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.
Terry Nation’s Dalek Special
ed. Terrance Dicks (Target, 1979)
The odd typesetting gives this a fanzine appearance, as if Dicks has cut-and-pasted his material from elsewhere. Includes a potted Dalek history, random Dalek puzzles and photographs (B&W), and a truly amateurish (more nonsensical than ever) MG story courtesy of Terry Nation.
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
by Terry Nation, with new material by Russell T Davies; ed. Benjamin Cook (BBC, 2023)
The colouring works well! However, too much plot has been expurgated, leaving this version frenetic and a good 25 minutes short. Quiet moments, suspense and drama give way to near-farcical, jump-cut action montages and the grandiloquent fanfare of Mark Ayres’ new score.
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: 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).
The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation
by Alwyn W. Turner (Aurum, 2011)
Turner exhaustively researches Terry Nation’s life, shows how the Daleks developed both along- and inside British culture of the 60s and 70s, and contextualises the infamous pepperpots within the broader scope of Nation’s work, from which scrutiny their creator emerges somewhat diminished.