Blake’s 7, Series 3
(BBC, 1980)
Terry Nation, having scripted replacements for Blake and Jenna, would have done well to cc the other writers in time to do more than just change the names. While Servalan amps out on galactic vamp, the costumes yaw ever-more-brazenly towards glam-rock kitsch.
Blake’s 7, Series 2
(BBC, 1979)
Series 2 benefits from the influx of new writers—Chris Boucher, Allan Prior, Robert Holmes—developing a sharper edge and becoming, paradoxically, more cohesive than when Terry Nation scripted every episode. The Liberator crew move obdurately (if fractiously) towards a death-or-glory showdown.
Blake’s 7, Series 1
by Terry Nation (BBC, 1978)
Terry Nation’s scripts present as increasingly ham-fisted but the guest stars are generally very good and the regulars are so well cast as to become immediately iconic. The edgy character dynamics give the programme punch beyond its dated parade of SF tropes.
Blake’s 7: Restoration, Part 1
by Trevor Baxendale; Iain McLaughlin; Scott Harrison; Steve Lyons (Big Finish, 2019)
Blake’s 7 is a rare example of character-driven SF done well, and was uniquely appealing in having its protagonists not get along. Restoration recreates this dynamic in audio form, positing high-stakes bottle-episode scenarios and ramping up the tension through fractious, antagonistic interplay.
Doctor Who: Corpse Marker
by Chris Boucher (BBC, 1999); audiobook read by David Collings (BBC, 2015)
Back in the late 1970s Chris Boucher established the character of Leela, wrote the classic Doctor Who story The Robots of Death, and script-edited Blake’s 7. Little surprise, then, that his robots sequel Corpse Marker showcases the better qualities of all three.
Blake’s 7: The Way Back and Cygnus Alpha
by Trevor Hoyle (BBC Audio, 2010)
[first published as Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7 by Sphere, 1977]
{Read by Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow, respectively}
A slavish and perfunctory novelisation of the first four episodes of Terry Nation’s dystopian space opera, its cult appeal lent a smidgeon of additional credibility in audio form by the narrative voices of series actors Gareth Thomas (Blake) and Paul Darrow (Avon).