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Blakes Seven To Return
Clownfush writes "Blake's 7, magnificent UK low budget high drama Sci-Fi from the early 80's is to return, as a former star acquires rights to the show. "
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"They're unfriendly, which is fortunate, really. They'd be difficult to like."
-- Avon
According to the FAQ, essentially they have no money (yet), no script (yet), no cast (yet) and no broadcasting rights (yet).
Trading on the nostalgia zeitgeist? The plan sounds as shaky as one of their sets!
--
This sig is inoffensive.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
...but it's usually best to let sleeping dogs lie. If they think they can get around the cost of decent sfx with CGI, I fear they're mistaken.
Still, I could be wrong and the results will most likely be 'interesting' either way.
That was classic intercourse!
..they need to bring back another low budget sci-fi, that being Doctor Who.
I was young and impressionable when Blake 7 first came out, I really liked it at the time, but why bother trying to revive it now.
Anyone under 25 or most Americans will have no idea what it is. I can't remember much about it myself. So it is just playing on the sentimentality of a few.
Considering the state of SF in general nowadays it would be nice to get something new rather than rehashes of old ideas, we have plenty of them already. As far as I can see this is just £7M down the pan.
Avon (the character played by Paul Darrow) was a huge influence on me, altho' I was too young to realize it at the time. He was a dark and complex character, a technology expert who could clearly and rationally see that he could make the most money and wield the most power by betraying his comrades... but he could never quite bring himself to do it. He'd always set off with the intent of doing so, then change his mind at the last minute and use his superior intellect to save the day, then hate himself for it afterwards. He got most of the best lines too. Oh, and he may or may not have been shagging Blake's arch-enemy, the head of the secret police. Certainly they were both up for it, and even avoided killing each other for that purpose while remaining nominal enemies otherwise.
There simply aren't characters with this kind of depth in modern scifi, even in relatively intelligent shows like B5. I can't wait to see the new episodes.
This programme was so cool! Not for the fact that it was a top notch sci-fi soap but that it had great characterisation. The first anti-hero in Avon. The D&D rogue character in Villa. Now obviously, its almost certain that the new show will be a pile of steaming... but let me just wallow in dreams that it will be good... P.S. Not nostalgia, got all the vids!!
the rights were not purchased by that perspex box with the flashing lights or they may have trouble getting the project off the ground
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
I doubt it will ever be as good as we remember the Original being.
Its be like remaking Space 1999.
I have no sig yet I must scream.
When the show ended there were arguments over whether or not Avon actually dies in the final scene. He is surrounded by guards, it cuts to black and there is a lot of gunfire....
:)
Presumably he is gunned down like the rest of his crew BUT he could have survived... Somehow? Surely? Maybe?
According to the article the actor that played Avon (Paul Darrow) will be the only actor to return. Set 25 years after the last series hopefully the question of Avon's survival will be answered.
Apologises to anyone that didn't no what happened to Avon at the end and has been slowly working their way through the series
Sigh of relief when I saw that it was Paul Darrow. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of Blake's 7, but I worked with Paul on the CGI voiceover that he did for Deathtrap Dungeon and I was impressed with his professionalism and enthusiasm. He seems genuinely to care about the projects he works on, and I'm content that this will be a labour of love rather than a cash-in. Huzzah.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Don't give them too big a budget, otherwise it'll turn out like Red Dwarf series 7...
Humour, good characters and a neat set of sub-plots is all it take to make a good, fun Sci -Fi romp. CGI special effects and shiny costumes? Naaah!
I watched and enjoyed the original show back when I was a kid, but frankly I can't see the point of this new project, particularly if it's going to have only a tenuous link to the original (what, no Servalan? *grin*) Sounds to me like a blatant attempt to extract money from die-hard fans, rather like what the BBC have been doing with Dr Who for the last decade...
:-)
As Slave would have put it - `I'm sorry to report, sir, this project is going to bomb!!!`
-MT.
Zen was the best computer ever, and could easily out think HAL 9000, Deep Thought or ORAC any day of the week - though a game of postal chess with Holly might prove a bit trickier...
That was classic intercourse!
I wonder if it'll have a beowolf cluster of Oracs this time?
Sorry, it had to be said..
They've set up an official web site for the revival here.
Unfortunately it uses Flash but there's more information about the plans and there's a cool new Blake's 7 logo.
John.
C'mon, surely you realise that Blakes 7 is just the legend of Arthur (and the classic medieval character cast) relocated to the future? I mean they "stumble" on The Liberator (Excalibur) and it is only Blakes "purity" that enables him to defend against Zens defences (ie pull the sword from the stone). The other characters start with the basics, the giant, the maiden (originally Dayna), the rougue the anti-hero and then the wicked witch )Servelan.
Having said that, love the show, and the best settings are always ripe for a revisit. IMHO, the Liberator must be involved for it to succeed.
"The first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging."
might be best to not watch this, remember the thing a while back on Battlestar Gallactica? Could just ruin what made it special...
--
Yes let us remember the heady days gone by, remember if you will the playground and chatting with your mates about how good blakes 7 was....
then remember things like thunderbirds 2017 and all the other failed programmes that tried to make a triumphant return.
If it does come back (i sort of hope is does not) the only way it will survive is if it gets real good real fast, i mean lets face it the first season of ST:TNG was bollox (bad acting, wobly sets terrible sfx) but look how great it was in the end.
I think i agree with one of the earlier postings, i think a new twist on Dr Who would be a lot better.
just my two pence worth (3.2 cents)
Kingdom of Loathing (www.kingdomofloathing.com) Addicted is me
According to the FAQ, essentially they have no money (yet), no script (yet), no cast (yet) and no broadcasting rights (yet).
Trading on the nostalgia zeitgeist? The plan sounds as shaky as one of their sets!
No money?
Well, I can think of a few fans who'd like to see a new series based in the Blake's Seven universe. And if there are fans willing to see it then there will be production companies and broadcasters willing to back it. %5-6 million for a TV show, especially one that already has a cult following, is peanuts - do you have any idea how much the rubbish that fills the channels right now even costs?
If nothing else, it has a particular resonance right now, thanks to the Orwellian Federation, etc. Just like Star Trek's morality matched the 60's, the new Blakes Seven series is tailor-made for the times that we live in.
No script?
Well, jeez, that's the end of the world. How will they ever make anything?
But wait, here's some news just in: apparently, there are these things called scriptwriters. Throw them some cash and give them some time and they'll write a script for you! What a stroke of luck!
No cast?
OMG, another disaster! How will they cope?
Huh, what's that? There's an original cast member involved already? And there are these guys and gals out there - we'll call them actors - constantly looking for new work? And even people - let's call them casting agents - who'll pick the right actors for your production! Genius!
No broadcasting rights?
Well, perhaps you should RTFA. What bit of "Paul Darrow, who played the ruthless anti-hero Avon, is in a consortium that has acquired the rights to the show", didn't you get?
Seriously, money, a script and a cast can be found. But the first step was always going to be getting the rights. If you have the rights you can find the money, a script and a cast. But if you have money, a script and a cast but no rights then you're screwed. It really is that simple.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
a battlestar galactica remake!!! blake's seven was an awful tv programme. why the hell are they doing it? what other bad bbc programmes from the 80s are going to be made next? eldorado? triangle? juliet bravo? a couple of years ago some friends and i bumpled into the guy that played blake in a bar in manchester. he was still upset about that show!
But unlike Blakes 7 they actually had decent some special effects in Space 1999! For the time (mid
70s) some of the space scenes weren't far off being cutting edge and not too far behind
the effects in the original star wars. Shame they couldn't have extended the budget to the monster costumes though , they sucked!
I don't give a stuff if americans or people under 25 won't be interested in blakes7 - I'd love to see a follow up. why the hell is anyone complaining? if you're not interested switch off the tv and go do something less boring instead. the comment regarding cgi was so off base ... b7 wasn't about special effects; it was about Avon. ... and Servalan - most definitely about Servalan ;)
I remember the series as very, very, good (albeit once you got by the cardboard sets) - does anyone know where old re-runs are available, short of looking on ebay for some guy with a shoebox full of betamax tapes?
This was simply the coolest show: not the decor or effects, which were brutally minimalistic, but the characterisation and writing, which was so good that it felt real, every time.
The day that the series was killed was so traumatic that I almost kicked off TV: the show's producers simply, and without warning, arranged for the entire cast to be killed in one gruesome and bloody ambush.
After years of arranging narrow escapes for our favourite characters, this was just incredibly insensitive.
Glad to see the show will be back.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Didn't they call it "Farscape" of something?
now there's a show that needs a remake. that scared the hell out of me when i was a little one.
Just a slight correction, Blake's 7 does not date from the early 80's, it dates from 1978. I remember watching the first season at age 9, but unfortunately never saw any of the other seasons as we moved back to the States at the end of 1978.
A pity because the big sci-fi show in the States when I got back was Battlestar Galactica, which I thought was much inferior, even if the effects were a lot better.
I know this because Tyler knows this.
Bear in mind that when it was first screened, Blake's Seven was the most expensive series the BBC had ever made.
Makes you wonder what they spent it on, really..
or they'll make a movie out of it. The idea well has dried up, and anything with even a modest fan base and opportunities for lots of CGI will be seized upon immediately.
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
A little cruise around the Doctor Who site gives a vague inkling of what might be up with that http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/index.shtml There isn't much other information though and most references to it are kind of buried, if I weren't so thoroughly lazy I would do a more thorough investigation. But come on, it's Richard E. Grant.
Completely offtopic, and I am sorry for that, but Ultraviolet is a series that *needs* to be brought back. Joe Aherne - make it happen, please!!!
If anyone hasn;t seen this series, go get the DVD (or download them off Kazaa..) You will be glad you did.
I have bought lately a small 17x17 cm motherboard and wan't to put it in a homemade cube frame.
I've had already a name for it... Orac, as the supercomputer in blake's 7
And the BBC ran a similar story in 2000.
If they could get Natalie Portman to play Soolin in the remake :).
Two alternative explanations: ...Gunshots...Servalan/Sleer saunters in...
"How could you all miss?"
(resumes bicycle tour)
or
Soldiers gather in circle around Avon, aim laser rifles, Avon ducks, soldiers in circle all shoot each other...
(resumes bicycle tour)
From
this page - so good it had to be posted.
* Trust is only dangerous when you have to rely on it.
* Reality is a dangerous concept.
* There is no logical reason why aliens should be hairy.
* I am not stupid, I'm not expendable, and I'm not going.
* No good deed goes unpunished.
* It is frequently easier to be honest when you have nothing to lose.
* Civilization has always depended on courtesy rather than truth.
* On Earth it is considered ill-mannered to kill your friends while committing suicide.
* The art of leadership is delegation.
* All that patience gets you is older.
* Show me someone who believes in something, and I will show you a fool.
* Regret is part of being alive -- but keep it a small part.
* He who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.
* Infallibility depends on your point of view.
* There are times when even the most cynical must trust in luck.
* Heroics seldom run to schedule.
* Dignity, at all costs, dignity.
* The choice is very simple -- either you can fight, or you can die.
* In the end, winning is the only safety.
* Power usually makes its own rules.
* Some days are better than others, Section Leader.
* It is not necessary to become irrational in order to prove that one cares; indeed, it is not necessary to prove it at all.
* While there's life, there's threat.
* Luck has nothing to do with it.
* Strategic withdrawl is running away, but with dignity.
* Idealism is a wonderful thing; all you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use.
* Nobody is indispensible.
* Everyone's entitled to one really bad mistake.
* In the end, your word is all there is, really.
* There are other rules, but you'll find out what those are when you break them.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
If they want to re-make it, it is imperative that they not try to continue where they left off.... If I recall correctly, Sevalan (the villain) was the only survivor.
Oh, while I'm at it, let me add to the chorus: Avon rocks!
www.wavefront-av.com
However, Paul Darrow has been pitching this around for a couple of years now (the original plan was for a movie, and then it became a pilot and now it seems to be a treatment) and I really hope he keeps behind the cameras as he seems to have become an old luvvie in the ensuing years.
For example, the first season is due out on 22nd September. Region 2 (obviously), but shouldn't be a problem. I think I'll order mine, never got my VHS tape collection complete... :(
"Fix it? It has been disintegrated, by definition it cannot be fixed!" - Gru in Despicable Me.
B5 came out several years after B7.
Just a note to the producers: if they use the godawful theme music from the fourth series, violence will ensue, if I have to hunt down Paul Darrow myself.
Avon is the only returning character because at the end of the first series...
EVERYONE ELSE DIES.
But it was okay because the announcer said "... and Blake's Seven will return in the Autumn"
of course, it never did
Orac, where are yooooooo?
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Yeah, but did they say _which_ autumn :) ?
"Blake 7" is NOT returning. A new mini-series set in the "Blake 7" is being considered. Not the same thing.
Now, Paul Darrow is a fine actor and Avon is a complex character and I do wish him well in this project. But still, I would look to the original series again, digitally restored in all of it's low budget glory. I would mourn Cally once again.
And I always suspect that Avon would have survived the finale!
Yeah, what WAS the deal with the dodgy rhythm track??? I was only ten when Season four came out, and even i thought the new theme tune was pants.
and also macgyver.
B7 challenged TV viewers by constantly focusing on the dark themes surrounding unbeatable opression. And in the end they had the guts to finish it on a minor chord which solidified its distopian vision. With that ending it became a noir classic, and I don't want to see that screwed up by adding a "Phantom Menace" years later
SINARS is not a recursive sig
Surely they just needed 1/8th of a cube and a couple of mirrors?
you can remember with fondness the original "Dr. Who" and think that William Hartnell was the only "true" doctor. After that, even the original "Star Trek" series pales into insignificance.
I remember racing home from school each afternoon to see what trouble the Doctor would get himself into or whether he would recover the key to his Tardis (the original Doctor lost the key quite a lot).
"Dr. Who" is real science fiction. "Star Trek" is future history. Everything else doesn't count.
I haven't seen Blake's 7 on TV in over a decade. (I even have a Tivo search for it). Maybe the sequel miniseries will prompt someone to reair the original series. BBC America at 2am? Anyone???
Or at least that they feed the webdesigner to the ravenous bugblatter beast of traal!
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
From the website:
A Rebellion Reborn
Paul 'Avon' Darrow remembers Terry Nation's early ideas for a revival and sets the scene for a Rebellion Reborn.
As we have established against all odds; nobody wins, and if Blake's 7 in the 1980's ended with the triumph of 'Establishment Terror' and the least likely of a hopeful group of dissidents left to oppose it, then Blake's 7 three decades later, must spring forward from that unpromising base.
The good/bad guy is beaten. All's wrong with the World/Universe. When has this been the case before? In Earth's history, many times.
Terry's idea for a later reworking of his Blake's 7 concept was, as before, inspired by his previous work(s). A bleak Universe where if you're rich and powerful - or useful to those who are - you're in a kind of corrupt paradise. Then, out of nowhere, comes one man, then another and another and so on. Hope springs eternal, but (and it's a big but) are these new heroes truly heroic? Not in Terry Nation's Universe. They are, as before, recognisable misfits... Colin Wilson's Outsiders.
Having said that, outsiders are those who trigger, either by default or design, the greatest of changes for those on the 'inside'. There is such a thing as a one-man (or in this case seven man) army and armchair enthusiasts will cheer them on, win or lose. In fact, it makes the enthusiasts feel a lot better if 'they' lose. It saves the insiders collective conscience and excuses them from taking up the mantle of outsiders. Until, of course, the next adventure.
Therefore, Terry's concept for a TV Movie/Mini-Series with a view to develop into another series of Blake's 7, was as follows;
The basic storyline was that the Federation, while still seeming all-powerful, would be rotting from within (cf, collapse of the Soviet Empire). Out of the past comes yesterday's man. But all our yesterdays are viewed with nostalgic affection. So, through no fault or will of his own the sole survivor of the original Blake's 7 becomes the catalyst for the creation of its successor. Terry likened this to Napoleon emerging from Elba and fighting his last hundred days. He was always going to lose, but he'd put up one hell of a fight. Glorious defiance is very appealing.
Avon, imprisoned for 25-years, has in the minds of the average citizen essentially 'disappeared'. The Federation's propaganda machine has gone to great lengths to ensure that Blake and his compatriots are remembered simply as outlaws and certainly not hailed as martyrs. Information suppression plus the amount of physical time passed makes Avon a forgotten man. That said there is of course an underground network of dissidents for whom he represents the voice and potency of resistance and in many ways Avon will become the unwitting figurehead to their movement a reluctant El Cid.
The new seven are like a wind, divine or not. Sometimes welcome, sometimes not, the wind is never static, it always moves on.
Whereas, the mores and values of the TV audience of the time tempered Terry's vision of 'The Dirty Dozen in Space' playing more like 'Robin Hood in Space' the new series must be grittier, more believable, and possess an almost epic and mythic feel to it that will raise it above the 'SF bubblegum' that often predominates our screens.
A good analogy for the series going forward would be West Wing meets The Dirty Dozen where the gloves are off and the rules of engagement ill-defined and thereby the outcome of any conflict either in battle, emotionally or politically, unpredictable!
Woopty Doo Basil, what does it all mean?!
Did Zen run lunix? That might be why nobody could understand how he worked, and why the (clearly Microsoft using) Federation was so keen to track him down. ORAC was prissy, self opinionated and not half as smart as he thought he was. Clearly a Mac.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
This is great news ... except ... damn I hated Avon (not hated as in "boy that Avon guy is bad" but hated as in "Dang I can't stand Paul Darrow's acting").
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
I don't see it as the Arthurian theme. If anything, it was more of the Robin Hood theme.
The problem with either of those comparisions is that Blake is not in a lot of the episodes.
I guess you could make a "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" comparision. But that has problems because there isn't an original story for the characters to be from. Just a theme.
I liked it because it was different. In Star Trek, the crew is always right and good and more enlightened than everyone else in the universe.
In Blake's 7.....
AVON: Only seventy kilos... Vila, strip off the insulation material in the cargo hold. [Vila turns.] Vila! [Avon takes some small object from a panel and hands it to him.]
VILA: But that's plastic. It weighs nothing.
AVON: Get rid of it anyway.
VILA: A kilo and a half if we're lucky.
AVON: Do it! We've got five minutes. [Vila turns and heads out.] Not enough! Not nearly enough! Dammit, what weighs seventy kilos?
[The door can be heard opening.]
ORAC: Vila weighs seventy-three kilos, Avon.
[The door closes.]
[ Avon fetches his gun and gets a determined look on his face]
AVON: [Whispering] Vila!... Vila?
but I distinctly remember there being seven...
I was actually thinking of Blakes 7 when i saw Farscape - don't know why really, its not that they have that much obviously in common - apart from a group of people on the run from the police state.
Blakes 7 was also unusual in that our heros were usually dealing from a position of strengh. Usually writers hate to make their people to strong because then they can't write their way out of it later (bad writers perhaps?) - but the ship "The Liberator" was the fastest ship in known space (only its sister ship was as fast, and it was only see twice and quickly met an untimely end), the ship has regenerative properties and could restore itself even after the most heavy of attacks. It had teleportation ability over wast distances, something that the federation had never been able to work out. The (almost) sentient computer Zen had wast amounts of knowledge about most things they ran into, and the ship was well stocked with copious amounts of food, clothes and valuables (in the form of gems, precious medals, and currency) - and at the end of season one they manage to aquired "Orac" before the federation does. A supercomputer of a special kind, its dying inventor originally invented the chip and computer principles that all computers in exsistance are based on - because of this the sentient Orac is able to tap into any computer system at all and control it.
But that didn't really stifle the creativity - perhaps because there was always a certain amount of internal strife.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Did the same guys make the sequel (hypercube)? Or was is just the SciFi channel?
I thought it was just as good... a very nice extension of the first movie without making it boring...
"If you could only see what I've seen with your eyes..." - Roy Batty
Avon is one of my role-models, up their with Mr Burns. An A1 kick-ass bastard. :-)
That and Zen, Slave and Orac were pretty damned cool too.
Now if we could just get rid of those tree-hugging, moralizing, shrink-visiting, dickheads who write scripts for the ST universe...
"Smithers! Release the hounds!"
I have been a long time fan of Blake's 7, but am disappointed by the lack of books. As far as I know- there are only 3-
- Their First Adventure
- Project Avalon
- Avon: A Terrible Aspect
If they can't excite the public to demand more books, what hope is there for recreating the TV show?
AFAIR it worked out to be about 150,000 in UK pounds, so that would make it about CAN$350,000.
$1.67 - Doctor Who
$0.33 - Blake's 7
I remember watching both shows (and growing up on Tom Baker when Dr. Who was broadcast on the local PBS station in the early 1980s) and remembering, as a four year-old, "that doesn't even look like a real spaceship" (in reference to Blake's 7).
While CG special effects have gotten better and cheaper over the years, one wonders if they're going to try and overcompensate for past gaffes by over-SFXing the new show. If it ever ets off the ground.
The really tough part is that they might have to, because the first thing that many think of when you play word association with Blake's 7 is "whoa, the effects."
Blake 7.
Cheesy sets.
Cheesy plots.
Cheesy actors.
Hold me back. I want it. I enjoy bad "entertainment". I can't stand it anymore.
Hld me back. I can't stand not having it.
Ooh.
Hd m bck. I cn't lve wthout it.
H m b. I c' l wth t
Okay, It's an article on a UK specific website, about a remake of a UK produced show which will only be aired in the UK and presumably written by a UK citizen in the UK.
So why did they quote the cost in US dollars first followed by parenthetical Pounds?
The recolonization wasn't supposed to start to soon.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
.. a high budget UK sci-fi?
This sounds about as promising and likely as the Return of Amiga. Come to think of it, mayvbe they'll run Orac on a Beowulf cluster of Amigas...
Da Blog
...he seemed pretty pissed, but more in the UK sense. Ok, these are the only definitions I've heard of, and neither seems to fit the context: The American meaning of "pissed", as in Angry, or "pissed off". The UK/Canadian phrase "pissed drunk", which means that a person isn't passed out, but merely staggering about with slurred speach and perhaps mildly rude, but not quite violent (yet). Probably originating from what happens when you drink a few beers. What is meant by the UK sense?
Cool. Blakes 7 is my 2nd favorite show after Babylon 5.
Promo for a hypnotist's show, lots of people saying in a robotic $cientologist monotone, "It was better than Cats.", "I laughed, I cried..."
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
At the top of the website they have two banners which say To advertise on this site please click this panel. Clicking on either directs mail to avon@blakes7.com
I think I found out how they plan on financing the project! ;)
Seppuku: Your solution to my problems!
There is no UK phrase "Pissed Drunk". There is a UK word "Pissed", which means drunk.
no text
... now that would make a better idea than re-gargling Blakes 7. When I was a kid B7 was the tops - I even made a paper blaster and teleportation ring, such was my devotion.
But now, after the wonderful Farscape, even the basic concepts of B7 do not compare (an evil Federation controlling a WHOLE galaxy?)
Much as I respect Darrow's acting in the original B7 (matched only by that sneaky thief guy - who taught me that 'the best lock pickers learn to think like the lock maker'), this whole B7 resurrection is a dumb idea.
Stick to the re-runs on UK Gold ...
They included a apostrophe in the title! (Blakes 7/Blake's 7)
So, having never thought about this before and having 1 million people in the forum who have, what do I need to do to play the Region-2/PAL DVDs on my Region-1/NTSC system?
I assume the Region coding is no problem and can be handled in at least 1 of 3 ways (below). But does the PAL/NTSC formating matter? Won't the DVD-Player just reformat the MPEG to whatever the TV expects?
I assume I can get around the Region coding (MPAA bastards) by:
Thoughts from those with more experience doing this?
writers with such talent - and perhaps as important, producers who can recognise that talent - are rare
There's a bunch of them in Australia with nothing much to do right now.
Really,
In terms of sheer personality, traits, quirks, strenths, paranoias, I haven't seen any screen representation of a real Hacker that even comes close.
A Hacker's Hacker. Hmmm, maybe I just like the sound of the word... hacker's hacker, going to get pint of a Hacker Pschorr...
Kremvax
--- Little Atomo - The Amazing Thinking Robot from Atomocom! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIP9KisHi4k
While I'm sure the Visual Effects and Set Design departments were stoked at being able to do a sci-fi series that wasn't Doctor Who for a change, I doubt they were as keen on doing it on Z-Cars' budget! Hence the spaceships made from hairdryers and walls that wobbled if people touched them.
Fortunately, however cheap the sets, props and effects may have been, the stories and imagination put into them made up for it.
You must think in Russian.
The special effects for the early seasons were pretty naff.
On the other hand, the third season intro sequence where they were landing the Scorpio on a planet with the overlay of the flight controls was without a doubt *the best intro sequence I have ever seen*.
A couple of years ago I borrowed the entire three seasons on VHS and watched them over a couple of weeks. The funny thing was, sometimes they'd have the special effects (and it would look naff) - and sometimes they wouldn't.
Eg Person A shoots Person B with flashy lights = naff.
Close up of person A who you know is shooting Person B, then flash to Person C (an onlooker) who gets a sudden look of horror on their face, then flash back to Person B's smoking boots = good.
Where there were 'gaps' that traditionally would be filled with fx and they showed people reacting to the events instead, those shows stood the test of time really well.
As a general rule the best B7 episodes were the ones with minimal special effects.
My mates and I spent a long summer watching Blakes 7, a couple of episodes one night a week for many many weeks. We loved it, but mostly in the way of any grouyp of friends watching a show like it: MST3k style.
From the early season 'esky of doom' - an 'icechest' as you american call it, that was used to carry gold, explosives, computer parts, and also to beat people up. Vila clocked a guy in the head with it a few times.
The three different locations used as 'planets':
- the forest
- the quarry
- the refinery
The episode where they run down the same corridor 4 times, each time witha different light filter. This signified the many levels down they were.
The ending - everyone dies.
Despite its cheesiness, it was great. And sometimes, genuinely scary, if not for the screen, but the ideas presented.
Yay me!
I'm a huge fan, in fact my PC is called Slave, my server is Zen and my notebook is Orac. I had to change the name of my notebook a couple of years ago because the uni supercomputer admin wanted to call the new supercomputer Orac. He was overrulled by his boss who ended up calling the SP something boring like SG124. So I got the Orac name back and I'm still using it. I'm now good friends with the Uni SP admin based on the fact we are both B7 fans.
"Blake's 7 relaunch on film" (April 2000)t m
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/705922.s
I wathced this show on Public TV when I was like maybe 10 to 12 and loved it, even though it mostly went over my head. But that last episode really fricking traumatized me. I guess I wasn't yet fully able to fully seperate reality from fantasy, and seeing the whole cast being slaughtered was disturbing.
Pity the 'Enterprise' series isn't consistant enough to incorporate the 'dark' beginings of the federation mentioned in ST:TOS and ST:TNG.
yet another opportunity for a great story missed imagine the Enterprise fighting side by side with the liberator in some sort of temporal tie in that threatens the entire human race. The Liberators Biogenic regenerative capacity used to heal itself after a long bout of galactic flu.
But only a shakspearian Kirk/Avon or Avon/Picard vs Servelan/Super Weapon would have made it interesting.
but who will play Villa and Avon? Those guys MADE that show.
Bastards! :) I tried posting something about this (which included news of the upcoming DVD release of the original series, to both the UK and the US), back in August!
2002-08-16 07:48:19 Blake's 7 coming to DVD (articles,movies) (rejected)
Oh well... I guess I'm more glad it got the attention, than I am for the karma points... the delicious... precious... karma points! *drool*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/705922.st m
Read Epic the first RPG novel.