News is just hitting the wires that Sky One has greenlit the development of two 60 minute scripts for a revived Blake’s 7, with an eye to a possible new series. “The time is ripe for a revival of a show that represents the best traditions of the genre, not to mention one of the best-loved and most successful dramas of all time,” Elaine Pyke, commissioning editor for drama at Sky.
(The Liberator, which, dodgy effects aside, is still one of the most iconic starship designs in the rich history of Brit SF; borrowed from the Wiki entry and I assume (c) BBC)
As the BBC article points out the recent success of other revivals of older science fiction TV shows such as Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica have made the return of shows like Blake’s 7 more attractive to TV producers, especially when, as is the case with Blake’s 7, it comes with a huge fanbase pre-existing, still a popular, cult show decades after it finished. I was always partial to it myself back in the day, not that we had a lot of other telefantasy to pick from of an evening, mind you. I always thought that like Doctor Who Blake’s 7 had a very British air to it – the effects and sets may have been cheap and cheerful unlike the glossy US SF TV shows like Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard in his satin disco suit!) but the characters and stories were, I think, far better and I also think those aspects of the show have held up better over the years than the original 70s Galactica or Buck Rogers have, despite their larger production values. I’m just a little miffed that the BBC news article fails entirely to mention creator Terry Nation. No production dates so far or any mention if any of the original cast may be included or not, as ever stay tuned… I couldn’t see an official Blake’s 7 site but fans can check out Horizon, which is the official fan website for the show.
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