Blake's Seven to fly again thanks to Sky One

[0iD]

Seven up once again at Sky One | Entertainment | Reuters

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) - Hoping to cash in on the success of such classic sci-fi revamps as the BBC's "Doctor Who" and "Battlestar Galactica," satellite broadcaster Sky One is planning to remake the '80s space series "Blake's Seven."

Sky has commissioned two 60-minute scripts for the show, which followed the intergalactic tales of a small band of rebel fighters struggling to evade the dark forces of the Federation.

Memorable for its cardboard sets and leather-clad arch villainess Servalan, the show was the creation of sci-fi legend Terry Nation, himself responsible for Doctor Who's arch-nemesis the Daleks.

[pollaxe]

Excellent.. well.. hopefully.. I'm a huge fan of the Galactica remake not so much of Dr Who though. I used to watch Blake's 7 with my father when I was a kid, I loved it. I did see the final episode many years later and was dismayed at how cheap and cheesy it looked though...

[pauldarkside]

Used to watch it as a kid too - don't really remember much of it though. If this remake is as gritty and compelling as the new Galatica then I'll be up for watching it. I fear it'll just turn out to be more Who (no offence to those who enjoy it - it's just not for me).

Personally I'm waiting for Straczynski to return with his Babylon 5 series - he's been doing some Lost Tales standalone episodes and sounds pretty keen on it making a full return. I just hope he gets the financial backing from a supportive studio. It's a real shame two of the lead actors have since passed on; one played my all time favourite, G'Kar

[0iD]

I loved it as a kid, but watching them again now on DVD, like some Dr Who's, they were just so apallingly low budget.

[DavidM]

I'm very sure that the actor who plays one of the original characters (Avon, I think) is involved in the company that owns the rights to B7.

The recent official Audio stories were not too bad.

Actually the series, once you ignore the bbc's typical lack-of-budget on effects, and the limits of the time, wasn't too bad... and I'm sure it was certainly one of the first politically based SF series

(Still cringe remembering the hair-curler guns however!)

[pollaxe]

Plus the opening credits with Blake being tortured used to scare me and the Federation troopers in their respirator/masks were always quite intimidating too.

Servalan.. I saw her on some program the other day and she's weathered far better than a lot of her co-stars (Avon & Blake in particular!)

[Marcos]

i know nothing about it and never watched the original, but i will check out the pilot/series on the new one

is it worth tracking down the old stuff? i like red dwarf if thats similar?

[DavidM]

Probably easier to use Wikipedia to explain the back-story :-)

If you ignore the lack of decent effects or budget - its not too bad

[pauldarkside]

is it worth tracking down the old stuff? i like red dwarf if thats similar?

Personally I'd suggest you don't unless you're already an avid fan of it. It's not something that's dated very well - seeing it now just makes me cringe.

[nichomach]

Personally I'd suggest you don't unless you're already an avid fan of it. It's not something that's dated very well - seeing it now just makes me cringe.

QFT; Blake's 7's effects made the Beeb's efforts with old Doctor Who look like ILM...

[DavidM]

A bit of background here .... (btw - I was right, it's the actor who played the resident coward "Avon" - who is involved in bringing it back)

The one thing I liked about the show... none of the "good guys" where particularly "good"!

Whereas Blake is an idealist freedom fighter, the others are criminals, including petty crooks, smugglers and killers.

[iranu]

As long as they don't "Americanise" it, it should be quite good.

[Spud1]

I like B7, but I am very wary of this...

the BSG remake is really good, but the dr who remake for example is pretty poor really, especially the latest season (so far).

However, the BBC are not involved from what I can tell, and SkyOne co-funded/got involved in BSG, so hopefully it will turn out alright

[Rosaline]

Backstory:

Oppressive regime blames former-resistance-leader-but-mind-wiped Roj Blake for attacks by the resistance, and sentences him to be sent to a penal colony. On the way there he meets 5 fellow convicts (I'm a bit rusty, but the seventh comes a few episodes in, I believe). The penal transport encounters an abandoned alien ship, and uses the convicts to investigate it. Blake and a handful of his friends capture it, and then rescue the rest of their group from the penal colony. They soon meet the seventh member, and Blake's resistance cell is complete, and they cause no end of trouble for Supreme Commander Servalan.

Not an entirely perfect summary, but accurate enough for now

the resident coward "Avon"

That's Villa you're thinking of, the cowardly locksmith/pick/petty theif, and in many respects the comedy relief of the group (and the cute one ).

Avon, now there was a real man! Not like that Blake, always putting morals above everything!

Paul Darrow has to be one of the finest actors around, he also plays a fine Captain Vimes!

(BTW, I don't suppose any of you have back issues of Horizon, I need a certain article... )

[Behemoth]

Cool stuff, another classic series getting the modern treatment

[DavidM]

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