"Blakes 7" (1978) TV series 1978-1981

Creator:

Terry Nation

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

2 January 1978 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In the third century of the second calendar, a corrupt galactic federation, with Earth at its center...

Plot Keywords:

Cult TV | Spacecraft | Digit In Title | Wobbly Sets | Futuristic

Cast

Michael Keating	...	Vila Restal (52 episodes, 1978-1981)
Paul Darrow	...	Kerr Avon (51 episodes, 1978-1981)
Peter Tuddenham	...	Orac / ... (49 episodes, 1978-1981)
Jan Chappell	...	Cally / ... (37 episodes, 1978-1981)
Gareth Thomas	...	Roj Blake / ... (29 episodes, 1978-1981)
Jacqueline Pearce	...	Servalan / ... (29 episodes, 1978-1981)
Sally Knyvette	...	Jenna Stannis (26 episodes, 1978-1979)
Steven Pacey	...	Del Tarrant / ... (26 episodes, 1980-1981)
Josette Simon	...	Dayna Mellanby (26 episodes, 1980-1981)

Runtime:

50 min (52 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bamburgh, Northumberland, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

That endless corridor that the team were always dashing around the ship in was only about 20 feet long with a short tee on one end.

Quotes:

[Blake is under treatment after witnessing a massacre]
Dr. Havant: Reality is a dangerous concept. Each one of us interprets it in a slightly different way. Every sense impression is filtered by the brain and altered, sometimes just a little, sometimes completely, to fit our individual model of what the world is about. If that model should be challenged...
Roj Blake: [chanting over and over to himself] I am *not* insane. I am *not* insane...
Dr. Havant: No. You must put that thought completely out of your mind. You've had a shock.
Roj Blake: [stops chanting] Yes.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Cult of...: Blake's 7 (#1.5)" (2006)

A Classic--Use your Imagination

For those of us weaned on Doctor Who, shows like Blake's 7 are instantly appealing. But for today's audiences, try this trick:

Listen closely to the dialogue and notice how the acting--unlike the SFX--is quite good. Then imagine that George Lucas, Jerry Bruckheimer and any actor you admire collaborated on a faithful remake, line for line, with top-level effects. Can you see it? (May require more than one viewing.)

Good. Prior to Battlestar Galactica on TV and Star Wars on the big screen, this is about all we had in terms of production values. (We were lucky if the boom mics were not showing at the top of the screen.) We had to make do with fascinating story ideas and characters we could inhabit each week. If the monsters were made of rubber, the spaceships made of cardboard, well, we lived with it.

Note to Spielberg, Bruckheimer, Lucas, et al: Keep the script stet and consider giving these back to the world.