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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Blake's 7-Series 3 (1978)

Blake's 7-Series 3 (1978)

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Released 4-Aug-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Introduction
Menu Animation & Audio
Audio Commentary-Chris Boucher, Paul Darrow, Jan Chappell - Rumours Of Death
Audio Commentary-Chris Boucher (Writer) and Jacqueline Pearce - Death Watch
Audio Commentary-David Maloney (Producer) And actors - Terminal
Outtakes-Blake's Bloops
Featurette-Stuart's Stunts
Featurette-Sheelagh's Make-Up Memories
Featurette-Nationwide: Look North 31 July 1979
Trailer-Series 4
Featurette-Tarrant Screen Test
Featurette-Introducing Tarrant
Featurette-Introducing Dayna
Synopsis-Episode Synopsis
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1978
Running Time 700
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (5)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Gerald Blake
Fiona Cumming
Vere Lorrimer
David Maloney
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Paul Darrow
Michael Keating
Jan Chappell
Josette Simon
Stephen Pacey
Peter Tuddenham
Jacqueline Pearce
Case Gatefold
RPI $99.95 Music Dudley Simpson


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.29:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Blakes7 (its correct title, at least according to its logo) was the brainchild of the late Terry Nation, who created the Daleks for Doctor Who as well as a British sci-fi TV series called Survivors which ran for three seasons in the mid-1970s. The story goes that Nation was pitching some ideas for new programs to the BBC, who didn't like them and asked if he had anything else. Off the top of his head Nation said, "Yes - it's called Blakes7", and having invented the title, then had to quickly invent a concept to go with it. This was supposedly "the dirty dozen in space" - a motley band of freedom fighters, mercenaries and criminals flung together as unlikely allies when they gain possession of a highly sophisticated spacecraft which they christen the Liberator, striking blows against the totalitarian "Terran Federation" as personified by its Supreme Commander Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce).

    The first two seasons of Blakes7 (1978-1979) were very much in the style of Doctor Who episodes of the time, though apparently pitched at a slightly older audience. Many of the props and costumes were recycled from Doctor Who and the program shared many of the same writers and directors. Producer David Maloney had also directed many episodes of Doctor Who, and the music was written by Dudley Simpson who was concurrently doing the music chores for the Doc. Consequently Blakes7 has a very similar look and feel to late 1970s Doctor Who.

    For the third season there were some changes made to the program, necessitated by the departure of lead character Blake as played by Gareth Thomas and the culmination of a season 2 storyline which led to the destruction of the Federation's central computer. Avon, played extremely archly and over the top by Paul Darrow, is now the main character, vying for control of the Liberator with new character Tarrant (Steven Pacey) who has clearly been introduced to fill the void left by Blake's departure. There is another new character, Dayna (Josette Simon), who replaces Jenna (Sally Knyvette) who has left the cast, and the rest of the 'seven' are Vila (Michael Keating), Cally (Jan Chappell), ship computer Zen and portable computer Orac (both voiced by Peter Tuddenham).

    With the Federation in disarray and stripped of its power, our heroes need no longer take the active role of freedom-fighting, and spend much of this season engaged in quests for personal gain (often financial) or simply stumbling into trouble, which robs the series of some of its charm. However, the Federation threat is still occasionally felt in the ongoing presence of Servalan, played with amazing, utterly over the top aplomb by the incredible Jacqueline Pearce (I should add that when this series first went to air, Ms Pearce's Annie Lennox crewcut was startling in the extreme and made her look extremely severe, a fact likely to be entirely lost to contemporary viewers).

    While Terry Nation created the series and wrote its entire first season and some second season episodes, for season 3 he contributes only three. Much of the season is written by script editor Chris Boucher, who is an expert at writing character-driven pieces with witty dialogue. The interplay between Avon and Vila, and the fascinating way that Avon and Servalan relate, is often a joy to watch. Unfortunately the same cannot often be said for the other characters - though Cally is in the spotlight for a few stories, Dayna fails to be at all interesting. And the less said the better about Tarrant - why boyish-looking, fresh-faced, rosy-cheeked Steven Pacey was cast as a hard-edged, murderous mercenary is utterly beyond me. This is one of the worst cases of miscasting I've ever seen - Tarrant is simply unbelievable.

    Fans of Doctor Who will also see some familiar faces among the guest cast - most notably Colin Baker, Doctor number six, who appears as "Bayban the Butcher" in episode 32, City at the Edge of the World in a performance which seems to be an attempt to out-do even Paul Darrow in the OTT stakes.

    There are some surprisingly 'hard' SF concepts in some of the episodes, and one even written by highly regarded SF and fantasy novelist Tanith Lee. There are also a few duds, of course. Rumours of Death is my favourite episode this season, even though what has happened to Avon's beloved should be obvious to everyone but the most naïve third-grader a quarter of the way into the episode. But no spoilers here! The season ends on a high point with Terminal.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.29:1. Typical of a BBC production of its time, interiors have been shot in the studio on videotape and exteriors shot on 16mm film. While the episodes have been subjected to some clean-up prior to transfer, the film inserts are very grainy and comparatively poor resolution, and marred by film artefacts and the occasional scratch or hair. Colours for these inserts tend to be rather washed out. In contrast, while the interiors tend to be very flatly lit, the colours are far brighter and the image sharper. Shadow detail is somewhat murky though and there are occasional comet trails typical of BBC video productions of the period.

    Generally speaking, the transfer is very good given the quality of the source material and this is probably the best the series has ever looked. The DVD set doesn't get off to the best start, as there is some very noticeable pixelization very early on in the first episode, most notably at 1:36. I'm not certain, however, that this is not a flaw in the video effect used to create the 'explosion', possibly due to the white levels being too high. No further pixelization was detected throughout the episodes.

    The English subtitles used throughout the episodes are extremely accurate and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 but is in fact mono as per original broadcast. Dialogue is clear and audio appears to have been de-hissed. There is also a commentary track on three of the episodes. There are no problems with audio sync.

    The music for the series was written by Dudley Simpson and is his standard fare using a small orchestra with an emphasis on percussion. It's very similar to the music he wrote during his long tenure on Doctor Who.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu Introduction

    The menu introduction is a rather over the top piece of animation featuring the Liberator and a truly horrible synthesized arrangement of the Blakes7 theme music.

Menu Animation & Audio

    The menu itself is animated and fairly attractive although navigation is not particularly intuitive.

Audio Commentary - Chris Boucher (Writer) And Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan) - Death Watch

    This is the most interesting of the three audio commentaries in the set, simply because Chris Boucher is erudite and thoughtful and has some interesting things to say. However he's not likely to endear himself to Aussie viewers with comments like the one he made about the series' music composer Dudley Simpson: "Dudley may have died, or he may just have gone back to Australia - which is more or less the same thing."

    Jacqueline Pearce is almost as over the top in her commentary as she was in her performance as Servalan, and has a predilection for using the words "darling" and "sweetheart" to punctuate her sentences, to express delight, or simply to keep talking.

Audio Commentary - Paul Darrow, Chris Boucher and Jan Chappell - Rumours Of Death

    Less interesting than the previous one, although Chris Boucher and Paul Darrow make some interesting comments.

Audio Commentary - David Maloney (Producer), Gareth Thomas, Paul Darrow and Jacqueline Pearce - Terminal

    This is the least interesting commentary, because producer David Maloney and actor Gareth Thomas both seem to remember very little about the series, and in fact get quite a few of their facts wrong. I really wish someone would edit these commentaries to remove the extraneous remarks and ensure the participants were better briefed. A classic moment comes when Maloney debates whether we are watching season 3 or series C - as if the nomenclature is of any significance whatsoever, 25 years after the fact. Riveting stuff, it ain't.

Outtakes - Blake's Bloops (3:10)

    This seems to be a Christmas party reel or similar put together by former make-up designer Sheelagh Wells, who is also the subject of her own extra. It is certainly not entertaining and really almost pointless, as many of the people appearing in the clips are unidentifiable. It's extremely grainy and poorly colour-graded location footage. A waste of space.

Featurette - Stuart's Stunts (14:01)

    This is an interview with Stuart Fell who was a stuntman who worked on the series. Mr Fell, while a reasonably cheery fellow, is in the running for the Sybil Fawlty Mastermind Award for Stating the Bleeding Obvious, especially when he tells us that falling on polystyrene rocks in the studio should be avoided because it looks fake, but that falling on real rocks on location will look better. The featurette is a combination of video and film footage and includes, very oddly, a complete listing of all stunt performers to appear on the series, as a scrolling super. This particular element smacks of desperation on the part of whomever is compiling these extras - honestly, how many viewers would be at all interested?

Featurette - Sheelagh's Make-Up Memories (12:48)

    Rather more interesting than Mr Fell is Sheelagh Wells, who is interviewed about her work as make-up designer for season 3. However, it must be said that her comments are interesting mainly because she was the girlfriend of former lead actor Gareth Thomas and therefore has some insider info about the beginnings of the series. There is some hideous synthesized music accompanying this featurette and a very kitsch interpolation of scenes from the series to accompany Sheelagh's anecdotes.

Featurette - Nationwide: Look North 31 July 1979 (5:42)

    This is a report from the BBC program Nationwide on the first day of location filming for season 3 and is a good find from the archives although it will probably only be of interest to the most diehard fans. It's presented as grainy film and once again a candidate for the Sybil Fawlty Award, with statements like "Everyone has his or her particular job, and they must be on hand to do it." Well, I never would have guessed.

Trailer - Season 4 (2:23)

    This is a real oddity - it's clearly been produced after the end of series 4, as it includes clips from the final episode and thereby gives away the ending of the series - rather foolish for a trailer. Presumably it's supposed to whet your appetite for the next DVD set. Consists of clips from season 4 set to some rather over the top pseudo-operatic music.

Featurette - Tarrant Screen Test (14:34)

    My God, the fabulous extras keep on coming! This time we have hopelessly miscast Steven Pacey's screen test dragged from the BBC Archives where it should have stayed. The quality is not good - it's on video, with numerous drop-outs and tape damage. Shows scenes performed at Pacey's audition and compares them with the finished scenes as broadcast. Again, of interest only to the most committed fan.

Featurette - Introducing Tarrant (4:01)

    A compilation of clips of Tarrant's early appearances. Can't see any point to this other than to add to the list of extras and so pad out the offering.

Featurette - Introducing Dayna (3:50)

    Same as the above, but for Dayna instead of Tarrant.

Episode Synopses

    A brief summary of each episode. Reasonably useful, but oddly laid out, with the title of the episode at the bottom RH corner of the screen, which is a very strange place to put a heading and breaks all the rules of good layout.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Not available in R1. The R2 version appears to be identical to ours.

Summary

    Blakes7 is a fun series, with some very snappy writing. It is worlds away from the Star Trek universe (though J Michael Straczynski, who created Babylon 5, is said to be a fan) - with an odd combination of cynical characters and incredibly over the top performances. It's hard to tell when the series is taking itself seriously and when it isn't, but I've always found it immensely enjoyable regardless. Servalan and Avon in particular are wonderful characters. A good presentation of some classic episodes let down only by the BBC's insistence on adding extremely contrived extras for the apparent purpose of bumping up the retail price.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Alex Paige (read my bio)
Friday, September 23, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDDenon DVD-2200 (NTSC/PAL Progessive), using Component output
DisplayPanasonic TX-76PW60. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to Amplifier.
AmplificationSony STR-DB940
SpeakersFronts: B&W DM309; Rears: B&W DM303; Centre: B&W LCR3; Subwoofer: B&W ASW300.

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