Blake's 7 - Is it ever going to happen?

Dane Marvin · 09-04-2004, 11:37 PM

Excellent BBC sci-fi show from (I believe) the late 70s and early 80s. Created by Terry Nation (of The Daleks fame) and driven by fantastic acting and dialogue (especially from Paul Darrow as Avon). Of course there was plenty of cheese in the special effects department, but the show was always great and survived lineup changes that even saw the title character leave quite early on in the series.

I believe there is a UK release of the first season packed with extras, but will we ever get anything here? I saw this on my local PBS station's Sci-Fi Friday Night one evening in high school and became addicted. Haven't seen it for a long time and have always wanted to see the complete series from the beginning. Any other fans out there hoping to see this one?

Scott Kriefall · 09-05-2004, 10:30 AM

Yes. I'd gladly buy all four series of Blake's 7, assuming it is ever released in the US or Canada.

I've considered importing a copy of the UK PAL release of series 1, but have resisted. All examples of PAL->NTSC playback that I've seen have been jumpy and difficult to watch.

alan halvorson · 09-05-2004, 11:50 AM

The R2 Blake's 7 first series has a glitch on the layer change - many machines hang (mine does), but you can fast forward thru it. Annoying, but otherwise all is ok. The second series is scheduled for release in October, but don't hold your breath; the first series was subject to multiple delays and the second has been delayed twice.

Someone on another forum inquired whether Blake's 7 will ever be available in R1. The answer wasn't encouraging - I strongly suggest getting that multi-region, PAL/NTSC player and going with the R2 releases.

Scott: my JVC 500 player converts PAL to NTSC very well; I see no jumps or other artifacts. Actually, you can't tell that it's a PAL disc at all.

Tory · 09-05-2004, 12:46 PM

I importerd Blake's 7 and while I have not seen them all yet, they look great on my Phillips DVP642. Season 1 is out in the U.K. now, Season 2 comes out in October and 3 in January. I believe they are trying to make a new season of it to finish the story and I think DVD sales may affect the possibility of it. BBCAmerica told me there were no plans to bring the series to the U.S. so this is a good time to import, pick up Tripods too.

Dane Marvin · 09-05-2004, 03:12 PM

Too bad they're not going to do a R1 (soon anyway, at least). I heard Paul Darrow is highly involved in trying to get a new made-for-TV B7 movie going for the BBC that would hopefully launch a new series set years later with Avon as the head of a group of young rebels.

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Jonathan Kaye · 09-07-2004, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Season 1 is out in the U.K. now, Season 2 comes out in October and 3 in January.

There is a 4th season, of course, though some fans felt that (the finale aside) it wasn't worth the effort.

Quote:

I believe they are trying to make a new season of it to finish the story

News to me. The season 4 finale, 'Blake', pretty much finshed the story

Spoiler:

Quote:

I heard Paul Darrow is highly involved in trying to get a new made-for-TV B7 movie going for the BBC that would hopefully launch a new series set years later with Avon as the head of a group of young rebels.

There was indeed talk of a movie, which Paul Darrow was associated with, but he has since parted company with the production company, B7 Enterprises, so who knows if such a movie will ever happen?

Incidentally, the reason for the delay to the season 1 release was that B7E (which has now obtained some sort of rights from the estate of Terry Nation) objected to the content of a documentary made by Kevin Davies (of "Thirty Years in the TARDIS" and "The Making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fame). The documentary (the first of four intended parts, one for each season) was eventually shelved from the DVD release.

09-07-2004, 08:50 AM

Quote:

The R2 Blake's 7 first series has a glitch on the layer change - many machines hang (mine does), but you can fast forward thru it. Annoying, but otherwise all is ok.

Repressed discs are now available. If you read other forums, you can find many tales of woe where people received replacement sets that featured a small yellow sticker on the back, indicating the new pressing. Depending on where you ordered the set, you might still have got the old discs!

My set came from amazon.co.uk - seemingly the only vendor with guaranteed new pressings. I can confirm that I have the new discs with regular layer changes. I have no PAL/NTSC problems with my Malata 996.

I haven't seen this show since its original transmissions. I'm amazed how much I'm enjoying 'em! Don't wait forever for R1 discs - grab a set from amazon and start enjoying 'em!

alan halvorson · 09-07-2004, 09:26 AM

Great, Bleddyn - I got mine from Amazon UK when the set was first released. I'll have to contact them for replacements.

09-07-2004, 11:59 AM

Good luck, Alan!

AndyMcKinney · 09-07-2004, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Great, Bleddyn - I got mine from Amazon UK when the set was first released. I'll have to contact them for replacements.

If I'm not mistaken, you'll have to send them back to the BBC to get the faulty ones replaced. You should probably do some research online before contacting Amazon. I think all the returns/replacements were through BBC Video in the UK.

UPDATE: Upon reading a thread on the Mausoleum Club's forum, one US reader asked about the faulty versus "fixed" discs.

Here's what was said (in brief):

1. The numbers around the edge of each disc will tell you if you have the original faulty version or the corrected one.

Old Set (Faulty) - First seven characters:A010050
New Set (Corrected) - First seven characters:A010052

2. Unfortunately, the BBC's statement as reprinted on Roobarb's forum says they'll only accept returns from buyers inside areas covered by regions 2 and 4, so the Beeb will not send replacement sets to America!

So, anyone in the US is taking a bit of a gamble in buying this!