Blake's 7-Series 3 (1978) |
BUY IT |
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 |
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Rating | |||
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) |
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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 |
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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Denon DVD-2200 (NTSC/PAL Progessive), using Component output |
Display | Panasonic TX-76PW60. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to Amplifier. |
Amplification | Sony STR-DB940 |
Speakers | Fronts: B&W DM309; Rears: B&W DM303; Centre: B&W LCR3; Subwoofer: B&W ASW300. |