alt title(s): Blakes Seven
Iconic British SF series created by Terry Nation who also created
Survivors and the Daleks in
Doctor Who. Four 13-episode series ran on the BBC from 1978 to 1981. Sometimes referred to as a
Space Opera, but much darker (and low-budget) than the norm, though also included elements of
Wagon Train To The Stars.
Set during the "third century of the new calendar" (fans estimate this as approximately 2700AD), the series is about the quest of a group of rebels to overthrow the evil and fascistic Federation that controls Earth and most of the known Galaxy. It is distinctive in that most of its leading characters are of the
Anti Hero type rather than your usual cleancut heroes. It's often seen as Nation's attempt to subvert
Star Trek — the B7 Federation's logo is basically the
Trek Federation logo rotated through 90 degrees (so it pointed to the far right, as some have noted) and other subversions of what, at the time, were standard SF tropes are common.
Initially, the series centred around the character of Roj
Blake who had led a rebellion against the Federation which had been put down. Brainwashed, Blake had renounced the rebellion he led and was leading the life of a normal citizen until he was brought out of his brainwashing by a new group of rebels. Again, that putative rebellion was quashed and Blake was framed for crimes he didn't commit (child molestation, though this wasn't really mentioned again after the first episode) and sent to a prison planet.
En route to exile, Blake and a group of prisoners managed to escape from captivity and take control of a mysterious, and very advanced, ship which they called the
Liberator and resolved to fight back against the Federation. The series then chronicled their attempts, which were usually (and ultimately) unsuccessful, to overthrow the Federation.
Blake was perhaps the only "good" character amongst the Seven but, though he sometimes appeared to be, never had the full authority and respect from the others to be
The Captain. The other main characters in the series were: Kerr
Avon, an amoral computer expert who refused to trust anyone — a real
Anti Hero;
Jenna Stannis, a smuggler who was the pilot of the
Liberator during the first two series;
Vila Restal, a cowardly thief;
Cally a humanoid telepath with kamikaze tendencies exiled from the planet Auron; and Olag
Gan, a
Gentle Giant, but only because he had a limiter fitted to his brain after he killed a man in a rage.
Liberator was controlled by a sentient computer known as
Zen. (Characters were normally referred to by just one name, indicated in bold, though almost all had a forename-surname)
The Federation was represented by an array of troopers, usually outfitted in uniforms of black leather and gas masks. For the first two series, the Seven were pursued by
Travis, a psychotic killer (and
The Dragon) dispatched to "seek, locate and destroy Blake" by
Big Bad Servalan, the impossibly glamorous Supreme Commander (later President) of the Federation.
At the end of the first series, the Seven beat Servalan to find the supercomputer
Orac (originally presented as a
Weapon Of Mass Destruction but downgraded when it was kept on), which was capable of finding information on almost anything but was also programmed with the personality of its creator, an irascible old man.
The second series saw Blake determined to strike at the heart of the Federation by destroying its central computer — the series had a
Story Arc, but often the quest for information about Star One was little more than a
MacGuffin. During the quest, Gan was killed and Travis went mad, eventually betraying humanity and allowing the alien Andromedans to attack. The Seven were forced to fight with the Federation to stop the invasion.
Liberator was heavily damaged in the battle, forcing the crew to abandon ship, meaning some of them were lost (a useful device for the writers to explain away the departure of characters between series)
Despite Gareth Thomas, who played Blake, leaving at the end of the second series, the series retained its title, with Avon now becoming leader of the Seven. Blake was replaced by Del
Tarrant, a former Federation officer who'd deserted and Jenna had also gone, being replaced by weapons expert
Dayna Mellanby. At the end of the season, they appeared to have found Blake again but had been tricked.
Liberator was destroyed and the crew were abandoned on planet Terminal.
This was supposed to be the end of the series (and, indeed, was the last episode written by Nation) but a year later, the BBC brought it back, though without the active involvement of Nation (however, the series was now credited as "Terry Nation's
Blake's Seven"). The crew now had a new ship — the
Scorpio — and the deceased Cally was replaced by assassin
Soolin.
If anything, the final series was even darker than before, with almost all the Seven's plans failing and ending with the episode "Blake", perhaps the ultimate
Downer Ending of any series. Finally finding Blake again, Avon kills him, believing he has betrayed the rebellion (and, more importantly, him) before the rest of the crew are then killed by the Federation with only Avon left standing. Surrounded by Federation troopers, he aims his gun at the camera, smiles and then it cuts to the
final credits with gunfire sounds in the background.
Blake's Seven was clearly a strong influence on
Farscape and had a minor influence on
Babylon Five — J. Michael Straczynski noted that, in writing all of Season 3, he was doing something that hadn't been attempted in SF TV since Terry Nation wrote all of Season 1 of
Blake's Seven.
In 2007, a new audio version was produced with some interesting twists to the story. It can be listened to at the
Sci Fi UK website.
A couple of scripts have been ordered for a possible TV revival
.
Some familiar plots used in the series:
There's quite a strong element of sexual tension within the show, though much of it is beneath the surface, mainly because it was originally shown in an early evening timeslot. Fans note much subtextual
Ho Yay in many of the male relationships. Amongst British SF fandom, Blake/Avon (or Avon/Blake — the order can be very important to fans)
slash fiction is very popular, as is Avon/Tarrant.
This show provides examples of
