Blake's 7 on Blu-ray!

[DarrenTR1970]

I think I actually liked Croucher a little better as Travis than Grief. He was less of a savage attack dog, more coolly malevolent. Although the writing for Travis suffered toward the end of Series B. After the terrific "Trial" changed his status quo, they couldn't seem to make up their mind what to do with him.

Brian is agreement with you. He thinks he finally got Travis right in 'Trial', in the way he wanted to portray Travis, that, and 'Star One'.

 

[Starkers]

She did get some entertaining moments in "Headhunter," so at least she has a personality developing, but she's still just kind of there.




Yes. The only less imaginative choice they could have made to replace Cally was to bring in another alien telepath.

Listening to a podcast the other day and someone suggested what they should have done was acquired a scientist. They specifically suggested Dr Plaxton (Who?) from Stardrive. That would have made for a different dynamic, especially when you already have Dayna, Tarrant and Avon who can handle the gunplay.

From my 'Behind the Scenes' book on Blake's 7, straight from the horse's mouth, as it were

The only change between series one and two of Blake’s 7 was the replacement of the actor playing Travis. Stephen Greif had left to pursue other roles, and Brian Croucher stepped in to play the part. “I originally went to see David Maloney for the role of Blake. I through with my background, I would have made a wonderful intergalactic criminal, but it wasn’t to be. A year or two later, Blake’s 7 was going again, and Stephen had decided, for whatever reason, not to go into a second series as Travis. David Maloney had seen me in a series I had just completed called Out!, and offered me the part.”

Brian had a baptism of fire during the first episode with George Spenton-Foster, and deeply regretted that it had not been in the hands of another director. “I saw David recently, and said to him, ‘It would have been nice for you to have directed at least the first episode and got me into it, just help me,’ because if anyone knew what the first series was about and the second series was going to be, it was the producer. That would have been the thing to do, but unfortunately, I had George Spenton-Foster, and I don’t know how other people feel about him, but I had nothing in common with him at all.”

Jacqueline Pearce watched the situation develop in rehearsals. “I suspect it was chemical thing. It was difficult to see someone used as a whipping boy. It happened quite frequently, and I found it very disturbing. It was a great shame. Brian was taken on to play the same character as Stephen Greif, which was a bit silly, because if they were going to do that, then they should have got a heavy, which Brian isn’t. He’s a lightweight, so he had a lot of problems, and I don’t think George Spenton-Foster was particularly kind to him. I liked Brian very much, and he was fun to work with.”

“Essentially, there wasn’t a relationship,” says David Maloney’s assistant Judith Smith. “Brian was down-to-earth, very masculine and very talented actor, but miscast in this particular role. Along comes George Spenton-Foster, a dear man, but very much into sequins and feathers and the totally flamboyant side, which was why Jackie got on so well with him. He and Brian just clashed from the word ‘go’. George couldn’t see Brian’s good points, and Brian couldn’t see George’s. It was two total opposites, pure and simple. Fortunately, George didn’t direct too much, but he did Brian’s first one, which didn’t help Brian settle into the new role at all. There are bits where Brian comes through as being very good as Travis, but they were not directed by George Spenton-Foster. I’m sure David talked to both of them about it, but I remember that it was well known that these two clashed, and only had to see them at rehearsals to see that there was no communication between them at all; George was not directing Brian.”​

There's one episode where Croucher and Pearce rehearsed a great scene and GSF insisted that Croucher report to Servalan via a small viewscreen which ruined all the work they'd put into the rehearsal.

I think I actually liked Croucher a little better as Travis than Grief. He was less of a savage attack dog, more coolly malevolent. Although the writing for Travis suffered toward the end of Series B. After the terrific "Trial" changed his status quo, they couldn't seem to make up their mind what to do with him.

Greif is technically the far better Travis, smart and competent, unfortunately when you're the bad guy who gets defeated week after week it makes you look incompetent (unless you're someone like Jacqui in which case you retain your air of invincibility). Travis Mk1 needed a victory of sorts to maintain the menace.

Travis Mk2 is far more unhinged and reckless, so when he loses it's oddly less problematic. I do like that they explained the personality shift between the two versions.

Trial is very good, and to be honest I'm not sure how Greif would have played it, again it helped that Croucher's Travis was on the edge half the time.

 

[Christopher]

Listening to a podcast the other day and someone suggested what they should have done was acquired a scientist. They specifically suggested Dr Plaxton (Who?) from Stardrive. That would have made for a different dynamic, especially when you already have Dayna, Tarrant and Avon who can handle the gunplay.

A scientist would've been a nice addition, although Orac basically filled that niche. It would've fit well into Series D's arc of Avon trying to recruit scientists to the resistance. (Which makes me think that Avon is smarter at the whole resistance thing than Blake ever was.)

Greif is technically the far better Travis, smart and competent... Travis Mk2 is far more unhinged and reckless...

Strange, I see it as just the opposite.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

It's been years since I've watched an episode, but it occurs to me that I don't recall an episode where Blake went from a minor annoyance to what the Federation considered a major threat. I know that Servalan brought in Travis as a way of dealing with Blake, but that was more along the lines of 'I can't be bothered with this. You have a history with Blake, you deal with him.'
I think there was an episode or two where Servalan or Travis mention that word of Blake is starting to spread, but we don't see any planets or populations take up any open rebellion against the Federation and Servalan must send in troops to put it down.​

 

[Christopher]

It's been years since I've watched an episode, but it occurs to me that I don't recall an episode where Blake went from a minor annoyance to what the Federation considered a major threat. I know that Servalan brought in Travis as a way of dealing with Blake, but that was more along the lines of 'I can't be bothered with this. You have a history with Blake, you deal with him.'
I think there was an episode or two where Servalan or Travis mention that word of Blake is starting to spread, but we don't see any planets or populations take up any open rebellion against the Federation and Servalan must send in troops to put it down.​

You're not quite remembering right. For one thing, Blake was considered a major threat before the series began. He was a resistance leader who was captured, convicted, and brainwashed into renouncing his rebellion, but for years later, he was still something of a folk hero with the populace, which was why they didn't want to execute him and create a martyr and instead framed him for sex crimes.

The moment the Federation decided Blake had become a major threat again was in "Seek-Locate-Destroy," after Blake and his crew blew up the communications center on Centero. Two government officials came to Servalan and told her that the destruction of the center had serious political consequences and weakened Earth's control over its subject worlds, and that stories of Blake's exploits were leaking out despite their best efforts at infiltration control, with any damage to Federation assets being attributed to Blake even if he had nothing to do with it. They demanded to know what she intended to do about it, and appointing Travis to hunt Blake down was her response.

As for populations rebelling against the Federation, in Series B, the Liberator crew fomented such a revolt in "Horizon," and the events of "Countdown" took place as a result of a successful rebellion at the start of the episode. "Voice from the Past" revolved around a major attempt to bring down the Federation government through nonviolent means by exposing their corruption and crimes. We saw an uprising on Earth itself in Series C's "Rumours of Death," and learned of an earlier failed revolution that had happened offscreen.

 

[Marc]

Listening to a podcast the other day and someone suggested what they should have done was acquired a scientist. They specifically suggested Dr Plaxton (Who?) from Stardrive. That would have made for a different dynamic, especially when you already have Dayna, Tarrant and Avon who can handle the gunplay.

I guess the thing was coming up with a character who Dorian would want to have around and have a need for and I guess they decided a character like Soolin made more sense thought a scientist might have been helpful with some of his activities.

The only change between series one and two of Blake’s 7 was the replacement of the actor playing Travis. Stephen Greif had left to pursue other roles, and Brian Croucher stepped in to play the part.

Greif was also a close friend of Paul Darrow's going back to the to drama school days.

 

[Christopher]

I guess the thing was coming up with a character who Dorian would want to have around and have a need for and I guess they decided a character like Soolin made more sense thought a scientist might have been helpful with some of his activities.

The new character didn't have to be introduced through Dorian. They could've done it a different way. (Heck, they could've done a different story than a sci-fi Dorian Gray riff to begin with, and I dearly wish they had.)

Actually, I wonder if Soolin was originally meant as just a guest star in "Rescue" before they decided to promote her to a regular. I mean, she's barely in the second episode of the season, just "in hiding" for most of the episode until she shows up in the final minute and offers to join up in a scene that was pretty clearly tacked onto the script in rewrites. And then she does nothing of note in the next three episodes, as if their scripts were also originally written without her. (The wiki claims she was given lines written for Cally in at least a couple of episodes.)

 

[diankra]

The new character didn't have to be introduced through Dorian. They could've done it a different way. (Heck, they could've done a different story than a sci-fi Dorian Gray riff to begin with, and I dearly wish they had.)

Actually, I wonder if Soolin was originally meant as just a guest star in "Rescue" before they decided to promote her to a regular. I mean, she's barely in the second episode of the season, just "in hiding" for most of the episode until she shows up in the final minute and offers to join up in a scene that was pretty clearly tacked onto the script in rewrites. And then she does nothing of note in the next three episodes, as if their scripts were also originally written without her. (The wiki claims she was given lines written for Cally in at least a couple of episodes.)

Yes, Jan Chappel had originally agreed to do the first half of the season.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Correct. According to my behind the scenes book, the producers offered Jan the first half of the season, then four episodes, then just the premiere where she would have sacrificed herself to save the others from Dorian's creature. She only agreed to do the voice over, and even that almost didn't happen.

 

[Marc]

Correct. According to my behind the scenes book, the producers offered Jan the first half of the season, then four episodes, then just the premiere where she would have sacrificed herself to save the others from Dorian's creature. She only agreed to do the voice over, and even that almost didn't happen.

Was the character of Soolin created before Jan Chappell was completely out of the series or was she originally just going to be for the Rescue?

If Cally was in 4 - 6 eps then it could have been Soolin that made the sacrifice?

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Was the character of Soolin created before Jan Chappell was completely out of the series or was she originally just going to be for the Rescue?

If Cally was in 4 - 6 eps then it could have been Soolin that made the sacrifice?

You know the book doesn't say, and now that you bring it up, it's a good question. Producer Vere Lorrimer does say that they didn't actually start writing for the character of Soolin until episode seven, "Assassin" - that means episodes 1-6 were written with Cally in mind. It's well known that episode 5 "Animals" was written for Cally, then rewritten for Dayna when Jan Chappell refused to come back. So, the first six scripts had to be too far advanced in production for anything other than a swapping of roles/lines for Dayna and Soolin.​

 

[Christopher]

You know the book doesn't say, and now that you bring it up, it's a good question. Producer Vere Lorrimer does say that they didn't actually start writing for the character of Soolin until episode seven, "Assassin" - that means episodes 1-6 were written with Cally in mind. It's well known that episode 5 "Animals" was written for Cally, then rewritten for Dayna when Jan Chappell refused to come back. So, the first six scripts had to be too far advanced in production for anything other than a swapping of roles/lines for Dayna and Soolin.​

I see. Yes, I can see how Soolin's scenes in "Headhunter" could've been meant for Cally. It's mainly Barbour's performance that gives her a distinct attitude there. I've just finished "Assassin" and can see how it fleshes her out more as a character.

"Animals" being meant for Cally rather than Dayna would've made more sense too. "Aftermath" implied that Dayna had never met any humans other than her father and had been educated by computer programs, so saying she had tutors brought in from offworld was something of a retcon.


Anyway, when I saw Richard Hurndall in "Assassin," complete with long white hair, I was tempted to imagine that his character was the First Doctor going incognito for some reason. As it turned out, that wasn't exactly a viable theory...

 

[Marc]

You know the book doesn't say, and now that you bring it up, it's a good question. Producer Vere Lorrimer does say that they didn't actually start writing for the character of Soolin until episode seven, "Assassin" - that means episodes 1-6 were written with Cally in mind. It's well known that episode 5 "Animals" was written for Cally, then rewritten for Dayna when Jan Chappell refused to come back. So, the first six scripts had to be too far advanced in production for anything other than a swapping of roles/lines for Dayna and Soolin.​

Guess that would explain why Soolin doesn’t appear until the very last scene in Power.

 

[Mr Awe]

Sally did her degree after leaving Blakes 7. Amusingly when she returned to TV in Emmerdale Farm she spent three years married to Frazer Hines (i.e. Jamie from Dr Who!)

I once had a very pleasant conversation with Jenna. After getting her degree, she (amongst other things) taught actors how to perform Shakespeare and seemed to get the most satisfaction out of that.

 

[Christopher]

Darren, does your book say anything interesting about the behind-the-scenes business on "Sand"? The B7 wiki says it was originally written for Avon & Servalan rather than Tarrant & Servalan, but it gives no detail, except mentioning that Boucher didn't like the Avon/Servalan relationship set up in Series C.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

@Christopher
Nothing on the episode 'Sand', however, and this you may already know, the cast and crew didn't know there was going to be a fourth series until the screening of 'Terminal', which was supposed to be the series finale, when the BBC announcer said that Blake's 7 would return.
That left a mad scramble to find a producer, script editor/head writer, and resign the cast, whose contracts had expired.
There was a real possibility that Jacqueline Pearce would be unable to reprise her role as Servalan due to her ongoing health struggles; so, incoming Producer Vere Lorrimer and returning Script Editor Chris Boucher created a new antagonist, Commissioner Sleer (possibly played by a male actor), to fill the void.
When Jacqueline proved to be available, Sleer became a pseudonym Servalan; however, Chris Boucher decided that Avon and the rest of the crew running into Servalan every other episode, as in Series Three, diminished the impact, and so, the scripts were rewritten to remove any interaction between Avon and Servalan.
Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me if the episode 'Sand' was originally written as a Sleer/Avon episode, then rewritten for Tarrant.​

 

[Marc]

@Christopher
Nothing on the episode 'Sand', however, and this you may already know, the cast and crew didn't know there was going to be a fourth series until the screening of 'Terminal', which was supposed to be the series finale, when the BBC announcer said that Blake's 7 would return.
That left a mad scramble to find a producer, script editor/head writer, and resign the cast, whose contracts had expired.
There was a real possibility that Jacqueline Pearce would be unable to reprise her role as Servalan due to her ongoing health struggles; so, incoming Producer Vere Lorrimer and returning Script Editor Chris Boucher created a new antagonist, Commissioner Sleer (possibly played by a male actor), to fill the void.
When Jacqueline proved to be available, Sleer became a pseudonym Servalan; however, Chris Boucher decided that Avon and the rest of the crew running into Servalan every other episode, as in Series Three, diminished the impact, and so, the scripts were rewritten to remove any interaction between Avon and Servalan.
Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me if the episode 'Sand' was originally written as a Sleer/Avon episode, then rewritten for Tarrant.​

Does the book talk about Pearce being pissed off that Servalan wasn’t there at the end because her contracted had been used up

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Does the book talk about Pearce being pissed off that Servalan wasn’t there at the end because her contracted had been used up

"I did take it personally, and was probably right to, because I think it was politics at the time. I was contracted for a certain number of episodes - I think it was nine - but I only ended up doing seven or eight, so it certainly wasn't because of that."​

 

[Christopher]

There was a real possibility that Jacqueline Pearce would be unable to reprise her role as Servalan due to her ongoing health struggles; so, incoming Producer Vere Lorrimer and returning Script Editor Chris Boucher created a new antagonist, Commissioner Sleer (possibly played by a male actor), to fill the void.
When Jacqueline proved to be available, Sleer became a pseudonym Servalan

I knew that part already. And it's probably the dumbest idea in the series's history.

Spoiler: Sleer

The notion that Servalan could somehow kill everyone who knows her face is nonsensical when we saw in "Death-Watch" that her face was broadcast galaxywide during a highly popular media event. Just in general, it's nonsensical that the face of the President of the Federation would be unknown to the general public. We know from "Aftermath" and "Rumours of Death" that Servalan liked to make public appearances as president, and there were plenty of episodes over the series where she visited various planets and identified herself as Servalan. Did she somehow go around hunting down and killing everyone she'd ever met all over the galaxy? If she wanted to conceal her identity, why didn't she just get cosmetic surgery, or even so much as let her hair grow out and dye it?

Not to mention that there's no way to fit all the Sleer backstory established in "Traitor" into the few weeks at most since "Terminal" (which Tarrant says happened "fairly recently"). Even if the bit about her being deposed and presumed dead at Gedden happened before "Terminal" (which seems inconsistent with what she said in "Sand" about the presidency being stolen in her absence), there's no time after that for her to have built up the Sleer identity and established herself in a position of authority under that name.

The whole thing makes no sense at all, which is probably the result of the backstory being developed for a new character and then hastily grafted onto Servalan when Pearce came back. And they probably realized it too, since they pretty much downplayed the whole business as the season progressed.

 

[diankra]

They did notice. Isla Blair was apparently fine with it, Patsy Smart (Giroc) was very shocked though.

Outfit aside Duel is a great example of B7 handling female characters well, with three memorable guest stars.

Met Isla a few times. Directed an interview she did for the Uni TV station when she was touring a play. Then did a phoner about Quatermass Experiment remake. Bit later Julian dropped into the village pub needing directions.

I knew that part already. And it's probably the dumbest idea in the series's history.

Spoiler: Sleer

The notion that Servalan could somehow kill everyone who knows her face is nonsensical when we saw in "Death-Watch" that her face was broadcast galaxywide during a highly popular media event. Just in general, it's nonsensical that the face of the President of the Federation would be unknown to the general public. We know from "Aftermath" and "Rumours of Death" that Servalan liked to make public appearances as president, and there were plenty of episodes over the series where she visited various planets and identified herself as Servalan. Did she somehow go around hunting down and killing everyone she'd ever met all over the galaxy? If she wanted to conceal her identity, why didn't she just get cosmetic surgery, or even so much as let her hair grow out and dye it?

Not to mention that there's no way to fit all the Sleer backstory established in "Traitor" into the few weeks at most since "Terminal" (which Tarrant says happened "fairly recently"). Even if the bit about her being deposed and presumed dead at Gedden happened before "Terminal" (which seems inconsistent with what she said in "Sand" about the presidency being stolen in her absence), there's no time after that for her to have built up the Sleer identity and established herself in a position of authority under that name.

The whole thing makes no sense at all, which is probably the result of the backstory being developed for a new character and then hastily grafted onto Servalan when Pearce came back. And they probably realized it too, since they pretty much downplayed the whole business as the season progressed.

Yep. In a DWB article called Federation and Empire (I was young, still thought referencing the greats was a good idea), I suggested that her 'improbable' new identity was a way of the new authorities using her talents while controlling her.