Sky One have...

[UltraCulture]

commisioned a new series of B7, just heard it on the radio.

Will try and find more info.

[Perpetual Man]

Sounds very interesting and further to that:

Sky One to revive Blake's 7 - Telegraph

[UltraCulture]

Cheers for the link PMan, sadly just another program i'll miss out on due to the Virgin/Sky spat.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by UltraCulture

Cheers for the link PMan, sadly just another program I'll miss out on due to the Virgin/Sky spat.

I'll echo that - cheers for the link, ditto for not getting Sky. I see that the 'Hogfather' went very quickly to DVD though, so some hope there. (More chance than seeing Battlestar Galactica, Lost and Stargate on terrestrial channels.)

I'm not too sure about this though. I think the chance for this was missed when the Paul Darrow 'Next Generation' project fell apart some years back. That audio version happened instead.

Blake’s 7 was, however, always ahead of its time in its characterisation and plot, with its band of unlikely heroes each having a dark backstory and unappealing personal flaws.

Well, Terry Nation's original pitch to the BBC was 'Robin Hood in Space' and that was how I saw it. I was also playing the 'Traveller' RPG at the time, and it seemed to mirror that somewhat. Avon and Villa were very unlikely heroes, but just the kind of person you would want on your side.

To do it today, you would have to have state of the art SFX. You couldn't get away with set walls that wobble and cast off props from Doctor Who.

[The Procrastinator]

And space ships that look like torches.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by UltraCulture

Cheers for the link PMan, sadly just another program i'll miss out on due to the Virgin/Sky spat.

Ditto. Hopefully, it will appear on DVD at some point. Let's hope they make a good job of it.

[Overread]

Originally Posted by Dave

To do it today, you would have to have state of the art SFX. You couldn't get away with set walls that wobble and cast off props from Doctor Who.

I don't know Dr. Who seems to be popular at the moment with its cheap CGI (and I will risk it and say actors as well!)

I don't know how I feel about this remake - on the one hand I never saw the original so it will be all new to me, but my general thoughts are that remakes are one of 2 sorts:

1) a disaster that manages to be worse than the original (always possible)

2) a good copy of the original - not adding much to the origianl story content, but adding more depth and extending the story (very rare things these sort)

3) a good series which should really have not been a remake, but been an original story based on the previous version - that way able to extend byond hte limitations of the first and being able to appeale easily to fans of the old who will say " its a copy, but its a darn good copy" (some might say better). Myself I think Battlestar should have done this - I found it hard to like the first series as I wanted battlestar on the screen and what I was seeing was not battlestar - it was something else (I mean boomer is a woman? and a cylon?)

[Perpetual Man]

Overall I agree with Overread - well about remaking 'classic TV shows' anyway, and his points on BSG are spot on. Well for now anyway... who knows how it will end?

In the case of Doctor Who though, it has been nothing but good fun and it is a continuation of the original in many ways, and perhaps this is the way forward for BLAKE'S 7 a continuation of the original rather than a remake, set 20 years on from the end. Personally it would be nice to see, B7 was such a strong part of my early SF years although it is a double edged sword. It would have to be done right.

With better special effects and sets...!

(Anyone else hear Terry Wogan talking about it coming back this morning (Friday) on Radio 2?) Very amusing and of course, good press as it reaches the popular media

[The Procrastinator]

I for one would like to see "son of Liberator" and a new bunch of freedom fighters inspired by the original Blake. Perhaps we could have a Dread Pirate Roberts scenario where the current idealistic rebel leader calls himself/herself Blake to freak out an aging Servalan.

[Captain B]

Blake’s 7 re-make could be extremely impressive.
The remake of the Bionic woman as far as I was concerned was very good and edgy, with you not being too sure who are the good or bad guys- so they cancelled it. And I only saw about four episodes.
Re-make of Battlestar Gallatic was something I never got into, Cylon’s as Humans.
Re-make of Doctor Who has worked & worked well, with the odd duff episode.
Let’s hope the new Blake’s 7 is good & lasts more than one series.

[dukedexter]

Originally Posted by Captain B

Blake’s 7 re-make could be extremely impressive.

yes, if it could match the visual standard of new Who, it would be fine. Blake's 7 without Messrs Darrow and Keating would take some getting used to, but apart from that I wouldn't mind what they changed (apart from the iconic Liberator!).