This late 1970s BBC “space opera” is a classic of British television, one of very few science-fiction shows to be broadly popular in the country (the others being Doctor Who and Red Dwarf).
They launched this as the BBC's contribution to the post Star Wars sci-fi wave - which is just slightly cringe as the comparisons are basically non-existent - not just the ludicrous discrepancy in production values but also the fact they went the polar opposite from fairy-tale heroics to more adult-themed gritty dystopian sci-fi. However it does rather more closely resemble the earlier, much lower budget George Lucas sci-fi film THX 1138 - which its quite possible the writers knew of.
Thank you for reminding us of these intriguing 'lost' cultural artifacts. Blake's 7 and the like seem representative of such a rich, inventive period in TV history; I recently watched 'Children of the stones', also starring Gareth Thomas, and was most impressed by the eerie atmosphere and cosmic concept of the story. The writing and acting are so much better than today, and I like how they don't treat the audience of children as imbeciles or neurotics on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I will have to look at Blake's 7.
I'm very glad you're doing this project of TV guides. I was born in America in 1962, and we had "Blake's 7" and "Survivors" shown here, along with a selection of several other good British programs of the 60's and 70's. "Survivors" became my all-time favorite series, and your review of it brought back many good memories, which I mentioned towards the end of my lament for England at https://williammarkley.substack.com/p/england-is-being-destroyed-from-within
As you've described previously, TV of this period was superior in some ways to later TV--not always, but at least in the better and average-quality series. This is despite the lower budgets of the time. Character and story were often presented in superior ways, and, much of the time, without the awful political messages that are so prevalent now. If our countries do completely collapse, I hope that older programs like these can somehow be saved, along with good books, so that people in the future can appreciate them. It's one reason that I tend to keep books, movies, and TV series in "hard copies." I used to work in libraries, and I've seen how we can no longer rely on them to preserve the good stuff.
They launched this as the BBC's contribution to the post Star Wars sci-fi wave - which is just slightly cringe as the comparisons are basically non-existent - not just the ludicrous discrepancy in production values but also the fact they went the polar opposite from fairy-tale heroics to more adult-themed gritty dystopian sci-fi. However it does rather more closely resemble the earlier, much lower budget George Lucas sci-fi film THX 1138 - which its quite possible the writers knew of.
Thanks for this blast from the past. I absolutely loved Blake’s 7! I thought Avon was an absolute dish 🤣.
I think all women did!
Thank you for that, I hadn’t realised - makes feel a bit better about it 😆
Thank you for reminding us of these intriguing 'lost' cultural artifacts. Blake's 7 and the like seem representative of such a rich, inventive period in TV history; I recently watched 'Children of the stones', also starring Gareth Thomas, and was most impressed by the eerie atmosphere and cosmic concept of the story. The writing and acting are so much better than today, and I like how they don't treat the audience of children as imbeciles or neurotics on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I will have to look at Blake's 7.
Yes, Children of the Stones is a classic. Great atmosphere and acting, and the story is surprising. Very enjoyable!
Both you and Mark Gullick writing about Blake’s 7 this week! I’ll jump in my time machine and zip back to 1978 to get the full effect.
Yes, it's a surprising coincidence!
Blake 7 was like a documentary of the future, unfortunately, that's where humanity seems headed.
I'm very glad you're doing this project of TV guides. I was born in America in 1962, and we had "Blake's 7" and "Survivors" shown here, along with a selection of several other good British programs of the 60's and 70's. "Survivors" became my all-time favorite series, and your review of it brought back many good memories, which I mentioned towards the end of my lament for England at https://williammarkley.substack.com/p/england-is-being-destroyed-from-within
As you've described previously, TV of this period was superior in some ways to later TV--not always, but at least in the better and average-quality series. This is despite the lower budgets of the time. Character and story were often presented in superior ways, and, much of the time, without the awful political messages that are so prevalent now. If our countries do completely collapse, I hope that older programs like these can somehow be saved, along with good books, so that people in the future can appreciate them. It's one reason that I tend to keep books, movies, and TV series in "hard copies." I used to work in libraries, and I've seen how we can no longer rely on them to preserve the good stuff.
Looking forward to your next TV review!