I watched this series multiple times. So good!
It's good to people still appreciating one of my favourite sci-fis after more than 40 years
As a slightly dyslexic 7 year old, when I saw the first episode listed in the newspapers, I assumed it was BLACK 7....a show about snooker. I'm so glad that I decided to watch it.
Great show....stuck with me nearly 50 years!
Hell yeah, I remember watching that religiously in the 70s. Great show! Thanks for the flashback!
Blake's 7 canonically linked to Star Wars with the head of IG88 ,
top tier cursed knowledge
Considering what passes for canon, I'd say that works!
How about the couch from Logans Run used in the first two episodes?
@@martinharris5017 Dammit! I've now got to watch Logans run again
@@Jon6429 Lol! You won't regret it. Another classic that has grown more relevant with age. I've watched it many times and there are some similarities to B7's early episodes with the domed city, mass surveillance, a group of underground dissidents etc.
@@martinharris5017 I was distracted by Jenny Agutter the last time I saw it 😍
Blake’s 7 was awesome and I still watch it through every year.
Paul Darrow was awesome. He always had the best sardonic lines.
Blake's 7 was the first TV series I watched from beginning to end. From 8 to 11 yo. I loved it. The BBC would not make anything like this now.
Oooohhh!!! I didn't know this was out. It's going under the tree for me. Hope they release the rest of the series.
I always loved Avon's callous cynicism
Great vid introducing an all-time classic British sci-fi - many thanks! I loved this show from it's very first episode and you're spot on, it WAS like an antidote to Star Wars for us grungier, darker-toned loving Brits!
Thank you!
I can't believe you never mentioned Servilan, who was the real enemy!!!! She was the best.
Exactly!! And the erotic attraction between her and Avon.
I think Zen and Orac are part of the seven, so by the end of Series One, Blake's seven do not include Blake himself. The number drops one when Gan departs in Series Two, but goes up to seven again when Blake and Jenna disappear at the start of Series Three but Dayna and Tarrant join. I am old enough to remember the first episode in 1978. Love this video essay. An excellent summing up.
Thank you! That's so cool you saw it back in 78!
@@ParkNarcz I'm in the UK and was in my eighth year when it debuted. Already a massive fan of Tom Baker's Doctor Who, I grew to love Blake's 7 fast.
@@TheWillHadcroft blake left to live in a villa in Calais.
Thanks for this, it's really good. Whenever I see people asking "what's the best series finale?" I always throw Blakes 7 into the debate...usually to widespread indifference. You can't begin to imagine how shocking it was to watch "live" on television as a 13 year old. It still hits hard all these years later.
Thank you!
The Prog Metal supergroup Star One (A side project of Ayroen's Arjen Lucassen, all of Star One's songs are inspired by Science Fiction or Fantasy movies/TV series) gets it's name from Blakes 7, as well as inspiring one of thier most popular songs 'Intergalactic Space Crusader'.
Blakes 7 was also an influence on Babylon 5.
Talk of reused props: The panel above the guards heads at 1:51 is the back pack of the space suits from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
That's awesome! Thanks for sharing that!
When Star Wars and Total Recall have a baby. It directly recognizes the whole Seven Samurai formula
As a kid this was essential viewing. I cried when the Liberator/Zen died.
Best bit was the noise orac made when you unplugged him!
"An anti-Stat Trek," is how I described the show. Also, the character of Cally, was based on the terrorist Astrid Proll, who, at the time of the show's production was still at large. When Cally's character emerged, the real Astrid Proll, was discovered working as a welder in a garage in Hackney, east London.
I LOVED Blake's 7 when I was young. Can't wait to watch again!
I cannot wait for the Blu-Ray, just five days to go, ....Yupppeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Loved this show when i was young I watched it from start to finish 5 years ago with my own children and they had a great time doing so
It's interesting to look back and see how elements of "Blake's 7" end up in things like "Total Recall" as well as later series like "Firefly." I found "Blake's 7" as a kid watching PBS on Saturday mornings along with "Dr. Who" and have always loved it. It's also fascinating to see how pieces of other movies and series, like "The Man With The Golden Gun" and "Star Wars" made it into "Blake's 7."
I watched Blake's 7 on PBS when I was a kid in the mid 1980s.
Ah yeah, you’ve reminded me of the characters. I like them more than those in most shows. 🤗
It's never occurred to me before watching this, but Blake's 7 is the Star Trek mirror universe done properly.
That's a neat overview, thanks!
I've known about this show for decades but I've never been tempted to watch it.
Until now.
Half the episodes hold up well, the other half don’t. Worth a watch overall, especially to grasp its heavy influence on the genre.
Interestingly enough, the last moments of the last episode 'Blake', contained even more 'stuff' for fans to grab onto... after the freeze frame at the end, and the subsequent barrage of blasts from federation guns - the last shot heard is from Avon's gun (it had a different sound effect to the one used for the federation troops' weapons) hinting that Avon wasn't killed.
Another interesting thought is that B7 is almost definitely never going to be rebooted in the modern age - because no tv channel will want to glorify a bunch of 'terrorists' who are fighting against the establishment ... too close to home for most major governments these days ...
Easy enough to do as a tie in to Doctor Who.
…..and the only episode to ever feature blood. I remember my slightly older brother being convinced Avon got away and said there should be a spin-off called, ‘Avon’s Run’.
Of course Avon survived. Only the good die young.
I fondly remember Blake's 7. I was 5 years old when Series 1 aired. Some of my earliest TV watching memories were of The Liberator, Zen and the guns that looked to me like big jack plugs, then Orac later on. My brother even had a Corgi die-cast model of The Liberator.
I remember watching Series 4 in 1981and in particular the final episode and oh what an ending to the series! I was also taken by the Series 4 title sequence with the head up display like artificial horizon and compass rose. I'm now in my 50's and work in the airline industry and see where the idea for those graphics came from. Whilst Star Trek was also being aired on BBC One on a weekday evening in the late 70's (another early TV memory), Blake's 7 stands out for me as my favourite sci-fi show of all time.
I've been peripherally aware of this show for decades and somehow ive still never watched it. Gonna settle in for the winter and get my campy british sci fi on.
Nice!
You are in for a treat, those characters & plots are something else.
It actually isn't. It's more to do with low budget. Even Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan) whose costumes were occasionally outlandish.
@paulscottrobson I liked ol Jacq's response to the wearing of stilettos in a quarry "I was playing the president of the known federation. Of course the president would wear exactly the shoes she wanted". That lady was a legend ☺️
@paulscottrobson well I'm still excited to watch it, seems right in my wheelhouse
Blake's 7 was a brilliant and entertaining show, I loved the interaction between Blake and Avon and also between Avon and Villa, plus I had a major crush on Jenna. Such a great show, thanks for telling me about the Blu-Ray release of season 1. I went straight from your video and purchased it although it won't be available in NZ until Jan 2025, it is now pre-ordered and will soon be added to my collection. I really do hope they release the other seasons as well.
Sapphire and Steel is another groundbreaking very dark series that scared the hell out of me as a kid but I loved every minute of the low budget sci-fi grim series; where they often lost or had to sacrifice someone in order to maintain the balance, it really pushed the boundaries and was not afraid to do the unthinkable.
Years ago, the controversial ending drove everyone crazy back then. Can still remember rabid fans crying for weeks.
As a child of the 70s Blake's 7 was my favourite sci-fi and remains one of my favourites today.
Oh the LIBERATOR,,, best looking spaceship, 🚀 ,, EVER
As a kid watching this, I had the advantage of either not noticing the low production costs or not caring. I loved this show!
Ah! When the BBC had no budget, but still made great shows. Now they seem to have the budgets, but are incapable of making anything decent. How far we have fallen!
Blakes 7 was one of my favourite shows, growing up in the UK. I was 9 when it launched :) and I've lost count of how many times I've watched it.
This show was BETTER than many remember!
On a shoestring budget
True!
No it wasn't.
@@jonwesterby2254 UP to you!
Every1's taste is different!
Got into this right after finding The Prisoner (the show that now ranks as my all time favorite TV series ever) and so glad I did. I actually appreciated the general downbeat vibe.
Brilliant show when it was at it's best. The best kept secret in sci-fi.