Blake's 7
A British space opera about rebels fighting a totalitarian Federation.
Last updated
The program aired in 25 nations beyond the UK.[1]
Making and release
Terry Nation pitched Blake's 7 to the BBC as "The Dirty Dozen in space", a reference to the 1967 Robert Aldrich movie.[2] Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were made.[3] After the third series' final episode aired, the BBC unexpectedly ordered a fourth series, having originally intended to end the show there.[4] Paul Darrow, a Western fan, was pleased when script editor Chris Boucher added Western dialogue to the scripts.[5]
Blake's 7 was influenced by British dystopian novels including George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and H. G. Wells's When the Sleeper Wakes.[5]
What the cited sources add
The same article noted that the series "stands out among British television science fiction and fantasy shows" despite elements that date it.[6] Peter Fiddick's contemporary Guardian review described the show as "a mix of olde-worlde space jargon, ray guns, Western-style goodies and baddies, and punch-ups straight out of The Sweeney"[6] The Guardian article also reported that fan Jonathan Helm stated "the series was a big mainstream hit"[6] The first episode was a procedural drama about a fascist state framing a political dissident for child molestation.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Blake's 7" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Belam, "Blake's 7: 40 years on, the dystopian sci-fi drama still packs a punch", The Guardian, 3 January 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Blake's 7" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pixley, "Blake's 7. 'The Dirty Dozen in Space'", TV Zone, October 2002, p. 48–56 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Blake's 7" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pixley, "Blake's 7. 'The Dirty Dozen in Space'", TV Zone, October 2002, p. 48–56; In the episode "Killer", a 700-year-old space ship is encountered, one of the first deep-space missions from Earth. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Blake's 7" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stevens, "Liberation. The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Blake's 7", Telos, 2003, p. 154 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Blake's 7" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nazzaro, "Blake's 7: The Inside Story", Virgin, 1997, p. 9–20; Nazzaro, "Terry Nation's Blake's 7. Part One", TV Zone, August 1992, p. 28–30; McCormack, "British Science Fiction Television: A Hitchhiker's Guide", IB Tauris, 2006, p. 174–192 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Belam, "Blake's 7: 40 years on, the dystopian sci-fi drama still packs a punch", The Guardian, 3 January 2018. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Blake's 7 (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Television Series About Extraterrestrial Life
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Blake's 7 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced