Blake's 7

[Pinwig]

Clearly a case of premature adulation.

[Pinwig]

Still just about keeping up with rewatching Season D. Orbit today, which was 40 last week. Always a favourite, gives Avon a chance to be Avon properly. Robert Holmes brilliance.

You know you are safe with me...

[Philip Ayres]

"Vila weighs 73 kilos"

[The Doctor]

I tend to find Holmes' episodes of B7 to be rather poor.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

"Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed *ME*?"

FORTY YEARS AGO TODAY the final episode of Blake's 7 was broadcast

blakesevendays.blogspot.com/2014/03/d13-blake_3.html

[The Doctor]

BANG BANG BANG!

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I have an oasis of quiet to watch this over lunch, can't do it at the right time. I watched Warlord on Sunday and it occurred to me that if you trim the chaff from Season D, there's a pretty solid story with the Federation beginning to expand again after the galactic war that leads toward Avon getting more desperate to try and stop it - eventually resulting in him losing. After he loses the tachyon funnel in Orbit things just go wrong and wronger, but it's society around him that bends to Servalan's will. He has far less support from the rebel faction than Blake did and he can't do it on his own.

Rescue, Power, Traitor and Stardrive show the rise of the Xenon base crew with Servalan's empire re-expanding in the background, then in Games, Gold and Orbit Avon begins to overreach himself while Servalan begins to assert control, then in Warlord and Blake it all comes crashing down.

[Philip Ayres]

It's earlier than that. S4 post Stardrive is a succession of things going wrong for Avon.

In Animals the person they're trying to recruit is a wrong un and gets killed
Headhunter the person they're trying to recruit gets killed by his own Robot.
Assassin they walk into a trap
Ditto Games
Sand .... the curly haired idiot makes a right tit of himself
Gold is the robbery that goes tango.

[Pinwig]

Yeah, but Animals and Sand are crap. Assassin is the turning point because it shows Servalan has considerable power again.

My word there's some shocking dialogue in Blake. Pity it's one of those episodes that's ingrained almost word for word through dozens of viewings over the years.

[blueshift]

Sand is great

Also Hayley has agreed to watch one episode of Blake's 7. The best ones are in season 3 but I think it needs to be one with Servalan and Shit Travis

[Pinwig]

Sand is not great! Sand is bollocks!

[Pinwig]

Sandy bollocks!

[Pinwig]

The good season C episodes rely on accumulated knowledge from the first two, so if you're only allowed one I'd go with something that actually has Blake in it. Time Squad is good because it has the full crew and is still one of the early hard edged episodes. Or even the first episode as there's nothing else like that in the entire series. Seek Locate Destroy is good and has the right Travis.

[The Doctor]

Dec 21, 2021 15:48:01 GMT Pinwig said:

Sand is not great! Sand is bollocks!

I stand with Blueshift. Sand is good.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

WHAT.

[Grand Moff Muffin]

But it gets into your shoes and socks!

Martin

[Pinwig]

Next you'll be telling me Sarcophagus is good too.

[The Doctor]

No, that's pish.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

3D studio walk round for Blake

6itbb.com/tvc/b7/d13/

[Philip Ayres]

Twitter: https://twitter.com/woodg31/status/1477710109753098240

[Pinwig]

Been listening to the Big Finish Bayban stories over the last few weekends. They're pretty good. They're from different points in his life, so Colin gets to develop his mania through them and there's an appreciable difference in the way he plays the character in each. The stories too give a bit of backstory to round the character. The first and third are really good, second one is as much a Travis story tied into the 'worlds of' ongoing structure and Bayban is almost a supporting character for a lot of it, but it's another building block. The third one is pretty much a direct sequel to City which also gives Michael Keating a chance to be Vila out from under the shadow of the Liberator crew.

Nice set, makes more out of Bayban than the TV episode did. Deserves a sequel.

[The Doctor]

It does feel as if BF are throwing things at the wall now with their B7 range to see what sticks. We'll see if it gives it legs as a different type of thing or if this is the natural end for it all. I presume the range sells enough to keep going and they seem to be trying imaginative approaches to continue the series while dealing with the issue of many main cast members having passed away and it being too soon to recast their parts. Not to mention that they still can't touch Series D due to rights issues.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I like the way 'Worlds of' is working; with any TV series you always want the bits that fall between the cracks, the stories that slot in sideways between the other stories, and this is doing that really well. I'm pleased to see the new Heroes & Villains set will take it beyond the originally announced sets. Still going.

One thing I noted listening to CB not being Sixie is that he would do a bang on job of playing Blake in the way Fraser Hines can do the Second Doctor. He plays Bayban with the RP twang of his younger 70s self and it's surprisingly like Gareth Thomas.

It's funny how you get tuned to voices, and when they aren't being what they usually are it can be jarring. I'm kinda gutted that Michael Troughton is playing the Second Doctor in the new 2nd/3rd team up story and not Fraser. I was very excited about that but then listened to the trailer. Michael Troughton is vocally very similar to David to me and and I can't get past the fact the Second Doctor now sounds just like Tony Archer. Obviously there's no reason why Michael shouldn't play his father's role - it's a great idea - and the BF interpretations don't have to be spot on impersonations, but that personal connection in my mind makes it very weird to listen to.

Stephen Noonan's First Doctor is very listenable. Touch high pitched. Got me interested in that though.

[Philip Ayres]

Original Novelisation reissue

store.gollancz.co.uk/collections/author-trevor-hoyle-pid-298153/products/blakes-7

[The Doctor]

That is a surprise.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

Wow. I might have to get one of those. My original one is the book I used to collect autographs in, back when I was young and impressionable and that kind of thing seemed to be important, so it has a few loose pages. But it does have signatures from almost all the cast.

[The Doctor]

Oooooooo!!!!

www.bigfinish.com/news/v/big-finish-announces-blake-s-7-novelisation-box-set

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

Blimey. I can't remember the last time I pre-ordered something from Big Finish, I always buy after release or in sales these days. Do they charge up front?

[blueshift]

Dec 21, 2022 16:52:59 GMT Pinwig said:

Blimey. I can't remember the last time I pre-ordered something from Big Finish, I always buy after release or in sales these days. Do they charge up front?

What if they release them on vinyl????

[The Doctor]

Dec 21, 2022 16:52:59 GMT Pinwig said:

Blimey. I can't remember the last time I pre-ordered something from Big Finish, I always buy after release or in sales these days. Do they charge up front?

Yes, but you can cancel and get a refund anytime up until release.

-Ralph