Blake’s 7 may just be the ultimate cult sci-fi series. Most sci-fi fans have heard of it, few have ever watched it and less caught it when it first aired in the UK. It also has the distinction of having one of the bleakest endings of any TV series ever. Originally premiering in January of 1978, Blake’s 7 was created by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks on Doctor Who, and ran for four seasons. Set in the future, the series centered around a small group of renegades and criminals who escape from a prison colony aboard an advanced, unmanned alien ship and take on a repressive Federation. Roj Blake and his crew were the ultimate anti-heroes. Over the course of 52 episodes, several main characters left and new ones joined up. In fact, the titular character himself was absent from the last two seasons apart from one episode in each.
Syfy has revealed today that it is teaming up with Georgeville Television and producer Marc Rosen to reimaging the series for a new audience and, perhaps, long-time fans. Martin Campbell is set to direct the script by Joe Pokaski. There have been a few attempts over the years to revive and/or remake the show both as a feature film and new TV series. There was an audio series that reimagined the original premise and the original versions of the characters have appeared in audio adventures and books, most recently courtesy of Big Finish Productions. Author Tony Atwood penned a novel many years ago that continued on from the final episode and attempted to resolve the somber ending. All of these have been met with varying degrees of success. I am a loyal fan of the original series and will be keeping an eye on this new take. More from Pop Culture Zoo as things develop.
