How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyond"?

[auntiehill]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Thanks!

I sooo wish they would put this out on DVD in the States. I've been trying to get my husband to watch it, but I only have some of it on tape, and those tapes are pretty darn old.

 

[Starkers]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Or, in "Orbit," when Avon is presented with the decision of risking his own life, or throwing Vila out an airlock.

That's pretty awesome stuff.

It's just the way Orac says "Vila weighs XXXkilos." and you see Vila's face! Classic!

So many great bits and wonderful lines to quote from this show!

"I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going!"

Worth mentioning that they did the cliffhanger ending to Best of Both Worlds about 10 years previous as well!

Vila "Avon this is stupid."

Avon. "When did that ever stop us...fire!"

 

[Pindar]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Anyone seen Blakes Junction 7 by the way?

Yes, it's fantastic, the other shorts on the DVD are also hilarious.

I almost brought it in a batch of dvds for my Christmas and New Year holiday viewing, but in the end I decided against it. I must add it to my wish list again.

The two other shorts are Adam and the Ants doing their weekly supermarket shop, and Big Daddy and a bunch of other 70's wrestlers getting the night bus home which in interrupted by the arrival of Giant Haystacks and his gang.

It's hilarious if you can remember the wrestling from back then.

 

[Stevil2001]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

I just watched "Bounty" last night. Some ropey bits, of course, but some excellent bits too. I love the interplay between Vila and Avon when they're in the cargo hold.

 

[Starkers]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Ah Bounty...

I have only one thing to say...

Tyce!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

What about "Space Rangers?" I never saw it, but I had a friend who was addicted to it during its short run and thought it was great fun - as TV went in those days.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

^I watched a few episodes. It was entertaining, not exactly cutting-edge science fiction. More Saturday-matinee than anything else, but Linda Hunt was great fun.

 

[WillsBabe]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Avon and Servalan are trapped together in a room, and beginning circling each other like wolves. They threaten each other, flirt with each other, try to bribe each other---all while getting closer and closer.

I love the Avon/Servalan stuff. One of my favourites is the end of Rumours of Death.

Avon: Has it come to this? Have you murdered your way to the wall of an underground room?

Servalan: It's an old wall, Avon. It waits.

Blakes 7 Has some great dialogue.

 

[Steve Roby]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

What about "Space Rangers?" I never saw it, but I had a friend who was addicted to it during its short run and thought it was great fun - as TV went in those days.

I was able to sit through at least three or four minutes of it before finding something else to do.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Worth mentioning that they did the cliffhanger ending to Best of Both Worlds about 10 years previous as well!

Vila "Avon this is stupid."

Avon. "When did that ever stop us...fire!"

The aforementioned "Star One."

 

[Candlelight]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Blakes 7 Has some great dialogue.

Biggest understatement of the day!

"I don't need any of you. I needed the Liberator to bring me here but this is as far as you go. I don't want you with me, I don't want you following me. Understand this - if anyone does follow me, I'll kill them"
- Avon, talking to his friends.

"I plan to live forever, or die trying"
- Vila, being reasonable.

 

[Starkers]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Avon and Servalan are trapped together in a room, and beginning circling each other like wolves. They threaten each other, flirt with each other, try to bribe each other---all while getting closer and closer.

I love the Avon/Servalan stuff. One of my favourites is the end of Rumours of Death.

Avon: Has it come to this? Have you murdered your way to the wall of an underground room?

Servalan: It's an old wall, Avon. It waits.

Blakes 7 Has some great dialogue.

Avon and Servalan did have some great scenes. "Imagination my only limit? I'd be dead in a week!"

Rumours is one of my favourite episodes.

Tarrant 'He's an animal'
Cally 'Yes and it's contagious isn't it.'

 

[Stevil2001]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

 

[FredH]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

In fact, I DID dump it after the first few episodes. But then when I checked in later in the series, I was stunned - STUNNED I say! - by the improvements in quality all around.

Truthfully, same here. I think I stopped somewhere around the "we steal a Chig ship" episode, then came back for the last few and holy crap, y'know?

The only thing that always bothered me was that it was set TOO near-future, in 2070. I couldn't remotely believe we'd advance to the point of interstellar battle fleets and human-looking AI androids in so short a time. They should have added a hundred years to the setting.

Welllll... the series kind of gave a justification for it in the pilot episode, where they talk about how wormholes between stars open and close on known schedules. Assuming this is a natural phenomenon, we could pretty much build "starships" today--and the space station in the pilot looked to basically be the ISS. But weirdly, they never mentioned the wormholes again. You could also rationalize that the ships were originally built for in-system combat during the war between the US and the "CCs," whom I took to be the Communist Chinese.

Now, the slideshow in "Who Monitors the Birds?" That's anachronistic technology.

 

[Starkers]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

Yeah but he didn't write every episode.

I wouldn't say he was incapable of writing good dialogue though

 

[Chaos Descending]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

Blake's 7 obviously disproves this comment.

 

[Jim Steele]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

Blake's 7 obviously disproves this comment.

So does Genesis of the Daleks, in my humble opinion.

 

[Pindar]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

So does Genesis of the Daleks, in my humble opinion.

What about MacGyver

 

[Starkers]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

Blake's 7 obviously disproves this comment.

So does Genesis of the Daleks, in my humble opinion.

Unless Wisher and Baker were just adlibbing....

Actually I could believe that of Baker...

 

[WillsBabe]

Re: How good are "Blake's 7", "Odyssey 5", and "Space: Above and Beyon

Sorry, "great dialogue" and "Terry Nation" do not go together.

Blake's 7 obviously disproves this comment.

I agree. B7 is famous within fandom for its great dialogue.

Servalan: Oh, Tarrant, I'm just the girl next door.
Tarrant: If you were the girl next door, I'd move.
Servalan: Where would you move to, Tarrant?
Tarrant: Next door ...