Be Excellent To Each Other

Another attempt to revive Blakes 7.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a94545/sky-one-plans-blakes-7-revival.html?rss

Like the previous attempts it will probably never happen.

How it all ended in 1981:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY10pMsq3N8

So they were betrayed by Delia Smith! Never knew that.

Marvellous, I never realised it ended in a deranged shoot-out, killing everyone. If they plan to remake it, the ending is going to be a bit obvious.

Still, top marks for those special effects back then. A noise, a camera slowdown, and an agonised expression on the face of someone who was apparently shot, or might have just had momentary trapped wind. And they said Dr. Who was better, ha!

My favourite story about Blake's 7 was how for one scene they only had one silver painted hairdryer/laser pistol and had to pass it along the line out of camera shot.

Not sure if that one is true, but the teleport bracelet story is true.

Basically they had a load of teleport bracelets made up at a reaosnable expense when the series started. But these started to go missing as time went on. There was no money to have any more made so Matt Irvive had to copy the Blue Peter knock-off design.

Maximum power!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF9reHrCTCs&feature=related

I love Blake's 7 (or Avon's 5 as it is for the most part really). An update of it could be good but I'll always love the original. I've never finished watching series 4. I really should.

The one with Fred Elliot from Coronation Street is worth watching. Most of the story is poor but the bit with Avon and Villa in the shuttle near the end is utterly chilling.

Here's the bit in question (well it starts near the end of this clip). The episode is called Orbit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcM8HClM9dw&feature=related

I hope that if they do update it they make Avon a bit more ruthless. He was mildly ruthless in the original but still did too many good deeds for my liking. Have you listened to the Audio plays and if so are they any good?

I listened to the first one and thought it was a bit crap to be honest.

Also, big chunks of series 4 are unwatchably awful (that fucking computer, shut up). Not as bad as that Travis-wrapped-in-bandages-badly-impersonating-a-Frenchman one, though.

Edit: "This is the best robotic engineering I've ever seen."

Actually the previous clip was just the setup. It's this clip that has the "chilling" bit with Avon looking to bump off Villa to save his own skin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McgnbHlzCKw&feature=related

That clips is splendid, Paul Darrow's whole spectrum of acting talent on display there.

Don't get me wrong I love the Avon character but Olivier he ain't

This compilation is tops as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWHLU8fwi80

Nobody sneers better though.

This is true...especially at Villa

Villa was very irritating really. He was pretty much the same when he appeared in Doctor Who. Sunmakers (or something like that) I think it was that he was in. Rubbish episode that. He was supposed to be some classy shakespearean actor as well. Servalan was quite nice in an odd kind of way.

That quiet, drawn out kind of pace in the story doesn't seem to be in fashion these days.

I'm sure in something current (which, OK, means Dr Who) any kind of "doomed in five minutes" scenes would be accompanied by all kinds of running around, a full orchestra and frantic shouting and pressing of space-widgets.

In the olden days they used to stand about mournfully to a sparse electronic score, before throwing themselves about a bit with wobbling walls only to have a 'To Be Continued' to flash up.

Then next episode, "Phew, that was close."

A meeting halfway between both styles would be nice.

I never really warmed to Blakes 7 to be honest, but I did quite like the first couple of episodes. To be honest, I must have caught some of the duffers or something. I remember getting annoyed at the sheer debilitating low budget of it all. I mean, I love Quatermass, I'm not a budget guy - but it always looked so cheap. I mean, really, really cheap. Beyond early 'This is the Centauri throne room - a wardrobe, a mirror, a chair and some curtains' Babylon 5 cheap. (Though they worked wonders later, natch.)

Was Servalan in it all the time then? Didn't really see any with her. In fact, I barely know anything about the show. Was she morally ambiguous, or full blown 'muah ha ha!' villainy?

More importantly, does this remake mean a Brit sci-fi show with excellent space battles, finally? And who would you cast?

Blakes 7 does look cheap, but you have to look past that I'm afraid. It was made at a type of hyper-inflaition in this country. For example, despite budget increases by 1979 Doctor Who had 40% less money in real terms than in 1976. BBC budgets simply were not increasing with inflaition.

The series also has it's fair share of duff episodes. Having re-watched Season 4 recently, I liked it more than I did the first time round.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LnZnKSJ7pvQ - Scorpio crashes into the woods where they filmed Gladiator and the new Harry Potter. Paul Darrow also demonstrates that his acting ability also extends to staggering around.