Blake's 7 - Sources and Themes

Sources and Themes

Series creator Terry Nation pitched Blake's 7 to the BBC as "The Dirty Dozen in space", a reference to the 1967 Robert Aldrich film in which a disparate and disorganised group of convicts are sent on a suicide mission during World War II. This influence shows in that some of Blake's followers are escaped convicts (Avon, Vila, Gan and Jenna). Blake's 7 also draws much of its inspiration from the legend of Robin Hood. Blake's followers are not a band of "Merry Men". His diverse crew includes a corrupt computer genius (Avon), a smuggler (Jenna), a thief (Vila), a murderer (Gan), a telepathic guerrilla soldier (Cally), a computer with a mind of its own (Zen) and another wayward computer (Orac). Later additions were: a naive weapons expert (Dayna), a mercenary (Tarrant), a gunslinger (Soolin) and an obsequious computer (Slave). While Blake intends to use Liberator to strike against the Federation, the others are often reluctant followers – especially Avon. Blake and Avon's clashes over the leadership represent a conflict between idealism and cynicism, emotion and rationality, and dreams and practicality. Similar conflicts arise between other characters; the courage of Blake and Avon compared with Vila's cowardice, or Avon and Jenna's scepticism of Blake's ideals compared with Gan's unswerving loyalty, Blake's mass murdering methods compared with Avon's targeted and less destructive approach.

Script editor Chris Boucher, whose influence on the series grew as it progressed, was inspired by Central American and South American revolutionaries, especially Zapata, in exploring Blake and his followers' motives and the consequences of their actions. This is most evident in the episode Star One, in which Blake must confront the reality that in achieving his aim of overthrowing the Federation, he will unleash chaos and death for many innocent citizens. When Avon gains control of Liberator, following Blake's disappearance after the events of Star One, he uses it initially to pursue his own agenda, avenging Anna's death. Later Avon realises that he cannot escape the Federation's reach and that he must, like Blake, resist them. In this respect, by the end of the fourth series Avon has replaced Blake.

Classic films, such as the Western The Magnificent Seven, were an important influence upon Blake's 7. Chris Boucher incorporated lines from Westerns into the scripts, much to the delight of Paul Darrow, an enthusiast of the genre. The final episode, Blake, was heavily inspired by The Wild Bunch and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Blake's 7 also drew inspiration from the classic British dystopian novels Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells. This is most evident in the nature of the Federation, whose methods of dealing with Blake in the first episode, The Way Back, including brainwashing and show trials . These are reminiscent of the way in which the former Soviet Union dealt with its dissidents. Explorations of totalitarianism in the series are not confined to the Federation – totalitarian control through religion (Cygnus Alpha), genetics (The Web) and technology (Redemption) also appear throughout. Such authoritarian dystopias are common in Terry Nation's work, such his Doctor Who story, Genesis of the Daleks.

Loyalty and trust are important themes of the series. Avon is presented with several opportunities to abandon Blake. Many of Blake's schemes require co-operation and expertise from others. Characters are often betrayed by family and friends – especially Avon, whose former lover Anna Grant is eventually revealed to be a Federation agent. The theme of loyalty and trust reaches its peak during Blake and Avon's final encounter in the last episode (Blake), when Blake's disloyalty to his crew causes Avon and the others to mistrust him when Tarrant accuses Blake of selling them out. If Blake and his crew represent Robin Hood and his Merry Men, then the Federation forces, personified in the obsessive, psychopathic Space Commander Travis and his superior, the beautiful but ruthless Supreme Commander Servalan, represent Guy of Gisbourne and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

A common theme in Nation's science fiction is the depiction of post-apocalyptic societies, as in several of his Doctor Who serials, for example The Daleks, Death to the Daleks and The Android Invasion and in his series Survivors, which Nation created before Blake's 7. Post-apocalyptic societies feature in several Blake's 7 episodes including Duel, Deliverance, City at the Edge of the World and Terminal. Although not explicitly stated, some publicity material for the series refers to the Federation as having risen from the ashes of a nuclear holocaust on Earth.