Trivia / Blakes Seven S 4 E 13 Blake

• Actor-Inspired Element: It was Gareth Thomas' idea for Blake to have a scar.
• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: Gareth Thomas actually insisted on this as a condition of coming back, hence the unusually graphic blood effects used when he gets shot. In the end, it turned out to be academic, as the mooted fifth season never happened.
• Creator Couple: Janet Lees-Price, who plays the communications officer that Avon guns down shortly before he kills Blake, was the wife of Paul Darrow. Though before you worry about any Reality Subtext in that, note that it was actually her idea to appear in the show and get offed by Avon.
• Enforced Method Acting: Gareth Thomas was really determined that Blake would be so unambiguously dead that there would be no way to bring him back if the show got renewed again. Therefore at every opportunity he went back to the special effects crew to ask them to put another Squib and bloodbag under his costume. As a result, when the shooting scene finally happened the blow to his chest was hard enough to really wind him and leave him cut and bruised.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The episode was filmed in a forest in Camberley, Surrey that was also used for the opening battle scene in Gladiator.
• Killed by Request: Gareth Thomas agreed to return on the condition that Blake be killed off for good.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The first proposal for the series' conclusion, titled "Attack", involved Blake returning to lead an assault on the Federation on Earth, finally defeating them. This idea was rejected by producer Vere Lorrimer, who thought it "...would be like five men trying to defeat the German army".
  • Blake was originally to be given the dying words; "Oh Avon, I didn't take any of them on trust... except you... You are my... only friend", but these were removed because Blake's ability to deliver them after the violence of his shooting stretched credibility.
  • Blake was originally to have an eyepatch of the exact same type that Travis wore. Gareth Thomas convinced them to go with a scar instead.

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