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| '''Blake's 7''' (sometimes spelled '''''Blakes 7''''', as this was the title shown at the beginning of the series) was a [[science fiction]] adventure drama television series in the [[Wikipedia:space opera|space opera]] sub-genre which had a considerable cross-over between its crew and that of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', which was airing at the same time. Some [[Doctor Who Universe]] stories have featured [[crossover character|crossover]]s between elements of ''Blake's 7'' and ''Doctor Who''. It was first created by [[Dalek]] creator [[Terry Nation]]. | | {{wikipediainfo}} |
| | {{you may|Blake's 7 (series)|n1=''Blake's 7'' from a real world perspective|Blake's 7 (terrorist group)|n2=the in-universe terrorist group}} |
| | '''''Blake's 7''''' was a [[human]] [[television]] show of which the [[First Doctor]] was not fond. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Big Hand for the Doctor (short story)}}) [[Tegan Jovanka]] mentioned the series once, saying that she understood the concept of [[transmat]]s — or in ''Blake's 7'' terms, [[teleportation]] — having seen it on the show. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Cold Fusion (novel)}}) |
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| ==Overview==
| | In a [[Parallel universe (TV Action!)|parallel universe]], actors from ''Blake's 7'' were [[hypnosis|hypnotised]] by [[Beep the Meep]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|TV Action! (comic story)}}) |
| ===Premise and tone===
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| The series was set an unspecified time in the future. The first two seasons concerned the adventures of the experienced but still idealistic rebel [[Wikipedia:Roj Blake|Roj Blake]] and the crew of the ''[[Wikipedia:Liberator (Blake's 7)|Liberator]]'', an alien [[starship]] which they had acquired who fought the despotic [[Wikipedia:Terran Federation|Terran Federation]], represented by [[WIkipedia:Servalan|Servalan]], aided by [[Wikipedia:Travis (Blake's 7)|Travis]].
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| In the third season, Blake vanished and was replaced by his second in command, the vengeful genius [[Wikipedia:Kerr Avon|Kerr Avon]]. The ''Liberator'' was destroyed at the end of the season and in the next replaced by another starship, the ''[[Wikipedia:Scorpio (Blake's 7)|Scorpio]]''.
| | ''Blake's 7'' was the favourite television series of [[Gavin Oliver Scott]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Least Important Man (short story)}}) In [[2600]], [[Bernice Summerfield]] obtained two episodes of the series for him on [[VHS]]. She noted that she knew a distant acquaintance of someone who was in [[Blake's 7 (terrorist group)|Blake's 7]] – the [[terrorist]] organisation, not the [[television]] show, which "can't be right". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Dead Men Diaries (short story)}}) |
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| ''Blake's 7'' was a less fundamentally optimistic series than ''Doctor Who''. The majority of the protagonists met violent deaths during the course of the series, and the dystopian setting remaining basically unchanged or even, perhaps, got worse as a result of the actions of the rebels. | | == External links == |
| | {{iwx|Blake's 7|''Blake's 7''|wiki=blakes7|wiki name=the ''Blake's 7'' Wiki}} |
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| Aliens and "monsters" did appear, though rarely, with the arguable exception of [[Wikipedia:Cally|Cally]], a [[telepathy|telepathic]] crew member who either came from a telepathic non-human species or from a race of biologically modified humans. The Human Terran Federation was, apparently, the only major power structure throughout the sector of space visited by the crew.
| | [[Category:Television series from the real world]] |
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| ===Production history===
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| ''Blake's 7'' was first broadcast on [[BBC 1]] between [[1978]] and [[1981]]. Its characters, setting was created by, and, for the first season, was entirely written by [[Terry Nation]], the creator of the [[Dalek]]s. Prolific ''Doctor Who'' director [[David Maloney]] produced the first three seasons of the series (sometimes referred to as Season A, Season B and Season C) and [[Chris Boucher]], the writer of several ''Doctor Who'' serials, acted as [[Script Editor]] and writer on all four seasons. (Former ''Doctor Who'' Script Editor [[Robert Holmes]], on declining the job of script editor of ''Blake's 7'' had suggested Boucher as a substitute.)
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| ==Cast and Crew connections==
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| ===Production personnel common to both series===
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| ====Writers and Script Editors====
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| *[[Terry Nation]] - Series creator and chief writer of the first three series
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| *[[Chris Boucher]] - Script editor and writer
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| *[[Robert Holmes]] - Writer
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| ====Directors and Producers====
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| *[[David Maloney]] - Producer of first three series
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| *[[Michael E. Briant]] - Director
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| *[[Douglas Camfield]] - Director
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| *[[Pennant Roberts]] - Director
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| *[[Derek Martinus]] - Director
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| *[[Fiona Cumming]] - Director
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| *[[Mary Ridge]] - Director
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| *[[Gerald Blake]] - Director
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| ====Miscellaneous crew====
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| *[[Dudley Simpson]] - Composer of theme music.
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| *[[Mat Irvine]] - Special effects work.
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| ====In other media====
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| *[[Barry Letts]] - Writer of two [[BBC Radio 4]] plays set during the fourth series.
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| *[[Tony Attwood]] - Author of ''Afterlife'', a sequel novel to ''Blake's 7'' set after the last episode of the series.
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| ===Actors===
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| ====Actors from ''Doctor Who'' in ''Blake's 7''====
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| =====Regulars=====
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| *[[Colin Baker]] - Bayban in ''City at the Edge of the World''
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| *[[Richard Franklin]] - Federation Trooper in ''Aftermath''
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| *[[John Leeson]] - Pasco in ''Mission to Destiny'' and Tolse in ''Gambit''.
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| =====Others=====
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| *[[Peter Miles]] - Played the recurring role of Rontane, much in the "coldly efficient" mold of his ''Doctor Who'' character [[Nyder]].
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| *[[Richard Hurndall]] - Played Nebrox in ''Cancer'', inspiring [[John Nathan-Turner]] to cast him as the replacement [[First Doctor]] (a character originally played by [[William Hartnell]]) in ''[[The Five Doctors]]''.
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| ====''Blake's 7'' Regular Cast with ''Doctor Who'' and ''Torchwood'' connections====
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| *[[Gareth Thomas]] ([[Wikipedia:Roj Blake|Roj Blake]]) played [[Ed Morgan]] in the ''[[Torchwood]]'' episode ''[[Ghost Machine]]'', [[Lord Tamworth]] (''[[Storm Warning]]'') and also had the regular role of [[Kalendorf]], a recurring role in the [[Dalek Empire (audio series)|Dalek Empire]] line of audio plays from [[Big Finish Productions]].
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| *[[Paul Darrow]] ([[Wikipedia:Kerr Avon|Kerr Avon]]) played Captain [[Hawkins]] (''[[Doctor Who and the Silurians]]''), [[Tekker]] (''[[Timelash (TV story)|Timelash]]'') and [[Iago]] in the ''[[Kaldor City (audio series)|Kaldor City]]'' series of audio plays.
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| *[[Michael Keating]] ([[Wikipedia:Vila Restal|Vila Restal]]) played [[Goudry]] ([[The Sun Makers]]) and Major [[Koth]] (''[[The Twilight Kingdom]]'').
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| *[[Jacqueline Pearce]] ([[Wikipedia:Servalan|Servalan]]) played [[Chessene]] (''[[The Two Doctors]]''), [[Sherilyn Harper]] (''[[The Fearmonger (audio story)|The Fearmonger]]'') and Admiral [[Mettna]] (''[[Death Comes to Time]]'').
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| *[[Jan Chappell]] ([[Wikipedia:Cally|Cally]]) played Captain [[Lisa Deranne]] in ''[[Shakedown]]''.
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| *[[Brian Croucher]] (the second of two actors to play [[Wikipedia:Travis (Blake's 7)|Travis]]) played [[Borg]] (''[[The Robots of Death]]'') and [[Kurt]] (''[[Shakedown]]'').
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| *[[Peter Tuddenham]] (the voices of the talking computers [[Wikipedia:Orac (Blake's 7)|Orac]], [[Wikipedia:Zen (Blake's 7)|Zen]] and [[Wikipedia:Slave (Blake's 7)|Slave]]) also leant his voiceover talents to ''[[The Ark in Space]]'', ''[[The Masque of Mandragora]]'' and ''[[Time and the Rani]]''.
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| ===Production Materials===
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| *Many generic science-fiction props appeared in both series. For instance, ray guns carried by [[Bayban]]'s men in ''City at the Edge of the World'' were also used by the [[Foster (job title)|Foster]]s in ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]''.
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| *Model footage (of explosions and so on) was also occasionally recycled (for instance, the same footage is used to show the destruction of a DSV in ''Redemption'' and [[Mawdryn]]'s ship in ''[[Mawdryn Undead]]'').
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| *More specifically, Federation trooper uniforms were reused as [[Orderly]] uniforms in ''[[Frontios]]''.
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| *[[Sea Devil]] costumes were cosmetically altered and used to represent Phibians in ''Orac'' and Dorian's former associate in ''Rescue''.
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| ==In-Universe Crossovers==
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| ===Proposed crossovers===
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| A crossover between the two series was proposed at least twice.
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| The last episode of Season B of ''Blake's 7'' featured an invasion of the galaxy by aliens, called Andromedans, from outside the Galaxy. The aliens were so powerful that the crew of the ''Liberator'' pitched in with the Federation to fight them off. Terry Nation had wanted to feature the [[Dalek]]s as the invading force. However, as Chris Boucher recalls, the idea was strongly rejected by the producer and Boucher himself.
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| [[Tom Baker]] and Gareth Thomas, who played Blake, thought it would be amusing for the Doctor and Blake to meet for a few seconds in a corridor on either ''Doctor Who'' or ''Blake's 7'', but this idea was, again, over-ruled.
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| ===Crossovers and Doctor Who Universe continuity===
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| Eventually a crossover did appear.
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| *Chris Boucher's novel ''[[Corpse Marker]]'', a sequel to ''[[The Robots of Death]]'', features the psychostrategist [[Carnell]], a character who had first appeared in the ''Blake's 7'' episode ''Weapon''. (Presumably, then, ''Corpse Marker'' happens before "Weapon", given that that episode features Carnell's death.) Carnell's background was left vague in the novel. The character appeared again in the [[Kaldor City]] series of audios.
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| Two references also exist to the existence of ''Blake's 7'' as a television series in the Doctor Who Universe.
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| *[[Tegan Jovanka]] mentions the series in ''[[Cold Fusion]]'', saying that she understood the concept of [[transmat]]s (or in ''Blake's 7'' terms, teleportation) from the show.
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| *''[[The Least Important Man]]'' by [[Steven Moffat]] from the anthology ''[[The Dead Men Diaries]]'' [[Bernice Summerfield]] anthology features this quote:
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| ::''"I managed to find him two entire episodes of Blake's 7, on the original video tape. I found them to be a wonderful insight into the literature of Gavin's era. He taught me how to do the 'maximum power' thing. With the arms."''
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| This refers to a scene involving Servalan, in the third season finale episode "Terminal". Bernice Summerfield comments on another occasion that Roj Blake seems to exist both a fictional character and as a real person, "which can't be right". (source?)
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| [[Category:Television shows with Doctor Who connections]]
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