Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

ShadeGrenade 'Blake's Seven' debuted on B.B.C.-1 early in 1978, on the night 'Star Wars' premiered in London. The press branded the show a hastily made rip-off; in fact it had been in production months before George Lucas' epic opened in the States. Writer/creator Terry Nation pitched the idea to the B.B.C. as 'The Dirty Dozen' in space'. Like the movie ( and T.V. version ) of 'Logan's Run', it starts with the populace of Earth living in protective domed cities following devastating atomic wars. Rebels defy the Government's warnings and venture outside, finding the air breathable and clean, the water pure. As they discuss their next move, they are massacred by Federation stormtroopers. One, Roj Blake ( Gareth Thomas ) gets away, but is betrayed, put on trial ( on a fake child molestation charge ), and sentenced to life imprisonment on the penal colony on Cygnus Alpha. En route he meets lovely Jenna ( Sally Knyvette ), gentle giant Gan ( David Jackson ), cowardly thief Vila ( Michael Keating ), and brooding computer genius Avon ( Paul Darrow ). They would soon be augmented by telepathic alien Cally ( Jan Chappell ). Securing the use of an abandoned spacecraft ( controlled by Zen the computer, voiced by Peter Tuddenham ) which they rechristen 'The Liberator', they set about trying to dent the forces of the wicked powers through what might be termed acts of 'terrorism'. Each week, Blake and co. were seen blowing up military installations, stealing computer codes or just making plain trouble. The head of the Federation, the Thatcher-like Servalan ( Jacqueline Pearce ), brought in an old enemy of Blake's - Travis ( Stephen Grief in the first season, Brian Croucher in the second ) - to help defeat him.Being a B.B.C. series, it was never going to compete with 'Star Wars' in terms of visual effects, and wisely did not try. There was strong chemistry between the cast, and mostly good story lines. 'Avon' became one of television's most compelling characters. Blake and co. were not super-heroes, just ordinary people united in a common cause - to end tyranny. They were not infallible, and often argued amongst themselves. Yes, the 'teleport' idea was pinched from 'Star Trek', but if you're going to steal ideas, steal the best.Terry Nation wrote all of Season 1, but the following year other writers were used. The second season saw Blake engage his crew in a quest to find 'Star One' - the Federation's control centre. It also featured the death of Gan, a quite shocking development at the time. 'Star Trek' had never quite been this dark. A new arrival was 'Orac' ( also voiced by Tuddenham ), the galaxy's most brilliant computer, imbued with its creator's tetchy personality.Popular though the show was, it had its critics, many of whom poked fun at the low budget S.F.X., one was the late Stan Sayer of 'The Daily Mirror', who bashed the show each week without fail. When Season 4 repeats went out in the summer of 1983 ( two years after the show had ended ) he reacted as though it were an insult to him personally. Season 3 saw the departure of Blake himself ( Gareth Thomas having gone to join the R.S.C. ), and Avon was promoted to centre-stage. Sally Knyvette's 'Jenna' also left. Two new characters - Dayna Mellanby ( Josette Simon ) and Del Tarrant ( Steven Pacey ) - took their places. I rate Season 3 as the best of the run, mainly because there was more variety in the plots, one of which ( 'Sarcophagus' ) was penned by fantasy author Tanith Lee.The fourth season proved controversial amongst fans, with its inclusion of a new spacecraft ( 'The Scorpio' ) and gunfighter 'Soolin' ( Glynis Barber ) replacing 'Cally', but the show basically remained the same. Each season had ended with a cliffhanger, but the one that rounded off this one was the mother of them all: cornered on the planet Gauda Prime, the Scorpio crew were gunned down Peckinpah-style. As klaxons wailed, Avon permitted himself a final wintry smile. The screen went black. Two shots rang out. The series was over.Fans bombarded the B.B.C. with requests for a new series, not to mention repeats of the first three seasons, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Even with the successful revival of 'Dr.Who' in 2005, the Corporation has been seemingly reluctant to let the Liberator fly again ( though there has been a run of commercially available audio adventures ). If nothing else, 'Seven' proved conclusively you do not need millions of dollars to make an entertaining science fiction show. If it ever does return, I hope the new producers bear in mind that stories and characters far outweigh special effects in terms of importance.

cooperhmc When this show was first launched - I was 5 going on 6 - kinda young to be into sci fi but this show was something that I just could NOT miss. I didn't get to see any reruns of this show, believe it or not, until I emigrated to New Zealand in 2001 and it was being rerun on one of the free to air channels. Wow. The tingle I got down my spine when the signature tune started was amazing. The nostalgia rush entirely unexpected but welcome. The episodes that were shown were from Season one and, as is typical in New Zealand, they took the show off air midway through with no explanation - Grrrrr! Fast forward to 2008 when I discover an amazing DVD store in Christchurch which stocks pretty much every rare DVD or video you could ever want. And they had all 4 Blakes 7 DVD Box sets. You see where I am going with this....As I type, I have just finished season 3 and out of all of the 39 episodes viewed thus far, was amazed that I could only remember about a half a dozen so was like watching with new eyes over again. It's easy to watch such things with 2008 eyes, having been spoiled with Visual effects from Mssrs Lucas, Spielberg and Jackson over the years, but I have learned to watch things in the context of the time they were made. Sure, there were shaky sets and if you look at the Liberator hard enough, you see three Fairy Liquid bottles staring back at you. Doesn't matter. What made this series for me was the characterizations and the sophistication of the story lines. My mother used to say she thought Paul Darrow was the worst actor she had ever seen.In retrospect, and having trained as an actor myself, I think she was very wrong. Paul Darrow ROCKED as Avon. He created the complexity of the man that was Kerr Avon like I think no other could. I wouldn't say that Paul Darrow was a good looking man but I would say that he had a real sexual magnetism that he played to amazing effect in his scenes with Servelan which made him very attractive and mesmerizing to watch( I am now talking as a 35 year old woman - not the 5 year old child!) - more on Serverlan later. My favourite character as a child with always Vila and I have not revised that opinion because I think he added that much needed humour to break the obvious tension between Blake and Avon and then, in season 3 and 4, Tarrant and Avon. Vila was the only character to appear in all 52 episodes and I think that is testament to Michael Keatings portrayal of the lovable rogue - always portrayed as a coward but I think, a very reluctant hero. I wasn't a huge Roj Blake fan. I felt that Gareth Thomas came across as a Shakespearian actor who looked and felt uncomfortable on a sci fi set. His booming RADA trained voice just didn't impress me and I felt that the series improved when he left ( Is that a treasonous comment?!!) I felt that all the other characters had their part to play and remember the shock when Gan was killed ( I remember that, particularly as a 5 year old who had previously been shielded from such things) and that was the great thing about the show - there was no such thing really as a happy ending; bad things could, and often did, happen and it was inevitable that the show would end the way it did - to have ended any other way would have been somewhat of an anti-climax.The villains - ah, the villains.....Servelan - Jacqueline Pearce. What can I say? As a child I HATED her. So Ms Pearce did her job well. She was superb in the role. It's easy to play an icy cold villianess but not so easy to play one who has her vulnerabilities and not be afraid to show them which we saw from time to time with Servelan. I read somewhere that it was Jacqueline Pearces own idea to have her dressed in such stylish and feminine outfits rather than the mandatory PVC skin tight black body suits that 'baddie' females tended to wear. The decision was an inspired one. I was disappointed that Travis was killed off at the end of season 2. Whilst I didn't think Brian Croucher was that good an actor, still, I enjoyed his performance more than Stephen Griefs ( another RADA voice) - perhaps it was the quietly spoken voice, perhaps the more regional accent, or maybe the piercing blue eyes- anyhow, I did enjoy the episodes he appeared in. Well, I am just about to go and watch season 4 over the next two nights. I know how it will end and I suspect I will remember more episodes as was 8 or 9 by the time this aired. What I do know for certain is that I will enjoy every minute of it and will be sad when it all ends. If I had to chose between storyline, characterisation versus effects, I would choose the former every time. So sad that programme and movie makers in the sci fi genre don't do the same nowadays. The nostalgia rush rewatching Blakes 7, for me, has been amazing. This show defined a time in my life that I can never return to permanently but watching it again has enabled me to return for a brief while and the experience has been priceless.

EvilBaldDude Set in a very distant future, Blake's 7 is a story of a group of criminals, who are lead by a political dissident (Blake) to fight a rebellion against an evil, Orwellian interstellar Federation. It incorporates elements of Star Trek, Robin Hood, and George Orwell's 1984. The bad: the special effects are appalling, even by 1970s BBC standards. The early beta-max video is harsh looking. Some of the episode plots stretch believability.Now the good: everything else is absolutely excellent. The artwork, costuming and design is superb. The top notch cast of actors all shine (this is back in the days when the BBC hired actors primarily for their talent, as opposed to their "market appeal"). The dialog is thick with subtle innuendo, irony, drama and the characters seem vivid and real. Some of these characters are fascinating. Most of the stories are reasonably good, and the overall situation of the series is quite absorbing.If you can get past the bad, and I highly recommend trying, B7 is hours of entertainment for you. And even the bad has a good side to it. The trademark early BBC special effects are worth watching, as they can provide a chuckle now and then too.

phuture-1 I was 8 when i first saw this A show called Blake's 7 and Blake is hardly even in it. Through fate and misfortune, that in itself is sheer class.Avon , master of dark wit and sarcasm Servalan , erm , yes please , she introduced some very dark conceptsat perhaps too early an age :) Orac, way ahead of its time, we only just started getting transparent boxes for our pcs recently. The best noise ever from a computerSets are cheap, and i kinda like that , its very of its timeLiberator is a great ship design , well i'd have one put it that wayThe stories aren't all that , but the beauty lies in the dialogue and relationships between the main characters and their unwillingness to do almost anything unless really pushedGreat show imo