Blake's 7

Blake's 7

Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for broadcast on BBC1. Four 13-episode series of Blake's 7 were broadcast between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who was also creator of the Daleks for Doctor Who. The script editor was Chris Boucher. The series was inspired by a range of fictional media including The Dirty Dozen, Robin Hood, Brave New World, Star Trek, classic Westerns and real-world political conflicts in South America and Israel.

The series is set in a future age of interstellar travel and follows the exploits of a group of renegades and convicted criminals. Gareth Thomas played the titular character Roj Blake, a political dissident who is arrested, tried and convicted on false charges, and then deported from Earth to a prison planet. He and two fellow prisoners, treated as expendable, are sent to board and investigate an abandoned alien spacecraft. They get the ship working, commandeer it, rescue two more prisoners, and are joined by an alien guerrilla with telepathic abilities. In their attempts to stay ahead of their enemies and inspire others to rebel, they encounter a wide variety of cultures on different planets, and are forced to confront human and alien threats. The group conducts a campaign against the totalitarian Terran Federation until an intergalactic war occurs. Blake disappears and Kerr Avon then leads the group. When their spacecraft is destroyed and one group member dies, they commandeer an inferior craft and a base on a distant planet, from which they continue their campaign. In the final episode Avon finds Blake and, suspecting him of betraying the group, kills him. The group is then shot by Federation guards, who surround Avon in the final scene.

Blake's 7 was popular from its first broadcast, watched by approximately 10 million people in the UK and shown in 25 other countries. Although many tropes of space opera are present, such as spaceships, robots, galactic empires and aliens, its budget was inadequate for its interstellar narrative. It remains well regarded for its strong characterisation, ambiguous morality and pessimistic tone. Critical responses to the programme have been polarised; reviewers praised its dystopian themes and "enormous sense of fun", but broadcaster Clive James described it as "classically awful".

A limited range of Blake's 7 merchandise was issued. Books, magazines and annuals were published. The BBC released music and sound effects from the series, and several companies made Blake's 7 toys and models. Four video compilations were released between 1985 and 1990, and the entire series was released on videocassette starting in 1991 and re-released in 1997. It was subsequently released as four DVD box sets between 2003 and 2006. The BBC produced two audio dramas in 1998 and 1999 that feature some original cast members, and were broadcast on Radio 4. Although proposals for live-action and animated remakes have not been realised, Blake's 7 has been revived with two series of official audio dramas, a comedic short film, a series of fan-made audio plays, and a proposed series of official novels.