Blake's 7 - Production History

Production History

Terry Nation had the idea for Blake's 7 in a moment of inspiration during a pitch meeting with Ronnie Marsh, a BBC drama executive. Marsh was intrigued and immediately commissioned a pilot script. When he had seen the draft, Marsh approved Blake's 7 for full development. David Maloney, an experienced BBC director, was assigned to produce the series and Chris Boucher was engaged as script editor. Nation was commissioned to write the thirteen episodes. Boucher's task was to expand and develop Nation's first drafts into workable scripts, but this became increasingly difficult as Nation started running out of ideas. Meanwhile Maloney was struggling with the limited budget available given the need for action and special effects. Despite these challenges Blake's 7 was very popular, with some episodes exceeding ten million viewers. A second series was quickly commissioned.

The BBC engaged new writers for the subsequent series. It was decided that one of the regular characters should die, to demonstrate that Blake and his crew were not invincible. The character of Gan, played by David Jackson, was chosen because Gan had been under-used and was the least popular character. Although ratings declined compared to the first series, the BBC commissioned a third. However the team faced a major challenge when Gareth Thomas and Sally Knyvette decided not to return. New characters were required so that the story could continue without its titular character. Suggestions for a replacement actor for Blake were rejected and Avon became more prominent in the storyline. New characters Del Tarrant, portrayed by Steven Pacey, and Dayna Mellanby, portrayed by Josette Simon, were introduced.

Blake's 7 was not expected to be recommissioned after the third series. Therefore there was surprise when in 1980 a further series was announced as the third series ended. Bill Cotton, BBC Head of Television, had watched Terminal and greatly enjoyed it. He telephoned the presentation department and ordered them to make the announcement. As David Maloney was unavailable, Vere Lorrimer became the producer. He introduced new characters and a new spacecraft Scorpio, and its computer Slave. Jan Chappell (who played Cally) decided that she did not want to return, and was replaced by Glynis Barber as Soolin.

Gareth Thomas made a final appearance as Blake, and insisted that his character be killed off in a definitive manner. Although the fourth series performed satisfactorily in the ratings, Blake's 7 was not renewed for a fifth time and the final episode had an ambiguous finale. Except for Blake, whose death was contractual, the characters were shown being attacked in such a way that their survival would have been possible had a fifth series been commissioned. The final episode Blake was broadcast on 21 December 1981.