Blake's 7 (and other sci fi if you want)

I'm enjoying re-watching Blake's 7 so much that I decided to start a discussion about it. Who else wants to join in?

I can't remember most of the episodes because I was about 9 when I watched them, so it's like something new, but it is such a good series. High time for a remake.

Me and my friends used to play Blake's 7 in the playground. I was always Cally. We were all girls so some played male roles.

Avon is such a great character! I love his constant arguing with Blake and I realise now why I liked Avon. Apart from the fact he's a handsome man, he is actually a more attractive character than Blake. All Blake does is shout and get angry. It's very tiring. They should have shown a softer side to him. At least Avon is a bit funny sometimes. And they should have just got another actor to play him when Gareth Thomas left. It was a bit stupid having Blake's 7 without Blake. 

Also I'd forgotten about Travis in his head-to-toe black leather costume. Well! And I like his hatred of Blake too, the way he is always trying to kill Blake, but Blake avoids killing him in order to score moral points.

A much better series than I remember, at first I didn't want to watch it because it was one of the last series I watched with my dad before he died. But re-watching it is actually making me happy. I can imagine my dad chuckling at some of the silly scenes.

If anyone wants to discuss this series with me, please do!

  • Oh, I'm jealous of you having those mags. I came to B7 fandom just a little too late for that, having been just a bit too young for the original broadcasts. I have an unbroken chain of Doctor Who Magazines though, from November 1990 to the present day. Yeah, Soolin and Dayna were great. Curiously, Josette Simon seems keen to distance herself from Dayna these days - she still acts sometimes, but when offered a chance to reprise her role on audio, declined, so they re-cast. 

    Yes, strong female role models were thin on the ground back then so no wonder they stood out.

  • Now you say it, yes I can totally see it! Your analysis describes him very well. And I recognise aspects of myself in that description too so maybe that's why I was drawn to the character. 

    This thread has reminded me - I used to buy the Blake's 7 magazine religiously...I think I still have them in a drawer somewhere. Will have to dig them out again.

    I basically wanted to be a feisty mix of Soolin and Dayna though. I was so timid as a child (still am in many respects) so have always been in awe of strong female characters and perhaps was subconsciously trying to absorb that essence. More recently I loved the character of Lagertha in the Vikings series. She was awesome.

    I think in real life I do this too sometimes; kind of like a 'hero worship' thing that's probably quite off putting for the individuals involved.

  • Vila is so interesting because he’s less of a coward than he appears. He is anxious and sensibly risk averse and could almost seem a bit of a drip because it suits him to seem harmless. But there’s a bit of steel in there, and he can suddenly go from mild mannered equivocation into a snarl if he’s really backed into a corner. Something he does in that final ever scene is a perfect microcosm of those two sides of him, and it’s so deftly done. I think some writers did better with that complexity than others. Basically, if it’s a Chris Boucher script you’re going to get great Vila lines and moments, and same for Avon. 

  • Blake's 7 was literally my favourite programme when it originally came out. I liked Villa best as he was funny (if a bit wet and drippy, ha ha). I was absolutely gutted when it finished (not to mention the way it finished!)

    I'm going to have to watch it again now and get all nostalgic...

  • It's fun spotting props and costumes recycled from Doctor Who to save money. Including a Sea Devil at one point.

  • The special effects were naff but don’t think the budget was that high and it was only the 80s after all. My phone now has more memory than most of the computers then so good consideringGrinning

  • Anyone here who's listened to some of the Blake's 7 Audios produced by Big Finish? Some really strong stories in it, all micely slotted into the established continuity. The actors sound a little older, unavoidably, but one can meet them half-way on that when the material is so compelling.

  • I'm in the minority it seeems in liking Season D best. It has three of my all time fave eps in it - Gold, Orbit, and Blake. And I loke that Avon's at the height of his powers, plotting in Xenon Base and making calculated strikes to offset the compromise of no longer having Liberator. I kind of prefer Scorpio as a ship as well, much as I liked Liberator and Orac. 

  • Yes, I suppose because I'm an editor I tend to see flaws in all story plots. This show could have been done so much better IMO. I thought the ending was a real anticlimax, it just said to me: there's no point rebelling, you might as well give up and just obey all the rules.

    Chris Boucher may well have written all Avon's dialogue...but actors can say dialogue however they like. Paul Darrow could have made any lines seem crazy, depending on how he said them. Like he shouted a lot of lines in series 4 and often went into crazy laughter. Which he didn't do in series 1-3, when he played Avon as pretty calm and controlled.

    I just wish we could have had BLAKE'S 7 with the actual Blake in it for the whole series. SUCH a missed opportunity. What was the point of having Avon leading the gang? It wasn't Avon's 7. Just imagine having Blake and Avon fighting it out for 5 series! *drool* They should have recast Blake when Gareth Thomas left.

    It was Michael Keating's daughter as far as I know. Surely if it were Michael himself, he'd have wanted more episodes to be a hero. 

    I got really fed up and bored with Avon tbh and I'm more a fan of Vila now. There are so many Avons in life, Vila's a bit more unusual. They should have explored Vila's background. I can't edit my original post though Rolling eyes 

    I think there are so many rumours and different opinions of this show and the actors have said so many contradictory things about it, that who did what has got a bit lost in the mists of time.

    I expect Paul Darrow resisted attempts to soften Avon because Paul was such a nice guy, I think he was a bit of a dork (and I mean that affectionately) and Avon was his alter ego, he could do terrible things as Avon that he wouldn't do in real life. Most actors are like that- the nice ones play villains, the difficult ones play heroes.

  • I don't think we can expect to remember everything so I wouldn't worry about memory too much.  This is why people have diaries and to-do lists and journals.  The present make be more important than the past.

    I do seem to have verbatim recall for a remarkable.number of lines from Blake's 7 given that it was broadcast 40 years ago, and I think with years of practice I'm also pretty good at following plots. However, recently I've taken to making notes of character names so I can refer to them later.

  • not good news

    I am uploading everything

  • Spoilers...

    One episode he was the hero getting the girl and saving everyone, the next he was telling Orac riddles and falling apart.

    I thought that was he same episode!  Vila telling Orac jokes was important to rescuing everyone else from the Ultraworld, so while he was a figure of fun he simultaneously saved the day.  It seems quite possible to me Tarrant might have been trained to do calculations about gravity as a pilot but then be a complete dimwit at calculating with deceptive people in 'Assassin' (just seen, more obvious story than preceding episode but fun). Maybe I'm just making excuses to make everything make sense, but then Steven Moffat said something about Doctor Who that if you think of a line that explains things for you, imagine it had been said on screen.

    Ah yes, I see on IMDB 'After Terry Nation left the series, Paul Darrow was so fed up with the inconsistent way that Avon was written that he gave up and started playing him as slowly losing his mind to compensate for it.' but then the same page says that Chris Boucher wrote all Avon's dialogue,  which makes me think the inconsistency or different aspects are deliberate.  On another site I see 'Avon’s deadpan, sardonic wit and avowedly amoral approach to rebellion masked a surprising depth and complexity .... Darrow remained a lifelong spokesman for the show',  I haven't got to rewatching Orbit yet, but expect the second half of the final series will show the increasing paranoia that I'd assumed was also the intention of Boucher and the writers.  Also says 'Paul Darrow resisted attempts to soften Avon's character' which I guess was successful considering Orbit. I'd thought the reason Avon looked for Blake (a Terry Nation idea?) was realising firstly that the Federation was too powerful to escape or survive, and secondly that after the death/betrayal we saw in Darrow's favourite episode he was looking for meaning or purpose.

    IMDB also repeats a story I'd heard that 'City at the Edge of the World' was written so that Vila could be a romantic hero, as Michael Keating's daughter (or I suspect Michael Keating himself) was fed up of Vila being a coward.  One of my favourite things in any drama is when a character realises their own depths.

  • Yes, Blake was always angry and didn't seem to be a sympathetic character. He was overshadowed by Avon, which isn't ideal for the hero of a show!

    I think Vila was the REAL anti hero of the show, not Avon. Vila was scared, yet he still fought the Federation. He wasn't macho and aggressive, yet he still fought the Federation. There's a lot of backstory they could have explored with Vila.

    Whereas apart from being played by gorgeous Paul Darrow, Avon is just your everyday cold fish- not very interesting. I know lots of Avons, I don't know any Vilas.

  • I'm surprised you didn't notice, I thought they all often changed quite a lot.

    Especially Tarrant. One episode he was an idiot, the next he was doing equations with Avon. And Vila. One episode he was the hero getting the girl and saving everyone, the next he was telling Orac riddles and falling apart. One episode Dayna was the cool warrior, the next she was hanging on the boys' arms like a damsel in distress.

    I think Vila is closer to Much- seems like an idiot but actually isn't. Gan was 100% Friar Tuck, he even wore what looked like a monk's habit.

    I read that even the actors got fed up with the inconsistent writing of their characters, and on IMDB it says that Paul Darrow got so fed up that he decided to play Avon as if he was losing his mind, which was very convincing IMO. What he did to Vila was horrific, I never forgave him for that.

    Re: Cally. I think in the 1970s and 80s, they didn't know what to do with alien characters and had limited ideas. In modern shows, aliens have a wide range of storylines.

  • yes there is a limit to the capacity of memories. That's why old people get forgetful.

  • I can't say I'd really noticed characters varying wildly between episodes.  For example, when Vila has a moment of sly brilliance - or as once happened - got the girl, I thought it was showing a bit of depth to a put-upon character. When he pretended to be drunk to avoid duty ('Headhunter') it worked in plot terms and to the viewers because he had previously been unreliable for that reason.  The attitude to drink and drugs in the series in general is that they are a way of coping with dystopia (Animals) and a means of control, so I think that is reflected in Vila's addiction.  Is Vila the outlaw closest to Friar Tuck?  Blake is Robin Hood, Gan is Little John, Avon is Will Scarlet;... (this equates Vila to Much though).

    I did notice that Cally getting taken over became quite repetitive (nothing against the actor or character: I liked her calm and quiet dignity, and in fact some of those episode, particular 'Horizon' are favourites).

  • Oh yes I'd forgotten all about this series! Been years since I saw it, it was very good though Slight smile

    I never liked Blake, I found him detestable. Vila was absolutely amazing from start to finish though. What a character!

    Great show, I'll have to rewatch them again.

  • about matter's writers work related,

    i have always thought, that someone who did script for sherlock holmes in elementary, made cardinal error, assumed it to be true without asking someone autistic tiny thing, 

    sherlock claims somewhere that his memory has limited capacity, so he needs to choose between whats inside

    my intake of data recently is undergoing some deep hunger issues, and there is already so much inside it's like looking into eyes of the abyss on all of it to start looking in,

    so i wonder if there could possibly be a limit to capacity of memories,

    nowhere any reference to that dilema

  • The problem I find with Blake's 7 is that it isn't linear. We can read things into it BUT what they did in the 1970s/ 1980s was have a different writer for each episode, so each writer saw the characters differently and they don't make sense e.g. in one episode, Vila would be a drunken idiot, Avon would be a b4st4rd. In the next episode, Vila would be sneaky and cool, Avon would be thoughtful and polite. 

    Even the actors got fed up with the inconsistent writing.

    Modern shows are more consistent with their characters and they are more believable.