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@janetteb Initially I was like your son’s girlfriend. When my husband pulled out his prized DVDs and started watching them, I rolled my eyes and doom-scrolled on my phone, somehow seeing that as a better alternative. Especially when he saw fit to explain the whole backstory of a character or scene.

But, over time, the series has grown on me, and…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent

You misunderstand. My character analyses were for a putative reboot for OUR time: crooks are creeps, ruthless dictators are also venal idiots, freedom fighters hopelessly naive. MY kind of dystopia.

I just think you could have much more fun with the idea of The Liberator. Could a bunch of polynesians have done nothing with an…[Read more]

@Nerys I hope you are enjoying it. Our eldest started showing it to his gf. She was not initially impressed but it has grown on her. I watched it when it first aired. would sit up to late to record it on VHS and cut out the adds. It is part of the family culture, as much as Who and Blake’s 7.

@dentarthurdent. I don’t think I have even watched the…[Read more]

@nerys   @whohar

@ps1l0v3y0u Avon was definitely a criminal, and a computer genius – I believe he hacked the Federation banking system of millions of credits. They were all criminals except Blake, who was a dissident.

The Liberator was absolutely *not* a problem. It was a product of advanced alien tech. How many of the spaceships on Doctor Who a…[Read more]

@janetteb A few years ago now, J.M.S. tried to do a re-imagining of Babylon 5. ( B.5 was originally inspired in part by Blake’s 7 incidentally.) It did not get off the ground. He recognised however that any attempt to ‘re do” the series needed new characters for new actors and a fresh take on the story. He wasn’t going far enough with that however…

[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u Avon was a “crook”. they were all convicts being sent to a penal colony only Blake was falsely accused. don’t remember Avon’s crime. It was something corporate I suspect.

@dentarthurdent I agree that a “re-imagining” would be preferable to a remake, or a sequel. Blake’s daughter or son take up the rebel mantel. get a gang together,…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @janetteb @whohar

I am thinking ORAC. Don’t remember the others. Future AI will surely be inanity we’ve got used to or think cool for some reason. How long have people been saying ‘ooh no it’s coming for you… SO clever and snarky’ and I say ‘for them maybe’ and ‘why do you think that? Oh you spent a lot of money didn’t you? Cui b…[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u Which ‘rubbish’ computer do you mean? Zen, Orac or Slave? Probably the most interesting one was Orac, with the sarcastic temperament. Zen (shades of Hal from 2001) was taciturn. Slave was painfully obsequious.

@whohar @janetteb As for a reboot, I do hope it is a ‘re-imagining’ along the lines of Battlestar Galactica 2. (Which…[Read more]

@whohar And who would play Servalan? That’s key. I’d go with Ruth Wilson (who’d also make a great Doc btw)

Excellent suggestions.

Reading the article I have hopes that if they do get funding etc they will do a good job. It won’t, can’t should not be the same but as you say the reboot of DR Who kept the important elements while giving it a cont…[Read more]

@whohar @dentarthurdent

Female Blake? Cyborg Avon? Canine Servalan??

I definitely recommend Trojan Horse Liberator… actually a Von Neumann machine, with brain wipe reverse isomorphic controls. Your dystopia has nothing on mine.

…. riffing on that, a Galactic ‘Pleuribus’ crisis, even? Canine Servalan develops disturbing (for the Telegraph)…[Read more]

And who would play Servalan? That’s key. I’d go with Ruth Wilson (who’d also make a great Doc btw)

@ps1l0v3y0u @dentarthurdent

everybody dies finale

Oi! Spoilers! 🙂

I’ll be intetested to see what, if anything, comes out of their new ProdCo. I think the trick with reboots is to make it sympathetic to the original, and have some common themes but not be enslaved by what went before. Seems simple but it’s not.

The Who that came back in 2005…[Read more]

@dentarthurdent @whohar

I must have seen virtually all of B7 in the first run. I remember the everybody dies finale. At the time I assumed, whatever Michael Grade might say, that tv sci fi was going to look a bit rubbish compared with Hollywood. And obviously the writing was pretty consistent and good. Wouldn’t have known who Chris Boucher was…[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u @whohar (Delurking suddenly) I’m on the fence about a reboot of Blakes 7. And I say that as a past addict. I used to get dirty looks from my boss when I shot out the door at 4-30, I couldn’t muster the courage to point out it was only on Thursdays and it was so I could get home in time to catch a B7 re-run (first time for me) at 5.30.…[Read more]

@ps1l0v3y0u

Agree – he was saying it in reference to his love of the original Blake’s 7 which, as I’m sure you’ll agree, was shonky as hell, but very entertaining.  It comes down to story and character imo. The issue now is that, because SF is normally so seamless, that is the expectation for all shows going forward. I know people who bemoan…[Read more]

@whohar

You get the impression of people jockeying for position… but actually he’s making a general point that money doesn’t necessarily make shows better, and there isn’t as much anyway anymore!

‘Something went wrong.’ Really with Who and from a writing point of view, that’s only true of the season ends. The ratings are another issue, and it’…[Read more]

This is interesting from one-time Who director Peter Hoar. A potential Blake’s 7 Reboot, via his new prod company Multitude Productions:

https://deadline.com/2026/01/blakes-7-reboot-peter-hoar-matthew-bouch-multitude-productions-1236682580/

He also has some comments on the D+ Who era, as well as tv in general, and the need (or otherwise) for a…[Read more]

@thane16 Sadly, I’m not familiar with any South African music. After university, I drifted away from classical music, for the most part. My only connection with it now is through band, and also through film orchestral scores. But, living where I do, I would have to travel for concerts beyond the local singer/songwriter realm … and I just don’t…[Read more]