Blake's 7 on Blu-ray!

I sometimes wonder it would survive the pilot in this day age given that most of the main characters don't appear until the end of Ep1, and the Liberator near the end of S2.

Now days everyone in their places by the end of the first episode.

Oh, that's not the case at all, given how serialized shows often are today. For instance, Andor didn't introduce Stellan Skarsgard until episode 2, and didn't introduce its Imperial Intelligence characters or the heist crew until episode 4. In WandaVision, Teyonnah Paris didn't appear in episode 1, and Randall Park and Kat Dennings didn't appear until episode 4 (aside from Park having a voice cameo earlier). Blake's first few episodes are serialized in a manner very similar to modern American shows.

Although it's true that the first Blake's 7 episode does fake us out into expecting a couple of its guest characters to be regulars, then pulls the rug out from under us. And I have to correct you: Only Blake, Jena, and Vila appeared in episode 1. Avon and Gan don't appear until episode 2, Zen debuts in 3, and Cally in 4, while Servalan and Travis don't appear until 6.
 
I sometimes wonder it would survive the pilot in this day age given that most of the main characters don't appear until the end of Ep1, and the Liberator near the end of S2.

Now days everyone in their places by the end of the first episode.
See your point, but it was commissioned for a 13 episodes run (actually 16, Nation's second season episodes were officially 14-16; the way BBC1 worked then an autumn series ran for 16 weeks, a January one for 13. See Secret Army). And The Way Back was actually made after Space Fall (which makes it all the more odd that Gan and Avon are in the script but not the episode)..
 
Oh, that's not the case at all, given how serialized shows often are today. For instance, Andor didn't introduce Stellan Skarsgard until episode 2, and didn't introduce its Imperial Intelligence characters or the heist crew until episode 4. In WandaVision, Teyonnah Paris didn't appear in episode 1, and Randall Park and Kat Dennings didn't appear until episode 4 (aside from Park having a voice cameo earlier). Blake's first few episodes are serialized in a manner very similar to modern American shows.

Although it's true that the first Blake's 7 episode does fake us out into expecting a couple of its guest characters to be regulars, then pulls the rug out from under us. And I have to correct you: Only Blake, Jena, and Vila appeared in episode 1. Avon and Gan don't appear until episode 2, Zen debuts in 3, and Cally in 4, while Servalan and Travis don't appear until 6.
To be pedantic, Avon, Travis and Arco are all in the script for episode one, as is a non-speaking Gan. Arco's lines were either cut or transferred to Vila (hence he's unusually menacing), while Avon's lines were given to the American guard, and I guess Kral Travis was turned into Dev Tarrant in case they couldn't get the same actor later on.
 
To be pedantic, Avon, Travis and Arco are all in the script for episode one, as is a non-speaking Gan. Arco's lines were either cut or transferred to Vila (hence he's unusually menacing), while Avon's lines were given to the American guard, and I guess Kral Travis was turned into Dev Tarrant in case they couldn't get the same actor later on.

It's normal for scripts to go through changes. What was considered along the way is a different question from what appears in the finished product. (As long as we're being pedantic.)

It's weird that B7 had a Dev Tarrant in the first episode and a completely unconnected Del Tarrant in seasons 3-4 (though Big Finish retconned them as brothers). Though the B7 wiki says it's because Terry Nation liked naming things after himself. There was a Jill Tarrant in "Death to the Daleks," a character named Tarron in "The Keys of Marinus," and the element taranium in "The Daleks' Master Plan."
 
It's normal for scripts to go through changes. What was considered along the way is a different question from what appears in the finished product. (As long as we're being pedantic.)

It's weird that B7 had a Dev Tarrant in the first episode and a completely unconnected Del Tarrant in seasons 3-4 (though Big Finish retconned them as brothers). Though the B7 wiki says it's because Terry Nation liked naming things after himself. There was a Jill Tarrant in "Death to the Daleks," a character named Tarron in "The Keys of Marinus," and the element taranium in "The Daleks' Master Plan."
Another explanation is that one of the producers who gave Nation an early chance was Alan Tarrant. So a tribute
 
It's normal for scripts to go through changes. What was considered along the way is a different question from what appears in the finished product. (As long as we're being pedantic.)

It's weird that B7 had a Dev Tarrant in the first episode and a completely unconnected Del Tarrant in seasons 3-4 (though Big Finish retconned them as brothers). Though the B7 wiki says it's because Terry Nation liked naming things after himself. There was a Jill Tarrant in "Death to the Daleks," a character named Tarron in "The Keys of Marinus," and the element taranium in "The Daleks' Master Plan."
The script for Cygnus Alpha (as it was then called) is near identical to the transmitted version aside from the character omissions. it's a great proof that Terry Nation did sometimes write great material.
 
The updated special effects appear to be new modelwork and not just CGI. That's really neat.

New... model...s... not... C...GI?!!!

:drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:

Heck, I've seen the CGI for the latest classic Doctor Who entries and those have been marvelous. Not to nitpick, but why revert to models? Already drooling over Mission to Destiny, Terminal, et al...

That's amazing that they're doing physical models. I wish they had done that for TOS-R and TNG-R.

I'm assuming the blurays will be region 2.
 
That's amazing that they're doing physical models. I wish they had done that for TOS-R and TNG-R.

Well, they did do it for TNG-R, because they still had the original film elements of the model footage and just had to recomposite it in HD. The only digital FX there were replacing those that had been done with animation or video FX in the original; the model shots were still the original model shots.

The only reason TOS-R didn't use the original model shots is because the original film elements have been lost, so only the lower-resolution final composite shots survived. That made it impossible to upgrade the original footage to HD, so they had to recreate it digitally.
 
TOS-R I personally find superior to the OG TOS, I can't go back to its old effects shots when something far better is available. I mean, we actually get ship variety in several scenes in TOS now (The Enterprise Incident especially has a huge upgrade), along with several new/new to TOS ships (Charlie X bringing in a variant of one of the the TAS cargo ships as the Antares), plus most of the replaced visual effects are just better.

Its funny because I generally don't mind old effects, even in (for example) the Doctor Who episodes that have updated effects I always forget to turn the option on and I'm never bothered when watching someone cheap looking shows like Red Dwarf, but with TOS I just need the Remaster at this point (kind of like how I legitimately can't stand the Pre-Special Edition Star Wars Original Trilogy, now that I think about it).
 
I sometimes wonder it would survive the pilot in this day age given that most of the main characters don't appear until the end of Ep1, and the Liberator near the end of S2.

Now days everyone in their places by the end of the first episode.

Oh, that's not the case at all, given how serialized shows often are today. For instance, Andor didn't introduce Stellan Skarsgard until episode 2, and didn't introduce its Imperial Intelligence characters or the heist crew until episode 4. In WandaVision, Teyonnah Paris didn't appear in episode 1, and Randall Park and Kat Dennings didn't appear until episode 4 (aside from Park having a voice cameo earlier). Blake's first few episodes are serialized in a manner very similar to modern American shows.

Although it's true that the first Blake's 7 episode does fake us out into expecting a couple of its guest characters to be regulars, then pulls the rug out from under us. And I have to correct you: Only Blake, Jena, and Vila appeared in episode 1. Avon and Gan don't appear until episode 2, Zen debuts in 3, and Cally in 4, while Servalan and Travis don't appear until 6.
I can't remember what it was, but there was another show a few years ago where we knew the characters were all going to come together as some kind of a team, but it still took them the entire first season to introduce them all and bring them together.
 
I can't remember what it was, but there was another show a few years ago where we knew the characters were all going to come together as some kind of a team, but it still took them the entire first season to introduce them all and bring them together.

Sounds like Netflix's Sense8 from the Wachowskis & J. Michael Straczynski. And probably others.

Heck, it's quite common in the Japanese Kamen Rider action franchise, since usually there's one main Rider and anywhere from one to a dozen additional Riders introduced gradually, generally starting at odds with each other or pursuing incompatible agendas before eventually coming together. Super Sentai, the series that Power Rangers is adapted from, sometimes introduces its team members over the course of several episodes before uniting them, and in two recent seasons, Donbrothers and KingOhger, it was done more like the Kamen Rider model with the team members being largely independent and not really coming together as a unified team until late in the season.
 
That's amazing that they're doing physical models. I wish they had done that for TOS-R and TNG-R.

I'm assuming the blurays will be region 2.

Most UK Blu-Ray releases I've seen have not been region-locked. For the one or two that are, the region-free players can be had - either by modification, and a couple brands appear to offer region-free versions out of the box with no modification.

I do wonder what "Star One" and "Aftermath" will look like, what with using a ton of model ships -- for which, in "Star One", you can see bits of a dismantled hair dryer, a bit of garden tool, and, indeed, a bit of dismantled Star Wars toys: https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2016/07/original-blakes-7-props-at-smallspace.html

(Eek, both were used in the same prop! Well, that saves on some extra searching so it's that much better, hehe! Hmmm, might some of those old props be cleaned up, refurbished, and used for new f/x? :D )


IMHO, CGI can allow more expansive detail than models and can be more cost-effective and other and even indirect benefits, only rendering time is needed for the polygonal count and detail, but that requires a ton of time and re-releases haven't had that level of depth so far... TOS-R's only arguably failing was the "cartoony" look... but I was only drawn completely out of one story with them (Immunity Syndrome) . Otherwise, seeing items other than a blank viewscreen or varied ships (Enterprise Incident), planet rocks bouncing off the ship hulls (Doomsday Machine), et al, were a joy to see - and they really looked great, if not passable. Nowadays, that detail in TOS-R would be usable for a proof-of-concept rather than final render, though even when TOS-R was released, CGI did have more polished examples.

TNG-R... yeah, the 1701-D model in some shots looked off, but they looked far better than grainy fuzzy deinterlaced upscaled blobby SD material.
 
Region-free players aren't any more expensive than regular players. I have an LG Blu-ray unit so I can play Blake's 7, Dempsey & Makepeace, Tripods, etx, from Region 2 disks.
My first region-free was a Sony, but it crapped out after less than a year. I figured that had to be an anomaly - how could a Sony unit be bad? So I bought the same model Sony as a replacement, and that too crapped out after less than a year! So I tried LG, and that one keeps on going.
 
Region-free players aren't any more expensive than regular players. I have an LG Blu-ray unit so I can play Blake's 7, Dempsey & Makepeace, Tripods, etx, from Region 2 disks.
My first region-free was a Sony, but it crapped out after less than a year. I figured that had to be an anomaly - how could a Sony unit be bad? So I bought the same model Sony as a replacement, and that too crapped out after less than a year! So I tried LG, and that one keeps on going.
Exactly, I have had a number of region free players which opened up the rest of the world (home video wise) for me. For Blu Rays, you have to switch the regions back and forth, mostly with just a button hit, but I have a dedicated player for anything outside Region A. Cost me about the same as the regular player I have in my living room. Usually region free players will run DVDs without having to switch.

I'll happily get this release.
 
I probably should invest in a region free player. Oddly, my 4K player handles HD content on the region free UK Doctor Who releases fine but chokes on SD archive content. (My old Blu-ray player and my PS4 handle the SD content just fine.)
 
It doesn't look like anyone has posted this yet.

Sounds like Netflix's Sense8 from the Wachowskis & J. Michael Straczynski. And probably others.
That's not it, I never watched Sense8.
(this one is from @Tosk, it lost the poster's name when I cut and paste this into the edited post.)
Yeah but we all lost interest in Heroes after the first season. ;)
That might be it, I was thinking it was either a superhero show, or a sci-fi show following the crew of a starship.
 
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Exactly, I have had a number of region free players which opened up the rest of the world (home video wise) for me. For Blu Rays, you have to switch the regions back and forth, mostly with just a button hit, but I have a dedicated player for anything outside Region A. Cost me about the same as the regular player I have in my living room. Usually region free players will run DVDs without having to switch.

I'll happily get this release.
My LG seems to adjust all by itself if i forget to tell it what region I've inserted, which is great, 'cause I'm old :lol:. But it's just a matter of pressing the 1 or 2 key on the remote when you put the disk in. I never even gave a thought to there being a difference in BD/DVD - it plays both (and CDs) without a hitch.
 
It doesn't look like anyone has posted this yet.


That's not it, I never watched Sense8.
(this one is from @Tosk, it lost the poster's name when I cut and paste this into the edited post.)

That might be it, I was thinking it was either a superhero show, or a sci-fi show following the crew of a starship.

Some of the new SFX shots are great - the Liberator over the planet at 1:39 - would love that as my desktop background!!
 
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