Cool News
BLAKE'S 7 Fly Again!!
Merrick here...
Inspired by the successful revivals of DOCTOR WHO and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (and because there are, evidently, no new concepts to be found in the tens-of-thousands of pitches conducted every year), Sky One is dusting off BLAKE'S 7 for a relaunch.
The original series (created by Terry Nation) ran on BBC for four seasons between 1978 and 1981.
Sky has commissioned two 60-minute scripts with the intention of creating a new sci-fi series of the hugely popular show, which followed the intergalactic tales of a small band of rebel fighters struggling to evade the dark forces of the Federation.
...says THIS ARTICLE in Hollywood Reporter.
Nation passed away in the late 90s - this iteration will be spearheaded by Andrew mark Sewell (learn more about him HERE).
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Illiminate the black man?
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I was shocked at my first "First"
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come on...you know someone had to say it.
That Primevil show actually looks interesting. But when are we going to get a new Avengers? -
Back in the white tights! Yes!
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What the heck is "Blake's 7" ? I'm an old guy and I've never seen a frame of it? And what's this crap about "intergalactic tales of a small band of rebel fighters struggling to evade the dark forces of the Federation" ??? No, no ... the Federation is the GOOD guys, dumb*ss, with Kirk and Spock and the Enterprises and all that. And the only Rebellion is against the Empire and the various Darths. Idiots. That is all.
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That was such a drab looking exercise in sheer boredom.
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wtf ?
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on its side?....
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Oh, wrong Blake.
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Hopefully they can get Paul Darrow back on board to appear as Avon. This show has a great concept but it was often let down by small budgets.This could easily be the British answer to the modern BSG if it's done well.
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We never see Avon die, so the original plan of B7 Productions was to have him as prisoner of the Federation, however Paul Darrow left B7 Productions years ago and probably won't be intrested in reprising the role now.
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this video retrospective of the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OHzKjLKKY8
I'm going to hold out hope for now that they're gonna pull this off properly. Worst case scenario, at the very least when the remake makes it's way across the pond we might finally get some R1 DVDs of the old series released. -
...if done properly, with the "intelligent sci-fi" spirit of the original. The shoddy effects and sets of the original put people off checking it out, but it's pretty good story-wise and apparently influenced quite a few other things (JMS used to bang on about it when writing Babylon 5 for a start).
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How could they pass on the boys from the Dwarf?
...smegheads... -
Is this a FACT then?
Well I loathe Sky Television so I'm afraid I won't be seeing this until it hits DVD. I wish it was the BBC producing it. They've done some damn fine work with New Doctor Who. I do feel that the recent audio version of Blake's Seven had a great deal going for it. It would be cool if they continued with that cast, though I doubt they will... Who knows.
And Paul Darrow had a fall out with the producers didn't he? So we won't be seeing him mug his way across our screens. Shame...
"Oh Servalan." -
i was just talking with my my dad on saturday about how blake's 7 is due for a revival.
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Apr 24, 2008 11:33:46 AM CDT
Red Dwarf has been in a holding pattern for years
by shut the fuck up donny
between the bickering between Grant and Naylor, problems with the cast (see Mr. John-Jules and his knife incident recently), script problems with the movie and god knows what else. And since it's not officially dead yet it can't be revived.
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For a multi episode arc, per TV Guide: http://tinyurl.com/6dptat
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there's no way a remake could be that witty again, but would love to see it attempted.
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dark FORCES of the federation? Really?
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Not sure if you were making a knowing witticism or not, but if you weren't: The Blakes' 7 Logo looks like the Star Wars one for a reason. Part of the conceit -- lated appropriated for another great sci-fi show, FARSCAPE (and FIREFLY too, now that I think about it) -- is that the heroes are on the run from the Orwellian galactic government, called the "Federation." The symbol is further part of the gag.
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Sorry. The morning coffee still needs to be ingested.
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...I wasn't being so just then. I almost ALWAYS am...knowing and witty...that is. Ask anybody. I grow wittier as the day grows longer. OK, now that that's settled...I like how it all ties together...makes me think a bit of how Ursula K. LeGuin's sci-fi novels all take place in the same universe (The Ecumen and all that...)
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Which is exactly why I don't want to see it remade. For every DOCTOR WHO and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, there is BIONIC WOMAN and FLASH GORDON. Just leave it the fuck alone.
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What it lacked in budget it made up in spirit and atmosphere. Great little show. The Robert Holmes scripts are classic.
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Blake's 7 has been on the verge of being revisted a number of times now, all of which have so far come to owt.
The question is will this be a complete re-imaging, ala BSG (which actually worked out excellently), or a continuation set some years before/after/during the original series, ala TNG. -
And the BBC desperatley needs to find a way to recycle those Doctor Who sets....
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kinda
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Great SN, Most Holy. "One less mouth to feed is one less mouth to feed."
Never managed to watch Blake's 7. Read the synopsis and thought Firefly owed a LOT to it, though. -
B7 could be really hard work at times.... Would be intrigued to see a revival...
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as long as they avoid it being anything like recent BBC sci-fi (and that includes the over-rated Doctor Who). If Sky One go for a more american-style aesthetic, but using an all-British cast, then I think this could be seriously cool.
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Did you just make an Earth Pig born reference?
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You know I did.
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I truly enjoyed that series, and it did indeed have great theme music, and some great characters. Avon - until he mellowed, being the most supreme son-of-a-bitch of all time. A Servalan, until she mellowed, being the biggest bitch of all time. Blake, he was the moral center, but he did not drive the action.
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That phrase, was perhaps the funniest and most vile (when combined with the throwing of the baby)that I have ever seen in comics. Most Holy : 'You're welcome'
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...so long as they get the cast right and spend more that £3.49 on the effects this time, I'm there!
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It wandered a bit at the end and didn't quite deliver a POW conclusion, and there are whispers that Dave Sim has gone insane in later years, but Cerebus was a great work of art.
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Not to derail or sidetrack the Blake's 7 discussion, but how about the sickest, most vile (and entertaining) lines in pop culture?My entry?
"Do you have any rubber walrus protectors?" (Ren & Stimpy) -
Fact.
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It was simply, in my opinion, the finest work of comics ever. It was great literature, and great story telling, wrapped in a comic book. I own every last damn one of them - except number one (damn!). I started reading Sim in 1981 or '82 (I was just a tyke - and I picked it up because Wolverine was on the cover), but I quickly realized the greatness of the book. Yes, Sim truly lost his mind, and the process was startling becaus you could see the progress throughout the history of the book. His life is laid out over a 25 year period, and he took us with him, it was maddening at times, disheartening, and infuriating. But at his best, it was sheer genius. And I know that word is over used, but i have never applied it to any other comic based book i have ever read.
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Klytus:Bring me ...the bore worms.
Aura: No, not the bore worms!
Flash Gordon 1980 -
I started reading right around the Wolverroach issue as well, and worked backwards.
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I remember an epic space battle in Blakes 7 whereby there were literally hundreds of painted fairy liquid bottle and hair dryers moving slowly around on string.
Hey , I've found it ....http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8eGUfNp6I_4 Seriously, Avon must be one of the coolest sci fi characters around and the end of the series was....well....like this http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LY10pMsq3N8 -
I've never seen the original but I would certainly love to see Blake's seven re-imagined. Mind you let's hope the makers lose the shaky cams so popular these days. It's about time sober cameraman had a chance to earn a living!
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Ah, the Wolverroach - ya long eared jock strap! I damn near cried laughing so hard when the 'roac beat the ever livin hell out of the scots dude. 'he bruised his knuckles perty bad on mah kidneys'
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The effects were total crap, but the scripts were darn good. Plus they did well of playing on the attractiveness of moral ambiguity with the character of Avon.
If they do it right this could be great, but could also end up being awful. -
that show ruled. suck it, haters.
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Avon, was indeed the coolest anti-hero of all time -until the screwed around and mellowed him out. Although I guess they had to because one of the crew was bound to dump him out of an airlock after drugging his space wheaties.
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"I wish it was the BBC producing it. They've done some damn fine work with New Doctor Who. "
You're kidding right? The majority of Dr Who is p*** poor science fiction only providing about four or five episodes of any note since the end of the first season, over the last three seasons plus two Christmas specials. 80 - 90 per cent OK at best, crap at worst is hardly damn fine work. And let's not mention the BBC's work on Torchwood which is an utter embarrassment. -
It's a prequel trilogy in which Bones McCoy races against Servelan and Chewie in souped-up pod-racers with teleport bracelets on. Starring Will Smith as Blake, and Jimmy Saville as Servelan.
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You think a lot of AMericans never heard of the old Doctor Who? It was an even lesser number who ever heard of, or saw Blake's 7. I was one of the lucky KETC 9(a St. Louis PBS station) viewers back in the mid-late 80's. Admittedly, the show suffered in the special effects department. But, when B7 was on track, it was great. Firefly, and other shows owe some debt of gratitude to B7. ANd, Farscape more than any of them. You could argue that the Peacekeepers were essentially the Federation. Blake, Avon, Villa, Jenna, and Gann were Federation prisoners. Much like Xan, Dargo, and Rygel were Peacekeeper prisoners who ended up with a sentient, living ship(Moya). The Blake's crew ended up with a computer-controlled ship(Zen who controlled the Liberator). Commandant Grazier(from Farscape) was essentially a decent rip-off of Servalan. Anyway, there was talk of a continuation involving Darrow and a new, younger cast a few years ago. Fell apart, as I recall. Then, in the last year or two there were audio dramas which were re-envisioned storylines. Only heard part of the 1st one. Didn't do a lot for me. I hope they can pull this off. Would be nice if Darrow could be tied-in, but there was some sort of falling out. I am no expert on these series revival attempts. Just read a little bit here and there. As for the old show, I think it's (by and large) fantastic. The first couple of seasons were great. Seems like season 3 was okay. Season 4 had some decent moments, but Avon (Paul Darrow) went from being uber-cool, to overly-hammy. He may have even out-hammed Shatner at his worst. hehe Either way, I agree with the poster who said maybe we'll get some region 1 dvds of the old show. Presently, I have some convention-purchased dvd copies. Better than nothing. On the topic of REd Dwarf, would be nice to see a mini-series to wrap up the old program. First 6 seasons were great. Season 7 had at least two or three classic episodes(the return of Ace Rimmer, and the one with JFK). Season 8 only had maybe 1 sort of funny episode. Other than that, the show went on two seasons too long. Kind of like ABFAB(seasons 4 and 5 had some decent moments, but not as good as the 1st 3) Faulty Towers new when to say when.
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You can't Sackhoff this character - if you don't get Paul Darrow (who is the only character in that show the REALLY worked) just don't have Avon in it. Rework it completely - have a new BLake and six other, different rebels. I have no idea where I'd start on casting this. Funny coward for Vila, charismatic sociopath for Avon, treacherous bastard for Blake...
This will either be REALLY good or REALLY bad. No middle ground here. -
Actually, most of them worked for me. The chemistry between many of the characters. Including the anti-chemistry between Avon and Villa. Fingers crossed for this project. How about some damned region 1 discs for us Yanks?
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Given that I've seen B7 from start to end on Public TV here in the states, I have to ask, will there also be a revival of "Star Cops" as well. Star Cops and B7 would switch back and forth, so as soon as one show ended, the other would start again.
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be heading up the project? Noooooo!
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Saw a few of those. I'm not sure how many seasons it ran. Seems like it was okay. Hard to remember. Oh Hell, they might as well do SPACE:2999, er um 1999 again.
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Blake's 7 was big with hard-core geeks. It had a smaller audience in the US than Doctor Who, but its influence was massive. Trek's Deanna Troi being empathic and communicating telepathically with her own species comes from the B7 character Callie. Vila, the coward and thief, influenced the temperment of Xander on "Buffy" and Chiana on "Farscape" is just switching Vila's gender. Avon, the sociopath, has popped up as the basis for "Firefly/Serenity's" Jayne (and Adam Baldwin's character on "Chuck"), in addition to Locke, Sayid, and Ben on "Lost".Now for the biggest influence. You know how people LOVE the TNG episode "Best of Both Worlds Part 1?" It's a plagerism of the B7 season/series 2 finale "Star One."-----later-----m
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Y'know, to gauge reaction to a potential re-imagining?
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The original had a great concept but was cheap and tacky TV. The 2nd Season was better but still cheap and tacky. First thing they need to do is NOT listen to fanboys who want anyone from the original reprising their roles. Secondly they need to not do a continuation just to please fanboys and learn what happened to Avon etc. And thirdly they need to not make the show as stupid as Doctor Who which is still crap, always was and always will be. BTW Avon's characters did not influence any of the characters MGTHED stated, he was a scientist and tactition with a brutally practical cold -streak. He in fact was modeled after Spock but without the Alien culture behind his cold logic.
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And "Blake's" needs and apostrophe. Bad BBC.
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FARSCAPE and FIREFLY are both 'reimaginings' of B7.
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...many a teenager's wank fantasies, but I preferred Glynis Barber in the later episodes as Soolin. RRRAAOOOWWWRRR
They need to cast female hotties in this, though. No bull-dyke cigar-chewers please. -
Keep the teleport bracelets. Keep the Liberator spacecraft. Keep the theme tune. Keep the dark hopeless atmosphere. You can update everything else, but keep those elements.
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Used to watch it on YTV in Canada before RED DWARF and DR WHO. The first season (as I recall) was one big arc, and I was surprised when they killed off one of the main characters. Loved the bleakness. Great theme too. Certainly an unexpected ending. Just wish they had done a better job with the end fight (Main actor shoots officer, then is shot. Repeat till only Avon standing)
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...there is ton's of great hard SF literature, or if you think "literature" is too strong: then just damn fun military SF, out there that with modern FX could be realized with a manageable budget. We don't need 80s retreads. You take the production values of BSG and Firefly and apply them to say Pournelle's "Falkenberg's Legion" or Moon's "Trading in Danger" or "Star Strike" by Ian Douglass or Campbell's "The Lost Fleet" or hell, even go classic and do "Dorsai."There is no needs for retreads.
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Does Avon die or not?............
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If you watched the last episode, you know as much about Avon's fate as everyone else. :-)
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Unlike Fox, Sky has never, NEVER produced a quality original drama series. Not. Once.
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Space 2099.
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I liked the music,esp the bit right at the end.Liberator was a kool ship(had a corgi toy),so was the second one (built that out of lego dammit :).Who remembers the "she took her glove off" episode,that stayed with me.Don't care about a redo either way.
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SPACE:2099 would be appropriate.
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BLAKE'S 7 had the BEST ENDING EVER.
If they decide to "remake" the series it will fail. At least they won't "gay it up" like RTD did with Dr. Who.
here is the best ending.
http://tinyurl.com/5jgkkw -
Though I still maintain that because we never see Orac in that final scene, it could have been a hypothetical prediction Orac was showing to Avon. (Just like the time Orac showed the crew the destruction of a ship which looked like the Liberator.)
Yeah, 30 something years later, and I'm still in denial about that ending.
Whereas with Angel, for example, I just said "Cool! They died!" and got over it.
Blakes 7. The Babylon 5 of its day. Only better. Not one JMS character comes close to Avon's ascerbic wit. -
I remember watching this show on the local PBS station. Quality show even tho as everyone else has mentioned the effects were non-existent. The black chick was kinda hot too.
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Nice. Y'all are the first people to pick that up in many, many years of posting here. (I think a lot of folks just presume I'm very spiritually inclined.)
I started reading around Church & State II and have all the phone books here, but, yeah, Sim kinda lost me after Mothers & Daughters. The man just went too damn crazy.
At any rate, regarding B7, I always thought James Callis' Baltar owes a lot to Vila. (Sure, he owes a lot to the original Baltar too, but he's definitely got Vila's squirrelly, always-looking-out-for-#1 schtick down pat.) -
you know you want it
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they could probably still use the original cast!
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The tangents essay's are just bug-fuck. I know he went through a lot after the breakup with Deni, but damn, between the drugs and thw women, then the swearing off of women, then the absolute vile hatred towards women, he descending into madenss in front of us. For about five years Cerebus was just awful. Gerhard he;led stabilize Sim, but even he could not bring him back from the abyss. Still, when I am need of serious laughter, i pull out the Lord Julius books, and the Prime Minister series with the Elf and Elrod, and the Moonroach. Simply brilliant.
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When I was getting some of my earlier Cerebus's (Cerebi?) autographed, he turned to the Letter from the Publishers page, which had a picture of him and Deni.
He drew a big black X through her face, saying "Well she is my EX wife, after all." -
Considering how he (and now his estate) always raped the BBC for the rights to the Daleks, I think they'd better open up their pocketbooks.
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...but incredibly cheaply produced, to the point of almost being unwatchable. Production standards were even a level below old Dr Who shows. A remake with a decent budget would be great.
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I had him autograph a poster of Cerebus dressed as a football player. He was damned accomodating back when he was in control of his faculties. What a shame. BUt, he did make it to issue 300, and that is an amazing triumph for any mag, let alone a self published one. There is a very famous Deni interview in Comics Journal - #85?
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I actually feel bad about how many issues I (and everyone else) asked him to sign. One of the conventions took place around my birthday. I have a nice little sketch of "Most Holy" wishing me a happy birthday that he did for free.
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I love's me some British X-Men. :)
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and some geeks brought their entire collections - I distinctly remember one guy toting his entire collection in a large black suitcase! And Sim signed every one!
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could be so well done big guy chases lil guy but CGI...Hill's Angels toned down for PG-13 its a sure bet!
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was shit...no military force ever would train people to be top gun pilots then use them as ground infantry,when Space: Above and Beyond started doing that it lost all credability for me even with its good sfxs
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This was popular when I was a kid in the UK, I was a major sci fi fan then and I still did not like Blakes 7, it just annoyed me, I hve watched re runs and its still not very good,
Suprised I did not know this actually, as I kind of work for Sky TV in the UK, I know they are remaking "The Prisoner" and I like how that is being done, but more looking forward to that than this, also I would not expect to see this till 2010, takes a while to get cross funding sorted etc.
I think Sky like remakes because its less of a risk, already a fan base there.
I tried to pitch a much better drama series last year to them, they liked it, but they would not take the risk of backing a new writer, oh well.
Some people will love this I am sure, just dont think I will be one of them, dont expect BSG type production quality and SFX, there is just no budget for that -
Well excited about this. Thank fuck it's a Sky vehicle and not sci-fi. No shitty Flash Gordon remakes here! Yay!
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Sky did the two live-action Discworlds. That's good enough for me that they know how to throw money at something and let the writers get on with it. Could you imagine Sci-fi letting Pratchett have that much freedom on the set? I can't. Look what they did to Wizard of Earth-Sea.
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This will be truly awesome.
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A Blake's 7 remake is waayy overdue! I honestly hope they DON'T follow Dr. Who's lead and keep former continuity, but rather "reimagine" the series from the ground up using the old series as a guide. Frankly it will reach a MUCH larger audience if it does (though it WOULD be nice if we- especially us Americans- got a nice affordable dvd remastering of the original series). My BIGGEST worry about this is we'll end up with something closer to Sci-Fi's remake of Flash Gordon than Battlestar. Blake's 7 the THE example of great, GREAT Space Opera despite the cheap, charming special effects, the writing and plotting (and esecially CASTING) on the original series make the old shows still VERY watchable. Let's hope when they go into full production they stay at least on the same level as those. In fact, honestly, scrap the idea of doing new shows and just "remaster" the old ones (a la the original Treks), put THAT on the Sci-Fi channel instead of 3/4 of the garbage currently running there! Well, I can dream...
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Blake's 7 was Terry Nation's vision of Hell in space. The single most unremittingly negative,
depressing SF series in genre history. Period. The last episode was a great big 'fuck you' to the viewers; those characters are like demons to me now. And they want to bring this garbage BACK? For the love of sweet Jesus, leave it dead,
PLEASE. -
LOL I have to agree with your assessment of the last episode. It was indeed a giant Fuck you to the fans. Those of us long suffering ones who wanted to see Blake and Avon and crew reunited, only to get Avon doing...well, I will not ruin it for those who did not see it.
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I demand it be made so...they can update them with the Ben Heck Atari 800 laptop hack, or that XL laptop that's all over the YouTube. Phuk, just make Atari Force into a series. Commander Champion's return!
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I agree that that is a series that deserves being remade or continued and you're probably right the actors are still young enough to retain their roles. Perhaps adding a few new younger roles to the original cast plus the original creators/writers Glen Morgan and James Wong Fox could have a real hit on its hands. especially given BSG will be over and done with in about 14 months ,so it could be the only space set sci-fi around. -
Apr 25, 2008 10:15:55 AM CDT
" no military force ever would train people to be top gun pilots
by torres09
Ever heard of artistic licence? Anyway what do you do when you need reinforcements planet side and the nearest ground pounders are hundreds or thousands of light-years away? You use the forces you have at hand or risk losing an important foothold on a strategic planet. Besides they always said they would fight when needed on land, sea or air.
Personally I think by mixing it up it made the series much more interesting otherwise would never have had the episode "who monitors the birds?" -
There was a sci-fi series on in the seventies here in the UK, called "Sky", about a guy who 'fell to earth' who had superimposed video bluescreen effects on the palm of his hand, which represented some sort of powers. He could 'share' the powers by touching someone else's hand and saying "Here, take some of my people" (and presumably transferred some of the blue paint onto the other actor's hand). Did I completely imagine this series? Where can I find it?
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Apr 25, 2008 11:56:17 AM CDT
This would be the same Sky TV that promised a new "Prisoner" a f
by mr stonky
Sky TV doesn't create any good TV shows. They buy good shows that have already been made by someone else. Simple as that. This is just a PR stunt.
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if they are gonna do it then they have to do it dark, brooding and with a good script and actors. Not crap cgi and acting like andromeda. Its got to be like babylon 5 and battlestar, i hope they make the fedaeration nasty not just trying to be nasty
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babylon 5 was one of the silliest shows ever made. ridiculous costumes, and what about that emperor penguin guy with the silly accent? give me a fucking break.
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All american sci-fi series', from the early nineties onwards, are just impotent, safe, vanilla, shite. It probably all started with Star Trek TNG, with its tendency to shy away from real science fiction in favour of plush carpeting, coffee-machine cosiness, and several episodes revolving around Data humourously playing musical instruments.
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http://tinyurl.com/4fha3v hope that helps.I found the intro on TV Ark a couple of years ago but that site has a limited service right now..........
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Ok some people didn't like Blakes 7's dark tone or the fact it was made on the cheap but it was groundbeaking in that it treated sci-fi fans like adults. Before Blakes 7 there was a tendancy to make sci-fi kid freindly because they believed kids were the primary audience. Blakes 7 went the other way by giving us morally grey characters and situations. So if they were to make a new remake who would I cast.
Avon: James Marsters, a genre vet who will get some attention from fans and who has shown the ability to deliver the moral ambiguity that is so important to the characters nature whilst still making him almost likable. Vila: Anh Do, I guess it would be contreversial to cast a vietnamese born australian in this role but Do has shown the ability to play lovable losers and has a great expressive face. Blake: Andrew Lincoln, Lincoln has the everyman look that would work well with Blake (Clive Owen would be dream casting but he has moved way beyond TV). Jenna: Sarah Alexander, shes beautiful, British and a top notch actress with a ton of experience. As for the other rebel characters I'd probably go for Tarrant, Gan and Soolin as I believe those characters have more to offer. Servalan is the most important person to cast and I cant think of anyone in the right sort of price bracket off the top of my head. -
Ray,
Clearly any one whose only seen a fraction of Babylon 5 would put it down. However anybody who enjoys quality science fiction storytelling and has seen Babylon 5 from beginning to end in the correct episode order knows that Babylon 5 is the be all and end all of science fiction, bar none. It's the Gold Standard in story telling and raised science-fiction to whole new levels. Never before have we seen such an epic story spread over five years, a cast of three-dimensional characters with flaws (and not just the stars but the entire ensemble), great drama, epic battles and all done on a budget a fraction of the cost of Star Trek TNG/DS 9. Even now 12+years later no-show has even come close to comparing with the level of story telling in Babylon 5. Sure the new Battlestar Galactica has better production values but with no real plan or direction has failed to capitalise on its superb beginning, often meandering aimlessly. I also agree with dark hawke in that you have clearly never seen Farscape, Firefly, Jeremiah, Dark Angel (well the first season) John Doe, Dark Skies, Day Break, The Lost Room and no doubt Space Above and Beyond all great science-fiction from the mid-Nineties onwards. Perhaps if people like you tried watching more of the original quality sci-fi shows when they are produced then the cream of science-fiction wouldn't get cancelled. While the true vanilla, safe science fiction like Star Trek and Stargate just goes on and on and on and on and on and on. -
You realise that it was Sky that largely funded the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica after mini-series had been produced. That's why the UK saw the first series of Battlestar Galactica about six months ahead of the US. I agree a lot of their home-grown productions have been less than spectacular, to be kind. However with the right creative team and international financial partners, perhaps like the sci-fi Channel ? B7 could well be be the next big thing.
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Are you sure about that? The guy is in his sixties, fat as a barrel and currently advertising mobility scooters...The only thing they need to keep is the Liberator. Everything else ; start from the ground up.
http://tinyurl.com/3r3ppt -
You said "Babylon 5 is the be all and end all of science fiction, bar none."
My reply: BAAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! -
WHO THE FUCK thinks that "Babylon 5" or "Farscape" is actually science fiction? THESE SHOWS ARE NOTHING BUT COSTUME FANTASIES. Space soap operas. "Falcon's Crest" in space. There is little or no actual 'science fiction' involved. If you really believe that these impotent, goofy pantomimes are actually 'science fiction', then you've got an extremely sheltered knowledge of the genre.
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thanks for proving to me that I didn't actually make that show up. Now to actually find a recording of the damn thing!
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I was a bit young to get what half of the stories were about but I loved the 'Liberator' (had the Corgi toy too!) and as soon as I saw the 'Scorpio' out came my Lego box! I always thought I was the only one who had ever done that (used to build a mean Battlestar too heh). I suppose I'd like to see it remade, but not in the UK as no-one has a clue how to make aesthetically pleasing Sci-Fi here (Doctor Who was, is and always shall be a load of utter shite). Use a British cast by all means, just make sure Blake, Avon & Servalan are there (and Servalan MUST be a walking wet dream, nothing less). Get the obligatory Paul Darrow cameo in. I haven't seen him selling any mobility scooters though. Last thing I seen him in was an I.B.M training video a few years back! Still had the air of a bastard about him - awesome!
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So I take it that you're saying Blake's 7 isn't science fiction either, right? Because that's nothing more than a space opera too! Don't talk fucking wet ray gamma science fiction encompasses all kinds of stories. So just because the show is more serialised doesn't make it any the less "science fiction". To take Babylon 5 as an example it features lots of science fact having scientists from NASA and at least one other important scientific organisation lending their expertise to give the show a more authenticity.
If you actually watched the shows from beginning to end you'd know how great shows like Babylon 5, Farscape and many others really are. Instead you perhaps saw the odd episode and writ it off as crap. Patience is a virtue and those who patiently stuck with the show's can testify how much they improved. Babylon 5 is greater than the sum of all its parts which of course you wouldn't have a clue about would you now.
As for sheltered I watch just about every science-fiction show I can, seeing just about every TV sci-fi series from the last 20 years almost in their entirety plus quite a few classics. And let me tell you the level of quality of the shows I've mentioned earlier in this thread far surpasses these earlier shows. -
I stuck with season 1 & 2 of Babylon 5, and much of Farscape too, in the misguided hope that something truly clever or significant would happen as the storyline developed. But the most clever and significant thing that did happen, was when I decided to stop watching them and returned to reading great thought-provoking books that will sadly never be made into great films.
The trouble is now, we have a whole generation of adults whose earliest memories of the science fiction genre are episodes of Star Trek: TNG and Babylon 5. This is the same audience that will defend the likes of the utterly execrable "Buffy" and similarly juvenile production-line shite that the networks have been churning out of their flabby studio arses for nearly 20 years.
I'd imagine I'm among the older readers on this site, being in my mid-forties, and I have a long memory regarding the science fiction genre as a whole. Thus I'm probably less prone to being happily satisfied with the vanilla-flavoured dung that these studios have been shovelling at us for so many years now. Let me guess, you probably enjoyed "Quantum Leap" too, am I right?
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Nice 1 Ray,nice 1 Captain Bass(if that is Bass as in music bass thats a kool name,an ocean fish not so kool ;>).As I kid I could of made most spaceships as long as you wanted them in red lol.Hand me down Lego is excellent for kids.C U around :)
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Ten-Ten Tiger!
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I agree re: Space: AAB. Great concept, patchy execution. The look and feel of the series was great, but there were some real clunkers among those episodes. (I shudder thinking of that one with the AIs who are obsessed with gambling.)
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Ray , well you see that is your problem you never saw the meat of the series. Much of the first season is setting up a foundation for the series and the Babylon 5 universe, while introducing story threads for the main arc. The second season has a lot more of the main story arc slowly building. Season three and four is when everything comes together paying off everything that has been set up in earlier years. Both of which are the two finest seasons in TV history in my honest opinion. After season three and four season five seems a bit of a let-down but there are still some excellent episodes. Babylon 5 is one big story tapestry expertly woven with seemingly insignificant events happening in season one to be tied up three, four or five years later. It's an immensely satisfying sci-fi show that you can re watch seeing all the pieces come together and notice all the subtleties missed on earlier viewings.
to paraphrase one of the Babylon 5 characters, G'kar - nobody here is exactly who they appear to be.
To the casual viewer like yourself I can see why you talk about Star Trek the next generation and Babylon 5 in the same sentence as if they're so similar, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Maybe you didn't watch long enough to realise that in the B 5 universe there is no big red Reset button, actions have consequences to the characters and those around them. For instance "that Emperor penguin guy with the silly accent" ambassador Londo Mollari seems almost foolish at the beginning of the show, nearly always drinking, dreaming of the Great Centauri Republic as it was. His choices leading from one seemingly simple question "what do you want?" Has massive consequences not just to him personally but to his race and other races. Characters grow and change, characters are more than just good and bad they are layered with shades of grey.
Anyway the point is without watching from the beginning in the correct order until the end you really cannot imagine how great Babylon 5 is, even after watching two seasons. Imagine reading the Lord Of the Rings without the final two books and you should be able to understand how much of the story you're missing.
Are you really sure you saw much of Farscape? Because I cannot think of many shows that is so different from the usual sci-fi output you would associate with US TV. You couldn't get any further from the traditional Star Trek mould with its dark, quirky, imaginative, sometimes twisted sense of humour, well written character driven sci-fi drama performed by an excellent ensemble cast. Even the animatronic (puppet) characters come to life and become characters in their own right as the series goes on. Just off the top of my head in the first episode which is probably about as straight as Farscape ever is, Rygel (a seemingly cute alien animatronic character) loogies on our main character, John Crichton's face. Episodes like Crackers Don't Matter, Out Of Their Minds, Won't Get fooled Again, John Quixote and Scratch and Sniff are just a few episodes that exemplified how unlike most sci-fi Farscape really is ... Farscape may start fairly typically and not a very strong first two-thirds of the first season but really grows into a wonderful series... Season three being the the highest point in show but it's not something you could just dip into.
I do agree that there are tons of US sci-fi series which are as you described Vanilla, safe science-fiction and fantasy TV but amongst the dross there are some terrific shows, you just need to give them a chance to develop.
Actually I think what you meant to say is there's a whole generation of adults/adults to be whose earliest memories of sci-fi/Fantasy are shows like Star Trek The Next Generation, Voyager, Andromeda, Stargate, Charmed , Xena , Enterprise, Smallville etc etc that don't know how good sci-fi and fantasy can be. They think a show like Lost is the best thing since sliced bread. However like I said to you there are plenty of great shows albeit mostly short lived, cancelled before their time shows, like I mentioned in an earlier post along this thread. These are the shows that keep me coming back for more in the hopes of seeing the next Babylon 5, Farscape, Firefly, Space Above and Beyond etc etc. Speaking personally my earliest memories were re runs of Star Trek the original series, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers of the 25th century , Dr Who and V ( although I missed lots of it being on so late). Not to mention Star Wars on every Christmas.
To be honest I can't say I was particularly enamoured with Quantum Leap . -
The above was paragraphed for easier digestion . Ray how did you get paragraphs in your post?
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Bab5, Farscape, Firefly, and new BSG among a few other later programs have merit. I would even argue that TNG and DS9 did, as well. Not to mention ST:TOS. Oh what the Hell, I like quite a few others also. And, I agree that there are other popular programs that are lacking compared to some of these. It's all in the eye of the beholder, but I get your point, and at least partially agree.
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