Ding Dong Avon Calling - Blake 7 to return!

Totally echo all of those sentiments. I left the cub-scouts because it conflicted with Blakes 7, and have never regretted it!

Did you also attempt to make a teleport braclet out of a Robinsons juice bottle Neil?

Avon and Servelan were both dynamite together. I'm still in love with Villa.

This seems a really pointless revival to me... Firstly Paul Darrow is -- like so many other cult tv figures -- a shadow of his former self, an embarassing panto dame capable only of giving idiosyncratic and frankly bizarre performances. Judging from his recent track record, the convention circuit and odd nostalgia-related appearance is really all he's good for.

And as for Blake's 7 - I'd question how much realistic appeal it has for a new audience. Like the doomed attempts to resurrect Crossroads, I suspect it's a show that is remembered by a lot of people, but very few them recall it with any great affection or think of it for its quality. I don't see where the audience is, and for those who do remember it, it'll just be a revival of "that wobbly old sci-fi show", with one of the Ugly Sisters at the helm.

A strip of card from a box, with a plastic jewel for the purple button, actually.

And don't forget Cally. I was upset when she died.


EDIT: I presume this is related - there's a site at www.blakes7.com which gives some more information, including what seems to be a new logo for B7. The Flash interface is a bit slow but looks nice.

As much as I have enjoyed the repeats of Blake's 7 on UK Gold - I think that reviving the series is a bit of a non-starter. Surely it would be better to come up with some new ideas?

I agree that Blake's 7 was a fantastic series - with interesting storylines and some splendid ideas (and nice use of locations) - but I think I'd rather see a new SF series than a re-hash or a "30 years later" update?

I think Dr Who is probably more suitable for revival as it has the concept of change (via the Doctor's regeneration) built into its heritage? However whoever tries this is in a no-win situation - to appeal to a large core of die hard Who fans AND attract a new audience may be nearly impossible.

Part of the charm of both Dr Who and Blake's 7 was the studio / multic-camera video / low budget sets and the requirement to concentrate on character acting and idiosyncracies rather than large visual effects and CGI made for good strong story telling. I am not convinced that anyone making either series for a modern audience would be able to replicate this - certainly Dr Who the Movie didn't work for me... (But that may have been the US influence?)

I notice that the Blake's 7 site doesn't mention any broadcaster involvement - presumably Paul Darrow (aka Avon) has just negotiated the rights to the story/characters with the late Terry Nation's estate and is trying to build a series around himself (as one of the most recognisable members of the original cast?)

I think Dr Who is probably more suitable for revival as it has the concept of change (via the Doctor's regeneration) built into its heritage?

B7 has more in-built adult appeal, though. DW was always a children's programme - or, to be charitable, a family show with a predominantly child audience - whereas B7 was an adult drama with a few child-friendly elements.

B7 has also aged better than DW, thanks to its reliance on characterisation (witness the superb scenes of backbiting on the Liberator's flight deck) and minimal use of frankly awful rubber monsters and screaming females falling over and twisting their ankles every five minutes. Viewed purely as drama, B7 stands up far better than DW to contemporary eyes.

Part of the charm of both Dr Who and Blake's 7 was the studio / multic-camera video / low budget sets...

It's *such* an anorak cliche to refer to those things as being "part of the charm"... they were (and are still) *not* charming, and especially in the case of DW, they are a big reason for them looking so dated now.

I am not convinced that anyone making either series for a modern audience would be able to replicate this

Modern audiences don't want cheap crappy sets and embarrassing effects. It's only the fanboys saying that they'd be happy with cheap-looking new DW or B7, and they're such a tiny constituency they're pretty much irrelevant.

presumably Paul Darrow (aka Avon) has just negotiated the rights to the story/characters with the late Terry Nation's estate and is trying to build a series around himself (as one of the most recognisable members of the original cast?)

In point of fact, Darrow (who was a close friend of Nation) has been trying to get this project off the ground for the best part of 20 years. He's using Nation's own concept for a continuation series, in which Avon and Vila are the only characters to survive (ISTR that Vila's role is relatively small), but whether Vila will survive the inevitable script revisions is another matter... and of course, Michael Keating may not want to reprise the role anyway.

From what I can remember, Avon's role in the continuation is as more of a figurehead who puts together a new rebel team and directs them from a distance.

Have you watched the 4th series recently..?

[quote="Glorfindel
Part of the charm of both Dr Who and Blake's 7 was the studio / multic-camera video / low budget sets...

It's *such* an anorak cliche to refer to those things as being "part of the charm"... they were (and are still) *not* charming, and especially in the case of DW, they are a big reason for them looking so dated now.
[/quote]

I think that that some of the entirely OB based DWs have aged VERY well and don't look at all dated - apart from the costumes. The 70/80s overlit studio look HAS dated some aspects of the shows I agree - and B7 was always better at going on location rather than mocking up in the studio - but when DW went on location in video (rather than on film) they often looked very realistic - to me at least. (I find film inherently distancing and less believable dramatically than video)

I agree that the characterisation on B7 was very good - and the show benefits from an ensemble cast with character traits that could be developed within series. However I think that DW still has the edge in flexibility terms - though its greater popularity may be a millstone.

I think that that some of the entirely OB based DWs have aged VERY well and don't look at all dated

Ugh! I tried to force myself to watch the McCoys when they were last on UK Gold, and they *all* have that 80s texture to them - perhaps ironically, one thing that DW *isn't* is timeless!

(I find film inherently distancing and less believable dramatically than video)

Video just looks cheap and nasty to me. Fine for reality and light entertainment, but it always makes drama look stagey or soapy, and it tends to amplify bad acting (so *really* not a good format for DW!)

II think that DW still has the edge in flexibility terms - though its greater popularity may be a millstone

DW wasn't more popular than B7. After a shaky start, B7 got consistently higher ratings than DW throughout its life, and most recently, it did better than DW during the BBC-2 repeat seasons.

DW was at its most popular, by a very long way, during the Dalekmania of 1964-65. After that the ratings declined steadily, spiked a bit with Pertwee, but then continued dropping.

B7 also did the right thing and finished while it was still highly popular, instead of dragging on long after the public had lost interest and dying an ignominious and almost completely unmourned (except by the fanboys) death...

The sets on Fawlty Towers always shook.

Forgive me, but the sets were shakey

Why do people insist on applying this particularly unimaginative cliche to telefantasy shows, as if sci-fi had a monopoly on shaky sets?

Look carefully at just about *any* TV programme from *any* era (including current ones) - all the sets shake!

I was referring to the early OB DWs - not the later 1980s stuff (though I think some of them like Silver Nemesis still look rather nice) - such as Robot. They ARE limited - but compared with the film/video mix that was common I found the all-video shows more consistent and more coherent visually. (The all OB shows in the 80s had the advantage of a consistent shooting style I guess as well - with interiors and exteriors shot in a more similar manner)

We'll have to agree to disagree on video vs film. I agree that decent 35mm looks better than dodgy tubed cameras recorded on to HiBand - but I'd rather watch a decently racked OB camera recorded onto 2" than a dodgy 16mm grainy film location TKed with poor TARIFing...

Servalan rocks!!!!

And she certainly could kick arse!

I hope we see Orac again too.

And surely it's only a matter of time before they bring back Doctor Who too!!!!

Surely the point about VT/Film is not to use both formats in the same production. Stick to either all tape or all film.
Super 16 can look really cracking and film is of course more flattering to actors' looks.