Gizmodo reports on the passing on Jacqueline Pearce. According to SKY news, she was diagnosed with lung cancer last month. Her portrayal of the glamorous, scheming, murderous Supreme Commander Servalan was a sight to behold. Rest in peace.
I heard the interview she did for Big Finish - Pearce had a very interesting career though by her admission she never made it as the outstanding actress she could have been. But she enjoyed her role as Servelan and was apparently quite pissed with her agent that her character was there for the final episode. For Servelan at her most chilling I would suggest the B7 chronicles audio 3. Also on the Gizmodo link there's a article on the making of B7 and it talks about some behind the scenes/making off videos that was done for the DVD release that weren't include but are up on youtube. They are well worth a watch. Sadly there wasn't one for season 4.
Damn. IMO there's never been a better TV villain than Servalan, and Ms Pearce was a major reason why. Requiescat in pace, and thanks for the fabulous memories.
Strange . . . I only remember her from the 1988 miniseries, "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" with Richard Chamberlain. Oh well, R.I.P. Ms. Pearce.
Noooo! I knew she had lung cancer but I was hoping she would beat it to death. As Orac Zen said (and has said many times before), Servalan was one of the finest television villains and that was because of Jacqueline Pearce. I was so thrilled that she happily returned to the role for many audio plays with Big Finish because it's practically unimaginable to have Blake's 7 without Servalan. I've fallen a little behind on the more recent releases, but I sure hope they have one or two more stories that she already recorded for future release. She's going to leave a gaping hole in the franchise now, just as big as the one Gareth Thomas left behind. Rest in peace, Jacqueline. Thank you for the adventures. She was also a wonderful pseudo antagonist for The War Doctor in Big Finish's four box set series.
Rest in peace, Supreme Commander, though if there is an afterlife she's probably running it by now. Wonderful woman who created a truly iconic character and was, by all accounts, a lovely person. Never got to meet her and I'll always regret that.
She walked past me in St Ives some years ago. I can still remember coming to a sudden halt thinking 'Was that just who I thought it was...'
RIP . Recently saw her on 'The Two Doctors' as part of my Doctor Who re-watch and of course being over 40 I remember her from B7 and Dark Season.
Big-time. They couldn't get the full funding for series 4's documentary. A shame as that would have been one of the best, due to all the changes (and why they came about). Season 4 is often badly underrated... And of all the episodes to not be in, the finale would be the one! She had to be in the grand finale. But wasn't, what the fudge. So glad to read she enjoyed working on B7!! Servalan was originally intended for a man to play the role, but Jacqueline quickly made it her own. Some say she was overused. I wholeheartedly disagree. She's as integral to the ensemble as anyone else. She is the perfect half of a double act, as exemplified with any scene involving any of the rebels in the later seasons - never mind Travis (Mark 1 or 2). "Moloch" may have been a (hideously!!) bad episode on the whole but the Servalan/Vila scenes ruled because of her and Michael Keating's chemistry, never mind how awesome and effective Keating was as playing Vila to begin with. Servalan/Avon scenes are never to be missed. And "Sand" shows us a great bunch of scenes with Servalan vs Tarrant. And, of course, Dayna's blood feud with Servalan deserved far more screen time. When the writers remembered her premiere story, we got some great scenes and great acting. "Death-Watch" comes to mind as Josette Simon, who always does much with what's on paper and (as with Soolin) she didn't always get the best material (made worse since Soolin was a gunslinger but never got any projectile weapons Dayna invented!), really ups the ante when confronting Servalan. A shame Soolin never got a chance to meet Servalan face-to-face. Servalan might be the only person to Spoiler: Spoiler regarding series finale trick Soolin into not firing first. Loved her as Chessene in "The Two Doctors". Not unlike Servalan in some ways (cold, calculating - like an evil Mr. Spock), the best reason why she got cast is what happens as Chessene starts to break down, which is about as un-Servalan as it got!
Was so sad to hear of the passing of the Supreme Commander. Servalan was one of the greats, and I could not imagine anyone else who could have brought the character to the screen.