after my earlier mention I meant to do the same thing only to have it completely slip my mind.
Blake's 7 - First Time Watching on BritBox
- Thread starter JD
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after my earlier mention I meant to do the same thing only to have it completely slip my mind.
It's a pity they didn't dramatize that. All seems to happen off screen. He just knows one day.
That would have been a great idea. They could have played with the whole idea of Blake being brainwashed and giving up secrets.
I believe back in 1999 it was voted as one of TVs 100 greatest moments. Not sure where on the list it came.
I watched Blake's 7 in its entirety for the first time a few years back. I thought it was really cool, notwithstanding their clear budget limits. For my money, the only major flaw was:
That said, the whole concept (much imitated and elaborated upon since) was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's kind of noticeably sexist. Not quite as bad as TOS Trek, but also not as far along the curve as one might have hoped for by the time it was airing. And this becomes even more noticeable b/c it keeps introducing apparently kickass female crewmembers who after their introductions invariably deteriorate into stock damsels and love interests. There's also more than one episode about the Inherent Superpower of Masculinity that hits different these days. Servalan, at least, got to remain an interesting character throughout.
That said, the whole concept (much imitated and elaborated upon since) was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Were you referring to Season 4, Episode 2 for example as to my thinking it gives a different take an Avon's line at the end sums things up pretty well.
Though the fate of female characters has been commented and how their potential at introduction esp Cally withered away.
Can't think of any that really were love interest.
Avon and Servelan had the love/hate thing going though she would have very much been the black widow, Tarrant got some late in S4 but it was doomed and Villa, well he got more than some of the others male crew members.
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Any episode written by Ben Steed will have the characters out of character in order to hit his "Men are the superior gender" notes. The worst is Harvest of Kairos, where Servalan puts up (ostensibly because she's turned on by it) with being sexually assaulted, manhandled and told to shut up by a manly man who distrusts computers (which she's never been shown to let do her thinking for her before this ep), plus Dayna losing a fight to this guy solely to show that men are better.
But yes, the relegation of Cally and Jenna to "bridge bunnies" was bad. Dayna faired a little better and Soolin best of all - but only in that they barely had time to establish Soolin before Gauda Prime...
harvest is generally one of the worst eps in my eyes.
Cally tended to fall victim to the alien take over trope and the use of her TP was inconsistent but I do like her dealing with Space City and threatening to open fire...
Can't think of any moments when Jenna really got a chance to shine. She was the pilot but generally Zen got do all the work.
She makes short work of the Amagons in Bounty and does extremely well against the Guardians in Time-Squad.
God I wish I could watch B7 for the first time again! I first saw it on PBS back in the 80s. I caught most of them back then. About 5 years ago I imported the Dutch DVD set and rewatched the entire series. It was awesome. Avon, Vila, and Servalan have to be three of the best characters on TV. An honorable mention for Blake.
I'm surprised there's never been a remake.
For anyone who's read the behind the scenes stuff, was there any indication how they were going to resolve the final episode of the program?
I'm surprised there's never been a remake.
For anyone who's read the behind the scenes stuff, was there any indication how they were going to resolve the final episode of the program?
Only that the writer intended any actors who wanted to return to have survived the shootout (obviously not Blake) - since we see no blood on anyone else, they could merely be stunned. Even if the weapons were lethal, people have survived hits before and lived long enough for medical attention to save them - depends if the Federation are in prisoner-taking mode.
Probably already discussed this at some point, but...
There was a short-lived audio remake with an all-new cast and reworked storylines, but it didn't last long. Good cast, though, they even had Benedict Cumberbatch in one. The Big Finish audio adventures, on the other hand, use original cast members and are set firmly in the continuity of the first three seasons. They've taken a hit from the number of cast members who've died in recent years and have started doing some spinoffs focusing on guest characters. I've heard most of the B7 audios and they are well worth investigating.
I asked about the re-imagined series in the Doctor Who forums and the response (from some-one who worked on them) was they couldn't get the funding for a second series but was never able to find out what sort of direction they would have gone with it.
Would have been interested to see a visual depiction of the Liberator as described in the audios.
Big Finish also gave us a follow up so the gap between Star One and Aftermath gets filled in.
If my 'Behind the Scenes' book interviews with the cast are anything to go by - the actors playing Dayna, Tarrant, and Soolin chose not to return for a fifth season, even though they were all offered raises in their salary.
Michael Keating and Paul Darrow were locks.
The opening scene of the fifth season would have begun with Avon locked in a cell, exiled from the Federation like Napoleon and Servalan coming in to offer a deal.
According to IMDB trivia, season 5 would have seen more episodes along the lines of "Gold"
Avon was completely insane by the point he shot Blake - at least, Darrow himself thought so - so it would be interesting to see if they could have conceivably have put him back together. And how Vila would have reacted, since Orbit had pretty much killed any trust Vila put in Avon due to their "mutual respect".
Just try to ignore the Ben Steed scripts. Definitely had a problem with women.
IIRC it's deliberate that a different gun is used for every shot. Some stun, some kill.
Only time that I can remember federation troopers having guns that weren't intended to kill was in Project Avalon. Stunning people isn't terran federation style.
Don't think the Liberator handguns had a stun capability - think you just had to hope they didn't hit a vital organ.
Wasn't until S4 that we saw a weapon capable of stunning but only if you change the magazine.
I should have mentioned this at the end of season three.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/blake-s-7-warship-815
They did the battle.
Ironically they didn't wait till the invention of cgi, then spend a packet on the project, which just 5 years later any monkey would see as shit.
Actually, from recollection, it's a little bit of the fight, then they run off on a side mission.
Still good.
https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/blake-s-7-warship-815
They did the battle.
Ironically they didn't wait till the invention of cgi, then spend a packet on the project, which just 5 years later any monkey would see as shit.
Actually, from recollection, it's a little bit of the fight, then they run off on a side mission.
Still good.
nope.
no side mission.
S2 finished with the Liberator going into the thick of things, S3 opens with the aftermath (pun intended) and 30 years later Big Finish would fill in the gap.
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