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EXCLUSIVE: Georgeville Television, an independent TV studio co-founded recently by Leon Clarance of Motion Picture Capital, the financing arm of Reliance Entertainment, and producer Marc Rosen, has teamed with feature director Martin Campbell (Casino Royal) to revive the cult 1978 adventure/sci-fi series Blake’s 7. Writer Joe Pokaski (Heroes, CSI) will pen the re-imagining of the original series created by Terry Nation, a prolific UK TV writer who also created the Daleks for the classic BBC series Doctor Who. Campbell is attached to direct the Blake’s 7 reboot, which is being shopped to U.S. networks.
If, like me, you grew up in Europe in the 1980s, there is no way you haven’t heard of Blake’s 7, which was hugely popular in its native Britain and across Europe where it was better known than Star Trek at the time. Widely considered a cult classic despite no-frills, low-tech special effects, Blake’s 7 ran on BBC for four seasons. (See the show’s title sequence below.) Referred to as “The Dirty Dozen in space,” the series revolves around a group of criminals convicted and given a harsh sentence who, en route to pay the ultimate price for their crimes, get a second chance. These criminals without a code will gain a calling — the opportunity to become most unlikely, but most sorely needed heroes of their time. GVTV has secured the rights to the Blake’s 7 franchise from rightsholder Andrew Sewell and his company B7 Media with funding provided by MPC. Campbell, Pokaski, Clerance, MPC’s Deepak Nayar and Sewell will executive produce. A quarter of a century after Blake’s 7‘s launch, it still enjoys a fan following: Several years ago, Sky1 announced a remake but scrapped the plan in 2010. GVTV’s first series, Neil Cross’s Crossbones, received a 10-episode order at NBC for midseason.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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I hope they don’t screw it up like they did with the Prisoner series.
Also, I contend that Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda was actually the first remake of Blake’s 7.
Captain Dylan Hunt -> Roj Blake
Beka Valentine -> Jenna Stannis
Seamus Zelazny Harper -> Vila Restal
Trance Gemini -> Cally
Andromeda Ascendant -> Liberator (Zen)/ORAC
Andromeda is no where near Blake’s 7. Maybe there is a similarity, but that is it. Anything further is a reach.
No, the first “remake” of Blake’s 7 would be ‘Firefly’.
Wrong. First remake of Blakes 7 is Farscape.
Hate to burst your bubble – but I think Lexx predated Farscape by a season or so – which I’m enjoying now on hulu.
~
Coat
You can’t have a Blake’s 7 without Avon, and there was no one near Avon in Andromeda.
Yeah I can see the parallels in Andromeda, and Farscape to some extent too.
It’s all about the coming together of the various heroic character types found in mythology, that’s what sci-fi is, Mythology in a fictional future instead of a fictional past.
Exciting news!
Best news I’ve heard all day.
The trick will be actually getting it done…
One of the all-time greatest things from Britain.
Yes! Well, that and The Sweeney. “sort it out!”
I’ve never seen THE SWEENEY, though I like John Thaw. Is the reboot any good? I saw the cast when they came on TOP GEAR for an amusing car-chase segment.
Great idea. This was an epic series. Martin is perfect for this. Love it!
Joe is a very talented writer and has been a great addition to the CSI writing staff. His debut script last season is definitely considered a classic in the show’s history. Kudos to him.
Awesome – the A-Team in space!!
It’s been done. It was called FIREFLY.
There is room enough in the galaxy for BLAKE’S 7 and FIREFLY.
Firefly was mostly White Trash in Space. Acting tough like the first day of Middle School. I liked Jayne. Mal(Joe Dirt) was just mad because they repossessed his el Camino and The Whore With the Heart of Gold played hard to get. I also fell out of my chair when one of the characters clumsisy pulled a Mare’s Leg out for one of the many pointless bits of violence.
Blakes 7 was subtle and you could never be sure who would survive an episode.
Firefly was outstanding and far superior to Blake’s 7. And subtlety? Servalen was as subtle as a intergalactic drag queen.
Firefly was good but Blake’s 7 was original hence the reason why it inspired so many good shows many years later (Babylon 5, Farscape etc).
It makes me sad to see Firefly and Blakes 7 in the same sentence. Blakes 7 was the most fantastic sci-fi epic on TV of its time and retains its mystique and wonder for those of us lucky enough to grow up with it. Firely was an over-hyped, and quickly-cancelled, TV flop. Yes, yes, I know, Firefly advocates will now froth at the mouth. Many of my friends amongst them. But still. There’s just no comparison.
That awsome news
Loved the show. I agree. Hope they don’t screw it up. Avon *sigh*
Well, no, Blake was redone as Firefly. Or Andomeda. Or.. etc etc. This is Blake’s Seven. Each other series is its on thing, (and I adore Firefly)
Surely Farscape is the closest equivalent to a Blakes 7 remake so far – group of mostly criminals on the run from an oppressive totalitarian government in an unusual & advanced spaceship…
All the suggested shows have at some point used B7 as a starting point, or origin – Paul Darrow has suggested in an interview for the extras with the DVD releases of B7 that Firefly is his idea of a successor to B7. JMS (Babylon 5) is a fan of the show – look at his B5 spin off Crusade: notice anything familiar about the ‘Excalibur’?
Good luck to them rebooting this show – a proper reimagining is long overdue imho…
We haven’t gotten the DVD releases in region 1!! AAAH.
I knew there was reason I loved Farscape… Lots of similarities to Blake’s 7.
Now that many are still suffering the GFC, and the cheapest entertainment is still the box, we’ll get a resurgence in interest in SF again. Happens every global economic downturn. So, after Blake’s 7, my vote is for Doomwatch, Sapphire and Steel, and Moonbase 3. Guys, which other series’ would you like to see rebooted or resurrected?
As a Yank, I loved Blake’s 7 in the 80′s! I’m rooting for this reboot!
Wow! Awesome news, I loved Blake’s 7! One of my fave sci fi shows when I was a kid. I caught it on PBS way after it aired and used to love watching it and Doctor Who in the afternoons after school! Just hope they cast someone AWESOME as Avon! He was always my favorite and Paul Darrow will be hard to top
No no no no no. Why? If the reboot of Hitchhikers Guide is anything to go by…
Come up with new ideas Hollywood. Don’t ruin the good old UK ones.
Name me one UK TV show Americans haven’t completely ruined in the remake. Just one.
They simply don’t translate. It’ll be an unholy mess, I guarantee.
Sanford & Son, The Office, All in the Family, and (kinda hate to mention it) Three’s Company were all very successful adaptations of UK series. How good they were in comparison is a matter of taste. I name them to prove it’s been done. I’ll leave out the various game/reality/competition series that were also stolen.
While the first 2 series of B7 were ok
3 and 4 were really pretty awful with the odd exception
like the finale.
Look at them – its true b****y servalan turns up and ruins
every scene
While blake was there it was ok.
As long as they don’t fill it with pasty faced, zero testosterone, so-called 21st century men like they have done with all the other reboots……..Yey for Avon! Yey for Oric! Yey for Ghan, Blake, Vila, Jenna and Kelly. And they’d better get the casting right for Servalan!
The Liberator has always been the coolest spaceship ever. I’d love to see it brought up to date in the same way as the USS enterprise has evolved but not completely redesigned.
Farscape always struck me as the series with the biggest debt to Blake’s 7.
Won’t be holding my breath on this, after years of abortive stuff from the previous rights holders.
And am I the only one who suspects that Nellie has barely even heard of Blake’s 7 before? “a group of criminals convicted and given a harsh sentence who, en route to pay the ultimate price for their crimes, get a second chance”? Good grief.
Oh, I don’t know. I loved the series back in the 80′s, went to Cons, met most of the actors and Terry Nation…so seeing other actors in those roles will be hard. Though I have to say, saw Martin Freeman as Vila in the short spoof film “Blake’s Junction 7″ and thought he was perfect. And Cumberbatch would make a great Avon…too bad they’re busy doing other things
If done right, this could absolutely be must-see. As awesome as the original show is, the low budget and video quality is certainly an obstacle for any potential new viewers. The character dynamic was amazing. I fear it might have been lightning in a bottle, but if the producers understand the original show … well, I’ve got my fingers crossed.
But who’s going to play Avon, and will he wear as much BDSM leather as he used to?
Robert Downey Jr as Avon. You know I’m right.